Intermission // Van McCann

8. All to Myself

It was almost 1 AM and everyone was half asleep. Iván was too drunk to drive home so he decided to spend the night at Bondy's, sleeping in the spare bedroom that used to belong to Van. Leigha walked over to Bondy's, and in her stubborn, drunk state of mind, insisted that she was fine walking home. She could hardly stand up!

Leigha clung to the wall as she struggled to put her heels on. I knelt down to help her.

"Thanks Ren," she slurred, giggling. "I feel like Cinderella now. Are you my prince?" Leigha was quite a sight to see when drunk so I burst out laughing.

"It's past midnight! You should be home by now," I joked, standing up. Leigha put her coat on and grabbed her purse.

"Thanks for hosting, Bondy! I'll see you all later!" Leigha shouted.

Bondy waved goodbye while Iván was passed out on the couch. He was the one that went crazy, practically downing the whole bottle of tequila by himself. I vaguely remember him saying "you drink tequila if you want to get naked faster" and I burst out laughing from the memory.

"What's so funny, Ren?" Van asked, grinning.

"Leigha and Iván when they're drunk," I answered.

"If this is them at dinner, imagine how the wedding will go?"

"I don't even want to think about it," I said, reaching for the door.

Van and I held Leigha up as she staggered down the hallway.

"Wait wait wait! Why's the ground moving?" Leigha questioned, and Van and I stopped, afraid that she'd be sick.

"Maybe we should carry her," Van suggested.

He carried her arms while I carried her legs and we carefully made our way down the steps. Even though Van was drunk as well, I was surprised he made it down the steps without falling. We finally got to the car and I unlocked it, opening the door so Van could lift her into the car. Van sat in the back with Leigha while I sat at the front, starting the car. Even though we were a short drive away, I was worried that it was still a long enough drive for her to throw up in the car. I drove slowly, making sure to not press on the gas or brakes too hard and the familiar street finally came into view. I parked the car and stopped the engine, getting out to help carry Leigha up another flight of stairs.

Van and I did the same where he offered to go up the stairs backwards while I carried her legs. We finally made it to her door and I dug into her purse to get the key out. Her roommate was long asleep as the lights were out and we tried our best to not make any noise as we turned the lights on. I haven't been to her place in a while and could definitely see hints of Leigha and a new person in the apartment. Her roommate was really into plants because everywhere we looked, plants occupied every habitable surface. We made our way to Leigha's bedroom and I took her heels off before tucking her into bed.

"Thanks, mom," Leigha murmured.

"Good night, Leigha," I whispered. As I pulled away, she held onto my arm.

"Can I tell you something?"

I leaned closer to her. "What is it?"

"I still like him."

"Like who?"

"Bondy. I thought I was over him but I'm not. I still like him."

I turned to look at Van, not sure what to make of her drunk confession but I believed it. When you're drunk, there's no holding back. You say what's on your mind. We never really knew the true reason behind their breakup. Leigha was telling me they were at a different time in their lives but she could've been hiding more from me for all I know. I wanted to question her more but decided to leave it at that. Van went to grab a glass of water and ibuprofen for her when she wakes up.