Situations Are Irrelevant Now

Bar Brawl

Chapter 23: Bar Brawl

The contrast of dim bar lighting and bright TV screens swirled into one collision of color around me. I couldn't sit still in a bar stool; yet each time I got up and attempted to dance, I'd fall back into the chair.

Out of the kindness of his heart, Ronnie kept buying my drinks, while Craig rubbed my back and held back my hair each time it looked like I was about to puke. I could get used to this – all the attention focused on me. Craig and his bandmates should've moved in a long time ago!

As the hours passed, though, I didn't continue feeling so mighty. Ronnie kept delivering shot glasses filled with amber-colored liquids, but I couldn't keep any of it down. Nothing they did seemed to ease the disgusting feeling of previously digested food and stomach acid crawling up my throat.

"I'll get us another round!" Ronnie drunkenly declared as he stumbled over to the bar. Evidently, his answer to everything was to drink more.

The moment he left, I felt cold and shaky. More vomit spilled through my fingers and splattered across my jeans. It seemed oddly hilarious to me at first, but then the world stopped spinning and everything was still. I felt my body slowly drop to the floor. The moment my back met the concrete floor, everything went black.

+Craig's POV+

In the thirty seconds I had turned away from Megan to watch some stupid infomercial on the TV, Megan had managed to puke all over herself and fall out of her bar stool. I thought she may have just lost her balance, like the countless other times this had happened, but she wasn't responding when I called out her name. Oh God, did she blackout?

Upon noticing that she didn't seem to be breathing, I leapt off my chair and kneeled next to her, beginning the CPR process. Although this was incredibly inappropriate timing, I paused just inches from her lips and took in all her beauty. If only she knew how I felt about her...how I'd always felt about her.

None of that would matter if she dies. I pushed those thoughts to the back of my head and placed my lips on top of hers – breathing fresh air into her lungs. I pushed down on her chest and pumped life back into her heart. The process continued until her eyes finally flickered open. When her consciousness returned, I had been blowing into her mouth – though upon first glance it would've probably looked like I was kissing her.

Unfortunately, to anyone else who hadn't seen her pass out on the floor, this would look pretty bad. I cringed at the sound of glass breaking behind me.

+Ronnie's POV+

As I waited for the bartender to finish making my shots, I leaned against the bar feeling absolutely invincible. I'd say tonight was a win for Team Ronnie – Craig doesn't stand a chance! I mean, I kind of have the advantage, considering I'm already her boyfriend, but there's never anything wrong with a little friendly competition.

Despite tripping two or three times and nearly spilling the drinks I had waited so long for, I returned to our table with a goofy grin on my face. But, as fate would have it, those glasses were destined to drop. They slipped right out of my hands when I saw Craig on top of Megan kissing her.

My hands trembled as I charged forward and tackled Craig onto the floor. "What the hell, man? How dare you touch my girlfriend like that!" I screamed.

He held his hands up in defense and tried to get some words in, but I didn't give him a chance. I swung my fists left and right; most of my hits ended up missing him, which caused the inner frustration to grow. I inhaled deeply and attempted to sober up just long enough to actually aim before issuing my next strike. Luckily, I got him in the eye twice and felt his nose crunch under my knuckles.

"R-Ronnie, chill out dude. It's not what you think!" He stuttered between my hits.

"Oh really?" I sneered. "What else could've possibly been going on?"

"Megan passed out," he wheezed. "If I hadn't given her CPR...she would've died. Is that...is that what you would've wanted?"

In the blur of anger that overwhelmed me, I didn't even notice that Megan hadn't moved from her position on the floor. I glanced over at her and saw her shallow breathing. "Of course not. I would never want that."

"Can't you see that I wasn't trying to make a move on her?"

Although the anger had slightly resided, the influence of liquor had not. My mind was racing as I imagined the scenario. Sure, he might've started off just innocently, but being so close, seeing her regain consciousness, he could've easily taken advantage of the situation. I refused to let him beat me at my own game!

I relaxed my shoulders and extended a hand to help Craig back on his feet. "You might have been helping her at first, but what I just saw – that was a god damn kiss."

I waited until he was halfway off the ground before knocking him right in the jaw and watched with demented glee as he fell back down. Vengeance was providing me with such an excellent high that I didn't hear some guy announce that the cops had arrived.

Within seconds of their arrival, I was ripped from Craig's body. I glanced over my shoulder and gave the cop a skeptical look. "It's okay, dude. You don't need to intervene. I'm done with this piece of shit."

"You have the right to remain silent," the officer told me, disregarding what I had said. He shoved me up against the wall and slapped some handcuffs on me.

"What do you think you're doing?" I gritted out. "I said I was done."

"How convenient...you're finished as soon as the cops arrive. If we didn't show up in time, who knows what you would've done to that poor man," he said, nodding to Craig, who was cradling his aching jaw.

I laughed. "'That poor man,' are you kidding me? That poor man was making a move on my girlfriend. I had every right to do what I did!"

"Well, now you'll have all night in a holding cell to remind yourself of that," he sneered, dragging me toward the exit.

I resisted him as best I could. There was no way I could go to prison. If they pull up my record...I'm screwed.