Saved By Steven (finished)

7. The morning after

The next morning school was canceled because of heavy snowfall. Mick got the call early in the morning. Around 8:00 am he got out of bed to make coffee and breakfast for himself and his two guests, who were still asleep. Lauren was lying on the same couch as Tom. Mick figured she had gotten cold during the night and crawled under the warm blanket.

Half an hour later Mick carried in a tray of food and coffee.

"Good morning." He said.

Tom and Lauren both grunted a bit. They didn't want to wake up.

"I have coffee."

Tom turned around and got more comfortable. Lauren opened her eyes.

"You okay?"

"My head hurts."

"And you might want to cover up."

Lauren looked down. Her dress was barely covering her private parts. "O, Shit" Lauren covered up with a blanket.

"Here you go." Mick said as he handed her one over his dress shirts and sweatpants.

"Thanks. This is so embarrassing."

"It's okay."

Mick and Lauren sat in silence. After a while Lauren got up, walked to her bag. "Can I smoke?" she asked.

"Sure."

"I'll go outside."

"No, you don't have to. You can smoke here. It's too cold outside."

"Thanks."

Before Lauren even lit a cigarette she had to lie down again. She was shaking.

"Lauren, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just tired I guess."

"Okay, get some sleep. I'll be around."

Lauren went back to sleep. Mick cleared the cold coffee and put the breakfast in the fridge. He went upstairs to get dressed.

When Mick was upstairs, Tom woke up.

"What the fuck." He said with raspy voice. He got up to go to the bathroom. As he got up, Mick walked down the stairs to catch Tom.

"Whoa, take it easy buddy."

"Toilet." Tom said

Mick opened the door and Tom got to the toilet just in time. Tom threw up and leaned back to the toilet wall. "Fuck"

"You can say that."

Tom was feeling miserable and Mick saw it. He had to get home but he couldn't because of the snow.

"Tom, listen." Mick started. "I called Lucy, I told her that you were staying the night here so you could help me organize the party today. She was okay with it."

"Thanks. You're a great friend. I wish I could be one to you."

"Don't sweat it." Mick said as he helped Tom back to the livingroom.

"What the hell happened to you?" Lauren said.

"I see you're awake again. Feeling better?" Mick asked

"Still shaky but less tired." Lauren said as she got up for a smoke. "I'll be outside." She said.

____________________________________________________________________________

As Lauren walked outside, Mick came after her.

"Shouldn't you be with Tom?"

"He'll be fine. He's just recovering from last night."

"You want one?" Lauren said offering Mick a Marlboro light.

"Please." Mick took the cigarettes and lit both. He handed the second cigarette to Lauren.

"Look, Mick, I'm sorry. I know I behaved badly last night."

"It's okay, you've gone through a rough couple of weeks. You feeling better now?"

"No, not really."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault that I want to crawl into bed and don't come out for a while. That I want to numb my feelings and forget the past."

Mick looked at Lauren. He was feeling sorry for her. She didn't feel great and there was nothing he could do. Just after Lauren went back inside, a car pulled up the driveway.

"Mick, great to see you."

"Steven, glad to see you too."

"So nice of you to ask us to perform."

"I wouldn't have it any other way!" Mick said as he hugged Steven.

"So the band is joining us a little later. They got stuck in the snow."

"No problem. Let's go inside.

"Love to!"

"So, I just wanted to say, I've got two guests. I didn't plan on it, but we had a party at school last night and it got a bit out of hand. Eventually I ended up driving them here, I couldn't let them go home. I hope that's not a problem."

"No, I'm used to surprise company."

Mick and Steven went inside. Tom was getting himself some coffee before he joined them in the living room. When the group of guys sat down, they heard something.

"What is that?" Tom said. He wasn't in a good mood.

"I'll go look." Steven said.

"Be careful." Mick said jokingly.

Steven walked to the corner where the noise came from. He looked around before he saw something behind the couch.

"Hey," he said. "Are you okay?"

Lauren looked at him and back to her feet.

"What's your name?"

"Lauren." She said whimpering.

"Lauren is a pretty name."

Lauren gave a weak smile.

"Say, want to tell me what's the matter?''

"Nothing." She said in a soft voice.

"Okay, you don't have to tell me, but I'm not moving until you feel better."

Who the hell is this guy, thinking he can sit in my personal space. Maybe he'll go away.

Lauren felt an arm on her back. "You know, nothing shocks me and you never have to be embarrassed around me."

"I'm sorry. I just can't tell you."

"Okay, well. I'll be with Mick. If you want to talk, just come over."