"I'm going out, can you tell Mom and Dad when they get back from their date?"

Rory lifted her head from her Biology textbook at her younger brother's confusing words. Last she had heard Mason was campaigning for a movie night at the very house Rory was sitting in, although Rory helped convince her parents to can the idea.

The brunette started to speak before Mason reached the front door. He was in rather normal clothing and Rory only got more confused at that. "Where are you even going?"

"Liam texted me about some party," Mason said rather nonchalantly. His eyes were still trained on his cellphone and he didn't look up as he spoke to his older sister.

"You're a freshman."

"And you're a junior. Why are we stating each others year level?"

Rory had to fight her eyes to so they wouldn't roll. Mason was now looking up at the dark skinned girl curiously, wondering where she was going with this train of thought. "I meant that you're only a freshman, how have you been invited to a party?"

"Maybe I'm just likable," Mason commented light-heartedly, his face beaming.

Rory didn't fight her brother on this. He had always been the one that people gravitated towards in the Hewitt household. Mason was confident, spontaneous and exuded happiness, meanwhile Rory was slightly abrasive, protective and planned everything out. The siblings were opposites and Rory wasn't offended at this point in her life when people liked Mason more—she had been dealing with it for far too long for it to bother her.

The brunette had now stood up from where she was studying at the coffee table in her living room. Her parents had gone out about an hour ago and she would be damned if she let Mason go to a party without knowing who he was going with and where. Rory was most definitely the protective one. "No doubt about it, Mase. Whose party is it?"

"I don't know much about it," Mason was being honest now, Rory could simply tell by looking at his face. "I didn't actually get invited by the host, Liam just texted me a few minutes ago telling me to come."

"Who is the host?" Rory continued to prod the fifteen year old boy in question. There was no doubt in her mind that alcohol would be there, that wasn't the part she had a problem with. Rory just needed to know where Mason was going in case she had to go and find him passed out in a bush tomorrow.

Mason narrowed his eyes now. "Does it really matter, Rory? Just tell Mom and Dad I'll be back later."

The brunette walked over to where her brother was rummaging near the front door to find his shoes, his sock covered feet being the giveaway. Rory gripped his wrist in her own and tugged on it to force Mason to look up at her. "Tell me so I know where you are if shit goes down. That's all I need it for, I don't care if you get piss drunk or streak nude. I just need to know in case you need my help."

Mason looked reluctant to say anything but it didn't take long for the boy to cave. Rory always had the power of making people do what she wanted, her lips pulled down slightly in a pout and her deep, chocolate eyes widened. "It's at Lydia Martin's lake house. Kira Yukimura invited Liam."

Rory gaped at the names heard. Those were people in her year level, inviting freshman to their party. For as long as she had been at Beacon Hills, Rory had known that a Lydia Martin party was like no other and that the invite list was very exclusive. Somehow she imagined that her brother and his delinquent friends didn't quite fit the requirements.

"What? Jealous you didn't get an invite?"

Mason's comment made Rory finally look back up at him from her mother's favorite decorative rug. The older girl didn't fight the urge to roll her eyes this time and simply let it happen. "You didn't get invited either, Liam did. I'm actually more confused at how Lydia Martin would ever let freshman into her party."

"Not everyone hates freshman, Ror." Mason sent her a playful glare considering the amount of times she had made fun of his bottom of the ladder school status.

Rory moved to where her boots were neatly placed on the shoe rack and quickly clasped them on her feet. She ignored her brother's wide eyed look of confusion. "Trust me, they do. You'll learn once you move up the grades."

Mason completely ignored the previous discussion about freshman. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion although he knew just what Rory was going to do. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Coming with you." Rory didn't skip a beat. She moved around the room, grabbing her phone, leather jacket, wallet and keys in hand.

The teenage boy let out a groan at this although he didn't really have to ask to know. He knew his older sister's protective nature by now. "No, Rory. Just let me go."

"Something is fishy about this," Rory didn't look like she was in the mood for a fight. Once the brunette was committed to a thought, she wouldn't stop until it was done. A look of pure determination and stubbornness set on her face as Mason sighed, realizing there was no point arguing. He would lose like always. "I'm coming to see what it is."

Mason let out another audible groan as he looked at his sister.

"Hurry up, Mase, otherwise I might have to start charging you a running fee like taxis do for making me wait this long."

---

Lydia Martin was most definitely going to murder Rory's little brother.

As Rory pulled up to the Martin lake house that Mason directed her to, the majority of the freshman year level from Beacon Hills turned up right on their tails. Although Mason had told Rory that Liam had only told him to come, he took it upon himself to gain the trust of his peers and invite them all along.

