Regrets

20

"Fuck off you liar!"

Tom tossed half a lime at me before taking another sip of his beer. "I'm not! I'm telling you I spent three months there and it was pretty fun."

Tom shook his head and reached for the remote. "Whatever, liar or not I'm not watching another moment of this." Looking for something else to watch, I could tell the Tom was a little tipsy, just enough for him to be able to talk without issue.

"Tom, do you remember when we all used to live in the old house?"

He smiled a bit and shook his head. "Like hell I do! That house was just chaos." After chuckling a bit, he put the remote down before continuing. "Best chaos I've ever witnessed."

I nodded. We paused for a moment and turned our attention back to the television. I wasn't really sure what it was about but Tom seemed to be into the pub scene.

"Hey Tord, remember all those times we'd hang at the pub?"

I didn't even need to look at him to know where this was going. "As long as you're paying, I'm in."

"Fuck yeah!" He jumped up and ran to his room, returning with his hoodie and a pair of shoes in hand. "Come on, you're driving so hurry up!" He ran out the front door and I chased behind him, making sure to turn the television off and locking the door behind me.

After a short drive and annoying Tord with my music, we had finally arrived. I stepped out of the car and looked at the beautiful building in front of me. My old drinking spot. Not waiting for Tord and marched inside and looked around. A few new faces in the crowd.

"I don't believe my eyes!" I whipped my head over to the bartender and approached when I finally recognized them. "Holy shit, Tom! It's really you!"

Taking a seat in front of her, I rubbed the back of my neck and shrugged. "Yup, im back."

"Well it must be a special occasion, eh?" She nudged her head towards the front door and I turned to see Tord finally joining me. She leaned over the counter towards the front and called out to him. "Well if it isn't Tord. And where the hell have you been?"

He rolled his eyes and just went for the restroom. Guess he still found her annoying. Once he was out of sight, Casey turned to me and whispered rather quite loudly, "he's cute." before shooting me a wink and picking up her work.

There it was again, that funny feeling inside. I rolled my non visible eyes, and shook my head. "Gross."

"What's gross?" I flinched a little at the sudden presence in the seat next to me. I shrugged, and just pointed at the bartender. "Casey's being weird again."

He groaned. "Of course she is."

As if one cue, Casey slid some unknown drink to each of us. "You know without you two always running around here in the evenings this place has gotten rather boring. So here's a special drink for my special customers."

I'll drink to that. Tord on the other hand, not so much. "Two? If I wasn't mistaken then I'd think she was talking about you." He chuckled and just passed his drink to me. Right, he's driving.

"Yeah." I laughed it off and helped myself to some long awaited drinks. I didn't know what it was she gave us but it was some good shit.

Tord and I just sat there, we really only made slight comments about people we saw there and whatever was on the television. I got a few more beers but other than that, we didn't really do anything. He kept eating chips while I kept drinking.

I looked around and just saw groups of people together, a few loners, but everyone seemed content. I glanced over at Tord before setting my glass down.

"Need another, Tom?"

I looked over to see Casey about to get me another when I waved her off. "No, thanks."
Without looking back at Tord, I got up, and left to the restrooms.

I watched Tom leave and looked back at Casey. She shrugged and just offered the drink to some other guy. When she started to clean up the bar a bit, I took the chance to talk to ask her about Tom.

"So, Casey, how've you been?" She stopped for a moment. "You're actually talking to me?" She looked around her as if to see if there could be anyone else I would've been talking to and still seemed confused. "Of course, I've known you for quite some time so I figured it was time to make nice."

I held my hand out to her, she gladly accepted. She returned to her work with a bit of a more cheerful attitude. "So, I guess Toms quite the regular here, huh?"

She gave a face and shook her laugh. "Tom? No not quite. Hell, last time he was here was when the two of you wrecked the booth in the back." She laughed, nudged toward the empty space in the back. "He might've come in once or twice after but I honestly can't remember."

I nodded and laughed along side her. She slid me a glass of water, and I glanced over to the restrooms while taking a sip. Tom shouldn't be much longer.

"Casey, I'm going outside for a smoke. If Tom comes back let him know." She nodded and I headed for the door. Instead of lighting a cigarette I pulled my phone out and looked through my recents.

Once the dial tone died down, I rose the cell to my ear and waited.

"Tord! How's it going?"

"Edd! It's going pretty good, actually."

"Really? That's great! And where is Tom?"

"In the restroom. We're actually just over at the pub he likes."

"..."

"Edd?"

"..Sorry, did you say, Tom, is at a pub?"

"Uh, yeah? Why?"

"No reason. Hey, I'll have to call you back, make sure to watch over Tom, alright?"

"Of course? Any reason why?"

"Nope! Later!"

Well that was weird. Whatever. I went back inside and there he was. Tom looked tired.he was leaning against the palm of his hand and had his eyes shut. Casey waved me over so I approached.

"You might wanna get him home. He looks tired."

"Right, he worked earlier so it's no wonder. Alright, how much do I owe you?" 

"Come on Tom. Just put the damn seatbelt on."

Getting Tom into the car was a hassle in itself. But getting him to put his seatbelt on? Might as well put him in the trunk. Fuck it, no seatbelt it is. I got in and buckled up before heading back. Man was he out of it. He was practically flying all over the car. It wasn't until I made a sharp turn that things got a little awkward. He flew over to my side, head landing roughly on my shoulder. I will say, it wasn't bad, but definitely awkward.

We were almost there when he started mumbling a bunch of things. I couldn't quite understand him, that is until, I heard what I had been waiting to hear.

".. jar...box.."

Hoping to get more information, I whispered. "Where Tom?"

"..box-"

The sudden horn knocked me back into reality as I realized there was a car coming at me from the left. I stepped on the breaks to let them pass when a sudden bang distracted me once more. I looked over to my right and saw Tom sinking down from the dashboard with a very noticeable red mark in his forehead. Now this will be a funny story.