Teach Me How to Dougie

"I'll see you all in class on Monday. Remember, get here early for the final!"

My professor over-enthusiastically waved us out of the room and into the packed hallway. I was headed home to chill out for the afternoon. It had been a long week of studying for finals, doing my normal schoolwork, and fitting in an attempt at having a social life. I hadn't been able to see Dougie at all because he'd been busy with practice and games and fitting our packed schedules together was difficult this week. I hadn't even been able to go to the B's home game this week and instead had to watch it at home because I had a huge paper to write.

Snow was allover the ground and the bitter cold whipped my face as I zipped my coat up all the way and buried my face in my scarf. Thankfully, my class had been about a five minute walk from my apartment, so I wouldn't have to suffer much longer.

I scurried up the stairs in my building and unlocked my door, shaking the snow off and hanging up my coat. I kicked off my boots and went over the the Keurig to make a cup of hot chocolate, hoping that would warm me up.

While the machine got to work, I flopped onto my bed and opened up my computer, heading to Twitter to check some notifications. I noticed a picture on my feed, and stopped in my tracks.

The picture was of Dougie out at a bar, which I recognized as the one the team frequented after most games. He was standing around with some of the guys, drink in his hand. But what caught my eye was the girl standing next to him, arm around his waist and smile on her face. He had his other arm around Brad's shoulder, while the unknown girl had her hand on his chest.

She was perfect. Perfect body, perfect blonde waves, and a tight, hot pink dress that hugged her curves and showed off her long, tan legs a she perched on tall, black pumps. Even her teeth were perfect.

I felt tears sting my eyes as I scrolled through my feed, seeing the picture pop up a few more times. The image hurt, but what made me even more upset were the comments. People were asking who the "new hot chick was" and questioning when Dougie had "upgraded". I couldn't hold back the tears as they rolled down my face.

With not-so-ideal timing, I heard my phone ring as I got a call from Dougie. I wiped away my tears and tried to compose myself.

"Hey."

"Hey Chloe! How were your last classes before finals?"

"Oh, they were fine."

"That's good! You should come over later. I really missed not seeing you this week."

"Yeah, maybe. I'll let you know."

Dougie was silent for a few moments.

"Chlo, is everything okay."

I sighed, before deciding to not make a big deal out of anything, because I knew Dougie had an afternoon practice to go to soon to prepare for tomorrow's game.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just- just tired from the long week."

"Oh, okay. Well I love you and I'll see you soon."

"Bye."

I hung up the phone, still upset but trying to shake it off.

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I stood in front of the mirror, judging my outfit before Holly and I decided to head out. We were going to a party at her boyfriend's frat, and we had pre-gamed a little. I had on a tight black skirt, flat booties, a pink and low-cut sweater. I felt good and was excited to go have fun and get my mind off of everything.

"Chloe! Come do another shot with me before we leave!"

I shuffled into the kitchen, meeting Holly at the counter where she had already poured me another shot of vodka. We counted to three and downed them, reveling in the burn that trickled down our throats. We both grabbed our coats and headed around the corner, where the party was being held. I could feel my head buzz as the shots I had already done hit me.

We entered the house and put our coats down, cheering and running into the main room. Holly hugged her boyfriend, who kissed her in response. I felt a sense of dread fill my body and went over to the kitchen to grab a drink. I downed it pretty quickly, only adding to the tingling in my mind. I felt my cheeks heat up as I got drunk for the first time in awhile.

Holly and the rest of the people at the party hung out in the room, dancing to music blasting throughout the house. I filled up my cup again with whatever strong and disgusting mixture the place was serving. I walked over to Holly, hugging her and joining her and her boyfriend and one of his friends in dancing.

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*Holly's POV*

I could tell as soon as Chloe came over to me that she had already had a ton to drink. We had both done a few shots before leaving the apartment, but I could tell from the smell of her breath that she had done a few more behind my back and had already had quite a bit to drink in the short time we had been at the party.

Some guy walked up behind Chloe and grabbed her waist, pulling her against him. She didn't seem to even realize what was happening as she swayed against him, laughing and singing along with the music.


I hadn't seen Chloe this drunk in a long time, maybe ever. She kept downing drinks and dancing around, acting like she was having a great time. But I could tell something was wrong, especially when the guy from earlier started to slip his hand under her dress and she didn't react. I stormed over and pushed him away, shooting him a dirty look. Chloe looked at me, oblivious to the situation.

"What's wrong, Holly? Come on, let's go get some more to drink!"

