I had no idea how long I had been sitting there, with my back pressed against the side of the bathtub and my head resting on top of my knees; it could’ve been 15 minutes or 5 hours, I really didn’t know. The lump in my throat didn’t want to go away, but my blurry vision had cleared a bit as all the alcohol slowly evaporated from my body, and my breathing wasn’t as irregular as it had been within the first couple of minutes of Niall walking out of the bathroom. I was far from okay, though.
I knew I had to face reality soon and come downstairs. I listened carefully, hearing only several distant voices – the music had been turned off. Maddie and Jake probably stayed to help me clean the house, and I felt my heart swell with realization just how awesome friends I had. Not wanting to leave them do all the work by themselves, I managed to pick myself off the floor and hurry into my bedroom to change from this goddamned dress into a baggy sweatshirt and the oldest (and most comfortable) pair of leggings I owned. I glanced over at the clock on my bedside table, and seeing it was 5:21 am, I rushed out of the room and towards the stairs, thinking of every single way I could apologize to Maddie and Jake for having to take care of everything and everyone as I drank alcohol in my own weight and became that unstable person I’d usually become whenever I drank.
My bare feet padded down the stairs as I fumbled with my messy, tangled hair, trying to get it into a bun or anything, really, just to get it out of my eyes, and I was still in the process of doing it when I walked into the living room. That’s why I didn’t notice 7 pairs of eyes on me.
Maddie, Jake, Louis, Harry, Liam, Zayn (cue flashback of my embarrassment few hours ago) and a random girl sprawled on the couch – they were all looking at me. Except for the girl who was obviously in the process of getting sober, they all had worried expressions on their faces, and my eyes shifted to the floor awkwardly. I was more than pleasantly surprised and flattered they all stayed to help, but I also felt like crap for being irresponsible and stupid.
Maddie broke the silence, taking a step forward, a worried smile on her tired face, “Hey, honey, how ya feeling?”
“Like shit” I chuckled, embarrassed. I gathered up the courage to look at them all: Maddie had a piece of cleaning cloth in her hand; Jake was holding a rather full black plastic bag, full of plastic cups and empty bottles and god knows what else; Harry was gathering trash from the table, dumping it into the bag Jake was holding; Liam tried to put the curtain back on, since somebody managed to tear it off, while Zayn and Louis collected the remaining alcohol and were about to take it to the kitchen. Except for a few plastic cups left on the table and the curtain, the living room was clean. They were basically finished with the cleaning.
“Hey, guys,” I started slowly, shifting my weight from one leg to another, “thanks for staying and cleaning up, you really shouldn’t have” I said, but Maddie shushed me and pulled me in a hug, while the rest of them broke into a babble of ‘don’t mention it’, ‘it’s no big deal’ and a ‘oh shut up’ which I was pretty sure it came from Louis. I cracked a smile, finally.
“Hey lads, is there anything else I need to throw away, I’m about - ”
Niall froze in the doorway when our eyes met; I wasn’t sure who tensed more, me or him. I stepped out of Maddie’s embrace, opening my mouth in attempt to speak, but my mind was blank. Niall awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, his eyes on anything but me.
“I, um, I’m about to throw these” he started again, holding up two bags similar to the one Jake was holding, “so, if you have anything else, that needs to be thrown away I mean, um, tell me?”
“No, we got it” Maddie told him, smiling to ease the tension, but with no result. Niall nodded and just stood there, hoping to be excused soon, and Harry, knowing his mate, stepped forward, taking the trash from him. “You just drop Tina home, and I’ll take care of these” he said, turning towards the girl on the couch, “I think she feels better now” he said and we all glanced towards her; she looked like she had a headache, but apart from that, she seemed okay.
