Be Your Downfall

by Lizzie Fox

  “Hey. Should he be doing that to everyone? Sorta sends the wrong message, huh?” I commented, shakily turning to slap Shane.

  “Nonsense,” Sabrina slurred with a laugh. “He’s pretending it’s you. That’s okay, right?”

  The loud rock song ended, there was a long drum and guitar riff, and Seth set his guitar down, bowing his head gently, obviously indicating the show was over. Already?

  “So, hey, the members of Night Addiction and I just want to say thank you for coming out. Normally we like to do a bit of a question and answer session, but I just noticed my friends are trying to get my girlfriend drunk off her ass and I have to go kill someone,” Seth said into the mic, and his words were followed by round of “awwws” and “booos.” And some laughter, actually.

  “You can find us on Facebook and we’ll answer questions there, and we’ll see you later this summer at the Wisconsin Summerfest!” Anthony said into his own mic, as Seth suddenly jumped off the stage deftly to his feet—it wasn’t like it was very high but to drunk me it was pretty impressive—and he kicked one of his damned long legs over the barrier and promptly took me into his arms.

  “Whoa, honey. You’re pretty wasted there, aren’t you?” He asked, as I slumped into him, giggling stupidly. “Damn it guys… you were supposed to watch out for her, not kill her with booze.”

  “We were! She was having fun!” Shane insisted, raising his drink. The crowd around us was a dull roar in my ears and I flinched at it.

  Seth scowled at him. “We’re going to have a talk later, bro.” He shook his finger at him and it made me laugh uncontrollably.

  “Ohh, the sexy singer guy is getting mad,” I slurred. “Better watch out he might spank you.”

  “He can spank me any day!” Hollered an unfamiliar voice from nearby. I scowled into the blurry audience.

  “Ha ha,” Seth said, rolling his eyes. “Okay, Jess. Let’s get you out of here and get you home to bed.” To my chagrin and shock, he practically lifted me under the shoulders and let me slump against his shoulder.

  “Oh piss…” I groaned, wincing when the door opened and my eyes were assaulted with bright light. “I must be a vampire, that hurts.”

  “Nah, honey. You just drank too much. It’s fine, I got you. But we need to settle you a bit before we drive home. Okay?”

  “Okay…”

  Seth guided me through the corridors to the backroom area, kicked open the door, and promptly sat me on one of the sofas. I giggled, feeling the room tilt and spin. “You didn’t eat much for dinner, did you?”

  “Sure did. Had a margarita for dinner. Was good.” I flashed him an innocent look, and Seth just smiled widely.

  “Ah, that’s right. Well…” He seemed to be scanning the room, and finding what he wanted, he stood, prying my arms that were tightly wrapped around him off. “Be right back.”

  I pouted, severely disturbed by his absence.

  “Here, honey. This might help a little.” Seth returned sitting beside me, reaching for my hands and setting a cup of warm liquid in them. “Drink it.”

  I eyed the black substance strangely. “Is this blood? I really am a vampire!”

  Seth bit his smirk. “If I say yes will you drink it?”

  “Oh… okay. But I’d rather take it from you, because you’re such a hottie,” I said, lifting a finger and awkwardly brushing it along his chest until I landed at his stomach. “You know…” I poked him gently, and he seemed to watch me with amusement. “I could really love you if you keep this up.”

  Whatever it was I said made him blanch. I drank the hot liquid, wincing as the bitter substance trailed down my throat. “Ugh! Whoever had this blood must have been rotten! This sucks!”

  Seth stifled a laugh. “I’m sorry, honey. Best I could do. Could you still love me anyway?”

  I pressed my lips together in a thoughtful smile. “Hmm…” I set a hand on the side of his face, narrowing my eyes and regarding him with seriousness. “Yeah. Yeah I definitely do.”

  “Do?”

  “Huh?” I retorted. Seth was wide-eyed, and he shook his head, muttering something under his breath. He ran his fingers through the length of my hair, brushing his fingers gently over my cheek. I sighed happily, sinking into him.

