by Kamille Rose
"You've never had alcohol before have you?"
Instead of answering me, she lay her head on the cushioned back of the booth, smiling at me. I couldn't help but smile back at her, ‘cause she was really freaking pretty. Beautiful. She was beautiful. I was about to tell her exactly that, but I shut my mouth as I watched her next move.
She put her index finger into her mouth and sucked off the cherry sauce that dirtied it as she ate her cheesecake. She released the finger with a suctioned pop, making me groan.
"What's wrong?" she asked, her head popping up with an animated frown.
"N-nothing, nothing. Here,” I said, pushing a napkin toward her. “Use this to clean up instead.”
"Mmm, it’s so yummyyy," she said, wiping her face.
"It is pretty yummy, huh?"
"You know what might taste even better?"
"Hm. Better than cheesecake? I don't know, lay it on me," I said, folding my arms across my chest.
"Your lips," she answered.
I choked on the air.
"They look as sweet as honey... and suddenly *hiccup* I crave a lot of honey."
She lazily draped her hand around my thigh and I immediately tensed. Three glasses of the wrong tea, and she was ready to jump me.
Definitely drunk and definitely a lightweight. I quickly and carefully removed her hand, placing it on the seat.
"You are so cut off for the night. We need to get you some water and a bed!"
"Nooooo. I can't go home. That's where my mama and papa are. They'll punish me,” she protested, clinging to my shirt.
I cradled her head against my chest. "I'd never take you home like this. Besides, I don't think our parents have missed us yet.”
"So wh-where will we go, Joey?" she asked, her lips poked out in the cutest little pout.
"My house.”
"Are you going to take care of me?"
"Yes. I'm going to nurse you back to health- or at least back to sobriety. Uh, can you stand?” I asked her.
“Yep, just watch me,” she replied, slowly rising from her seat.
“Ta daa!! Ahahaha- whoa!”
And down she went. Thankfully, it was backwards into the booth and not forwards onto the floor.
“Ay, Mariposa.” (Oh, Butterfly.)
I scooped her up into my arms and nodded at Gio who waved us off. She was as light as a feather, even with those hefty drinks in her.
It was funny when she passed out in my arms and began snoring like a beast. Did that make her ten times cuter? Yeah, yeah it did.
⋅. ✯ .⋅
Though the night didn't go exactly as planned, there were some notable moments. Little did I know that the highlight of tonight had yet to come.
Arriving at my parents’, Sienna was still fast asleep in the passenger seat. Careful not to wake her, I reached over to unbuckle her seatbelt and scooped her from the car, closing the door with my foot.
I carried her upstairs to the guest room and put her down gently before loosening the strap of her heels and slipping them off her feet. After that, I went downstairs to grab her some water.
When I got back, I heard what sounded like crying. In the room, I found Sienna thrashing around on the bed. She was still asleep, which scared me even more. What kind of awful dream was she having? I didn’t know whether to wake her up, but thankfully I didn’t have to stand beside her like an idiot for a long time.
"Joey?" she whispered, stirring from her sleep.
I placed the water on the nightstand and sat down.
"Hey, I'm right here. You all right?" I asked, moving the wild strands of hair from her face. She tugged me closer so that I was completely filling the space beside her.
"Will you stay with me for a while? Please?" she asked, burying her face in my chest.
"I'll stay for as long as you need me, Mariposa. As long as you need me.”
And I did. I lay beside her, rubbing her back until she was calm enough to fall back into a peaceful sleep and then some.
Her phone went off a couple times. It was her dad letting her know she could stay out a little later if she liked, which was great because she needed to rest. But something in me kept shouting to take an extra step to make sure her mother wouldn’t grow suspicious. I decided to call Alex for help.
"Hey," I hushed into the speaker.
"Why are you so quiet?"
"Sienna is asleep. I don't wanna wake her."
"It's ten o’clock, Sienna would be home by now. Wait! Are you guys sleeping together?!" she screeched into the phone.
