Life Can Be Beautiful

Bad Idea (Part 1)

December 31, 1997

JD's POV

I sit on Owen and Will's couch, watching some sitcom. Owen and Will are getting ready. We got invited to some New Years Eve party so we came back from Ohio early. Owen's friend invited him and Will and they were allowed to bring whoever they wanted. So he invited Alyssa, Veronica, Eva and I. Sam was invited too but he stayed in his hometown for a few more days. He'll be missed but we all understood. I'm all ready and just waiting on them and Eva, who's in the bathroom, touching up her makeup. "Okay, let's go." Owen says as him and Will leave their room. Eva leaves the bathroom, "I'm coming."

We get to the party and Veronica and Alyssa are already there, waiting for us. "Hey." Veronica smiles. "Hey." I say back. "JD come on. I want a drink." Eva grabs my hand and pulls me away. Veronica barely even notices. She's now looking at Alyssa. Oh my God! Stop being jealous. She is obviously going to choose Alyssa. And you need to choose Eva. You're marrying her for Christ's sake. Eva and I start drinking. The whole night is one big blur. I wake up at home, in bed. I can hear people whispering outside the door. Parts of the night slowly come back to me. Oh God. Last night.

Veronica's POV

JD and Eva run off to drink so Alyssa and I go inside, but go right out the back door. There's a pool so we sit on the edge with just our feet in. "It's been quite the year." I say. "Yeah. You got your best friend and your band back. And you quit your job." Alyssa kicks her feet back and forth. "And that's only been the last three months." I laugh. "Wow you're right." She laughs too. We just sit there and enjoy each other's company. Owen comes to get us at 11:30 so we can have time to get ready for the ball drop. We both get some champagne. JD is walking with Eva, totally shitfaced. "Oh God. Look." I point him out to Alyssa. "Great. He'll be fun to deal with later. Luckily Eva doesn't seem too drunk." Alyssa sighs. "Whatever. He'll be the one dealing with the consequences." I shrug.

Soon it's time for the ball to drop. We count down from ten. "Three, two, one! Happy New Year!" We all cheer and kiss our partners. I kiss Alyssa but am interrupted by JD. "Hey, hey, hey. That's enough." He pulls me back slightly. "What's your problem, bro? No one cares if they do that here!" Dylan, the host of the party says. "No that's-" JD stops when he pukes all over the front of me. "Oh my God." I try not to vomit myself. "Veronica, I am so sorry." He's about to pass out. "Okay buddy. Let's find your girlfriend and get you home." Dylan puts his hand on JD's shoulder and leads him away. I'm surprised Eva wasn't right there. She must have wandered off after she and JD kissed at midnight.

"Hey, let's go to the bathroom and get you cleaned up." Alyssa grabs my hand and takes me to the downstairs bathroom. I put down the toilet seat and sit. Alyssa gets a wet towel and starts cleaning my dress. She looks up as a tear runs down my face. "He didn't mean it. He was just drunk." She assures me. "What if he did? He did get mad that I went to that protest. That was a big part of the fight that ended our friendship two years ago." I say. "You're right. But he's always approved of our relationship." She continues cleaning my dress. "Hey, let's just forget it. I don't want to argue about this right now. Once we come out of the bathroom, Owen tells me that JD and Eva went home. "Cool. Well I'm going to leave too. I'll see you guys tomorrow." I wave as Alyssa and I go.

January 1, 1998

JD's POV

I get out of bed and walk out into the hall. Everyone that's there moves to let me by. Veronica, Eva, Owen, and Sam watch me closely. I'm making a prairie oyster when Veronica walks up to me. "Nice, a prairie oyster. Well after the way you acted last night, maybe I should slip some drain cleaner in there as payback." She crosses her arms. "Veronica-" She stops me. "I don't want to hear it. You completely embarrassed me last night. And you really hurt me when you interrupted my kiss. Since when does two girls kissing bother you so much?" It breaks my heart that she thinks that I feel like that. I want to tell her the real reason I did it. I want to tell her it's because I'm jealous of her kissing someone else. Someone who's not me. "That's not- I don't feel that way. I was just being a dick. You know I love yours and Alyssa's relationship." I turn to her. "Okay." She nods and gives a small smile.