  “Dude. Uh…peace offering?” I quickly sat up, when the door was opened and someone entered. I couldn’t quite tell who it was, things were too blurry. I was going to yell, but whoever it was had food, and it smelled divine.

  “Wes.” Ah, so that’s who it was.

  “Yeah. I really got it for me but I figured she could use it more,” Wes said with a half grin. I was surprised, seeing him in front of us suddenly. When did that happen? “Hey, do you like turkey and cheese?”

  Squinting, I pointed at him. I didn’t know why, but I did. “Sure I do.”

  “Bro, I’m really sorry for what I said earlier,” Wes said to Seth earnestly, holding out his hand.

  Seth grimaced, but sighed, returning the gesture by clapping his with Wes’. “Fine. But so fucking help me, Greenway, if I hear one fucking word about you saying—”

  “I won’t. I swear. Really, I just want you to be happy. I acted like a complete ass, and I’m sorry.” He seemed to be speaking to me, too, and I had no idea what it was about.

  “If the sandwich is good, I’ll let you off the hook,” I said, shaking a warning finger at him. This just made both guys laugh. “What?”

  “Just eat up a bit so I can take you home. Are you okay with that?” He asked, running his fingers over my hair, pushing it back behind my ear.

  “What are we going to do when we get home?” I asked hopefully.

  “Bed. We’ll go to bed.” Seth was straight-faced, but I took it dirtily and started laughing mischievously.

  “I like that idea.”

  “Okay, okay. Let’s get you home, honey.”

  “Don’t you have to like… help or something?” I asked in confusion.

  “I got that bro. Go home,” Wes insisted, and Seth seemed to nod at him thankfully.

  I’d eaten about half of the sandwich, all the fries—and Seth stopped me before I could puke and he led me out of the club to the parking lot.

  “Oh hell.” The chilly Wisconsin night air was a total shock on my alcohol-inebriated, heated flesh. I felt my stomach roiling as he helped me into his truck.

  “You okay?” He asked, as I slumped against his shoulder. I sighed gently, feeling better being with him.

  “Yeah… I’m good now…” My eyes slid shut, blocking out the streetlights and headlights overhead as we drove that hurt my eyes, and I curled up against him the entire way home.

  29

  Seth

  “We’re home,” I said quietly, trying not to startle her from her rather heavy sleep on my shoulder. She passed out on it the second she sat down. This wasn’t exactly how I pictured her being at my first performance to be like, but I didn’t exactly mind it either.

  “What?” she asked groggily, trying to sit up, and immediately wincing. “Oh shit… what did I do?” Her words were still slurred, and even after the quick little nap it was obvious she was three sheets to the wind. I chuckled lightly.

  “Nothing, you just fell asleep. Let’s get you into bed.” Woozily she tried to sit upright, giggling gently when she didn’t quite make it, slumping back over the console of my truck. Biting my laugh, I turned the ignition off and pocketed the keys, and went to help her out, knowing there was a slight step she probably couldn’t navigate without falling.

  “Are you coming with me to bed?” Jessie asked, her face flushed and expression lazy as she reached out for me. I caught her hand, and pulled it over my shoulders.

  “Yes, I am. But you first.” Unbuckling her carefully, she nearly fell out of the truck into me. Thankfully I was stronger than I looked, and was able to keep her upright. “Let’s go…” Kicking the door shut behind her, I practically dragged her over the walk and up to the front door, retrieved my keys from my pocket and let us in
the house.

  She groaned, slapping her hand to her pretty face the second I turned on the light. “Think you can make it upstairs?”

  “Sure!” She said, with false confidence. “Is there an elevator?” She snorted loudly, and I had to literally pinch myself so I didn’t laugh. Really, it was adorable, even though she’d have a hell of a headache in the morning.

  “No, no elevator. Here, I got you.” She shrieked loudly when I picked her up under her legs and back and pulled her into me. She nestled into my sweaty chest—ew for her—and grinned lazily as I walked her up the stairs with only some effort, and set her in bed. I pulled down the covers, and helped her peel off her shoes, and pants and blouse. She grabbed a fistful of my shirt, and tried to yank me into her. Dear god help me… I pleaded in my mind, pointedly trying to keep my gaze away from the matching green lace bra and panties she was left in. I couldn’t take advantage of a drunk woman, girlfriend or not… But when she brushed her lips over mine, gently biting and tugging at my piercing I actively had to try not to groan. Even drunk, she was hot as hell.

