Bed Sheets II

3. Drunk Complaints

"Can you believe that? He's engaged?"

Draven downed another shot, laughing before pouring himself another one, leaning backwards on his couch. Miranda was on the couch opposite from him, Jason leaned against the wall and Rebecca returned from the kitchen, bringing a garbage can, bottles of water and a blanket.

They had been worried for Draven, drove him home with Hector who was annoyingly telling him to forget about Eric, and allowed him to have a few more drinks. They all knew Draven always had trouble talking about Eric, and that he had never really moved on from their relationship. Hence why, they did not resist his urge to drink, and even Hector, who leaned on the edge of the couch, did not complain.

"The worst of all is that I really trusted him when he said he left for us." His lips curled, a grimace forming on his face as he imitated Eric's voice, "I'm doing this for us." Then, he shook his head, chuckling before adding, "He even said, 'I love you Draven, always'."

"That was five years ago—"

"It doesn't matter how long ago it was!" Draven shouted, the sudden humorous air around him vanishing, replaced by agony and anger as he downed another shot, glaring at Hector. Hector had flinched from the unexpected scream, and even Jason had stepped a bit closer, unsure of Draven was going to do anything reckless.

"Do you see me with anyone else?" he screamed through gritted teeth. "Huh?! No because even through all the bullshit he spouted about me on the news, all the back and forth we had for a few months, I still kept my word. He said he was doing this for us. For us!"

Draven sent a trembling hand through his hair. There were veins showing on his neck, his face was becoming red and his voice was starting to coil. He poured himself another shot, before continuing, "And I waited, wasted my time for five years, waited for him to come back his own person, since that was all he wanted, right? He didn't want to be in my damn shadow, that was his excuse!"

He tilted his head backwards and downed another shot. That one hit him hard, since his vision blurred for a few seconds, and his movements seemed to slow down. "I had done nothing but be good to him. I gave him a place of work, made him co-author, handed him my platform. Then he comes to me, five years later, to tell me that he's engaged?"

"To be fair, he didn't come up and tell you, you just bumped into him—"

"Shut the hell up Hector!" Draven slammed the shot glass onto the floor, and it shattered. Immediately, Jason leaned forward and gripped his shoulders, stopping him from standing.

Miranda faced Hector with a frown, "Can you go home? You're making everything worse."

Hector snorted, "I'm just telling him the truth—"

"Holy, you really don't listen when people speak to you, do you? She said to go home," Rebecca said in annoyance.

Hector paused for a few seconds, and he was moments from answering when Jason interrupted and said, "Go home dude."

Hector rolled his eyes, "I'll be back tomorrow Draven. And you better be over this bullshit by the time dawn hits." Then, he stomped his feet to the exit and left the home.

Draven exhaled a long sigh, and pushed Jason away, "I need more shots."

"We'll clean that in the morning, how about you head to bed now?"

"Miranda, get away from me," he snarled, pushing himself to his feet, only to slump back down on the couch. Then, he eyed the worried Miranda and pointed to the kitchen, "Get me more shots."

"No more alcohol," her tone was stern, and she grabbed the bottle from the table. "Just to us, we're here to listen."

Draven paused for a moment, grinding his teeth against one another before slamming his fist on the couch, "I believed all the lies, all the bullshit he was saying about needing to get away from all that happened with Melissa. I haven't even talked to Adelina, kept our conversations short since I knew if Eric was to come back, he would be pissed about that."

"But he never cared! His plan was never to come back, no! His plan was to humiliate me on the news, write a damn book on me and then come back with the announcement of, 'Hey look Draven, I found myself, it was never with you and guess what? I'm god damn engaged!'" Draven lowered his head and gripped his own hair, his watering eyes prevailing, "He used me, that's all he did. He never needed this job, no all he needed was a platform for a few months. He was always going to leave—maybe that whole Melissa thing was planned."

"Now don't do that," Rebecca's voice was tight. "Melissa was suicidal; don't undermine that. We understand why you're upset but don't dehumanize the reality of what happened."

Draven glanced in her direction then sighed, shaking his head, "You're right."

A short silence formed in the room, and Miranda approached him, unfolding the blanket, "How about you go to sleep? We'll be back in the morning."

"I have to go make sure everything's fine at the company—"

"Jason can go," Rebecca volunteered him, and he nodded his head, trustful. "Miranda and I can come back here."

Draven laid sideways on the couch with a groan, and snuggled his face into the pillow, "I appreciate you guys a lot more than you realized."

Miranda placed the blanket over him, "There's a garbage can beside you, water bottles if you're thirsty. We'll see you in the morning. Oh, and no more alcohol, if I find out you've kept drinking, I'm going to be pissed—"

"I'm not going to drink, I'm tired anyway."

The three of them left the home shortly after, and Draven was sound asleep before he knew it.