Bad Days (Revised)

Chapter 4

Mick laid there passed out on the couch. He had finally got Nikki to bed after a lot of fighting and drug induced rants. He felt buzzed and didn't have the energy to put up with Nikki's shit tonight.

"No! Go to bed" Mick snapped.

"You don't fuckin love me, do ya?" Nikki snarled.

"Didn't say that. I'm saying, go the fuck to bed" Mick said sharply. "You're not going out tonight"

"What the fuck us up with you and Vince, huh?" Nikki changed the subject.

"Oh relax Nikki" Mick huffed. "Cmon, get your overgrown ass in bed"

Mick pushed Nikki down the hallway and into their room and onto the air mattress. He picked up some clothes on the floor and dumped them in Nikki's lap.

"Get changed, and get in bed" Mick said, gentler now, knowing Nikki would be more in kinder to listen.

He let Nikki get dressed and helped him under the blankets.

"You test me" Mick brushed some hair from Nikki's face. "I love you, but you really test me" he whispered.

Nikki had started drifting off and Mick kissed his forehead before going out into the living room to lay down. He figured Nikki would need some time alone. He couldn't help but think about the kiss that happened outside his door. The wine, the strawberry chapstick. The blonde hair that was a dramatic contrast from his own black hair. Vince was drunk, and Mick was a little buzzed himself, and maybe they shouldn't have done it, but he doesn't regret letting it happen, he just hoped Vince didn't see it as too much of a drunken mistake.

It had been a while before he was affectionate like that with someone. He tried and tried again to hook up with the mother of his daughter, the little light of his life, to try to rekindle what they once had. He saw her about 5 months ago, he was sure she had sex with him out of sheer pity, telling him he looked worse for wear and that he's seen better days. The backhanded I'm surprised you're still alive, and is that kid still with you?

Yes, that kid is the overgrown brat sleeping away on the air mattress down the hallway.  Mick's daughter, Stormy, loved Nikki. She loved riding on his shoulders and being twirled around, something Mick couldn't do anymore since she had gotten bigger. He has a back problem that he manages with excessive pill popping.

It is what it is.

God... he remembered the day his daughter was born. Blue eyes, pale skin, she looked just like her father. He tried so hard. All the days without eating to make sure his daughter and girlfriend could. And things were going good for a while, but the more time Mick spent out of the house trying to bring money home, the more time he was away from his family, making his girlfriend resent him. She started cheating, and Mick let her just walk all over him because he loved her.

He wasn't sure what was worse sometimes.

Having to tell his baby girl that daddy was leaving for a while, or the fact that he felt like he failed at all aspects of life. The look on his little girls face continues to haunt him every night, he always thinks about her. He doesn't get to see her very much, more to his request, as he was living in the trash and looked close to death at any given time.

Daddy's not feeling well. I'll see you soon, okay?

She lit up his world each and every time he saw her. The warmth and happiness on her face made him realize the entire world isn't out to get him. Maybe the world was starting to be a little kinder.

Vince. He thought. They had just met and Mick was thrown into a loop. Vince. Vince was charming, inviting, and he spoke with such a drawl that seemed so warm and genuine.

He was about to drift off again with his thoughts when Nikki came out of the bedroom and laid on the couch with him. He sniffed, silently telling Mick he had been crying.

"M sorry, Nik..." Mick whispered. "I'm sorry..." he gently pet Nikki's hair.

Nikki cried quietly into Mick's neck, muttering heartbreaking words like I promise I'll be good, please don't leave me. Mick peppered kisses on Nikki's forehead and held his hands. Besides his daughter, Nikki was his everything, his best friend and confidant, his self appointed body guard since Mick was "just a little guy".

"Shh..." Mick whispered. "S'okay, you're a good boy Nikki... always have been..."

Mick's words caused Nikki so sob a little louder and cling onto him as if Mick was just going to disappear.

"I won't leave you, not now, not ever..." Mick whispered.

He felt around for Nikki's hand and held it, lacing their fingers together. He picked up the TV remote from the floor and flipped it over to MTV and set the volume low for something to listen to so they weren't just in total darkness.

"There's a shadow outside..." Nikki whispered quietly. He cowered into Mick's neck and hid there.

The shadow moved slowly across their window, but Mick could recognize it as Vince. He hummed and almost waved, but Nikki had started crying again and shaking.

"Shh... I got you, nobody can hurt you here..." Mick whispered.

He kissed the top of Nikki's head and felt him relax a little more. He let himself relax into the broken down sofa with the overgrown brat he loved so dearly laying directly on top of him. He looked at the window for a few minutes until he saw the shadow drift back the other way, Vince almost seeming drunker than before as he stumbled by. He was tempted to shoot him a text asking how he felt and if he was alright, but his phone was just out of reach on the floor.  He'd check in on him in the morning.

Meanwhile next door...

Vince couldn't help but think he was the reason his neighbors were fighting.

"You don't fuckin love me!"

"What the fuck is going on between you and Vince, huh?"

God... what the fuck did he do? Who the fuck goes and kisses someone else's boyfriend like that? He could hear Nikki cry. Maybe his ex was right. He is just a whore. He went and got the beer from his car and lugged it back to his apartment, stumbling back past their window. He fell into his couch and cracked one open, becoming drunker by the minute, hoping to pass out and just forget everything. He was going to have nightmares about this. He cried quietly and drowned his regrets in alcohol that night.