Even if Mason was invited to Lydia's party, Rory knew for sure she wouldn't appreciate him inviting over fifty straggling freshman.

"My whole high school life I have been told that Lydia throws the best parties, yet it doesn't look like anyone is even here," Rory observed as she put her car in park. The lake house was silent, the only signs of life being the cars outside and the lights on through the windows.

Mason shrugged his shoulders in defeat at what to tell his sister and hopped out of the car. Rory followed suit and locked her vehicle, not trusting the amount of drunk teenagers there were about to be.

The brunette didn't exactly know what she was doing here and hadn't thought this far into the plan. Rory was mainly thinking Mason was bluffing about a party, yet here she was. She hoped to either ask Lydia why freshman were invited or simply see that there was actually a party then drive home.

The thrilling life that Aurora Hewitt lived.

"Rory," Mason's friend Garrett was looking at the junior in confusion. His arm was wrapped around his girlfriend, Violet. "Interesting seeing you here."

"Terrible seeing you," Rory commented back with a smirk before walking towards the front door. She didn't have time to talk to her brother's friends, especially Garrett with his annoying comments and disregard for respect.

Mason idled beside her on the front doorstep and before anyone could knock, the wooden front door flew open to reveal a rather disgruntled and unimpressed Lydia Martin.

Her look of agitation turned to one of confusion at seeing Rory Hewitt on her doorstep, the rest of the freshman congregation around her seemed insignificant as Lydia was perplexed at the brunette's attendance.

"Hey, are we in the right place?" Mason was the first to break the icy silence that covered the area.

"For the party?" Garrett questioned this at the lack of people, music, and noise that came along with a regular teenage party.

Lydia pursed her lips together and moved her eyes away from Rory to look at Mason and Garrett. She forced on the biggest smile she could muster given the circumstance and held the door open more. "Absolutely."

Rory could tell it was forced the moment it came out of her mouth, only confusing the girl more. The host of the party was usually ready for the party they organised, whereas Lydia looked annoyed and unprepared.

The freshman cheered and pushed into the doorway, Rory stepped to the side and clenched her teeth as she tried her hardest to not bite a retort at the ones who knocked into her on their way in.

Rory regretted all decisions on making her way here, freshman were a lot worse to handle than she had expected.

---

"You look happy to be throwing this party," Rory said as she followed Lydia. The teenager stalked through the crowds, her face resting at a look that could kill. Majority of the freshman moved upon seeing her, intimidated by the look of anger on her face.

Lydia grimaced slightly at all the people in her lake house, praying that her mom wouldn't find out. She pushed her fingers through the ends of her strawberry blonde locks, waved to perfection, as she walked towards the kitchen. Lydia easily noticed the sarcasm in Rory's tone. "You look happy to be here."

That was fair comment on her behalf. Rory wondered whether her regret showed that easily on her face.

Rory didn't know if she had ever had a conversation with Lydia before. The pair had been in some classes together due to Lydia's intelligence being out of this world and although Rory didn't rank herself that high, she was also reasonably smart. They both knew of one another.

"I'm only here for my brother," Rory clarified as she trailed behind the strawberry blonde. She wondered whether Lydia was pissed off at her following her every move. Rory hoped the girl had sympathy for being stuck with freshmen otherwise. "He said he got invited to your party and that made me extremely curious."

"I didn't invite any of these people to be honest," Lydia let the comment slip out without much thought. She slowed her stampede through the party goers so that Rory could fall instep next to her before continuing. "It's a long story but Liam got the wrong end of the stick. There wasn't meant to be a party."

Rory let a small smile grace her face as everything came full circle. Things getting mixed up seemed a lot more liable than Mason getting invited to a Lydia Martin party. "The world makes sense again."

A small silence enveloped the two as they stepped into the kitchen. Lydia eyed Rory curiously—having noticed her a million times in class and in the halls didn't compare to being this close. Rory was gorgeous—her lips plump, chocolate eyes almond shaped yet wide, skin that balanced out the rest of her with its dazzling complexion and her hair falling gracefully to her shoulders. "Did you really come all this way to make sure your brother was safe?"

Rory nodded instantly. "Yeah, I would do anything for him."

The brunette figured Lydia didn't have siblings to relate to in this situation and that was why she was curious.

"Can't relate," Lydia smiled slightly although it came out as more of a sour grimace. Rory hated that it still looked good on her. "Only child problems."

The two laughed slightly at this before Lydia was gaping at a man who wheeled a massive keg right into her kitchen. Her hateful stride was back when she walked over to the bearded, middle aged man, Lydia also had her gaze back on that showed she was far past done with all of this. Rory noticed how quickly she could slip the mean façade on and off. "Okay. I didn't order a keg of beer. Especially not domestic."