I grabbed Chloe's arm before she could walk away. I gestured to my boyfriend to come over and take Chloe into another room. Chloe tried to resist but we distracted her by sitting her on the couch. I snuck away while Tim talked to her.

Dougie answered the phone after one ring.

"Hey Holly, is everything okay? I haven't heard from Chloe all afternoon and she was supposed to come over."

"That's actually what I'm calling about. Dougie, she's not doing so well. I'm sure if you asked her she'd say she's feeling great, but trust me, she's not okay."

"What's going on? Where are you guys up to?"

"Well, I was already planning on going to a party with my boyfriend. Chloe asked if she could tag along and I said yes, of course. But, Dougie, she's gone."

"What do you mean?"

"I've never seen her this drunk, ever. She's not acting like herself at all. I had to pull her away from some creep, and she didn't even realize what was happening. I don't know what's going on, but I don't know what to do."

"Bring her over to my place, please. I can make sure she's okay. I don't know what's going on but the thought of her like that makes me sick. Just take a cab over to my place and I'll pay you back."

"See you soon."

I hung up the phone and returned to the other room, where Tim sat trying to keep Chloe sitting.

"Holly, your boyfriend won't let me dance! I wanna go back out!"

I gave my boyfriend an appreciative look as I ushered Chloe outside, putting her jacket over her shoulders.

"Where are we going? I don't wanna leave!" Chloe was loud as I tried to walk her to the curb.

"We're just gonna go on a quick field trip, okay?"

I was thankful that an Uber had been right around the corner, opening the door and scooting into the backseat as I told the driver Dougie's address.

I kept Chloe busy by chatting with her about nothing in particular. Her responses didn't make much sense most of the time, but I tried to keep her volume low and was happy when we pulled up to Dougie's place.

I pulled Chloe out of the car, as she stumbled into the building and to the elevator.

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*Dougie's POV*

I heard a knock on my door and ran to answer it, my mind racing as I worried about Chloe. When I opened the door, I saw Holly standing there, supporting an obviously intoxicated Chloe as she leaned into her side, sloppy smile on her face.

"You're so hot." Chloe stumbled forward and fell into me, as I caught her and held her upright. "You look like my boyfriend."

Holly walked in and shut the door behind her as we helped Chloe to the couch, both of us sitting on her sides. I helped her take her shoes off as she leaned back on the couch.

I looked over at Holly, who had a confused and worried look on her face.

"I have never seen her this drunk, I don't know what happened, but something did, for sure."

I ran my fingers through my hair as I opened up my phone, trying to process what may have set Chloe off. I noticed that I had quite a few notifications on Twitter, which I hadn't looked at all day. I opened the app and felt a sense of dread hit me.

"Oh no." I passed my phone over to Holly, who took it and looked at with the same worried expression on her face.

"Oh god, what is this?"

I shook my head.

"We went out to celebrate our win and I had had a little bit to drink. I remember some girl coming over and hovering around us, but nothing happened! I walked away after she tried to put the moves on me. You know I would never do anything to hurt Chloe, ever. Someone must have taken a picture and posted it without me knowing."

"Dougie, I know you would never hurt Chloe. But you can imagine how upsetting this must have been to her."

I looked down at Chloe, who was mumbling and playing with the beading on her skirt.

"What's that?"

"I'm not drunk, guys. Don't worry."

"You are drunk, Chlo. But I'm gonna take care of you. Holly, you can leave if you want, I've got this."

Holly stood and nodded, adding that I should text her if anything bad happens.

I picked Chloe up off of the couch and carried her to my room. She wrapped her legs around my waist and planted a kiss on my cheek.

"You know, my boyfriend isn't gonna like this too much." She slurred her speech as I placed her on my bed.

I stifled a laugh, knowing that this really wasn't funny but also slightly amused at Chloe's complete oblivion.

"Chlo, I am your boyfriend."

Chloe narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head.

"No, my boyfriend doesn't love me anymore. You're not him."

My heart broke as she spoke those words, and I knew that Chloe was in no place to have a logical conversation. I took off the t-shirt I was wearing and handing it to Chloe, after I helped her take off her sweater and skirt. It was barely long enough to cover her body, but I couldn't look at her as being sexy right now. Even though she giggled as she stared up at me, I could sense the pain in her eyes and still felt the heart break in her words.

I put a few pillows behind her head and helped her lay down, trying to help her relax. She wiggled around a bit, before nestling into my side. She mumbled incoherently a bit, before her breathing evened out and she fell asleep. I felt my eyes sting as I realized how much I had hurt her. I couldn't believe I had let her believe I didn't love her.

Notes