"Jesus, you psycho! Are you trying to burst my eardrums?"
I pulled away from Sienna, covering the speaker to quiet the sound of Alex's voice and my own.
"It's not like that. But if you wanna get technical, then yes, she is sleeping and I'm lying next to her. She was having a nightmare."
"You're losing me, Joe. Are you telling me you drove to her house because she was having a nightmare?"
"No. We've been together the whole night. Didn't she tell you about the dinner?"
"I mean, yeah, but I'm still confused as to how you ended up in bed with her."
"Alex, it's a story I don't have time for right now. I called because I need you to cover for Sienna just in case her mom checks in. Her dad knows we're together, but you know her mom likes to stay a step ahead. Can you do this favor for me?"
"Sure, sure. That's what I'm here for, right?"
"Thanks bestie!"
"Don't do that."
I could hear the cringe in her voice.
"Haha. Love you, Lex."
"Love you too, weirdo."
"Bye."
I exhaled and locked my phone before slipping it back into my pocket, and Sienna’s phone into the drawer next to me. Now that I had that settled, I could focus on the girl in front of me. She slept for maybe half an hour before she jolted awake.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"I- wha- I'm —"
Her response was the vomit that followed her incoherent speech. I hated seeing my little butterfly so bent up, but hopefully she'd take this as a lesson to be a bit more careful when ordering drinks in the future. And I didn't care that she was making a mess on the floor, I'd clean it up later.
For the time being, I kneeled behind her and gathered her hair into a ponytail, gently rubbing her back as the contents of tonight's menu came rushing back up, including the iced tea.
"Let it out..."
When she started dry heaving, that’s when I lifted her from the bed and walked to the bathroom down the hall. I told her to take my hand as she slightly wobbled standing on her own two feet when I let her down.
After swiping a rag from the shelf, I wet it with lukewarm water and wiped at her mouth, cheeks, and then her forehead. I rinsed the rag and repeated the process another time. Then, I turned my attention to her clothes. I needed to get the dress off of her because I didn't want her sleeping in her own sick.
"Hey. We're gonna have to change you alright?"
She nodded slowly and turned around so that her back was facing me. I turned my head to the right, staring at the shower curtain as I found the zipper on her dress and brought it all the way down. It pooled at her feet and she stepped out of it, holding on to me.
I took her into my arms and brought her back into the guest room, where I laid her down and tucked the covers in at her sides. She quickly drifted off, her hand gripping mine tightly as her snores filled the room.
Sienna... She tugged at the strings in my chest without even realizing; by doing the simplest of things. Smiling, talking, reading, or even now, sleeping. I admired pretty much everything about her, including the stretch marks I briefly noticed on her legs. Everything about her made me crazy, but in the best way possible.
Chapter Seven
SIENNA
My head was pounding as if someone had repeatedly smashed a hammer against it the previous night. I slowly sat up in my bed and let my eyes adjust to the light. But when my vision regaine
d focus, I realized I wasn't in my room. Without hesitation, I lifted the blanket covering my lower half.
“Oh, thank goodness.” I sighed, relieved to find my bra and panties where they should be, but I was still confused as to where the heck I was. My addled brain failed to recognize the surroundings.
On wobbly legs I stood up and noticed two Advil and a delicious-looking glass of water sitting on the bedside table. I sat the pills on my tongue and pressed the glass to my lips, allowing the cool clear liquid to run out and coat my dry throat. After downing the water in three huge gulps, I put the glass back down and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.
"God. Whatever I did last night, I’m never doing it again," I muttered, trying to physically shake off how bad I felt.
"That's a shame. After last night, I feel like you should let loose more often."
My heart stopped beating. There was no way that was his voice I just heard.
"Joseph?!?" I shouted, yanking the sheet from the bed to cover my body.