"Somebody ordered it," The man didn't look phased with Lydia's snarky comment or glare. He looked out through the doorway and nodded towards the grouped teenagers. "You telling me no one here wants to drink?"

Lydia narrowed her eyes at the man before looking to her left and groaning. Someone had placed a cup of red wine on her laptop. The girl picked it up with a look of horror. "Who put this here? That laptop was two thousand dollars."

Rory stayed put in her spot behind Lydia, not wanting to get in the way of her wrath right at this second. She was someone that Rory had once feared due to her bitchiness, yet now Rory didn't have an issue with her. She supposed Lydia had changed throughout her schooling years just like everyone else.

"That bottle of wine is four hundred!" Lydia had snatched the half empty bottle of red wine from Garrett.

Rory, from lack of better judgement, moved up to where the keg beer was now sitting. The man raised his eyebrows at her. Rory felt bad that Lydia had this happening in her house, especially when she had said and now made it clear in her actions that it wasn't planned. "How much is it?"

He didn't say anything as Rory grabbed the check from his hands. Her eyes glanced over what the charge was and she felt Lydia idle up beside her, reading over her shoulder. "What is the extra hundred dollars for?"

Rory's question was met with an arrogant stare from the keg seller with a name tag dubbing him Demarco. "That would be the 'You do look twenty-one to me' surcharge."

His statement was met with a wink at the end and Rory wanted to gag but chose to keep it to herself.

Rory rolled her eyes at the man before looking to Lydia to see whether they should pay the amount charged. Lydia wasn't looking at this however and her attention had moved elsewhere. Rory followed her gaze to see Mason walking up the stairs to the second story of the lake house, the brunette internally cringed at seeing her brother snooping.

"Let me get you some cash," Lydia muttered to the keg seller as she stumbled out of the room in pursuit of the youngest Hewitt.

Rory wasn't too far behind, not that Lydia was paying attention, in order to get her brother away from the upstairs. She didn't know what was up there and why Lydia looked so determined to keep him out, but Rory did know that it was rude to snoop in peoples houses when invited in. "That nosy ass."

The two went up the stairs and when they were on the second floor, they followed Mason's murmurings as he called out to Liam.

Rory hadn't even realized that she was yet to see Liam in the crowds of teenagers. She figured he would be out there somewhere considering he got Mason invited in the first place.

Lydia followed Mason into the room at the end of the hall and Rory slipped in behind her.

"What are you doing up here? The party is downstairs." Lydia's tone was sharp and Mason seemed slightly taken aback.

Rory tried not to gape at the room they all stood in. The walls were a stark white and the carpet matched. Bright orange seats sat in the corner while a massive stereo and record player was pressed hard against the wall. Rory had no clue what the room would be used for but it had her in slight awe.

"I was looking for my friend, Liam," Mason tried to explain in his defense. He smiled slightly at Rory standing behind Lydia, confused as to when this comradery started. As far as he knew Rory only had a few friends at school that she sat with but barely hung out with outside of school.

"That's not an excuse to go snooping in someone's house, Mason." Rory cringed at how much she sounded like her mother with that line but the brunette didn't like how agitated Lydia was with her brother being up here.

Lydia seemed slightly shocked at the sound of Rory's voice, not even realizing that the girl followed her up the stairs. She shook this out of her mind as she brushed past Mason to get to the red wined filled glasses on the desk. "Sorry but missing freshmen are a little low on my priority list."

"You haven't seen him have you, Ror?" Mason asked his sister quickly but Rory only shook her head.

Mason seemed to suddenly catch onto what Lydia said as he turned back towards the strawberry blonde. "Clearly it's not too low on the list since you know he is a freshman."

Lydia let out a sigh and her free hand that wasn't holding a glass rose in defeat. She grabbed Mason's arm desperately to get him to leave as she spoke, "I might have seen your friend, but downstairs."

As she finished speaking, Lydia stumbled slightly and the two glasses fell from her grasp. Red wine splattered across the white carpet, instantly making a mark.

All three of them knelt to the floor at the sight, Rory cringed slightly at the stain that would leave. She could just hear her mom cursing her now and it wasn't even Rory who did the spilling nor was it in her house.

"No—no. The carpet!" Lydia instantly began scrubbing the already staining liquid with her cardigan, the girl was breathing in and out heavily.

Rory instantly noticed the distress and wanted to comfort Lydia somehow. The girl was practically in tears, the liquid brimmed her eyes as she muttered curses under her breath and continued to scrub.

"It's okay," Mason spoke hesitantly. "It'll come out."

Lydia didn't stop at this and the girl continued to scrub the carpet, putting immense pressure on the red wine staining.