  “Come on, baby. Come to bed, please?” She pleaded, her hands roaming all over the front of my sweaty tank, and daring to dip down into the waist of my jeans. Clenching my jaw and eyes shut and taking a breath before my cock turned hard—again—I grabbed her hands gently and pried them off of me.

  “I will, I’m just going to take a shower first. Okay? I smell funny,” I said with a cringe.

  “I don’t smell anything…”

  “You’re too nice,” I said, laughing. “Now just lay back and I’ll be back in a minute.”

  “Okay… I guess laying down is a good idea,” she said, suddenly clutching her head and frowning. She ungracefully lay down on the pillow, and I pulled her blankets over her. Shaking my head with a chuckle, I left to go quickly shower off the performance… alone.

  Ten minutes later, dressed in only a pair of boxer briefs, I returned to find Jessie was completely out. She didn’t even flinch when I sat down. “I’m gonna kill Shane in the morning,” I groused, cringing at the idea of going celibate tonight.

  Since there was nothing else to do, I curled up next to her, and fell asleep myself.

  I stared at the empty page of my notebook, swearing at it under my breath as I mindlessly bobbed the end of the pen I held against my cheek. I sighed lengthily, and glanced to the right out the window. The sun was bright, it had to be about mid-morning. I’d slept decently until about an hour ago when my phone rudely interrupted me from my cozy sleep.

  Jessie was still out like a light, and even in hangover mode she was still gorgeous, and I’d somehow tangled myself over her in our sleep. Thankfully when my phone started trilling obnoxiously she didn’t wake too early before the worst of her hangover would have probably subsided.

  Ian: Do you think you can have any new material for Tuesday? Or even before? I could really use some things to put up for the Summerfest; even if it’s just a little bit.

  I had grumbled at the idea. Yeah, okay… so I was the lyric writer. Great. But I’d never written songs that thirty-some-thousand people would hear all at once. The pressure was on, and making me feel a bit… irritable. Especially because the more I stared at the page, the more I scanned over my previous ideas, the more I went blank or hated it all. But I had to pull my head out of my ass. The Wisconsin Summerfest was a huge fucking deal and nerves or not, I didn’t want to blow it. Even if there would be no agents or anything there, it would still wind up all over the news and social media. No matter what I did though, my mind was drawing a blank.

  The sexy fucking brunette that kept accidentally rubbing herself against me all night and all morning certainly wasn’t helping either. I did pen a particularly dirty verse and chorus but it wasn’t something that’d be appropriate for this venue. Or anything but a porno, really…

  I finally texted in reply to Ian that I was working on it, and tossed my phone on the bed, cursing my writer’s block. Whining quietly to myself, I repeatedly smacked the notebook against my forehead. Come on, Archer. Think. It’s not that hard. Just a little chorus or something… all you need.

  “Nothing. Fuck.” I grumbled quietly, tossing the notebook and the pen in the same spot as the phone. Muttering unintelligibly, I slumped back down in bed. I felt a headache coming on in the back of my neck, and my stomach felt more than a little sour.

  Turning my head to the side, I smiled with contentment seeing Jessie’s peaceful, sleepy face on the pillow next to me. It’d been so long since I’d been with someone; someone that meant a lot to me. Even after this very short time, I was beginning to not recall a time when those green eyes or soft lips or sexy curves weren’t in my life. She just…fit.

  It’d been years since I’d felt this good. Years. Everything about her was good for me, from her honesty to her unequivocal support. Jessie seemed the type that was scared at first but once she was all in—that was it. I was the same way, I thought.

  I couldn’t believe my absolute fortune that she came back into my life. People don’t usually get a second chance with the one who got away.

