Who Dares Sins

"Okay, okay - my turn!" said Emma excitedly, spinning a bottle that sat in the middle of an oblong of four people on the living room floor. The imperfectly balanced bottle spun around imperfectly and eventually came to a stop, the head of the bottle pointing at Scarlett. She smiled, and asked Scarlett a question to which there was seldom a very willing answer - "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," Scarlett replied, and Emma asked her best friend something that Scarlett had to answer truthfully.

"Did you eat the last of the rum truffles last night?"

Marcus and Tom - the other participants in the game and the two completing the oblong - laughed at the question. Scarlett herself rolled her eyes, then chuckled. "Yes, I finished the last of the rum truffles..."

"I knew it was you!" Emma exclaimed triumphantly, though that was perhaps likely given that rum truffles were one of Scarlett's favourites. Still, Emma wanted to hear her admit it, and it contented her.

"Was that really your question?" Scarlett jokingly queried, slightly puzzled and bemused by it.

"Yes!" Emma retorted, "I was going to save some for when I get back later."

"Sorry..." Scarlett apologised through gritted teeth and a furrowed brow, though how genuine her apology was would be up for debate.

"Your turn, babe," said Emma to the man beside her, and Marcus - Emma's boyfriend - leant forward and spun the bottle on its spot. It stopped spinning and pointed back at himself, so he spun it again, and this time it directed itself toward the person beside him.

"Looky here," he taunted his girlfriend, "Truth or dare?"

"Dare!" she cheered eagerly, and Marcus' face lit up.

"What shall I have you do?" he joked, and Emma giggled as Marcus' hand lightly tickled her abdomen - "I dare you... to kiss me!" It wasn't much of a dare given they kissed all the time due to their being in a relationship, though they took any excuse they could find to lock lips. Lock lips they did, not simply planting a peck on their respective lips, and perhaps more ardently so than was appropriate for such a game.

"Get a room," Scarlett groaned, watching her best friend make out with her boyfriend while both she and Tom sat there somewhat uncomfortably.

"Don't worry," teased Emma, taking pause from making out with her partner, "I'll kiss you next," then winked at her.

Scarlett was partial to making out - and more - with both men

and

women, though had never and would never do anything more than that with her best friend, no matter how hot she admittedly was. Besides, as much as she did like women, she liked men more, and exploring that side of herself and other women was never going to be anything more than a fling. "Are you done?" Scarlett interjected with her eyebrows raised, an element of disbelief on her face, "It's my turn."

Scarlett didn't wait for them to be done and instead spun the bottle, and it once again landed on her seemingly amorous best friend. "Me again?" Emma scoffed at the bottle.

"Hmm, let's see..." Scarlett pondered, wondering what to ask Emma or have her do, depending on her answer.

Having just done a dare, this time Emma responded with "Truth". This was music to Scarlett's ears, as like Emma had interrogated her about the mystery of the missing rum truffles, there was another mystery in this abode which had Scarlett a little irked.

"So, Emma, did you leave an empty bottle of hair conditioner in the shower earlier?"

People leaving finished and empty containers around rather than disposing of them was a pet peeve of Scarlett's, whether it was her best friend's doing or not, and while she wasn't familiar with Tom's or Marcus' hair care routines, she did at least know that Emma used hair conditioner frequently. Emma groaned, "I was in a hurry." Scarlett was aggrieved yet reassured having learnt who the culprit was, regardless of whether she had suspected Emma or not, and now they were even. Not for the first time in their friendship, Scarlett shot Emma a disapproving look, and Emma all but apologised. "I won't do it again." Scarlett would believe it when she saw it.

"My turn," said Tom, bringing to an end what could hardly be called a confrontation between best friends. He spun the bottle and it landed on his male counterpart, and Marcus waited expectantly. "Truth or dare?" Tom asked him, and Marcus opted for truth. "What are your hopes for tonight?"

Tom was referring to the night out on the town that Marcus and Emma would be setting out on shortly, as soon as their Uber arrived, and Marcus hoped that his impromptu make-out session with his girlfriend continued later, and perhaps even turned into something else. Tom had expected this answer, hence why he asked the question, and Emma smacked Marcus playfully and blushed. If they were going to make out and make Scarlett and himself somewhat uncomfortable, then he was going to return the favour.

