"Chris," Robert says, handing Leah a glass of wine.
They're all leaning on the island in the middle of the kitchen, having conversations and drinking wine (except for Samantha, of course). They all finished their dinner and desert an hour ago. With the thoughts of what happened downstairs still in her mind, Leah is already on her third glass and waits for the drunkeness to finally hit her.
"Why were you downstairs for so long? You weren't watching a good game without me, were you?" Robert smiles.
Chris sips his wine, looking at Leah through the bottom of the glass. He sets it down in front of him. "I...fell asleep. I was feeling tired. I guess I figured no one would notice."
"Nice try," Samantha says. "Nothing ever gets by Leah."
"You should probably keep that burned in your mind," Leah says to James.
With that, James downs the rest of his wine and requests a little more.
Good idea, Leah thinks. Get drunk while my little sister, your BABY MAMA, is here.
The counter dulls down to an awkward silence. Sips and glance-exchanges. Leah usually talks the most. But right now she feels if she begins to speak, she'll never stop, and everything will pour out. All she can do is drink and drown in her thoughts.
"Who are you, anyway?" Chris decides to say, looking at James. "You're the only one here that hasn't tried to talk to me."
"Oh, James Neeson," James says. He extends his arm for a handshake with Chris.
Chris narrows his eyes; he looks like he's trying to put pieces together. "Are you a teacher, by any chance?"
James shakes his head yes.
Chris looks at Samantha and smirks. "Now, I know." He grabs James' hand and shakes it. "You're the one that knocked Samantha up. Nice to meet you."
Leah's father, like James, downs his wine like it's the last drink on Earth. "I need to step out for a few minutes. There's something I need to find." He moves away from the counter and walks down to basement, where he keeps all his wine and strong liquor.
James turns red and pulls his hand back. He clears his throat a few times. He places his hand on Samantha's, who is already bright red and looking away with embarassment.
"Nice, Chris," Leah says.
"What?"
"There wasn't a better way of saying that? He's already struggling trying to accept it."
"Don't worry about it, Leah," Robert says, rubbing her back. "I'm sure it just came out unexpectedly."
"Yeah. Listen to your boyfriend. He seems to understand."
Leah isn't even paying attention anymore. Chris' comment was the first thing she listened to all night. Her mind is in too much of a tangle. What is she going to do after tonight? She's in complete confusion, no clue of what she should do about this. She can't tell Riley. Riley will just make a bigger deal out of it. SHe can't get over the fact that she liked kissing Chris. It was the best kiss she's hand in a hell of a long time. And the things he said about her...she doesn't know whether to believe them or not.
All this thinking begins to make her feel lightheaded and sick. She doesn't realize that James is trying to speak to her. When she comes back to Earth, everyone is staring at her, worry in their eyes, waiting for her to answer his question. She looks around, feeling lost and confused. "I...I, I'm sorry. I just...c-can you just slide that bottle over? Please?" She holds her hand out.
