Greaser

41. Night Out

N I A L L

            We dumped all the beer down the sink, along with the numerous bottles of hard liquor that were left up in the cabinets. It wasn’t just Mary who thought this was the best idea, I thought so too. Even though Mary won’t admit it, I know that Tony was starting to become afraid of me. He started to fear that I was going to turn out just like our father. If he knew that the night my father hit him replays in my mind every night before bed, maybe he would think a bit differently. But again, maybe he wouldn’t.

I shook my head of any thoughts, looking up to see Mary standing in the doorway of the living room. Her body was covered in a black dress, with white polka dots and her hair was done up all nicely. It seemed a bit dressy for a just a night on the town. Something we thought would be less stressful for the both of us, and less tempting for me. I stood up, fumbling with my car keys all while I straightened out my clothes.

“You look good.” I smiled, reaching out to take her hand. I took it upon myself to drop Tony off at Aubrey’s while Mary was getting ready. It also gave me some time to actually talk to him personally about what has been going on with me.

“Was Tony excited to go to Aubrey’s?” she smiled, grabbing her purse from the kitchen counter, followed by her coat from the hanger by the front door. I nodded, helping her put it on before we began to walk into town. The wind made her dress cling around her thighs, it made me laugh to myself a few times when she kept trying to situate herself all while the wind kept hitting us.

“Tony is always excited to go to Aubrey’s.” I quickly stated, feeling a little awkward for the first time around her. I feel like I let her down in the biggest way this past week and words couldn’t even explain how it made me feel. We both stayed quiet for what felt like forever, but eventually I just couldn’t take it anymore and had to let things out.

“I’m sorry, Mary. Like really sorry for this past week.” I froze, tugging at her hand to get her to stop walking. “Is there any way I can show you how sorry I am?” I smiled, pushing a fallen strand of hair behind her ear.

“Niall,” She sighed, “I know you’re sorry. You tell me every night.” She grinned, pulling down the sleeve of my plain white tee shirt.

“Can I confess something?” I asked, looking around us before I tugged her in another direction. Towards the lake front, it was just down a ways from where the beach was. Although, this was getting near the park area.

“What?” she giggled, straightening out her dress before finally taking a seat beside me in the green grass.

“When I helped you that night with Dale, I never thought we would come this far.” I paused, “But when I felt myself starting to like you, it was hard to stop those feelings. I didn’t want to like you, I didn’t want to get attached to you because I knew I’d just get into trouble.” I chuckled, “Look at me,” I shook my head, “I got into trouble with alcohol even though I promised myself I wouldn’t.”

“Niall, you don’t have to-,”

“But I do. If I am going to get better with all this I have to talk to you.” I explained, “When I started talking to you, I tried to stop those feelings from happening but it only made me like you even more, and then more and soon enough I was falling in love with you. I couldn’t stay away, and I was constantly worrying about if you were happy, and if you were safe. I fell for you even when I tried so hard not to.” I sighed, snaking my arm around her waist, pulling her closer.