"Your turn," said Tom, gesturing toward Emma, and Emma flashed him a quick look of acknowledgement and continued the game. This time it landed on Marcus, and Emma asked him the question.

"Truth," he said, and what Emma asked him left the other two players wishing they were elsewhere.

"Do you

wuv

me?" Emma asked her partner with puppy dog eyes, and Marcus, of course, validated her question.

"Oh my God..." Scarlett rolled her eyes, the two lovebirds making her feel somewhat sick, and she moved the game on quickly, hoping that the bottle would choose anyone but those two again.

"Marcus, you're up," she said shortly, ushering him to move on from the lovey-dovey antics, successfully breaking up the stomach-turning display of affection which Alkaline Trio put so astutely:

Love love, kiss kiss... blah blah blah

You're making me sick

I wish you'd just stop showing off

For the rest of us that no one wants to love

It's hard enough trying to drink another winter all alone

Love love, kiss kiss... blah blah blah

Marcus could sense Scarlett's sense of urgency and, wary of not getting on his housemate's bad side, he turned his attention away from his girlfriend and back to the game. He spun the bottle once again, and it came to a stop upon Scarlett.

"Truth or dare," he asked her, and she opted for a truth to move their spontaneous game of truth or dare along quickly before Marcus and Emma left for the evening. "Why don't you have a boyfriend?" he asked, Marcus and Emma appearing to have some sort of pact between them to ask the other participants the most uncomfortable questions and dares they could. Emma chuckled at the question and teased her friend.

"Yeah, why don't you? You've been single for a while, and I

know

how much you miss that vitamin

D

."

Tom blushed, wide-eyed, and Marcus laughed at Emma's comment. Scarlett was taken aback by it and couldn't help but giggle herself - Emma always had a way with words that seldom beat around the proverbial bush. "I..." she stuttered, "I've just been keeping my options open, that's all, and I could well have had plenty of vitamin D since then and you just haven't heard about it."

"Ha!" Emma scoffed, "I can tell when you've had some and when you haven't, and I know that you're in a dry spell - maybe 'drought' would be more appropriate."

Scarlett's jaw dropped in disbelief and a smile emerged on her face, unable to help herself from chortling, knowing that Emma's comments were being made in good spirits, yet they left her surprised nonetheless. "Emma!" she howled, Marcus almost on his back with laughter, "Don't pretend you weren't in a drought yourself before you met Marcus." That

was

true, though she and Marcus had been together for some time now and there had been no signs of a drought during that period.

"And look at me now," Emma responded, a giant grin on her face, "I'm practically overdosing on vitamin D."

Tom closed his eyes and shook his head subtly, the humour of it all getting to him. "Moving on..." Scarlett said, spinning the bottle, eager to direct attention away from her sex life so long as it was being ridiculed. The bottle spun and the participants watched on, and it eventually came to a stop on Tom. "Truth or dare?" she asked.

"We've not had a dare in a while, so I'll go with dare," he replied.

"Oooh, how

daring.

" The other three rolled their eyes at her pun, not appreciating it like it deserved. "Okay, I dare you... to dance without music!" Tom shook his head again, chuckling, wishing that he had said 'truth' instead. Dancing wasn't his strong suit, and it was even less so when there was no music to groove and move to. Emma and Marcus egged him on, and being a man of his word, Tom stood up and fulfilled the dare given to him by Scarlett. The three on the floor watched on, finding that watching someone dance without music was tremendously entertaining and amusing, while Tom found that dancing without music and being watched and laughed at all the while was neither of those things.

After a minute or so, Tom stopped and gratefully sat back down on the floor, his cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, his housemates still giggling away. "I'd like to see you try!" he addressed all three of them, before spinning the bottle without a second thought to move things swiftly on. It landed on Emma. "Truth or dare?" the aspiring dancer asked.

"There's no chance I'm doing a dare - I know what you'll have me do! So, truth." Tom's opportunity for revenge had gone before it even had a chance to come around, so he had to make do with asking her a truth.

"How many times has Scarlett had to look after you after you've had a few too many drinks?"

"Too many!" Scarlett chortled, answering the question intended for Emma, believing that she couldn't count how many times on just her two hands.

"A few," said Emma, nonchalantly.

