Demons (An AU Nathan Gardner Story)

Chapter 2 - Hangovers

The following morning, Sydney was splayed across her couch, her dress not hiding a thing. She lived with her best friend and that's exactly how he found her. After pulling the hem of her dress down, he shook her shoulder gently.

"Syd, honey." Nothing. "Sydney," he repeated, almost singing her name. Still nothing. Wanting to know exactly why she was in the position she was, he gave up on being gentle. "Sydney Turner!" he yelled.

Sydney shot up, her eyes red when she opened them. "Arlen? What the hell is..." She looked around and saw that she hadn't made it to her bedroom. "Shit," she groaned.

"Girls' night?" Arlen asked, an eyebrow raised. "That now involves coming home sans panties?"

"They're in my purse," she answered too quickly. The night came flooding back to her.

"You little...what did you do last night?"

She smiled, her head aching. "A gorgeous stranger – and before you yell, I was safe."

"Last time I checked 'stranger' wasn't safe, Syd." He was mothering her, as he always did.

Sydney crossed her arms. "John technically left me months ago, Arlen. I've been a little needy, plastic wasn't cutting it...and I'd do it again, as long as he was involved."

"That hot, huh?" His mothering had turned to curiosity.

"Mmm...shower first, details later..."

Meanwhile...

Nathan made it to his bedroom, but not much further than that. Still fully dressed, he was passed out on his stomach on top of the covers of his bed. His feet dangled over the edge, shoes still on. He groaned into his mattress, then heard a voice in the room.

"You've gotta be kidding me, Dad." The voice belonged to his daughter, Susan. It wasn't mad, it wasn't curious - it was disappointed. "So much for trying, huh?"

Nathan rolled over, then sat up. He rubbed at his temples as Susan came into focus. "The guys, they..."

"Seriously?" she interrupted. "You're a bit old for peer pressure." She took a step closer, eyeing him. When she finally understood what she was seeing, she looked confused. "Tell me it wasn't a hooker."

"What? Susan, I..."

"You've binged before, Dad, but you've never come home covered in lipstick. You don't even date!"

"Hooker, really? You've lost that much respect for me?"

Susan shrugged. "I can only go by what I see. I'm going to Charlie's," she said, sadly. She looked back at him at she exited his room. "You might want to remember that you start your job on Monday."

He waited until he heard her go out the front door before he moved. His muscles ached as much as his head as he made his way to the bathroom. It took everything he had to look at himself in the mirror. Red-rimmed eyes, hair sticking every which way...and smudges of berry colored lipstick along his neck, his jaw, and around his mouth. He closed his eyes and for a second felt himself inside of his first one night stand in over twenty years. "Couldn't have been a hooker," he mumbled.