Walk the Line

5 - The Time She Save His Ass and He Buys Dinner

5 – The Time She Saves His Ass and He Buys Dinner

"Ellie Bellie," the deep voice sang on the other end of the phone.

"What do you want, Ford?" I grumbled.

"What makes you think I want something, princess?" he slurred.

"You probably haven't called or texted me since I learned how to drive and you didn't have to pick me up from AV club any more. Besides, you only call me 'Ellie Bellie' when you want something, spit it out, Hudson," I retorted.

"Damn, you became a senior and you got kind of cold," he said.

"Ford, I'm going to hang up," I taunted.

"I need you to come pick me up," he said.

"Why?" I asked, grabbing my keys and pushing my long curly locks out of my face as I sat up out of bed.

"Because I'm really drunk and I can't find my keys," he said.

"What happened to Kyle?" I asked.

"He left with Blythe," he said.

"Where are you?" I sighed.

"At the tavern," he said.

"I'll be there in ten minutes," I yawned.

"Oh thank God, love y--," I hung up on him. I started my car and drove to The Tavern. I wasn't quite sure what this was about, but I had an idea. Ford was getting kind of serious about Cady. Ford had grown up a lot in the past few years. I mean, a lot for someone like Ford, at least. Kyle said he'd bought a ring for her and everything. Only this whole week he'd been pretty mopey. Something obviously wasn't right.

I pulled into the parking lot of The Tavern, and saw a sad looking Ford sitting on the sidewalk. He stood up and opened the door of my car. He sat down, and the smell of alcohol overwhelmed me. I pulled out of the parking lot and started driving him home.

"Eleanor," his deep voice said.

"What?" I responded.

"You got kinda pretty in the past four years," he said.

"Ford, please don't hit on me. I'm just here so you don't die." He was silent after a few minutes.

"Eleanor," he said again.

"What?" I sighed.

"I need you to pull over," he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Either you pull over right fucking now or I am going to puke all over your leather interiors," he said. I hit the brakes pretty hard and pulled over. He opened the door and I could hear him hurling.

When he returned to my car, he sounded like he'd sobered up a little bit.

"Let's go to Waffle House," he said.

"No, Ford, it's like 3am, you're lucky I'm even here right now. I'm not taking you to Waffle House," I said.

"I'll pay, come on, let's go to Waffle House," he said.

"Ford, no," I said, "I have school in the morning."

"So? Senior skip day," he said, and then tried to grab the steering wheel.