He Was a Friend

/8/ He's worried. /

Art drank the last sip of his beer.

"Your limit is six bots, right? Unless you plan to sleep here or inside your car, stop it," Diggs pushed his hand away as he tried to grab his next one. Diggs is the bassist of their band, Cardiac.

He sighed as Diggs finally successfully stopped him from opening his 8th bottle. The guy's been trying to stop him ever since his 5th.

"Sooo... this Eric guy, how sure are you that he's also aiming for Louise?" It was Bambi this time, their drummer.

"He's practically with Lou everytime. He doesn't give me any opening at all," he blurted out. He reached his hand to get some tacos and added, "And this cursed schedule we have doesn't really help. Five hours of sleep feels like squeezing water from a stone these past few weeks."

Crane, their lead guitarist, also stretched his hand to get some tacos.

"Well, we can't do anything about that. If Baj wasn't at home, I'll probably have a hard time seeing her, too," Baj is Crane's fiance.

Art bended over and held his nape. He's starting to feel drowsy and his head aches a bit, too.

It was Monday night – specifically, the wee hours of Tuesday morning. They finished the recording around 10PM that night and went straight to Ricardo's, their favorite drinking spot, after everyone noticed his gloomy aura.

"I know, right," he closed his eyes forcefully, opened them again and blinked repeatedly, trying to wake himself up.

He stood up and looked at his wrist watch. It's already 3:15AM.

"Well – I'm gonna go ahead before I drowse off. Thanks for the drinks and all," he made a fist bump to the rest of the guys.

He walked into the car park and opened his car – a white Toyota Camry. He pinched his arms three times as he desperately tried to stay awake.

The condo's too far for my state right now, he thought to himself as he started his car's engine. He analyzed for a bit, and decided the cafe - which was just within 5km, as his destination.

His stomach suddenly ached the moment the car moved forward.

Damn, I feel like throwing up anytime now, he made a mental note to address his lack of self-awareness next time, as he sped up his drive.

He reached the cafe parking in no time. His drowsy eyes caught the glimmer of the kitchen light inside the cafe and was wondering whether someone forgot to turn the lights off. Before he can even reach an answer to that, he gasped when he almost hit the tree beside his usual spot. He was really feeling sleepy and dizzy at the same time.

I swear I'm never gonna drink more than six bottles ever again when I'm driving, he promised himself, went out the car and closed the door weakly.

I might sleep in the door porch, at this rate, holy crap.

He placed his keys inside the main door's keyhole and pushed it with his body using the last drop of energy he had.

A shriek came from someone who seemed to have collided with him when he lost his balance - and they both tumbled down the floor.

It was Louise.