Take Me There

Make Ups and First Times

    Chapter Twenty Four

 "Here you go," Sadie said about an hour later, handing me a beer. I gave her a smile before taking it out of her hands and placing it against my lips.  Before we left to come to the bar, I'd literally consumed almost a quarter of the Fireball by myself. After the first few sips, Kiptyn told me that I should probably put it down, but Fireball was like my crack. And after everything I'd been through in the past two weeks, I needed to continue to drink it.

 So it was safe to say that I was numb all the way down to my toes and feeling pretty good. Plus I'd stuck to the whole liquor before beer, you're in the clear saying, so I knew I wouldn't be throwing up later.

 The band hadn't started playing yet, but people were already crowded around the front of the stage. Sadie took her spot next to me and took a sip of her beer.

 "Dallis," She finally said after a few seconds of silence, "I'm s-"

 I shook my head. "It's okay."

 Her eyes widened slightly. "You're not mad? About earlier?"

 Hell, I was the happiest person ever right about now.

 "No," I ran a hand through my curls, "It's all good."

 She raised an eyebrow. "It's all good?"

 I smiled. "Right."

 She was quiet for a second before leaning in close to me. I furrowed my eyebrows as she placed her nose at my mouth and sniffed.

 "You've been drinking," She concluded.

 "You just gave me a beer."

 She grinned. "You had Fireball without me!"

 I laughed. "How did you know?"

 "You smell like cinnamon mixed with a brewery."

 I took another sip of my beer. "Kiptyn bought it for me."

 "How did he know it was your favorite?"

 "Apparently Austin told him."

 She nodded. "How much did you drink?"

 I giggled. "Let's just say that I'm surprised I'm able to have this coherent conversation with you."

 She suddenly wrapped her arms around me, surprising me as she squeezed hard. I laughed, wrapping my arms around her back. "What is this for?"

 She squeezed tighter. "I just really wanted to hug you."

 "Weirdo."

 She let go just as the band started to play, giving me a huge smile that made me happy.

  Maybe it was the Fireball, or maybe it was the addrenaline from the nervousness that I was feeling about tomorrow. But for some reason, I was happy. Happy to be here watching Crossing Lincoln, happy that I got to share this experience with my best friend, and happy that sooner than later, I was going to know exactly who Dallis Anderson was.

 And it was going to feel damn good.  

 By the time they were done performing, I'd only downed three beers but I'd danced my ass off and probably looked like a complete dumbass while doing so. But that was completely fine with me, because for a few hours I'd forgotten all about the fact that I was a mere twelve hours away from meeting my mom.

 I followed Sadie out to the parking lot where everyone was packing up the SUV. I was literally praying to God that they wouldn't want to stay at the bar tonight, because I really just wanted to go back to the hotel and drink in private.