The Night

Chapter 7: Regrets

Anthony goes back upstairs to give her the water and Advil. He felt that they'd been there before last week. He didn't want her to keep doing this, but this time, he couldn't blame her friends, or her, but only himself. He wanted to strangle anybody that hurts her, and that was him this time. He was so mad at himself. He wanted to leave her house to go home and hit his punching bag. He wanted to hit the gym, wanting to get back at himself, but he stopped himself. He had to be there for Delilah. He promised her that he would be there for her even when it hurts him, she needed him. The worst part was that Anthony was so sick of this becoming her every night kind of thing. He didn't want to always come to her house to take care of her. He just wanted to sleep over one night when she wasn't drunk. 

 Anthony gives her the water and Advil, and goes to her old sofa that he's been so accustomed to lately. He hated that, but didn't really think about it. That night he didn't go to sleep. He wanted to be there for her if she had to puke, or even if she had a bad dream and just woke up. So, he sits there thinking the entire night. What if she has a bad dream that he would leave her just like her dad, or Oliver. He knew he would never leave her, and wanted her to know that, but even after everything they've been through, he still doesn't think she knows that. He got really annoyed at this thought because he doesn't know how else to make her think that. He tried to come up with multiple things he could do, but came up blank. 

Delilah wakes up at exactly 3:00 a.m breathing hard, and shaking. Anthony runs over to her to comfort her, and she just looks at him. She couldn't speak, or even move for a minute. She was so stunned, and Anthony was really concerned for her. He had questions like what had happened, is she okay, did she have a bad dream again? What was happening. So, in that minute his heart was racing. Then, Delilah explains the dream to him. Her and Anthony were dating, and everyone knew that. During school, she was so happy, and she went on with her day like nothing was wrong. Then, out of nowhere, he told her that he was cheating on her with Bella. She couldn't  blame him because Bella was really pretty, and she wasn't, but she was still so upset. She didn't even know why she would think that. She KNEW that Anthony was always there for her, and he wouldn't do that, ever. At least she didn't think he would do that to her. 

Anthony sits there hugging her again. He whispers in her ear that he would NEVER cheat on her if they ever got back together again. Anthony was loyal to her, and her only, and she's way more pretty than Bella.  He would admit that she had good hair, but other than that, she was just as  plastic as everyone else. He told her that Delilah was the only one in that group that wasn't  plastic. She was her true, kind, loyal, great, amazing, pretty, regular self. She didn't change for anyone, and he really appreciated that. Anthony and Delilah sat in her bed, hugging for about five minutes before they let go. Anthony was about to get back on the old, really uncomfortable couch when Delilah grabs his arm, and asks him to stay in bed with her. 

She wanted him to stay with her because she wanted someone to be there with her, and so she didn't have the same kind of dream. She also thought that maybe if someone was in her bed with her, she wouldn't have a bad dream. She felt comfortable with him, and really didn't want to be alone again. On the plus side, he was also really warm, and Delilah was really cold. Anthony had always slept with no shirt on. She felt really weird at first, but then got used to it. His skin was really warm, which warmed up Delilah really fast. She then fell asleep smiling. She was happy Anthony wasn't leaving her, and she didn't need to worry about him leaving in the middle of the night. She could feel whenever he moved on her bed, so she would wake up to make sure he wasn't leaving her. 

Then, sometime between five and six, Delilah had woken up and ran to the bathroom. She couldn't stop puking. Anthony woke up five minutes after she got out of bed, and looked around the room. He then heard her in the bathroom, and ran to go comfort her. He put her hair in a ponytail, and gave her moral support.  She was in the bathroom for a good thirty minutes when she finished. Anthony had already gone to get her a glass of water, put it on her night stand, and went back to bed. He was exhausted with work, getting right off work to her place because he heard she had been drinking. He felt like it was an everyday thing, and was so exhausted, he couldn't bear it anymore, so he went to bed. Anthony had been working at a car shop for the past six months because he needed money to get a new car, and he also wanted to help his mother pay the bills. 

Anthony's mother had been laid off from her writing job because she hadn't produced anything for a whole two years, and they needed something from her. She just couldn't do it anymore, so she was fired. Since then, Anthony had gotten a job, and made just enough money to pay the rent, and save the rest of his paycheck to get a new car. He really wanted a better truck than his old piece of junk. He really wanted to give his old truck to Delilah since she hadn't gotten a job yet. She tried getting into multiple places, but they all rejected her because of her grades. 

Then, Delilah comes back to bed after brushing her teeth, and she's also exhausted. The one part Delilah had forgotten was that her mother came back that day. So at around ten in the morning, neither Delilah, nor Anthony had gotten up yet. They were both exhausted, and couldn't get themselves up. So, when Mary called she was home, Delilah slightly woke up. She started thinking about how late it was, what had happened last night, and remembered Anthony whispering in her ear, and it being so hot to her, she was so red in the face for about ten minutes. Yea, when he talks to her, sure it's cute, but when he moved her hair to whisper in her ear that he would never leave her, it was another story. Then, it hit her that she invited Anthony to get into her bed with her. Which, turns out, he doesn't sleep with a shirt on, and that makes her blush more. She didn't exactly know what was going through her mind when she asked him. 

Delilah gets up, and gets changed as fast as possible so that she doesn't smell like alcohol. She tried on seven different outfits, but they all smelt like alcohol. So, she grabbed some perfume, sprayed it on her, brushed her teeth in a hurry, and really hoped her mother didn't come into her room, and see Anthony in her bed. She really didn't want her mother getting the wrong idea. So Delilah really hurried to get changed, and ran downstairs. By the time she was downstairs, she was out of breath from running around so much. She had stopped by the wall that was in between the living room and the stairs, catching her breath. Then her mother comes by. 

"Oh hey Delilah, I was just about to come up and check on you. It looked like you had a fun night last night." Mary said, looking over at all the alcohol bottles in the trash, and the one half full on the table. She regretted that so bad. She regretted everything she did so much, but that was her only escape she felt like. She told her mother that she had a reason to drink. 

"I promise I have a reason why I drank last night. You could get a boyfriend at 40, then why couldn't I get a boyfriend at sixteen? I also tried to kiss Anthony two times while you were gone, and both times he denied me." Delilah explained carefully. While Delilah had started yelling, Anthony woke up, he put a shirt on, and went to the top of the stairs. No one could see him since the stairs had turned half way down. He wanted to hear everything Delilah needed to say. Then Delilah continued, "The first time I got drunk and really thought I liked him since he was ALWAYS there for me, and he told me that since I was drunk, he didn't want to do anything that I would regret in the morning. Then, just last night, I was sober, and tried to kiss him, but again he denied me. He said that since I was just getting out of a depression, that he wanted to make sure that I actually like him, instead of liking the idea of feelings. I don't know what to do at this point. I tried to not run back to alcohol last night, but I felt like I had no other option." Delilah explained, tears running down her eyes.