Last and Forever

by Brooke, Rebecca

I glanced back over at him, to make sure he hadn’t left, on my way over to talk to Mitch. Someone had to take him home and I had a feeling if I didn’t something bad would happen. Aiden didn’t need that and neither did Chloe. She didn’t deserve to grow up without either of her parents.

  “Hey.”

  Mitch turned to look at me, his brows drawn together. “Everything okay?”

  “No, it’s really not. Look, I’m sorry…”

  “Lexi…don’t do this again.”

  I covered his hand where it rested on the bar. “Someone has to take him home.”

  “Okay, order him an Uber. They’ll get him home.”

  The hairs on the back on my neck rose. “You want me to put him in an Uber like that and hope he gets home okay? Are you crazy?”

  He lifted the bottle in his hands up. “Fine, let me finish this drink. I’ll help you get him home, then we come back out and finish our night.”

  “I wasn’t taking him home.”

  He stopped the bottle halfway to his lips and turned to face me. “What do you mean you’re not taking him home? Where the hell are you taking him?”

  “He refuses to go back to his place, so I was going to take him back to my house.”

  Mitch narrowed his eyes. “Of course he doesn’t want to go back to his house. Why would he want to do that when you’re so willing to take him home?”

  He reached into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet.

  “Damn, Mitch, have a little compassion. His wife died. It’s not like I’m taking him home so we can have a sex marathon.”

  Mitch scoffed. “That’s your theory. I doubt he’s thinking the same. I know I wouldn’t be.” His eyes traveled down my body with a leer.

  My stomach churned at the look in his eyes and I took a step back. Crossing my arms over my chest, I stared him down. “Are you mad that I’m taking him home, or that it means you can’t go home with me?”

  Mitch reached for me, but I took another step back. “Lexi, you’re twisting my words.”

  “And you’re not understanding that Aiden has been my friend since we were children. I won’t let him fumble his way through getting home, not when I can do something about it.”

  “Lexi…don’t go.”

  “Good night, Mitch. Don’t bother calling unless you find a way to pry your head out of your ass.”

  I spun on my heel and headed back to where I left Aiden, except he wasn’t there. Tons of people surrounded me, but I couldn’t see him anywhere. I stood on my tiptoes and scanned the crowd.

  I’d almost searched the whole room when I finally spotted his shaggy brown hair and scruff standing by the door. Or should I say leaning against the wall by the door. His eyelids drooped as his head fell forward.

  I pushed through the crowd until I could reach him and wrapped my arm around his waist and threw his arm over my shoulder.

  “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”

  “Not home,” he mumbled, his words slurring together.

  “No, not home, but you need to tell me what kind of car you have and where your keys are.”

  Hopefully, he’d been an idiot and driven to the bar to drink himself into oblivion. We’d taken Mitch’s car and there was no way I’d go back inside and ask him to drive us home.

  “It’s over there.” He pointed to the left of the parking. I turned us in that direction, hoping that he’d recognize his own car in the condition he was in.

  “What color is it?”

  “Black.” His voice was getting softer and softer. I tried to move us faster. If he was going to pass out, I wanted him to do it in the car. I could deal with how to get him out when I got back to my place instead of trying to figure out how to get him in the car in a crowded parking lot.

  “Here.” He stopped moving beside a black expensive as hell SUV. The sheer price tag of the car reminded me just how much Aiden made while with Violet Obsession. Even owning my own practice it would take me years to save for a car like that. And he’d walked away from it all.

  I held my hand out to him. “Keys.”

  He tried to look at me, but swayed on his feet instead.

  “Keys,” I said again.

  This time, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a key fob.

  “No key,” he mumbled.

  I took the key fob from his hand and unlocked the car. After moving us between his car and the one next to us, I opened the door.

  “You have to help me.” I moved my hand from his shoulder and wrapped both around his waist, using my own weight to brace us both.

  “Put your left foot inside.”

  He lifted his right foot.

  “Other one.”

  He switched and placed it inside the car. With that small movement, I was able to push him up until he landed in the seat. His head lolled to one side. I tugged the seat belt over his lap and clicked it into place before walking around the back and hopping into the driver’s seat.

  The leather of the seat was buttery soft. God, Aiden was tall. My feet didn’t even come close to reaching the pedals. I adjusted the seat and mirrors, then I searched the dash for the push button to start the car.

  I backed out of the space slowly, afraid to put any kind of dent on the car. I breathed a sigh of relief when I made it out and to the street. Now I just had to get us home. With my hands at ten and two, I gripped the steering wheel tight. My eyes darting in every direction to make sure nothing was going to jump out and hit us. The fear was irrational, but the car was more than I could afford to replace.

  “I don’t want to sleep.” I slowed to a stop at the red light and glanced over at Aiden. The light from the streetlamp illuminated his face. His eyes were open, but completely unfocused.

  “You need to sleep.”

  “I don’t want to see that day anymore.”

  The light turned green and I started forward again. I flinched, thinking he might be talking about the day Christine died, but that didn’t stop my curious mind or my big mouth from asking. “What day?”

