Ronnie

9

When Cliff woke up the next morning, he greeted Cassie who was sketching in her notebook. They hung out some more, she noticed that he was trying to leave. It wasn't that Cliff wanted to leave, staying too long made him nervous, he didn't want to make his feelings obvious.
"Let's go get some alcohol, I'm almost dry," she blurted out.
He would never turn down her requests.
Cassie usually didn't drink much, she had only been drunk a handful of times. She knew Cliff would never turn down alcohol.
Cliff insisted on paying, deep down, Cassie was glad, she didn't have much money to splurge on the amount of beverages they had picked out.
Cliff grabbed four cases of beer, two bottles of Jack Daniels, and a bottle of vodka. Cassie got a bottle of white zinfandel wine and a couple of wine coolers.
They immediately went home and began to drink up. By ten o'clock the wine, one bottle of whiskey, and a case and a half of the beer was gone.
Cassie stumbled to her record player, "Whadya wanna hear?" she slurred to Cliff, who was sitting on the floor with his back against the couch.
"I dunno, surprise me."
She placed Frontiers onto the player. Gently, she picked up the arm and placed it onto the track number five.
"Journey?" he asked, questioning her music taste.
"Uh-huh. Come on, dance with me." She tried to pull the man off of the ground.
"I can't dance."
"Neither can I," she assured him.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and twisted his hair around her finger.
He took a moment before touching her, he wasn't exactly sure where to put his hands.
"Touch me," she whispered into his ear.
He then placed his hands on her waist.
She quietly sang, he couldn't help but smile at her innocent voice.
It would've been so easy for him to tell her exactly how he felt; but he refused to ruin this moment.
For Cassie, it would've been just as easy to tell him how she felt, if only she could remember how to get words, other than the lyrics that she was hearing, out of her mouth.
She tightened her grip around him, so he moved one hand to her hip, while the other stayed on her waist.
They remained in the same stance, even when the album played through the remaining songs.
"Cassie?"
She lifted her drowsy head off of his shoulder to look at him.
Her eyes blinked a few times and a soft smile appeared on her face. She hadn't remembered the last time she genuinely enjoyed being touched.
"I wanted to, uh."
She brushed a few hairs that were on his face away.
"What?" she whispered.
"I wanted to ask if you were tired?"
When she looked at him the way she did, it made his heart beat fast and his legs wiggle (more than they already were). The small amount of courage the alcohol gave him drifted away.
She giggled a bit, "Uh-huh."
"Let's get you to bed then."
He let go of her for a mere second, she couldn't stand up.
"Jump."
She wrapped her legs around his waist and wrapped her arms around his neck. He placed his hands inches under her buttocks. He stumbled a bit and his eyes met Cassie's. She looked completely out of it, but still sweet and gorgeous. He had never met a girl that could be such a pretty drunk.
Carefully, he carried her to her bed and placed her down.
"I'll be on the couch if you need me," he told her.
"Okay," she whispered in response.
The next day Cliff arranged for a friend to bring him some weed, since he ran out, and he was still drinking at Cassie's house.
They got cross faded and shared the night together.
The following night the only thing left to drink was a case of beer and half a bottle of vodka, there was plenty of weed though. Once again, they were in between the impression of alcohol and the daze of pot.
Cliff had turned on Billy Graham on the T.V. He was looking through Cassie's sketchbook while she was deep into listening to the man on the screen.
He came across a half-finished picture, of what looked to be himself.
"What's this?"
Instead of being embarrassed, (like she normally would've been) Cassie just giggled. "It's you," the alcohol and drugs drew out her southern accent, which Cliff liked.
"When did you do this?"
"I don't know, probably on the tour bus," she slurred.
"Huh."
He glared at the picture a bit more before sitting it down and looking at Cassie.
She was now laying on her stomach with her arms propped up so her hands could hold her head.
Desire grew in Cliff's eyes. It took all of his self-control to not kiss her.
Cassie sat up and scooted a bit closer to Cliff, hoping he would do something.
Cliff didn't want to make a decision that would put their friendship at risk.
She scooted closer, now inches from his face. Her lips parted and a short breath of air hit his face.
He pinched his lips together and slightly licked them.
Cassie could no longer handle the heavy atmosphere. She cupped his face and brought her lips to his.
In Cliff's brain, he knew he should resist, but in his heart he knew he needed to accept this opportunity.
The kiss was so much better than he imagined in his head. Cassie enjoyed the kiss as well, Cliff was a much better kisser than Kirk. Although, to be fair, Kirk's lips were softer and more plump.
Cassie pulled back and placed her forehead against his. It took him a minute before he could look at her. When he did, her fogged eyes searched deep into his, and they couldn't help but smile at each other.
He understood trying to get with a friend's ex was an unspoken rule of friendship, but he couldn't control his feelings. With each waking day they grew stronger. One kiss didn't determine anything, it could've been a drunk mistake for Cassie.
She kissed him one more time.
"Cas."
"Shh," she put her finger against his lips. "Let's go." She stood up and took Cliff's hand, so he would follow.
He stepped inside her bedroom as she closed the door.
"What are we doing Cassie? I do-"
"Cliff, it's okay. Trust me." She placed her hands on his chest and motioned for him to get into bed.
Reluctantly, he did. He kicked his shoes off and placed his jacket on the dresser.
Not even bothering to change clothes, Cassie burrowed under the quilt and snuggled into Cliff's chest.
"I like this," she whispered to him.
"Me too."