Next To Love [Book 2]

Chapter 14 : Friendship Trouble *

[A/N: that's a pic of Meagan Tandy who plays Vitani just incase some of you had a bit of a blurred image on how she looks like. Anyways, enjoy, this chap doesn't include Harry but it's pretty bumpy, brace yourselves.]

Melanie

Break was finally over and it was time to go back to school. I wasn't exactly one to start procrastinating on school because art is something I love, but I wasn't looking forward to waking up early either.

Nevertheless, I got ready for school in a simple outfit and let the day roll along on its own. To say the least it was a pretty boring day, without Harry's involvement in any part of my day (or night) it's quite tedious.

I decided to get up and surprise Leo, it's the least I could do after knowing everything I've done. I'm simply trying to distance myself from Harry and spend more quality time with Leo, but lately it seems like our relationship is slowly falling apart.

Sometimes I wonder what happened to us, at the beginning of our relationship (and even before we started dating) we were perfect. We use to go out all the time, have fun together, and we didn't even need to have sex to have a good time. Now not even sex lets us have a good time.

I made it to Leo's dorm room and I knocked before entering like I always do.

"Leo," I knock again, placing my ear against the door but I hear nothing. "Leo, are you in there?" I knock for the last time, still receiving no reply.

I reach for the door knob, expecting it to be locked but surprisingly it wasn't. I walked right into the silent room and gasped when my foot brushed up against something causing it to make a glass clinking sound.

I looked below me and saw the various bottles of beer carelessly thrown on the floor. My eyes traveled from the trail of glass beer bottles that ended by Leo's bed where he laid faced down, still lazily holding a half empty beer bottle in one hand.

"Goodness, Leo." I rushed over to him, afraid he wasn't breathing any longer as he laid with his face smushed into the mattress.

I lift his head up by the back collar of his polo shirt. He was wobbly, but when I picked his head up he took in a deep breath of air and opened his eyes before letting out a deep, low burp that smelt of straight up alcohol.

"Jesus, Leo, why are you drinking!?" I ponder in pure bewilderment.

It's peculiar seeing Leo like this. He doesn't drink, smoke, do drugs or even is the party type of guy, and those are some of the few characteristics that made me like him furthermore. He is actually quite the opposite of all that, so it's understandable that seeing him in a tipsy, vulnerable state was odd to me.

If he were ever to get drunk I would have at least expect it to be with his friends at his birthday bash or something, not by himself in his dorm room.

"Because I want to, okay?" He groans in a raspy tone before he slumps back up against the headboard of his bed and lifts his hand that held the beer bottle, about to bring it up to his lips.

As the bottle inches closer to his lips, I suddenly snatch the bottle out of his loose grip and step away from his bed.

"This Leo," I hold the bottle up for emphasis. "Is going to ruin your life."

Leo rolls his slight red eyes before he sits up. "Bla, bla, bla. The only time I bother to drink you take away my fun."

"Why are you even drinking? This isn't you, Leo."