Rory didn't want to chaste her brother on his lack of stain knowledge but even she knew that red wine was a bitch to get out. Instead of filling Lydia with false hope, which Rory would have hated in this situation, she posed another question. "How valuable was it?"

"It wasn't," Lydia uttered at Rory's soft voice asking about the carpet. "That's the problem. Nothing in here is valuable."

Both Hewitt siblings watched the girl in silence. Rory wanted to hug the girl despite only talking to her today at the sight of her tear stained cheeks and small flakes of mascara resting underneath her eyes.

Lydia sighed in defeat and stopped scrubbing, sitting back on her knees. "We just put the house on the market. It was supposed to be left without a scratch, it has to be in perfect condition. We need every penny we can get out of this place."

At the sight of Lydia's tearful face and distressed words, Rory did the only thing that she thought would help in this situation. She had her fair share of spillages in her life and had learnt a few things at covering it from her mom. Rory stood up, her eyes never leaving Lydia's seldom face. "Mase and I are going to go downstairs to find club soda and salt. It gets anything out."

Lydia didn't make any movements so Rory placed her hand on her shoulder gently, making Lydia look up at her. "We'll get it out, Lydia. I promise."

The strawberry blonde smiled gratefully before the two Hewitt's were exiting the room in search of their supplies.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Mason looked more than worried and Rory knew her face was displaying the same thing. The raw emotion on Lydia's face was unlike anything she had seen on her, not that she had much to go off but the strawberry blonde looked devastated. Rory would do whatever she could to fix that.

Rory led her brother down the halls, the same way they came. "I hope so. Let's also hope that my stain remover works."

---

Rory ascended the stairs again with her stain remover in hand.

Mason had ditched his older sibling the minute that Garrett had challenged him to a game of beer pong. Rory had told him to go and that she would handle this alone, figuring that perhaps Lydia didn't want a freshman to see her in such a state. Even though Rory was practically a stranger it might be less degrading with her due to their shared classes.

"I have everything I need right here, Lydia." Rory walked into the white walled room to see Lydia huddled in front of the speakers and record player.

If Lydia heard the brunette enter then she didn't make a motion to show it. Her body was still and her eyes transfixed on the record player in front of her. Lydia's hand came to play with the headshell of the player.

"Lydia?" Rory asked again, taking a step closer to where the strawberry blonde sat.

Still not one acknowledgment.

It didn't look like the girl was in shock but Rory figured it might have been that. Or perhaps she just didn't want to talk to Rory. That made the brunette's heart sink.

Rory tried again, clenching the salt shaker in her hand. "Are you okay? Do you want me to find someone?"

Once again the room was filled with silence.

Unsure of what to do next, Rory placed the stain removing products on the ground by the door and exited the room. She had no clue what weird thing Lydia was going through but she figured someone else might be able to help. It was odd to Rory that none of Lydia's friend group were here during the party—Scott and Stiles were nowhere to be seen tonight.

Once she had descended the stairs, Rory heard a semi familiar voice filing around the many freshmen congregating in Lydia's living room.

"Lydia? Has anyone seen Lydia?" It was Kira Yukimura who was parading around, shyly asking the party goers if they had seen the girl.

Rory moved to get closer to Kira and the two nearly stumbled into one another due to them both pushing around the freshman.

"Kira," Rory stated and the petite girl looked pleased to see someone she actually had seen before in the halls. "I'm Rory, I don't know if—"

"I know you, we have History together. My dad's class."

Rory knew that but she didn't know if Kira would. It seemed she got adopted into Scott's group of friend's rather quickly. Rory also didn't know if a lot of people noticed her. Apparently she was wrong however as run ins with Scott, Stiles, Lydia and now Kira showed that they did know who Rory was.

"Yeah, Lydia is upstairs in the furthest room," Rory tried her best to explain the situation, pointing to the upstairs portion of the lake house. "She spilled some red wine in there before and was really upset about it. I was going to remove the stain but when I came back she wasn't speaking."

Kira's face adorably scrunched in confusion at the explanation, but Rory didn't know how else to describe what was happening.

"She's sitting in front of the record player and won't say anything to me. You should go and see her. She will probably like a more familiar face. I left the stain removal stuff up there too."

Kira understood the last part and began to make her way to the stair case to see what was wrong with her friend. "Thanks, Rory. You're a life saver, I had been looking for Lydia everywhere."

Rory smiled at the girl before Kira was racing up the stairs. The brunette just hoped she had better luck then she did.

It was weird night to say the least and not anything that Rory had expected, but she must say it was better than studying Biology like she had planned.

---

i ship every brotp with rory and the girls. her and lydia are lit. her and kira are lit. her and malia will be lit. everything is lit.

no scott this chapter fml but he will be back asap and more scory ofc