Tom’s P.O.V
To go in or not to go in that is the question, I thought to myself as I rocked gently back and forth on the porch swing outside of the house, the light breeze blowing across my face. How did everything end up like this?
My thoughts are suddenly interrupted as the front door is slammed open. The smell of alcohol mixed with vanilla body mist floods the air as a small girl stumbles out into the cool air. She was completely trashed.
“Hey what’s wrong?” I ask running over; I was afraid she was going to fall over if she tried to walk again. Her eyes bloodshot from the tears still rolling down her cheek. I had never seen Laci so drunk in my life. It honestly scared me: for her to get this wasted something had to truly be bothering her, I just prayed I wasn’t the cause
“I just wanna go home” she completely slurs as she struggles to get out of my hold.
“You’re not getting in a car like this!” I grab her arm tighter; I couldn’t let her leave.
“I’ll fucking walk then” she tries once again. This time I let her go knowing she wasn’t going to make it two steps without me supporting her. To my surprise she didn’t even take her second step before falling flat on her ass. “Why can’t I do anything right!” She whines before abruptly bursts into tears.
“What happened?” I slowly reach to touch her arm, unsure of how she will react to me. Surprisingly she clings to me as I lift her up onto her feet. I pull her in closer and rest my chin on top of her head as she buries her face into my chest. For the first time in forever she was back where she belonged: in my arms.
I scoop her up and carry her over to the swing. She just sits in my lap, her face still buried into my chest, as I sit there running my fingers through her hair trying to calm her down. Eventually her sobbing subsides and I ask her once again “What happened?”
“Jack rejected me and called me desperate”
“Oh...” involuntarily fell out of my mouth, a tone of pain and sadness coating it. She didn’t want me anymore. “He’s an idiot Laci” I attempt to comfort her while on the inside I was a mess just like her.
“I... I … I” she stutters and I wipe a stray tear off her cheek “I’m the idiot”
“No you’re not” I pull her in closer to me. “Why would you ever think that?”
“I don’t even like Jack” she sighs lightly “I just keep going after hopeless things” Her eyes water and she looks as if she’s going to burst into tears again. “I still love you Tom” she mumbles before hiding her face in the back cushion of the swing. Prepping herself for rejection once again.
“I still love you too Laci”
“You do?” she slurs, turning her head back towards me, reminding me just how drunk she truly is.
She was only telling me this because she had no control over what she was doing anymore. I felt a tear trying to escape from behind my eye as I just nod my head at her: she was never going to be mine again.
Suddenly her lips are on mine. She’s drunk out of her mind and I shouldn’t be taking advantage of her like this, but I can’t force more rejection down her throat and I just couldn’t help myself. Kissing her make it feel like time stands still and even with the strong taste of alcohol in her mouth it was still perfect.
*
“Tonia open the damn door” I mumble under my breath as I kicked the wooden bedroom door, a sleeping Laci passed out in my arms.
“What do you want?” she whines as she finally unlocks and opens the door. Her blonde hair was a mess and her clothing haphazardly thrown back on; I smirk noticing the boy equally as asleep as Laci in her bed.
“Where should I put her?” I ask looking down at Laci. I couldn’t help but smile a little bit: even passed out in my arms she was still absolutely beautiful.
“Put her in the guest room, and then meet me back here. We need to talk”
“Got it!” I nod my head once before making my way down the hallway.
Once in the guest room, I lay Laci down on the little bed and carefully tuck her in being sure not to wake her. I brush a stray hair off her forehead before kissing it. “Goodnight beautiful” I whisper before closing the door behind me.
“What’s going on with you two?” Tonia asks giddily.
“Nothing.” I say regretfully: I truly wished things could return back to how they used to be. Tonia gives me a skeptical look. I sigh and begin to tell the story of everything that happened tonight: “Jack rejected her; she came outside a drunken mess crying about how she wanted to leave and go home. I stopped her and just sat on the porch swing with her. She told me she loved me, Tonia, and then kissed me and I kissed her back”
“Oh. My. God.” Tonia’s jaw drops and a smile begins to spread across her face.
“I shouldn’t have done it; she was so drunk off her ass. She wouldn’t have done it sober. She wouldn’t have spoken to me sober.” I run my fingers through my hair and loudly exhale.
“Hey” she puts a hand on my shoulder “You don’t know that. Wait to see what she says in the morning”
“She’s not going to remember it in the morning.” I say coldly.
“Tom, it’s going to be alright” Tonia says in her usual motherly tone.
“She’s not going to remember it Tonia.” I repeat. “And were not going to make her remember: if tonight never happened for her, it didn’t happen for me. Promise me you won’t tell her”
“Tom, you can’t just-“I cut her off
“Promise me” she doesn’t respond. “Tonia please…” I beg
“Fine.” She reluctantly agrees. She pulls me into a hug. “Please don’t give up on her: drunk words are sober thoughts” she whispers to me before I part and leave out the front door. I just wanted to get away from everything as quickly as possible.
The taste of Laci’s alcohol still sat on my lips and Tonia’s last words rang through my ears as I drove back to my house in silence. What was I going to have to do to get her back?