  “Wait…” I lifted my pierced brow and sat up quickly. “Genius you are, honey…” I leaned over and carefully kissed her sleeping face. She stirred gently and smiled, but didn’t wake, and I felt… something heavy pull at my chest. It made me momentarily breathless and confused. I smacked my own face gently. “Focus, Archer. Just do it…”

  Reaching for the notebook before I quickly lost my train of thought, I was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing from next door. “Fuck,” I muttered. I didn’t want to move to answer it, not only because I could wake up Jessie but because I’d lose my train of thought. Go away, go away… I prayed silently, but when another ring and a knock sounded, it was clear they weren’t going anywhere.

  “Fuck.” Before the extra noise could wake up Jessie, I slid out of bed and found a pair of black pajama pants I’d left in here from the night before last, and quickly slid them on. I didn’t bother with a shirt—whoever was fucking interrupting me would deserve whatever disturbing view they got—and as the bell rang once more I shot down the stairs. “Coming, fuck! Keep your pants on!” I yelled to the annoyance on the other side of the door. I grabbed the doorknob and pulled it open, not even bothering to see who was on the other side. I didn’t care who it was, they were going to get an earful.

  “Seth.”

  No…

  It was about thirty seconds before it registered who it was at the door. The gruff, low voice, the familiar black hair and eyes and similarly sculpted jawline I saw every day when I looked in the mirror.

  My eyes narrowed severely. “Jeff. What the fuck are you doing here?”

  “I just want to talk… son.”

  30

  Seth

  The rage immediately boiled and heated my flesh, skin, and every pore of my body as I dared to snarl into his face. I uttered a gentle, dry chuckle though; the last time I saw this bastard—this worthless excuse for a human being—he towered over me by at least three inches. Now, I had at least two on him—the fucking asshole. Sure, he was still broader and wider than I, but who gave a shit? My fist was powerful if I needed it to be, propelled by sheer rage which I promised was more formidable than his muscle.

  This miserable excuse of a human, and the worst father in the world was standing here, at my door, calling me “son” and looking like nothing bad had ever happened between us. Like he’d never beat the shit out of me, like he never belittled and slapped my mother, like he didn’t rail on my poor, vulnerable sister—resulting in a permanent hospital stay.

  I clutched at the doorframe beside me for stability as I felt adrenaline surge and my heart slam like hammers against my ribcage. Immediately I felt my free hand curl into a fist, so hard that my short fingernails dug into the skin of my palms and nearly drew blood. As it was, I was biting my lip so hard I was pretty sure I’d accidentally torn my piercing from clamping down so hard.

  S
ucking in a deep breath, I forced myself to look at the fucker. The fucker who had my face, and he might have been actually good looking if I wasn’t so aware of what a worthless asshole he was. He stood there innocently, wearing a sharp, pressed black suit and gray shirt, his hair was cut shorter than I remembered. He basically looked nothing like the dirty rotten asshole he was: he appeared calm, cool, and professional.

  Nothing could be further than the truth.

  “Listen… I am going to give you five fucking seconds to get the fuck off my porch before I start throwing fists. Whatever you want—I don’t care. Get the fuck out of my house,” I said, glaring with menace. It didn’t matter that it was technically not my house, but who cared?

  He flashed a warm smile, but there was a serpent-like quality in those light brown eyes. My light brown eyes… Jeff Palladino, my father, seemed to glance around, trying to peer over my shoulder into the house. I slammed my fist on the doorframe and glowered.

  “You look like you’ve done well for yourself, son. I’m proud of you,” Jeff said, with an approving nod.

  My teeth clenched together. “I am not your son, do not ever say that again.”

  Jeff sighed, and raked a hand through his short, black hair. I nearly cringed visibly; something I did all the time. I hated that we had the same mannerisms, that we had any thing in common at all. “Look, Seth, I’m sorry. I know we’ve had some problems in the past, but I want to—”

  I laughed loudly and sharply. “Problems? Problems, Jeff? You call beating me up—a child half the size of you—running around on my mother, and beating your daughter to the point where she blacked out and has been out of it ever since just mere ‘problems’?” I continued to laugh boisterously. “Oh, that’s good. You’re just as delusional as you are a fucking raging asshole. Get the fuck out of here before you wake up my girlfriend and I really need to punch your fucking face in.”