Changes

Chapter 16

"Feel free to take a sip, while you're standing there, watching us like a creep." I offered the bottle to Eric.

His cheeks reddened at my accusation.  "I wasn't-. Look, I just came here to tell you two, that dessert's ready," he said while taking the bottle from me.

"Your mom's pie?" Ruth's eyes lit up.

"Yep, you better hurry, because I already saw you're dad taking two pieces." Instead of taking a sip, Eric kept the bottle with him, out of our reach.

"Not again," my red headed friend groaned. Before I knew it, I was being dragged out of the study, down the stairs and into the dining room where the pie was waiting for us.

"Ah, we were wondering where you were," Ruth's mom said, "We've been waiting for you two. Grab a piece if you'd like, there's still plenty for everyone."

While Ruth and I were sitting down, Eric walked in, alone. I was about to ask where Sarah was when Ruth beat me to it.

"Where's Sarah, Eric? Has she finally run off?" she inquired while shoving a huge piece of pie into her mouth.

He let out a chuckle and replied, "She did not ran away, she just had to go home early."

"In other words, she came to her senses and ran away," Ruth muttered.

"I knew she was smart," I commented.

The rest of the dinner went by smoothly. Ruth and I talked about school and our interests while we ate her aunt Morgan's pie, which was delicious. Eric stayed quiet most of the time, only speaking when he needed to.

By the time everyone was finished, I noticed that Ruth was a bit more vocal than usual with slurred speech here and there. And then it hit me.

The vodka.

I looked at her state and knew that I needed help getting her to her room.

"Eric," he looked up at me.

"Yes?"

"Can you come here for a second?" He raised an eyebrow at my request, but stood up from his chair and walked over to me.

"What do you need?"

I grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled him down to my level.

"I need you to help me get Ruth upstairs," I whispered, glancing at the adults at the table. Eric understood immediately and turned to Ruth's mom.

"Eh aunt, is it okay if we bring Ruth to her bedroom? She's feeling a bit tired."

"Extremely tired," I added.

Fortunately for us, Ruth's mom had been so engrossed with the conversation she was having with Eric's mom that she just waved us off with a, "yeah, you go do that."

I gave Eric a confused look at the quick green light she had given us. He just shrugged in response. We both started helping Ruth up and guide her to the hallway, which sounded easier than it actually was because that little shit was constantly trying to trip Eric and I.

A giggle escaped her lips as she saw me stumbling on her feet. I got annoyed at how she was still breathing when I was sending her daggers. After for what felt like an hour, we finally entered her bedroom.

"Your cousin's a little shit, you know that?" I huffed. Sweet relief of carrying Ruth's fat ass was only a few more steps away.

"She's just as annoying as a little sister," Eric grunted after dropping Ruth on her bed. A satisfying "ouch" escaped her lips and brought a smile to my face. Even though we were despising her at that moment, we took the effort to remove her shoes and drape a blanket over her.

We were too nice.

After placing a bucket next to her bed, we decided that our job here was done and made our way out of her room. 

I quickly checked my phone and saw that it was only ten pm. I didn't want to go home yet, but I also didn't want to stand here awkwardly with Eric, while Ruth was passed out on her bed.

"Thanks for the help, but I'm heading out," I turned to him. A frown appeared on his face.

"You're kidding me, right?"

Now I was the one frowning.

"I'm pretty sure you just drank half a bottle of vodka, and now you're just gonna drive into the sunset like you're sober or something?"

I couldn't hold back an eye roll at his comment. Did he really think I was that stupid?

"I'm not an imbecile, Eric, obviously I'm going to call someone to pick me up and drive me home."

"Well, let me do it then," the guy insisted.

"No," I groaned.

"Why not?"

"Who knows, maybe you'll make me run away like Sarah did." I quickly sent a text to Laura, asking her to pick me up.

"Ouch, that one hurt Jacobs," he put a hand on his chest.

"You're too funny, you know that?" I started to make my way downstairs. Laura texted me back that she couldn't, because she was visiting family out of town.

I was dreading the sentence that was about to come out of my mouth.

"You know what, Eric, I'll take your offer. You can be my driver for the rest of the night."

"For the rest of the night?"

"Yup," I said while grabbing his arm and pulling him down the stairs.

The four adults looked up as we entered the dining room.

"Well mrs. Miller, thank you for the delicious meal, but unfortunately it's time for me to go home."

"It was nice to meet you, Hannah. You're welcome here anytime," she smiled at me like she meant it.

After that, Eric told his parents that he would drive me home because I was "tired." We had decided that he would drive me home, after going wherever I wanted, leave the car there and then call a friend to drive him home.

Yeah, I know, sounds like a lot of work, but he had put it upon himself.

We closed the front door behind us, and walked to my car as I unlocked it. 

"So, where do you wanna go?" he asked when we were both inside my car.

I couldn't help but grin.

"Take me to the nearest tattoo shop."