"A '

few

'?!" Scarlett retorted, "A damn sight more than a few, and I hope there isn't another episode tonight!" Emma liked to party, liked to drink, and wasn't all that good at either handling her drink or moderating her consumption of it, and Scarlett was - more often than not - the unfortunate soul who had to take care of her and, occasionally, clean up after her. Scarlett enjoyed doing neither of those things, but did them anyway when the need arose because that's what good friends do.

"Keep an eye on her tonight won't you, Marcus?" Scarlett pleaded, urging Emma's boyfriend to monitor how much she drank tonight, "You can take care of her tonight if things go south."

"Small price to pay for being the life of the party," Emma clapped back, though her penchant for overindulging in alcohol wasn't shared by everyone. Tom and Scarlett brushed off that comment, well aware that one could be the life of a party and have plenty of good time with just a bit of alcohol, or even none whatsoever.

"Your turn, party girl," quipped Tom, and Emma continued this small party game between friends. The bottle spun around, completing an indeterminate number of rotations before it eventually came to a stop, pointing back at the quick-witted Tom.

"Tom!" Emma beamed, a giant grin on her face and look in her eye that made Tom feel a bit uneasy. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth..." Tom said without much conviction in his voice, wary of choosing that but feeling like he shouldn't have chosen 'dare' last time.

"Ooooo, truth - I was hoping you'd say that..." His feeling of unease was perhaps warranted after all, and he waited for what she was going to ask him without taking another breath until she had.

"So, Tom, tell us - what do you think of Scarlett? Do you think she's physically attractive?" Tom's eyes bulged and felt like they were going to pop right out of their sockets like popcorn from a kernel, and he glanced a swift look toward Scarlett and their eyes met momentarily, then he quickly directed his gaze elsewhere, his cheeks beginning to warm and flush with life. Scarlett herself was uneasy being indirectly put on the spot like this by her best friend, again, following her prodding into her sex life, aware of what she was trying to do but too embarrassed to say anything to put a stop to it. Marcus, on the other hand, was giddy.

"Oh, that's a good one!" he lauded his girlfriend, pushing her playfully. Tom's and Scarlett's efforts to change the subject to something less adult with the couple opposite them acting like teenagers were in vain. They were more than happy to talk about sex and romance, just with people of a more...

mature

disposition. It was just like being back at secondary school, Scarlett thought to herself, countless summer nights spent playing such games as a teenager just as they reached the age to explore their feelings - both emotional and physical.

However, now that they were no longer in their teens and hadn't been for some years and were living vicariously through nostalgia, this question somehow felt more exposing. Perhaps living with and sharing a home with the person in question made it so - he couldn't run home and hide in his room anymore. What was he going to say? What

could

he say? By the rules of the game, he had to tell the truth, but it's not like he was sworn to it, and a fleeting thought shot through his mind to avoid answering the question, but was aware that avoiding answering it might be even more telling.

Did Tom find Scarlett physically attractive? Yes, but that was an understatement. What he thought of Scarlett's physical appearance felt much too embarrassing and exposing to say out loud and confess, not least to Scarlett herself or in her presence. He thought that she was gorgeous, utterly fucking gorgeous, and he oft found himself getting lost in her evocative eyes - the prettiest eyes he had ever or

would

ever see - and the flowing, vermillion strands of her hair. Just as though he was indeed back at school, Tom had a crush on her and a hefty one at that.

He'd always had a fancy for redheads, even from those days of yore, and it remained to the present day - Scarlett was his type and if Tom had to identify his ideal woman, then there was a good chance that it would look a lot like her. Marcus knew this too. He'd known Tom for a long time, and, to him, it was no secret that Tom had a thing for redheads, but this was a gap in both Emma's and Scarlett's knowledge, though it would remain so for only a little while longer. "Err..." he bumbled, Scarlett's eyes looking nervously around the room while she sat beside him. "I..."

"You what?" prompted Emma, unkindly brightening the proverbial spotlight on her housemate.

"She's... she's very pret--" he said, almost under his breath, and before he had a chance to finish, fate interrupted him.

*Ding!*

"That's our Uber," said Marcus, his phone pinging and vibrating with a notification.

