what they wouldn't do | DAREDEVIL

chapter sixteen: meetings

                  SARAH WOKE UP THE NEXT MORNING to the sound of her front door slamming and a familiar female voice calling out her name.

     "Sarah! Time to get up, we have a baby shower to finish planning!"

     She covered her pounding head with her pillow and groaned; even from the next room, Lauren's voice seemed excessively loud this morning. She didn't bother moving when she heard her bedroom door open.

     "Do you realize your apartment smells like a frat house?"

     Sarah slide the pillow off her face and inhaled, then almost gagged as she smelled the stale scent of cheap vodka in the air.

     "Oh, god," she said, wrinkling her nose. "It does."

     Lauren made a face as she came to stand next to Sarah's bed. "Scratch that, it's you. You smell like a frat house. Partying hard last night?

     "I would definitely not classify it as partying. And I didn't drink that much," Sarah lied, a wave of nausea hitting her as she sat up slowly. She clamped her mouth shut for a few seconds as she waited for it to pass. Lauren raised a skeptical eyebrow.

     "Are you sure? Because you smell so strongly of alcohol right now that I'm worried just breathing the same air as you will give my kid fetal alcohol syndrome."

     "That's not how that works."

     "Well, if Child Protective Services shows up at my door, I'm directing them to your inebriated ass," Lauren informed her.

     "It's too early for you to be dramatic," Sarah groaned. "Why are you here, anyway?"

     Lauren gave her a thoroughly unimpressed look. "We need to finish planning the baby shower that's in less than two weeks, and you said that I could come over today to take a final look at what you put together. Remember?"

     Sarah scrunched her face up guiltily as she searched her memory of the night before. She remembered the beginning of the night clearly. She and Matt had finished the entire bottle of vodka between them, and when he left it had still been surprisingly early in the evening. As always, it wasn't until she was done drinking that the full effect of the alcohol had hit her. She vaguely remembered receiving a text from Lauren asking if she was free to do baby shower planning the next night.

     "I thought you said you were coming over sometime around...later than now? Nighttime?" Sarah asked blurrily, rubbing her eyes. Her mouth was dry and her head felt like it would explode.

     "I did. Then you told me you had today off, so I asked if we could meet up in the morning. And you said, and I quote..." Lauren began, scrolling through her texts on her phone, "'Come over whenever you want.' Then you said, 'Please bring me a grilled cheese.' And finally, 'Don't ever let your baby get drunk.'"

     "Well...that seems like good advice," Sarah defended, then after a pause she added hopefully, "Did you bring me a grilled cheese?"

     "No."

     Sarah huffed and leaned her head back against the headboard. "You show up here at the crack of dawn, being loud as hell, and you don't even bring me a sandwich."

     "Crack of dawn?" Lauren laughed and leaned around Sarah's nightstand so that she could reach the curtains, which she yanked aside. Bright sunlight streamed in and Sarah cringed and brought her blanket up over her eyes. "Hate to break it to you, sunshine, but it's past noon."

     "You're a monster and I'm taking your key away," Sarah grumbled into the blanket.

     "Okay, how about we go to the diner on the corner to do the planning, and I'll buy you a grilled cheese there," Lauren offered. "It'll help your hangover."