I was surely perked up despite the throbbing pain in my head. He stood before me in nothing but a towel that hung sinfully low on his waist. I turned my back to him because I knew I wouldn't be able to focus on talking; not when water droplets cascaded from his dark wavy hair and down his toned chest, only to slide down and disappear underneath the towel.
"What happened last night?! Why am I not at home? Why am I half naked and why are you mostly naked??" I asked him.
"Shit. I'll be right back," he said, bolting from the room.
When he returned his chest was still bare, but below he wore a pair of loose gray track pants. Still distracting.
"... how’re you feelin? You look a little red.” His hazel eyes flashed with a hint of worry.
I awkwardly cleared my throat, embarrassed that he was the reason why my cheeks were three different shades of pink. "Oh, it’s just- my head hurts really bad, but the pills should kick in soon. Thank you for leaving them."
I wrapped the thin white sheet tighter around my body, afraid it would come undone despite my death grip on it.
"No problem. You're a fan of Long Island Iced teas, but you can’t keep em’ down,” he said, sliding his hands into the pockets of his pants. A slow smirk grew on his lips that said: I know a lot you don't.
I cradled my face in my hands. “Oh no, what did I do?”
"It was insane. You hopped up onto the bar counter and gave the crowd a show to remember."
"W-what do you mean a show?! I didn't do anything sober Sienna wouldn’t do, right?”
Joseph’s smirk turned into a mocking grin.
"I'll tell you everything you want to know about the other night, but for now you can take a shower. I left you a t-shirt and a pair of sweats. They may be a little big, but should fit you mostly," he said, starting on his way out of the room.
"Wait- where will you be?" I asked, shuffling toward him.
"In the kitchen getting you something to eat,” he answered matter-of-factly.
"Oh, no, it’s okay. I’m not really hungry."
"Please, don’t lie to me again. I know you're hungry because anything you ate last night was thrown up before you passed out." His voice was firm as he stepped forward and gently gripped my chin. I didn't dare protest any longer, or else I'm sure he would have resorted to spoon-feeding me. "Oh, and there's extra body soap and towels above the shower on the right-hand side," he added.
My lips tugged into a slight curve. "Thanks, Joey... for everything.”
He smiled back at me in response, partially revealing his teeth before disappearing out the door. Once he was completely out of sight, I sniffed myself and discovered that I had reeked. How did he get so close to me without gagging?
Scurrying off to the bathroom, I shut the door, hit the knob on the shower and stepped out of my heavy garments. Under the warm flowing water, I spent ten minutes scrubbing myself clean. The other ten minutes consisted of me thinking about Joseph. The image of him in that towel was impossible to erase from my mind.
As I was shampooing my hair, I wondered how the police hadn't shown up at his house yet. Once, I was 30 minutes late returning home and it was a nightmare. I could only imagine what my mom would have done not hearing from me for an entire night.
Feeling clean and much more alert, I dried off and slipped on my underwear that were thankfully still in good condition.
Here and there, my eyes searched around the sink for my purple toothbrush, but I remembered I wasn't at home. My finger had to do.
Back in the room, I stuck my feet through the wide holes of Joseph’s sweatpants. Their length covered my feet. After that, I threw his t-shirt on over my damp hair and knotted it at the bottom. It was the comfiest outfit I'd ever worn.
For a little while I sat in bed lost in my thoughts. Soon enough those thoughts again became all about Joseph, this time about how distracting the smell of his clothes was. Vanilla and pine consumed my senses, making me want to be near him.
“Ughhh!” I groaned, falling back onto the mattress.
It felt like there was a coil winding itself impossibly tight in my stomach and it drove me crazy. I needed to talk to my best friend, and I decided that’s exactly what I’d do. There was one thing stopping me though: I didn’t know where my phone was. Something told me to check the bedside table, and thankfully I discovered it in the drawer laying on top of a box of tissues. When I dialed Alex’s number, she picked up on the first ring.
"Alex?"
"I've been waiting for you to call!! Are you home?" she shouted from the other end of the phone. I cringed, physically not ready for that type of volume.