  He sniffled. “The sea of black with a small dot a pink in the center. Do you know they don’t make baby dresses in black? They have every color of the rainbow, even white, except black.”

  My chest ached at the thought of Aiden standing at Christine’s grave holding his newborn daughter. I didn’t want to think it was reality, but deep down I knew that was exactly what he was talking about.

  “I’m sorry you even had to look for something like that.”

  “Everyone thought I should leave her home. Get someone to watch her during the funeral.” He moved his head from side to side on the headrest. “I couldn’t do it. She deserved to know that she was there. That she had one last chance to say goodbye.” His voice had grown thicker and I knew it had nothing to do with the alcohol. My own eyes blurred hearing the pain in his voice.

  I wanted to take it all away. To find the Aiden I’d always known. The man who loved and lived life to the fullest had become a shadow of himself.

  I pulled next to my car in the driveway and laid my hand on his leg.

  “I think you made the right decision. She had the same right as everyone else to say goodbye to her mother.”

  “I’m not sure I can do it.” He shook his head, his words slurred and no longer making sense.

  “Not sure you can do what?” I knew I should be getting him out of the car, but he was talking and I was afraid if I stopped him he’d never open up again, to anyone.

  “How am I supposed to raise Chloe without her mom? She was so much better at everything than I am. I know me. I’m gonna fuck it all up.”

  A tear rolled down my cheek. “No, you won’t. All you need to do is love her. The rest will fall into place. Chloe is very lucky to have you as a dad.”

  “Good you think so. I’m not so sure.” His eyes started to flutter closed.

  I shoved at his shoulder. “No, no. You can’t sleep yet. We need to get inside first.”

  I jumped out of the car and ran ar
ound to the other side, yanking open the door. If I didn’t get Aiden into the guest bedroom on his own two feet, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t have a chance of getting him inside.

  “Come on, let’s get you inside.” I popped the seat belt and looped my arm through his.

  “Do I have to?”

  “Yes.” I tugged on his arm, forcing him to put his foot down in the driveway to keep whatever balance he might have left.

  He managed to get both feet on the ground before swaying to the point of almost falling. I grabbed his hand and tugged it over my shoulder. With my other arm around his waist, I maneuvered us to the front door.

  His eyes were almost fully closed and his weight grew heavier the closer we got. Afraid to let him go, I kept my arm around his waist and used the other to open the door. Leaving it open, I forced him down the hall to the guest room with nothing more than sheer adrenaline, more than happy with my choice of a one-story house.

  We barely made it into the room and next to the bed before he fell face first into it. The sound of snoring hit my ears. Somehow he managed to fall the right way and land with his face on the pillow. Confident that he wasn’t going anywhere, I left the room to shut and lock the car, then the front door. I shut out the porch light and walked back down the hall to check on Aiden.

  He curled up in on himself while I was gone. There were heavy bags under his eyes. Normally you would expect a person’s face to relax into a peaceful slumber. Not Aiden. His features were tight and clenched even as he was in a deep sleep.

  How did you help someone who was obviously still so broken?

  I didn’t think I had an answer, but as his friend I planned on trying to find one. It was clear that nothing else had helped, his parents, his other friends, nothing. And I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t try. I removed his shoes and pulled a blanket up on top of him. Satisfied he’d be comfortable, I walked the rest of the way down the hall to my room.

  Reaching behind my back, I yanked on the zipper of my dress, letting it pool into a pile at my feet. I stepped out of it and walked over to the dresser, where I grabbed a T-shirt to wear to bed.

  After a quick trip to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth, I slid beneath the sheets. My mind never once straying from the man I found sitting at the bar tonight.

  He needed my help, someone’s help. Hell, anyone’s help. But knowing Aiden he had shut everyone out. It was how he had always been. Well, it was time to stop.

  Tomorrow, when he finally got up and could stand on his own two feet, I was taking him to breakfast and I was going to make him talk to me. No more of 3:00 a.m. cryptic conversations or drunk ramblings. He had to talk about it before he could move on. And if no one else was going to force him to do that, I would.

  10

  Aiden

  The pounding of jackhammers in my brain was the first indication that I’d gone way too far the night before. Light burned through my eyelids, making my head scream out even more. I cracked one eye open. The light made me slam my eye shut again.

  My stomach lurched. Taking deep breaths, I tried to keep whatever I decided to drink last night from making a reappearance. When I thought I could open my eyes without puking all over the floor, I opened one eye and braced for the light that would hit.

  I blinked a few times, trying to bring the room into focus. Eventually an unfamiliar room filled my vision. Light blue walls I’d never seen before surrounded me.

  Where the hell was I?

  I ran my hand down my face, but didn’t move an inch. My eyes wandered around the room. White curtains blew in the breeze and a small dresser sat on the other side of the room, a vase a flowers resting on top.

  Jesus, I’d gotten myself into a mess.

  I pushed up to a sitting position and froze as my stomach started to churn again. I shielded my eyes against the light while I waited out another wave of nausea.

  All of my clothes were still in place and my shoes sat on the floor not far from the bed. Whoever brought me home must’ve taken them off.