"Here." She takes the cup from me. "What are you doing?" I ask. "Go lie down. I'll bring it to you. Besides, you're making it wrong." She pushes me out of the way. "How do you make a prairie oyster wrong?" I laugh. "Well for starters, that's not how you crack the egg. Is this how you've been doing it?" She throws away my cracked egg. "Yes. That's how my dad taught me how to do it." If he taught me anything, it was how to handle hangovers. "Well that's not how I was taught." She shrugs. "And who taught you?" I smirk. "Alyssa. She learned from her roommate in college." For some reason I cringe when she says that name. I love Alyssa but it felt like her name ruined a perfect moment. "Oh." That's all I can say in this weird moment of anger for me. I want to just grab her and kiss her. Stop! That's a bad idea for so many reasons. You can't have her, JD! Eva and you are literally meant for one another. That's why you proposed. Plus you can't back out of the wedding now!

"Hey! Where'd you go?" Veronica waves her hand in front of my face. "What?" I snap back to reality. "Where'd you go? You were in, like, another world or something." She chuckles. "Just thinking about how much my head hurts." I lie, even though my head is killing me. "That's your fault." She hands me my drink. I down it in one gulp. I wince at the taste. "God I hate this shit." I grimace. "Again, your fault. You wouldn't have to drink that if you didn't get so fucked up last night." She leans over the counter.

"Hey. Can we talk?" Owen asks me. "Sure." I excuse myself and we go into my bedroom to talk. "What's up?" I close the door. "What the hell is up with you lately?" He sits on my desk chair. "What do you mean?" Why is everyone treating me weirdly. Like I'm so different all of a sudden. "First the Thanksgiving incident Veronica told me about, now you're separating Veronica and Alyssa? Do we need to have an intervention about your alcohol usage?" What? "Why would I need an intervention? So I did two stupid things while drunk. I don't think that warrants an intervention." I don't have an alcohol problem. "Really? Do you know how many times you called me drunk over the past two years? A lot. Now I know you don't like to be compared to your father, but-" I cut him off, "I am nothing like my father. So don't go there." I warn him. "But alcoholism runs in your family from what you've told me. I'm just worried." He continues. "And? I'm not like the rest of my family." I say. "JD. Just promise me you'll stop drinking like you've been drinking." He sighs. "Fine. Happy?" I walk out of the room. I can't believe he thinks I need an intervention.

I go back to the kitchen, Veronica is on the phone with who I assume is Alyssa. "Well I love you. Have fun, and I'll see you later." She hangs up. "Hey." She smiles when she sees me. "Hey. Did Owen say anything to you about my drinking?" I ask. "Not really. Just that he was concerned." She shrugs. "Oh. Well he needs to mind his business." I open up the fridge. "JD, he's only trying to help. We're all a little concerned about you. And I think you should be in therapy." I stop what I'm doing, "I should be in what?" She closes the fridge and grabs me by the shoulders, "I think it would really benefit you to see a therapist. I've been seeing mine for like six years." I push her hands off of me. "And good for you. But I don't need therapy. My drinking doesn't mean I need to talk to anyone." I go back to the fridge.

"Eva!" Veronica calls. "Wow. That's dirty." I glare at her. "Yeah?" Eva walks in. "Tell him he needs to go to therapy." Veronica puts her hands on her hips. "Yes. You really should." Eva looks at me. "I'll think about it." I say. "Well here's the number to call once you've realized that we're right." Veronica puts a business card on the counter and walks out. "Great. Everything I care about thinks I'm an alcoholic that doesn't know how to talk about his feelings." I pick up the card. "Babe, that's not what's happening. We just want you to be your best self." Eva runs a hand through my hair. "Just promise you'll actually think about it." She moves the hand from my hair to my cheek. "Okay I will." I kiss her forehead.