Last Night

1 - What the Hell Happened Last Night?

Lael reached for the nightstand, sore fingers groping in the dark to smash the goddamn alarm. He groaned, squinting as sunlight cut through the blinds. His dorm room sat in the still aftermath of a college rave. His fingers brushed against something rough and prickling, sort of like ...

″... the FUCK?!″ Lael jolted upright, fingers recoiling from their brush against the stranger′s stubble. He retreated to the foot of the mattress, unable to discern the dude′s features due to them being buried in a pillow.

He slept stark-naked, the lean muscles along his back clenching as he stirred from his slumber.

″Oh God.″

He grunted, rolling in the sheets as his lids fluttered open. Lael admired his cinnamon irises for a split second before confusion flooded them, widening in horror as he shot out of bed. He tugged at the sheets in a desperate attempt to shield his manhood, but Lael held them firm.

″Shit,″ cussed the handsome stranger. ″You′re naked, too?″

Lael tore his gaze from a tanned chest and toned abs to retort, ″I still have socks on.″

He gaped. If Lael had not been racking his brain to place him, he might have ogled the lad a little – bronze skin, freckles, dark curls, thick lashes and big, brown spheres behind a pair of glasses that seemed to be missing; he had red spectacle marks etched on his sharp nose, spreading to his cheeks in a heated flush as he scanned their surroundings.

″Did we ...?″ he began, but Lael could not let him finish.

″No!″ he rushed, feeling blood rush to his cheeks ... and elsewhere. ″I mean, I guess it could have happened. I don′t remember.″

″Me neither.″ He wrinkled his nose, stretching the bedsheet till he heard an audible rip in its seams. He seemed to ponder for a moment. ″... I don′t feel sore. You?″

Lael almost choked. ″Nah,″ he lied, breath baited as an awkward silence ensued. He heard a knock at the door, but the fleeting relief deflated upon recognising the familiar voice that followed.

″Babe?″

Lael froze. His gaze flitted between the locked door and the stranger at his bedside, feeling a knot of guilt churn in his stomach as he turned to the latter. ″Hide,″ he pleaded, a lump forming in his throat. ″You can′t be here.″

″You have a girlfriend?″ Tall, Dark, and Handsome hissed. ″Dude. You are such an asshole.″

″Please,″ Lael begged, flinging the rest of the bedsheet at him. ″I′ll explain later. Just go in there and don′t make a sound,″ he whispered, gesturing towards the bathroom as he got to his feet and scrambled for a pair of boxers.

″I have to tell her,″ he protested, fighting Lael′s firm grip as he tugged him along. ″You can′t just cheat and pretend it never happened.″

″Lael,″ came his girlfriend′s voice, a little louder this time. ″You in there?″

″Just a sec, babe!″ he hollered back, glaring daggers at the nerd-jock. ″Listen,″ he muttered under his breath, ushering him into the bathtub. ″I′d never cheat. I am not about to break her heart because of a night neither of us can remember, so shut up and sit tight until I come back to figure this out.″

He made not a single sound once Lael drew the shower curtain despite his unmistakable defiance. Lael rushed to the door, slipping on the loose pair of boxer briefs and the tee he had worn last night, discarded at the foot of his bed just like his belt and trousers. He cracked it open, offering Aera a sheepish grin as he stepped across the threshold, but the expression on his girlfriend′s face left him feeling as confused as she looked.

″... You′re not mad?" she asked, shoulders sinking in her oversized hoodie. ″I texted. I called. I left, like, seven voicemails.″

″Huh?″ He felt as if Aera had shaken him awake from a nightmare, leaving him disoriented as their harsh realities struggled to come together like pieces of a puzzle.

″Look, Lael. I think we need to talk.″

Uh-Oh. He might not have known the context, but Lael had been in his fair share of relationship fights to know that those infamous words often led to one. ″Uh, alright ...″ He pursed his lips, peering across the hall littered with scattered beer cans and plastic cups at other students passed out drunk in the common area. ″Here?″

″No. I′d rather not broadcast our conversation,″ she muttered, backing him up against the doorframe as she tried to enter.

″I can′t.″ Lael faltered, caught between Aera and the doorjamb as he concocted an excuse. ″I have a class in less than a half-hour – can′t afford to skip it.″

Aera sighed, crossing her arms. ″Fine. I′ll wait here, then.″

″I′ll come over after class,″ he offered instead, mind still unshuffling the events that transpired over the last 12 hours like the deck of cards scattered across the floor. He still felt a light buzz from all the booze he had ingested the night before, clouding his senses and keeping his memories out of reach.

″Yeah, alright,″ she relented, but Lael couldn′t tell if her tone hinted at frustration or disappointment. ″You better get dressed ... are those new?″

Lael looked down to find himself in a pair of Star Wars patterned boxers, face flushed as he realised it belonged to someone else. ″Yeah.″ He backed up, too flustered to look at Aera. ″You′re right, I better get going.″

He fell back into his room and shut the door behind him, slumped against it as he forced his eyes shut and fought to recall what his girlfriend had said or how he had ended up in bed with a total stranger ... nothing. He looked up to find the said stranger back in his bed, still naked and nestled against the bedframe, expecting an explanation.

Fuck, what the hell happened last night?