It's Always Been You

Reconciliation

I woke with a start, the blinding rays of morning sunlight piercing through my eyelids and sending a sharp stab of pain through my already pounding head.

Groaning loudly, I squeezed my eyes shut tighter against the harsh glare, wishing I could simply burrow back under the safety of my covers.

"Morning, sunshine," an all-too-chipper voice rang out, shattering the blessed silence.

Begrudgingly, I pried one eye open to find Michelle, my best friend and dorm roommate, grinning at me as she held out a steaming mug of coffee like a peace offering. "You're not looking so amazing today," she quipped with a smirk.

"Gee, thanks," I grumbled, snatching the mug from her grasp and downing nearly half the scalding liquid in one gulp, desperate for the caffeine jolt. "How are you so damn cheerful right now? You drank way more than me last night."

Michelle shrugged one shoulder casually. "I woke up hours ago, puked my guts out, took a long shower, and chugged one of those disgusting hangover cure smoothies," she explained with a shameless grin. "Works like a charm every time."

I let out a weak laugh, shaking my head slowly-a move I instantly regretted as the room began to spin. "Maybe I should start following your hangover routine," I muttered, pressing my fingers to my throbbing temples.

"So..." Michelle began, her tone taking on a suggestive lilt that immediately set off warning bells as she plopped down on the edge of my bed. "Wes, huh?"

I blinked owlishly, placing my half-empty mug on the nightstand as I narrowed my eyes at her in confusion. "Yes...you met him last night at the party. What about him?"

Michelle shrugged with intentional nonchalance, but the impish grin tugging at her lips gave her away. "Nothing, really. You two just seemed awfully...cozy when I got back to the room last night."

My mouth fell open as her implication sank in. "What?" I sputtered, my brow furrowing. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on," she laughed, rolling her eyes dramatically. "Don't tell me you don't remember passing out all cuddled up with Wes in your bed? It's ringing a bell, right?"

Flashes of memory began flooding back in a blurry, disjointed haze-Nate's cold dismissal at the party, finding unexpected comfort in Wes's company, drunkenly inviting him to stay...

"When did he leave?" I asked, my voice coming out smaller than intended as I chewed on my lower lip.

"No clue," Michelle replied with a casual shrug. "I passed out as soon as I got back. Honestly, I was so wasted, I thought I was just seeing things at first."

I sucked in a sharp breath, feeling warmth creep into my cheeks as lingering snippets of conversation with Wes replayed in my mind's eye.

"He just-we were talking, and I guess we must have fallen asleep at some point. It's-nothing, really."

The look of blatant disbelief on Michelle's face said she wasn't buying my nonchalant deflection for a second. "If you say so, babe," she said with a knowing smirk, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "But what's the deal with Nate, anyway? Isn't Wes his roommate?"

I nodded sheepishly, dropping my gaze to study my lap as I picked at a loose thread on the bedspread. For some reason, hearing about how intimately close Wes and I had been last night made me feel inexplicably guilty, like I had done something wrong.

I had done something wrong.

God Forbid I found Nate in the same position with any other girl-I don't even want to think about it.