Marked

Chapter 21: Drinks

Tess's POV:

I groaned and batted at whatever light was hitting my closed eyes. My head was pounding and I felt nauseous. I slowly opened my eyes, finding I was on the couch in the living room. I looked around in confusion, finding Kaden passed out on the other couch with a half-full bottle of whiskey dangling from his hand. There were two other empty bottles and the sight had me feeling even more nauseous. It was mostly quiet, but I could hear activity in the kitchen.

Water. I needed water. I slowly got up, gripping my head and relying on my memory of the house so I could keep my eyes closed. I only bumped into a few things before I made it to the kitchen.

"I don't know who's in here but everyone shut up," I said, bumping into the counter and dropping my head against the cool surface. "No speaking. None at all. And someone get me water," I said, holding my hand up.

It didn't take long for a glass of water to be in my hands. I lifted my head and sipped on the water, whimpering from the pain in my head.

"Tess," my mother scolded.

"Mom no," I whimpered, setting the water down and resting my forehead on the counter again.

"Are you hungover? You smell like whiskey."

"It was his fault," I said, generally gesturing to the direction of the living room.

"Esther Nicole," my mom hissed,

"Don't. Don't full name me. Please. Mercy," I said, putting my hands together over my head in a prayer.

"You want me to make you hash browns I suppose," mom grumbled.

"Yes," I said, dragging out the 's'. "Please. You're an angel. No, a goddess. But do it quietly or I'll die."

"Well you shouldn't have drank so much," mom sighed.

"Trust me, I agree with you. My body agrees with you. This is punishment enough," I said, sliding onto the stool and whimpering again. "My head. It's going to explode. This is it. This is how I die. Make sure those avenging my death know it was all Kaden's fault."

"What did you two even do last night?" Mom asked.

"I have no idea," I admitted. "I have no memory. The last thing I remember is taking the first swig. And possibly karaoke."

"There was definitely karaoke," Xander growled.

Oh shit. He was probably very unhappy about our shenanigans last night.

"Good morning, Tess!" Xander yelled really loudly.

"You bitch," I hissed, covering my ears and whimpering.

"Do you two have any concept of how fucking loud you are? If I hear 'I can't get no satisfaction' one more time, I'm going to kill myself."

"Promise?"

"Glad to see the hangover isn't slowing down your wit," Xander said sarcastically.

"You know what?" I said, lifting my head and wincing, slowly opening my eyes in the direction of his voice. "This is your fault. You're the one that gave us days off. You know we have no self-control and just egg each other on. I don't know what you expected."

"Uh huh," Xander said, narrowing his eyes. "If that makes you feel better," he said, snatching a muffin and heading to the door. "I have things to do."