"Have fun, guys, don't drink too much!!" urged Scarlett as the couple hurried out the door, who were unlikely to heed her advice which was given due to numerous previous instances of decadence. Mollycoddling a drunk Emma while she throws up her guts - hopefully into the toilet - in the early hours of the morning was not how Scarlett wanted to spend her night.

The ears of the two remaining players registered the muffled sounds of car doors closing, then of a car engine revving and growing fainter as it grew distant, until there was no sound at all, leaving Scarlett and Tom on their lonesome. A few moments passed by unspoken, silent, and awkward. "Well, what do you want to do now?" asked Tom, breaking the silence with his admittedly suave voice.

"We could keep playing if you like?" suggested Scarlett, seemingly not yet ready to bring this trip down memory lane to an end.

"Okay, sure," said Tom, "Though we don't need this anymore, now that it's just us playing". He was talking about the bottle, and he was right, it had served its purpose. "Would you like to go first?" he politely asked her.

"Actually..." said Scarlett, "You didn't finish your last truth..." Tom had thought that he had been saved by the, well, not the bell, but the Uber, though that didn't quite have the same ring to it. As it turned out, providence had not befallen him, and he suddenly wished that he hadn't agreed to continue the game. "You were saying?" prodded Scarlett, curious to hear Tom finish what he was about to say about her.

The room was more spacious now that Marcus and Emma were gone, yet, to Tom, it somehow felt smaller. The walls seemed to close in around him, and finishing the sentence that he had started surely wasn't going to make living together awkward or anything. To be fair, Tom could be excused for having a crush on her, because if you asked any man - or any woman for that matter - the same question that Tom had been asked, then the response would be unanimous. His thinking that she was attractive was hardly a revelation, he thought.

Still, it was one thing to think it and quite another thing to share it, not least with the subject matter, and even though the two troublemakers had left the game, the room, and the house for the evening, Tom felt just as nervous answering Emma's question in only Scarlett's presence. After a few more unspoken moments, Tom plucked up the courage to finish what he started a couple of minutes ago. "I was going to say that I thought you were pretty," he said, coyly.

"You '

were

', and you '

thought

' I was pretty? You mean you don't think I

am

pretty?" Scarlett responded.

"No no, I

do

think you're pretty," Tom corrected himself, but Scarlett knew that, she was just teasing him.

"Aww, thank you," she said, fluttering her eyelashes at him, "That's very kind of you. But...

just

'pretty'?" She teased him some more, cruelly delighting in how uncomfortable it was making him, her observation of his reaction assuring her that he clearly thought that she was more than 'just pretty'. "So, why do you think I'm pretty?" she asked him, "Do you have a thing for redheads or something?"

"Isn't it my turn now?" Tom bemusedly responded, "I just answered your - or Emma's - question."

"I suppose it is," Scarlett replied, her ruse to try and get away with sneaking in another question having been foiled.

"So, truth or dare?" Tom asked her.

"Truth," she answered, still wary of Tom perhaps holding a grudge about being made to dance without music and getting his own back through her, despite Emma being the one who dared him.

"What did you think of my moves?" he asked, referring to the soundtrack-free dance he'd been dared to do.

Scarlett laughed. "I only chose 'truth' because I was scared you were going to dare

me

to do it!"

"It crossed my mind," Tom replied with a smile on his face.

"I didn't think they were half-bad given you had no music," Scarlett confessed, and given how talented a dancer Scarlett herself was, Tom would take 'not half-bad' from her as a big compliment. "My turn," Scarlett said eagerly, keen to get back to her line of questioning. "Do you have a thing for redheads?" she asked, repeating the question that Tom had previously refused to answer, and rightly so due to the rules of the game.

"Hold on," Tom interjected, "You're supposed to ask me 'truth or dare?'."

"Oh yeah, sorry," Scarlett apologised, but then realised that he now knew what she was going to ask him if he said 'truth'. "You're just gonna say 'dare' now, aren't you..." she said, looking at Tom with puppy dog eyes.

"Depends on whether I'll have to dance again," was his response, and Scarlett looked at him with an expression that suggested that was exactly what he'd have to do. "...Truth."

Scarlett's face beamed with a giant smile, appeased by his response, and then she cleared her throat. "Do you have a thing for redheads?" she asked, looking at him with a look in her eye which was subtly flirtatious.