All I Never Had

Chapter Six

Gracie ~

Chad had left the door unlocked, allowing me to cautiously and quietly enter the house that smelled even more like stale beer than it had before.

I carefully side stepped piles of empty beer cans and bottles as I made my way through the living room toward the guest bathroom, trying not to make a sound.  My eyes swept over the large living room that was littered with sleeping people on just about every piece of furniture in the room, but they were all sound asleep - dead to the world and completely unaware of my presence.

Amanda's voice carried down the hall from the guest bathroom, calling out my name with a pathetic sounding groan that echoed off the tile floor.

"Graaaace." she moaned as I rounded the corner and saw her in a crumpled pile on the bathroom floor, clutching the toilet for dear life.

"Aw Mandy-Mae you're a mess." I said with a laugh and a smile as I crouched down next to her and gathered her hair behind her head, holding it in a bunch at the nape of her neck.

We sat there together for a while with her hair in my hands, but it seemed like she had already emptied the contents of her stomach and just needed to sleep the rest of it off.

"Come on Sis, let's get you changed and moved to the pull-out couch with Laura."

"I can't move...I'm dying." Amanda said, letting her head flop backwards onto her shoulders as she straightened her posture and looked up at me.

"You're not dying," I chuckled as I tried to help her stand and get her changed.

"Yes I am Gracie...everything hurts and I'm dying...dyyyyying." Amanda groaned, latching her arms around my neck as we stood together.

"Okay fine you're dying, but wouldn't you rather die on the soft couch than die on the dirty bathroom floor?" I asked, taking most of her weight as we took a few steps out of the bathroom.

"Good point. How'd you get so smart Gracie?" Amanda said sloppily against my neck.

"One of life's great mysteries." I huffed as Amanda's legs became more and more uncoordinated and clumsy, requiring more effort from me to keep her upright.

Luckily the pull-out couch where Laura was sleepy was only a few more steps away and within my arms reach before Amanda's legs went lax and her body weight dropped. I somehow managed to get her onto the couch without letting her collapse onto the floor, but I'd be lying if I said it was an easy task.

I was out of breath and tired, but I was able to cover both Laura and Amanda with blankets after rolling them onto their sides so their backs were touching.

"Sleep tight besties. You're going to feel like shit in a few hours." I whispered over them with a laugh before I headed back toward the guest bathroom to survey the damage Amanda had done there.

To my surprise the bathroom wasn't too bad, but she had managed to miss the toilet by a few inches at some point while she was praying to the porcelain Gods.

"Again, you're lucky I love you so much Mandy." I muttered under my breath as I went to the kitchen and grabbed what was left of a roll of paper towels.

It only took me a few minutes to get everything cleaned up, but just as I was about to stand and wash my hands, a deep voice echoed from behind me.

"How come every time I see you, you're trying to clean my floors? You lookin' for a job or somethin'?" Weston's deep voice was gritty as it hit my ears and sounded even deeper when he was tired.

The corner of my mouth lifted into a smile at the sound of his voice as I continued to clean.

"Very funny," I sassed, turning over my shoulder to give him a sarcastic smirk, but the second my eyes landed on him I suddenly forgot how to breathe.