Breathe

Chapter 39

"You were an entire story to me, and I was nothing but a sentence to you." -Unknown

"Michaaaael," I slur. Why does my head feel so funny? I look down in my hands to see the alcohol in my hands. Oh, right. I involuntarily giggle.

"You're hilarious when you're drunk," he says, laughing.

"I'm not that drunk," I say and wiggle my finger at him. Fuck, he's totally right. What was I thinking? Well, I was thinking I'd feel better, and I do. So, mission complete.

"Walk over here."

"Why?"

"To see if you can walk straight."

"Fine." I roll my eyes. It can't be that hard to walk…right? I've only had, like, seven..or maybe more. That's probably a bad sign if I can't remember. Oh well. Okay, Vanessa, focus now. I stand up off the couch and my head spins and everything looks blurry for a moment. I squint my eyes in hopes to clear my vision.

"Come on," he says and I know he's smirking without even looking at his face. I take a step towards him steadily. One step down, ten to go. With my sudden stupid confidence, I take multiple steps towards him way too quickly and almost trip over my feet. He laughs at my instability. Three more steps, and I'm standing in front of him.

"See?" I smirk. "Perfectly fine."

"You're funny," he says.

"Why aren't you drunk too? It's not fun alone," I say slowly. Why can't I talk faster? This is weird. I can't remember the last time I was drunk. Well, honestly, I'm having trouble remembering anything at the moment.

"Because I need to keep you from doing stupid shit."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. I've never seen you drunk so I don't know what you would do."

"Hold on," I say and point a finger at him. "Stay here."

I walk out of the room and try to remember where the kitchen is. After walking back down the hallway, I see a light in a nearby room. That must be it. I follow the light like a moth to a flame and finally reach the kitchen. There's multiple bottles of alcohol in a glass cupboard, so I open it and grab the first one I see. Now, where are his shot glasses? It takes multiple attempts, but finally I find a cupboard filled with cups. The shot glasses are at the top. I grab a chair from his dining room table and set it in front of the counter. Gripping the chair tightly, I manage to climb up onto the chair without falling. I reach for the glasses, but they're still too far up. Dammit. 

I climb up onto the counter, stand up, and reach for two glasses. Ha! I can finally reach. Suddenly it feels like I'm fifty feet off the ground. Um, what's going on?

"Michael!" I yell, starting to panic. What's happening to me? "Michael! Help!" My voice has changed to a piercing scream. In my head, my voice seems loud enough to break the glasses. The screaming echoes in my head and it hurts. I cover my ears to escape my own voice. Fuck, everything is spinning. What's going on? 

"What the fuck?" Michael's voice appears in the kitchen but I barely notice. I move my foot to walk over to him, and my body slips off the counter. Shit, I forgot I wasn't on the ground. As my body falls off the tall countertop, his hands reach out for me, catching me before I hit the floor. That was a close one.

My heart is beating at a rate that is way too fast. "What the hell happened?"

"I wanted shots," I giggle.

"You just about fell off the fucking counter top and you're laughing? You could've hit your head!"

"Well soooorry," I slur, elongating my words.