Lucas, Jake and Ava climbed in the car, waiting for me to finish saying goodbye to everyone. I was sober, which I was quite proud of. I knew I drank too much and wanted to stop doing it. At least I mostly wanted to stop.
Kai, however, was very drunk. He stumbled as he tried to prove to us that he could still walk in a straight line. Apparently, his straight line had rounded corners. James put his arm around him, practically carrying him to the car. “Princess,” he slurred, throwing his other arm around my neck.
I laughed. “You’re so wasted, Kai.”
“No. No, no, I’m not.” He stopped abruptly, making me and James stop, too.
“Okay, get in,” I said, shoving him towards the car.
“You coming with me?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows. I shook my head, laughing at how pissed he was and gave him another shove. He grabbed me as he fell backwards and we both ended up halfway in the back of the car.
“Man, you’re a bad drunk,” I said, laughing and taking James’s hand as he helped me up. Kai laid on the backseat with his butt and legs hanging out.
“I think I might be drunk.”
“Oh, really?” I rolled my eyes as James grabbed Kai’s legs and pushed him in the car.
Don’t sleep on your back,” I called and slammed the door shut. “Good luck,” I said, smiling at James.
He chuckled and hugged me. “I’ll need that luck.”
Yeah, he really would.
I waved goodbye to Holly and James before jumping in the back of Jake’s car. “I’m tired, Luke.” I yawned.
He wrapped his arm around me and kissed the top of my head. “Sleep then, I’ll carry you to bed.”
I liked the sound of that, even though I wouldn’t be able to sleep in a car. Maybe I could pretend to get him in my room and then convince him to stay.
Mum had gone to bed by the time we all got home. I waited for Ava and Jake to go before dragging Lucas up to my room.
“Clothes off, Luke.” His face lit up and he was naked in seconds. I giggled and pushed him down on my bed. Sober me didn’t really take charge all that much but I wanted to this time. I smiled and climbed on top of him, kissing him hard and dragging my fingers across his chest.
***
Lucas was gone when I woke up again, it drove me crazy. I threw on some clean underwear, jeans and a t-shirt and went down to find him. I called Kai on the way to see how he was feeling. With a bit of luck I’d wake him up.
Groaning down the phone, he muttered, “What?”
“Good morning,” I sang loudly.
He groaned deeper. “Shhh. Fuck, Tegan, it’s too early for this.”
I walked into the kitchen where everyone was sitting, watching me. I smiled at Luke. “It’s almost eleven. How’s the head?”
“I hate it. I hate my head.”
Laughing, I said, “You know, you’re quite funny when you’re hung over.”
“Well, I’m glad my slow and painful death is so amusing.”
“Self-inflicted, Kai.”
“Come make me some bacon sandwiches,” he said. I could almost see him pouting and widening those big chocolate eyes.
“Yeah, I think you should sleep more. I’ll come over later and make sure you’re okay.”
“Alright, wake me up with bacon.”
“Okay. Don’t sleep on your back,” I said, grinning.
“Fuck off,” he replied and hung up.
That went better than I thought. It wasn’t often, or at all really, that he was the drunk one of us two.
I walked over to the table and sat down next to Lucas. It’d been a while since I’d been out and not got wasted and it felt nice not to have a fuzzy head.
Mum made bagels, egg and bacon for breakfast. My mouth watered. I wasn’t sure if it was just a fluke or because I hadn’t been drunk last night but I felt more positive today. Luke was taking me out somewhere and things were just looking up.
“I’m ready,” I said as I reached the bottom of the stairs after putting a little make-up on.
“Hey, you look beautiful.” He leant down and kissed me, making my heart race. “Let’s go.” He grabbed my hand and led me to Jake’s car. I looked over at him and fluttered my eyelashes. “I’m not telling you, shorty.”
Damn it.
We drove for about thirty minutes and after what must’ve been about thirty guesses I gave up. I’d probably said it already and he’d just told me no anyway. Finally, he pulled up next to a huge, perfectly manicured park.
It was absolutely beautiful, there were tall trees surrounding it and a stone pathway. In the middle was a large pond and seating area. At the side was a wooden play area. I was too busy looking around that I didn’t notice Lucas had opened my door I got out and said, “It’s beautiful, Luke.”
“It’s okay. You’re beautiful.”
I rolled my eyes. “Where did you get that one from?”