the room span. amaya didn't know how much she had had to drink, but she could tell it was a lot. she tried to stand up, only to find herself back on the floor, collapsed in a pile of red cups and vodka spills.
after probably her third failed attempt at getting to her feet, she felt a cold hand wrap tightly around her wrist, pulling her up. she came face to face with a blurry person who she could just make out as having cornrows. great.
"still hate me?" carl smirked.
"yeah, don't worry." amaya slurred and shook off his grip but found that she struggled to hold herself up without help. she ended up on the floor for the fourth time whilst carl stood over her, grinning.
"staying mildly sober, huh?" he held out his hand. amaya reluctantly took it and grumbled swear words while he heaved her up forcefully. so forcefully that when she was standing, she was so close to him that she could feel him breathing on her face. she could tell that he had had alcohol too, but obviously not as much as her.
"want me to walk you home?" he whispered. she shivered, still feeling his hand interlocked with hers. she shrugged.
"i think i could make it on my own, maybe, a little." she mumbled. she felt his hand gently caress her cheek.
"come on. i'll take you back to my house." he smirked again.
"wow, what a gentleman. you can't try anything, i'm drunk, that's like illegal." she stuttered, still very aware of his tight grip on her hand. she pulled her hand away and pushed his other one off of her cheek, nearly falling backwards in the process. he grabbed her back to prevent her from
hitting the floor."i know that, maya. which is why i'm simply walking you home so that you don't end up passed out on the street." he pulled her arm over his shoulder, which was difficult as he was quite a few inches taller than her. "like you said, a gentleman." he mocked her, laughing. she groaned.
"please stop talking carl, you're giving me a headache." she held a hand to her head, muttering even more curse words under her breath.
"aight, calm down." he walked her over to the door and down the steps, stopping a few times when she nearly fell down them. "hey, i'll have to carry you if you keep falling." he teased.
"i thought i told you to stop talking." she nudged him to the side in frustration. he just laughed.
"if you would walk like a normal person and not an alcoholic, i wouldn't have to." he raised his eyebrows, looking down at her.
she kept her eyes forward, feeling his on the side of her face. she felt a sudden panic.
"hey, what's about debbie? fuck, we left her at the party, we gotta go back." she shook her head, trying to pry herself from carls strong grasp and make her way back to the house.
"hey, it's fine. she went home with that gavin dude." carl pulled amaya back to walk beside him. she huffed and shook her head again, hoping that the boy got debbie home safely. she knew she would never forgive herself if he didn't.
"hey, don't worry. i called fiona and she said debbie was there already, black out drunk, apparently." carl said, noticing the girl's distress. she nodded, not having the energy to form a sentence, and continued stumbling back to the gallagher house, trying her best to ignore carl glancing over at her every second.
amaya woke up the next morning on a couch, confused. it took a while for the room to stop spinning, but once it had, she realised that she was in the gallagher house. she held her head in pain, and turned to see a familiar face grinning at her.
"morning maya. nice sleep?"
she scoffed at carl who started walking up to her, holding two pills in his hand.
"what, you tryna drug me now?" she glared at him.
carl laughed. "a thanks would be nice for getting you home. and no, it's advil, for the pain." he sat down next to her and tapped her on the head. she shoved him off, but took the tablets gratefully.
"thanks, i guess, but i still hate you. anyway, i gotta get back to joey." a sudden realisation hit her. "fuck, joey! he told me to message him last night, oh shit." she stood up but fell straight back onto the couch, clasping her head in her hands. carl laughed, unbothered. she looked at him with a mix of confusion and annoyance.
"lip. your cousin messaged him, asking if he knew where you were. i gotta be honest, i had no clue your cousin was one of them dudes from the AA meetings." he tilted his head.
"yeah, been living with him since the start of summer. he's chill, but i'd rather not worry him at the first party i go to." amaya huffed whilst carl chuckled.
"nah, it's fine. stay for breakfast." she turned to look at him, raising her eyebrows. "ian's making pancakes." he grinned. amaya rolled her eyes with a smile and relaxed back onto the couch. carl put an arm around her and she turned to look at him.
"hey, you can't do that now, i'm not drunk anymore." she glared at him, pushing his arm off.
"jesus, fine. only tryna be nice." carl inched closed to her face. "no reason to be rude, maya."
"i really wish you would stop calling me that." amaya spoke, turning to face the tv.
"why, it make you nervous?" carl turned her chin with his hand, forcing her to meet his eyes. amaya scoffed and smacked his hand off. he laughed.
"i'll get you one day, maya. don't worry."
"i don't think you will, carl."
AUTHOR NOTE
guys carl is keeping amaya safe what do we think 😘😘😘😘 i love them sm it's not funny 😫😫 and i also crave physical touch so that will definitely be included sorry guys xoxoxo
