Hide Your Heart

The Looks We Get

The whole time the four were at dinner, people kept staring. Maybe it was the fact Paul strutted in proudly followed by a scowling Gene or that Eric tripped over his bell bottoms and knocked Gene over (thus the scowl). Tommy blended into the shadows as best he could.

They finally were seated at a corner booth much to Tommy's relief. He quietly sat there as the other three passed around the appetizer menu. "We all Geneie is ordering water. " smirked Eric. "I can't even get him drunk enough to take him home. Tommy, on the other hand, looooves his booze."

"Will you please be quiet so I can think?" asked Paul. "I don't think you need booze either." He   knew Tommy would probably ask for wine so he handed the wine menu over. "Red? White? Pink?"

"Margaritas." came the reply.

Gene looked over and raised an eyebrow. "Wow. No wine." "What do you put in a margarita?"

"Margaret and Rita." piped up Eric, already on his second beer. He had snagged a couple as he had walked in.

The other three looked at him and shook their heads.

"Lord help me. I wonder about you at times." mumbled Gene.

Finally the waitress came back to take their orders. "Okay, so I have one order of fried pickles with ranch(Eric),  one order of cheese sticks(Tommy) and two orders of chips and salsa(Gene and Paul)." "Drinks? One water, a pitcher of beer, one bottle of wine and a pitcher of margaritas."

"So help me if you three get drunk I will leave you here." warned Gene.

"Aw, Geneie, you know I don't do that." laughed Paul. "Well....maybe once I did."

Tommy was sipping his first margarita as he felt Paul's hand close around his under the table. "Hey, baby", whispered Paul in his ear, "what happens if you drink too much?"

Turning red, Tommy nearly choked on his drink. "I...I...I....".

Paul squeezed his hand and grinned. "I know what happens. You get .....".

"I wanna slide under the table now." whispered Tommy, his cheeks red.

Eric was now on his third beer and beginning to giggle. Gene shot him a dirty look and took the bottle away. "No more." The bottle was grabbed back and finished. "You know I am perfectly fiiinnne." he sang loudly. 

Gene picked him and carried him out. "If you wanna do it tonight, PLEASE be quiet."

"Okay. I will." said Eric, hiccuping a couple of times. "Soooorrryyyy."

The two walked back in to find Paul and Tommy holding hands and sharing the wine bottle. "Yuck." mumbled Gene. "I swear." "You mean to tell me that the margaritas are gone?"

"Yessss." slurred a slightly tipsy Tommy. "Paulie drank it."

"God."

They finally got their appetizers and started eating.  Gene was done in five minutes, Paul soon after. Eric choked on a pickle and Tommy just rolled his eyes. He blew on his cheese stick before taking a bite.

The waitress came back with water, drink refills and took their actual meal orders. Gene ordered a large steak with fries. Eric ordered the same. Paul ordered a large bbq sandwich with onion rings. Tommy asked for a loaded baked potato with a salad.

"So, what has Paulie done when he's drunk?" asked Eric to Gene. 

"Which time?" came the reply. " I can tell you MANY stories." 

"SHHHH." whispered Paul.

Everyone stared at them as Eric got up and fell. He laid there laughing hysterically. 

Gene sighed and carried him out. Coming back, he sat down and dug into his steak. "Eric's sleeping it off. I'll get his in a to-go bag."

Paul rolled his eyes as he took a big bite. Bbq  sauce fell onto the boa. He squealed and ran to the bathroom. 

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After dinner was finally over, Gene dropped Paul and Tommy off and took a sleeping Eric home.