  I tried to remember anything from the night before, but the last clear memory I had was of Jim and Carla picking up Chloe for the weekend, then heading to the bar. Everything else was a blur.

  Wherever I was I wanted to get out of there before I could make any more of a fool of myself.

  God, what kind of father was I? The first night I had to myself I went out and got so completely shit-faced I had no idea where the hell I ended up.

  As much as my body protested, I reached for my shoes and slipped them onto my feet. I stood and swayed.

  Shit.

  The rest of the day was going to suck, but once I got myself home from where I’d ended up, I could sleep off the rest of the alcohol.

  I felt along my pockets, in search of my keys, which were nowhere to be found. A quick glance around the room and I still came up empty. They had to be somewhere between here and the front door, wherever that was.

  All of my muscles ached as I walked toward the door. Even my fingers hurt as they wrapped around the knob. Pounding head, protesting stomach, and aching muscles, could today get any worse?

  When I stepped out into the hall, I found myself still as lost as I was in the unknown room. I had no idea whether right or left would take me to the front door. I looked to the left when something else caught my attention. The scent of coffee filled my nose. Looked like I’d have to deal with the owner of the house after all.

  I realized that the scent had come from the right. With slow, measured steps, I followed the smell. I figured the kitchen was near the main living room of the house.

  Better to get the embarrassment and apologies out of the way before heading home to my own bed, or couch. If I hadn’t been an idiot last night I could’ve ended up there instead of trying to tiptoe my way out of a stranger’s place.

  As the end of the hall came into view, the scent of coffee grew stronger. That was when I caught a savory whiff of bacon. On a normal day my stomach would be trying to crawl out to get to it, but not today. Today, both me and my stomach wanted nothing to do with food for the next few hours. Or days.

  I emerged from the hall and came to a screeching stop. Sitting about five feet from me was…Lexi. She sat at a small table in the corner of her kitchen. A mug of coffee sat in front of her. For a brief moment, I thought about sneaking in the other direction in search of the front door. The floorboards creaked beneath my feet, and her head turned in my direction.

  “I didn’t expect you to be up for a few more hours.”

  I moved to shake my confusion off and thought better of any quick movement of my head. Resigned to the conversation we were sure to have, I walked forward. Maybe she could fill in the blanks from the night before.

  “You brought me home?”

  She set her mug down on the table in front of her. “Someone had to. I couldn’t leave you in the bar like that.”

  “I didn’t know you were at the bar.”

  “I’m not surprised.” She gestured me over. “Sit. You look like you’re about to hurl all over my kitchen.”

  She had a point. The longer I stayed on my feet, the more my stomach churned. I tugged out the chair and dropped down into it, unable to take it anymore. The desire to lay my head down on her table and go back to sleep overwhelmed me.

  No longer freaked out by the thought of being in a complete stranger’s house, the tension leaked from my muscles, making me realize how much worse I felt than I originally thought.

  “If I don’t remember you being there, how the hell did you get me back here?”

  She lifted her mug back her lips, taking a sip before setting back down in front of her. “Let’s say it was an adventure. Somehow you were able to stay awake long enough for me to get you inside and down the hall.”

  “Is my car still at the bar?”

  “No, I drove it back. Mitch had picked me up to go out for the night.”

  I groaned and ran a hand down my face. “You were out on
a date and left to take care of my ass?”

  “I couldn’t leave you there like that.” I heard something in her voice, but the alcohol still had control of my brain.

  “Why not just dump me at home and go back to your date?”

  She didn’t answer me and I looked up at her to see why. Her hands were wrapped tightly around the mug, her thumbs running along the rim of the cup. Her eyes were firmly rooted to the table.

  “You didn’t want to go home.”

  My eyes slid shut as I imagined what I’d said on the way home that made Lexi look like she wanted to cry.

  “I’m pretty sure my decisions last night shouldn’t have been trusted.”

  She stood and walked around the table and farther into the kitchen. She grabbed a couple of plates from the cabinet to the left of the sink and set them on the counter. Before long, scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon were overflowing on each one as she carried them over to the table.

  The aroma filled my nose, making my stomach churn once again. Lexi set two forks on the table, then took her seat again. When she glanced at me, she lifted a brow and giggled.

  “Should I take the green tint to your skin to mean you’re not hungry?”

  I covered my mouth as my stomach protested once again. “Not really,” I muttered from behind my fingers.

  Lexi rolled her eyes. “I was hoping we could talk, but you’re in no condition for the conversation I want to have.”

  “And what conversation is that?”

  “One we can have later.” She got up again and walked back around the table to the cabinet, where she took down a glass and filled it with water. When she returned a few moments later, she had the glass and a large container of Advil. “Right now, take two of these and head back to bed since you don’t have to find a way to sneak out of a stranger’s place.”

  Not surprising she knew exactly what I’d been thinking. She always had, didn’t mean I’d admit it. I wrapped my fingers around the cool glass. “I wasn’t trying to sneak out.”

  “Really? I’m pretty sure if your keys had been in your pocket you would have tiptoed past the kitchen without even trying to figure out whose house you ended up in.”