"Uh, no,” I said, twisting the ends of my wet hair with my free hand. “I'm- I'm at Joseph's house." I paused, awaiting her to pester me with a million and one questions, but they never came. Instead, she said:
"Okay cool. When you leave, come straight over so we can talk. Don't worry about your parents, I've got you covered. Have fun, love you bye!”
I wanted to ask Alex why she was so uncharacteristically short with me over the phone, but I let it go and prepared myself to go see Joseph. Facing him was inevitable.
⋅. ✯ .⋅
In the kitchen, I stood off to the side, quietly watching Joseph maneuver around. The air smelled of spices and herbs. He opened a wooden drawer and pulled out a spatula before centering himself in front of the stove. His back muscles flexed as he skillfully cooked away. I could have stayed in this spot admiring him all day, but he caught me eventually.
“Hey, I didn't hear you come in.”
The laugh that left my mouth was dry and nervous. "Oh. Yeah, hi."
He nodded at the stools across the kitchen. "Go sit. Your omelette is almost ready.”
I made my way over to the marble kitchen island and pulled up a stool.
“Wait," he said, turning the knob heating the delicious smelling egg to the lowest setting.
As he walked over, I stood from my seat. Like a statue, I froze at the feeling of his hands on my waist. The heat from his fingertips warmed me through the material of my — well, his — sweatpants as he carefully tightened the drawstring.
"There you go,” he said. His hands lazily sliding from my body as if he didn't quite want to let go.
"Thanks... and I-I'm sorry, but I won't be able to function until I know what happened last night."
"Yeah, of course," he said, straightening up.
"First off, we didn't sleep together. Well, technically we slept together but we didn't... y’know- I mean, I would never- Okay, let me start over. Do you remember the Tavern?"
"Uh, yeah. The place with the fruity drinks and The Rat.”
He chuckled shortly. “Yeah. When we left, I took you to Gio —"
"Giovanni's for cheesecake,” I interjected, remembering that part.
"Exactly,” he said with a nod. "There, you mistakenly ordered and guzzled down three Long Island Iced Teas which are made with like five different types of booze. They hit you pre
tty fast, and it wasn't long after that I was carrying you out in my arms."
I shook my head, utterly embarrassed. Leave it to me to get smashed my first time drinking and make a fool out of myself.
“Our parents were still together at your house and I didn't want to risk sneaking you inside and getting caught by your mother,” he said, combing a hand through his almost fully dried hair. “I took you here to sober up. As for your clothes... well, they were covered in vomit, so I had to undress you before putting you to bed.”
That explained why I was half naked.
"When you were asleep you were making these noises and I assumed you were having a bad dream... so I stayed upon your request and held you until you were calm enough to sleep again. After that, I fell asleep beside you, but I left before you woke up. It was innocent."
I stared at him for a while trying to process all this news. There was no reason to doubt he was telling me the truth because he’d never lied to me before, but the girl he described was just so unlike me. I'd never act so recklessly. I heaved a long, frustrated sigh and rubbed my eyes until I saw stars.
Joseph took care of me. Alex was fine and my parents had no suspicions. So why didn't I feel better about all of this? Why was I on the verge of freaking out? Why did this feel so incredibly wrong?
"You okay?" Joseph’s voice was low and gentle as he took a step forward.
"I don’t know, I feel guilty.”
“Why?”
“I'm keeping secrets from my mom a-and from my dad, and he's done nothing but protect me this entire time. Now I’ve just spent the night at some guy's house because..."
I trailed off as the worry on Joseph's face vanished and was replaced with indignation. I messed up.
"Is that what I am to you? Just some guy??" he asked incredulously.
I took a step towards him, but he immediately declined.
"No, I didn't mean it that way. I —"
"Look. All I want is for you to be happy, but you're still acting as if you have to report your every move back to your mother. You're letting her dictate your life when she isn't even around."
