𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

I sat on the beach, downing a bottle of Rosé. I scrolled through my phone, feeling my heart break as I looked at Daniel's private story and close friend's story.
There was a picture of him and his girlfriend kissing and a video of her smiling up at him as she laid on his chest.
He asked her out about two months ago and they have been going strong since.
Skylar is living it up in LA, she loves everything about the city. Zach thinks that I'm fine because I have been so fake around him that he actually believes that I'm not falling apart. Corbyn is the only one I've been able to talk to. He comes around when Zach's not home and we watch a movie or play a card game and just talk. He's trying his best to help me, but there is no cure for heartbreak.
Trust me, I've been trying to cure it with alcohol. It works, but it's a temporary and harmful cure. I don't care, though, just as long as I can get drunk, forget Daniel, and then knockout.
Daniel and I haven't talked a lot. I mean we talk and we see each other through our friends, but we don't have picnics anymore. He's too busy with his girlfriend, all he does is talk about her and be near her.
I hate her.
I swallowed the last drop in the bottle and then did what my mind impulsively told me to do. I called an Uber and rode to Daniel's house. His girlfriend's car was parked in the driveway, but I was so drunk that I didn't give two shits.
I stumbled up to the door and knocked loudly, basically falling over while trying to stand.
The door swung open, revealing Daniel, who looked overly confused.
"Charlie?" he questioned, almost as if he couldn't believe that I was this much of a mess.
"Hey, Daniel! You wanna...um..oh, um...haha yeah..we should get a...I like your eyes.." I slurred, practically falling over on his front porch.
"What did you do?" he asked, sounding mortified.
"Daniel? Who's there?" I heard a high pitched voice call.
Suddenly, a brunette girl with big blue eyes showed up at the door.
"Oh. Hi! I'm Marley," she introduced, sticking her hand out.
"Okay? Am I supposed to give a fuck? Anyways, Daniel, I wanted...to, um...the..i saw a....yeah a...one of those...oh and I drank.....remember our treehouse?" I asked, backing into the railing on his porch.
Oh, fuck, you're drunk. Char, why are you doing this?"
"D-doing what?"
"Hurting yourself. This isn't healthy, you need to stop with the drinking," he said sternly.
"But I gotta drink!" I protested.
"Why?" he asked sadly.
"To keep you off my mind, duh! Now...I say we...um we should...whiskey..oh and maybe we, um...oh, hahaha, yeah...Daniel...we could fuck...haha..yes let's go...whiskey!" I cheered, then fell over.
Daniel lunged forward and caught me just in time.
"Okay, come on, I need to get you to bed. No whiskey for you," he said.
My eyes fluttered open and closed as Daniel lifted me up and carried me bridal style to a bed. My vision was foggy and I was laughing hysterically.
Suddenly, his girlfriend reached out and touched me. She was trying to find my phone, but I smacked her hand away.
"Ow!" she shrieked.
"Charlie, be nice," Daniel scolded.
"I'm not a fucking dog, Daniel. She...and she..touched me! I..I don't want Chlamydia!" I yelled, jerking away when she tried to find my phone again.
"Jesus, Charlie, you are so lucky you're my best friend. Where the fuck is your phone?" Daniel asked.
"Haha, I don't know! I left it somewhere!" I laughed.
Daniel set me down on his bed and pulled my shoes off before tucking me into his bed.
"Okay, Char, get some sleep," Daniel said quietly, reaching over to turn the light off.
"Wait! Goodnight kiss?" I asked.
I was referring to a tradition of ours back in high school. Everytime we would part ways at night, Daniel would ask for a goodnight kiss and we would kiss before going to bed.
My eyes were half open, but I could feel the awkwardness.
"Char, we..we don't do that anymore. Sorry," he informed me.
"Well, why not?" I asked innocently.
I was drunk, I had no idea what I was saying.
"Well, because I'm not your boyfriend. I have a girlfriend and we aren't together. You made that clear, Char," he answered.
Being drunk is a weird thing. One minute you can be on top of the world, the next minute you're a crying mess.
Right now, I became a crying mess.
"Why? Daniel, you told me you'd always love me? What happened to us?" I sobbed uncontrollably.
I heard Daniel sigh and then I felt the bed dip beside me.
"Hey, don't cry. Charlie, we just aren't like that anymore. It's not anything to be upset about. I'm dating Marley and you're dating Zach. We just don't do that anymore," he soothed.
"Well, we are fucking stupid then. You should have cuffed me in high school you fucking asshole," I cried.
I heard him let out a chuckle, which earned him a slap on the shoulder from his girlfriend.
"How about I kiss your forehead? Will you stop crying and go to sleep if I do that?" he offered.
I nodded and wiped my tears away. Daniel leaned down and placed a long kiss to my forehead. I stretched my arms out for a hug and he gave in, hugging me tight. After he said goodnight, he turned off the light and then left me to sleep.