Inevitable

My Wonderwall

It felt like everything in front of me was spinning. I couldn't remember the last time I was this drunk. Henry kept an arm around my waist to keep me from stumbling. We walked into the kitchen and Henry grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and put it in my hands. I took a big sip. The punch in the coolers was almost gone. Henry's friend from earlier came in and started making another big batch. I couldn't remember his name. I think it began with a J. John?

"It's Henry and his girlfriend. Listen I'm sorry about earlier. Sometimes I don't think before I speak."

"It's cool Joe."

Joe! That was it.

"So Emily, how did you meet Henry?"

"His roommate is dating my best friend."

I hoped I didn't sound too wasted.

"Have you seen him perform? I tried to get his band to play tonight but he said no. But maybe you could convince him to play one song."

"Dude, I don't even have my guitar here."

"You could borrow Steve's."

Suddenly I wanted to see Henry sing more than anything else in the world.

"Henry you should do it. You're so good. The people want to hear you sing."

"I don't want to leave you. Can you even see straight?"

I started giggling again and almost lost my balance. I was never drinking vodka again.

"I'll go find Jess and she can watch me while you are gone. Please, do it for me."

I knew he wouldn't say no if it was for me.

"Fine. Let's go find your friends. I'll meet you back here in a few minutes Joe."

We walked into the living room. Our group was no longer on the couch but in the middle of the room dancing. Henry walked me over to Jess and yelled something in her ear. I felt like a child being handed off to my babysitter. Jess started laughing at whatever Henry said to her. She took my hand and pulled me next to her. Henry kissed me on the cheek and walked back to the kitchen.
    We all started dancing again and I suddenly felt someone's hands on my hips. Even though it didn't make any sense, I assumed it was Henry. Instead of turning around, I leaned back and started moving my hips. I got a whiff of a familiar cologne and I knew it wasn't Henry. I quickly pulled away to see Liam standing behind me.

"Dammit Liam! What are you doing? I thought you were Henry."

"I'm sorry Em. I thought you realized it was me. I thought we were just having some fun."

Before I could continue to yell at Liam, Jess suggested we go out back to see Henry. She pulled me through the kitchen and out the back door where there was a decent size back yard. In the middle, there was a fire pit set up and they had set chairs up all around it. Most of them were filled. Henry was right in front of the fire tuning a guitar. He looked beautiful in the firelight. Again, I just couldn't believe that someone like him was with someone like me.
     I stood towards the back while everyone else tried to find someplace to sit down. I became aware of someone standing next to me. I turned to see it was Liam. He really couldn't take a hint.

"That was really messed up what you pulled back there. I'm with Henry. You need to accept that."

"I'm sorry I snuck up on you like that. I just really miss you and I haven't seen you all night. You and Henry are practically glued to each other. So when I saw he wasn't with you, I took advantage of the opportunity to spend time with you."

"We aren't glued to each other. I convinced him to go play some songs for his friends. We are perfectly capable of doing our own thing."

"How drunk are you? You never could handle the hard stuff."

"So what if I'm drunk! It's a party. And there's so much drama that I don't feel like dealing with."

"You know, it's not suppose to be so hard."

"What's not?"

"Relationships."

"I'm not doing this right now Liam."

I walked to the other side and found an open chair. Henry was watching me. I gave him a smile to let him know I was okay but I could tell he didn't believe it.
     His friend John or James or whatever his name was stood up and introduced Henry. Everyone clapped. Henry told the small crowd that he was taking requests. A girl called out a Bob Dylan song. Henry played it perfectly. He took a few more requests and I forgot everything else. I loved hearing him sing. Everything about him was so impressive. Was there anything he wasn't good at?
     After a couple more songs, he said he was only going to play one more.

"This song just recently became my favorite song to play because it reminds me of someone who means the world to me."

He started playing and I instantly recognized it. Again, he was playing my favorite song for me.

"You're gonna be the one that saves me. And after all, you're my wonderwall."

It had so much more meaning now after everything we had been through. I loved him so much. He meant the world to me too. I hoped he knew that. His eyes were locked on me and everyone else disappeared. I was so moved by him singing to me that I could feel tears pricking at my eyes. No one had ever made me cry happy tears. I quick wiped them away before my makeup ran.
When he finished the song, he handed the guitar back to his friend whose name I could not remember. He started walking towards me but two girls ran up to him and hugged him. He must have known them because he stood there and had a conversation with them. My jealous drunk brain went to a very dark place. He probably slept with them. I couldn't watch. I stood up and walked back into the house.