Meet Us at the Barre: A Series of SAB Oneshots

kathy

Katherine was pulled out of her light sleep by the sound of rapping against the glass of her window.

She glanced over at her clock.

1:21 a.m.

She sat up in her bed, startled. Katherine pulled a blanket over her shoulders as she cautiously drew back the curtains.

"Oh, my God!" Katherine gasped in a whisper, seeing a disheveled James standing there. "What are you doing here?" She asked, slowly opening the window.

James simply stood there, giggling at something that wasn't even funny.

"James, you're drunk." Katherine sighed, pushing the window completely open. "Just..." She looked over at her closed bedroom door. "Stay there."

James hazily watched as Katherine left her room and Nessa returned.

"I was told to keep you busy. Kath's coming to get you." Nessa sighed. "Why don't you tell me what happened? Y'know, before Kath kills you for it?"

James simply started chuckling once more. Nessa considered this was no use.

Sooner rather than later, Katherine came into Nessa's view, and ushered James into the apartment building.

"Thank you, Ness." Katherine told her friend. She then apologized for waking her friend up.

"Of course. Now get him figured out." Nessa joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "I'll try."

Katherine threw one of James' somewhat limp arms around her shoulder, as she tried to help him walk over to her bed.

She navigated his shaky and dizzying steps around scattered pointe shoes that were only laying around so that the shellac Katherine painted them with could dry.

"Sit." She instructed, trying her best not to push him onto the mattress.

Katherine was angry with James. One, because he snuck out and ended up like this. Two, he was only seventeen - they both were. You're not legal to drink at seventeen years old. How he even got alcohol was beyond Katherine.

"Kathy, come here." James drunkenly whined. James never called her "Kathy", because he knew how much she hated it.

When he was sober, he knew how much she hated it.

"I love you...come here." He called again.

Katherine spun around. She set a trashcan by the side of the bed James was laying on. "I don't love you right now, James." She mumbled.

She dug around through her dance bag until she conjured up her emergency bottle of Advil. After twisting the lid off and back on again, she placed two of the teal pills on the bedside table.

Katherine kept her gaze on James (who had gone from stupid giggling to looking completely and utterly pissed off) as she grabbed an extra blanket from the edge of her bed.

"Where are you going?" James asked, his words still slurring together, but an angry tone was now present in his voice.

"I'm sleeping on the couch. You're staying here, this is going to wear off. Come get me in the morning when you're back in your normal mind." She stated, leaving the room.

Katherine slowly walked out into the living room of the apartment. She slumped onto the couch, which suddenly seemed like the most uncomfortable piece of furniture she'd ever sat down on.

Her mind spun with thoughts as her already tired eyes fought to stay open. She couldn't sleep right now. What if he needed something? She wouldn't give it to him, would she? He didn't deserve her help, did he? It was his choice. She doesn't have to help him, right?

Tears filled Katherine's eyes as her thoughts kept coming and going. Hours had passed, she couldn't even tell you what time it is. She could guess, however, since the Sun was up, and it wasn't seemingly five minutes ago. Had she sat there all night?

Katherine was pulled from her thoughts when she heard the door to the hallway bathroom be quickly pushed open. "James?" Katherine asked, starting down the hall.

"Kath?" He asked, his voice dry and rough. He looked pale and sick, obviously.

Katherine's heart broke. Yes, she was mad last night about what he did, but it broke her heart to see him like this.

She knelt beside him. "Sweetheart, how much of last night do you remember?"

"Um..." He rubbed the side of his head. "I went to Junior's with Mark and Isaac, and...they left after dinner to go...somewhere. And now I'm in your home?" Just by the look on his face, you could see how confused he was.

Katherine sighed, tears pricking at her eyes. "Well, James, we have class in an hour. I don't know what to do with you, but um..." She shook her head. "Just go back to bed and get some rest for now." She instructed. "Are you feeling well enough to walk?"

James nodded slowly. "Thank you, Kath. Um...what did I do last night?"

She didn't have the heart nor the energy to relay the last five hours to him, so she summed it up simply. "For starters, you called me Kathy a few times."

~~~~~

Making up for those missed SAB Saturdays while I was at BBT x