This isn't weird.

Here Goes Nothing

 The memories washed over her for what felt like days, but when they reached their abrupt end, nobody had moved. Was it possible that it had only been seconds? Dropping her hands from her ears, Millie looked up at her friends, lucid at last. "What day is it?" she asked.

There was a sustained moment of quiet and concerned staring before they all turned their eyes toward Real Paul. 

"Friday," he replied.

The information was less useful than she might have hoped. She couldn't remember exactly what day her drug binge had actually begun, and after a second or two of reflection, she wasn't sure she wanted to know. "I think I need to buy a phone," she said.

"Yes, you do," he agreed sternly. "I can take you into town."

"Oh, I'd hoped to camp here another night or two," Kathleen said with a disappointed pout.

"The three of you can stay here, if you want," he suggested, a bit too cheerfully. A brief reprieve from supervising the three of them was clearly an appealing prospect.

"Is that safe?" Millie asked.

Paul-Come-Lately glanced at his phone. "We're cool. We got reception out here if anything happens."

The idea still made her somewhat uneasy, but they were, technically, adults. At the very least, she got them to agree to taking a day or two to detox before considering playing around with any more drugs (excepting, of course, marijuana). They waited another hour or so, at Real Paul's suggestion, to be sure that she wasn't at risk of getting ill in the van—neither of them wanted the hassle of cleaning vomit from the floorboards. Only when she was thoroughly hydrated and managed to keep down a few granola bars was he satisfied that she could be safely transported.

The first leg of their journey was quiet, nothing but soft music to fill the air between them. He'd taken to Jim Croce. Or maybe he was just being kind. He seemed to sense that something was a bit off about her this morning.

"Paul," Millie said, when a sad song came on, and made her want to think about something else.

He responded without turning his head. "Yes?"

"How many drugs did I take?"

"I'm not sure," he replied. "Amber had four or five different types of pills, but I'm not sure what any of them were, or which ones you took." His tone was less judgmental than she expected.

"Oh." Millie stared down at her hands. For once, they were completely still. The sight that struck her as a little unnatural. "Did I do anything I shouldn't have?"

Ben's voice suddenly popped into her head.

Millie... Did I do anything bad last night?

It occurred to her for the first time exactly what he'd meant by that question, exactly what he'd been afraid of. By his own admission, he was already in love with her by then. He was afraid that in his inebriated state, he had made that known. Maybe he had, to some degree. She'd just been too stupid to see it.

"I don't think so," Paul replied. "You and Kathleen took turns braiding each other's hair for like two hours, but you didn't say much. Mostly you just explored the beach and stared at the ocean. You went into the water a few times, which made me a little nervous."

"I'm sorry."

"How much do you remember?"

"Nothing."

"Jeez. That would scare the shit out of me."

"I admire that about you," Millie said.

"What about me?" he asked.