drowning

Sunday rolled around and I had one bad day without Brooks. I just stayed in bed and sobbed hysterically, but I was getting better. There were things that could trigger the tears, like one of his favorite shows on tv, or movie, or commercial, or even song. Right now I was stable.

I heard someone come through the door and I immediately breathed a sigh of relief. I just smiled at him as he came in the room. He just gave me a weak smile and sighed as he sat beside me.

“Drink?” I asked.

“Please”

I stood up and grabbed a bottle of Tequila and two shot glasses. I sat back down beside him and filled the glasses. We looked at each other, nodded and drank it back. My throat burned and I saw him pinch the bridge of his nose and he shook his head.

“Shit!”

“Something wrong?” I asked him.

He put the glass out in front of me and I poured some more and watched him drink it.

“Brooks, talk to me”

“Just a bad road trip for me”

“It’s only October” I reassured him.

“I suppose you’re right” he sighed.

I poured a glass and drank it just as quick.

“You know how to hold your liquor girl” he laughed.

“I have you to thank for that” I said nudging him.

It wasn’t long before we were both seriously hammered. We were laughing hysterically at something we saw on tv, that I don’t even think was that funny. I stood up to get a drink and Brooks followed me, I tripped over myself and he tried to stop me from falling but he fell himself, on top of me. We stopped laughing and I looked straight into his eyes, and he looked straight into mine. For a minute he moved his eyes from mine and looked at my lips and then back up at my eyes with a confused look on his face. He closed his eyes, shook his head and sat up.

“What was that?”

“I’m trashed Julie, it was nothing” he replied.

“Are you not telling me something?”

“Julie, we’re both drunk” he nervously chuckled while barely getting to his feet.

He helped me up and before he could escape I grabbed his arm and took his face in my hands, “you’re not telling me something” he pulled away and I heard him whisper something to himself, “Brooks! You’re scaring me…”

He turned to me and saw how upset I was, his arms were immediately around me, “I’m fine” he reassured me, “you need to stop worrying about me”

“I will always worry about you, the same way you worry about me” I mumbled.

He just squeezed me tighter and I took in his scent. I was too drunk to even remember our conversation.

------

I woke up with an arm around me and a pounding head. I knew it was Brooks, who else would it be. I tried to squirm away but he pulled me back in, “go back to sleep” he murmured. His warm breath on my neck gave me goosebumps, we didn’t normally do this, only the one time when I was terrified to sleep alone. But it felt right, it felt like I was supposed to be here.

I looked at the clock and saw it was 9, three hours later than from when I woke up earlier. My head still pounded and Brooks was still asleep, but he took up half the bed this time. I rolled over and fell off the bed, realizing he took up more than I thought. I grabbed a pillow.

“Brooks you asshole, wake up!” I yelled from the floor.

He groaned and tossed the pillow aside, looking aimlessly before his eyes met with mine. “Why are you on the floor?” he asked.

“Because you took up half the bed” I huffed.

“Oops” he shrugged, “my bad”

I grabbed another pillow and threw it at him and he dodged out of the way. “Quick reflexes” he laughed.

“How are you not hungover?” I groaned pinching the bridge of my nose.

“I am” he replied, “but I can tolerate the pain”


“Shut up” I spat sitting back up on the bed.

“How’d you sleep?” he asked.

“Alright…” I sighed, “he was in my dreams again”

I felt his hands gently rub my shoulders and neck. His warm hands gave me goosebumps. How did he get to me?

“Fuck you’re good at that” I groaned.

“I know” he said taking his hands away and pinching my sides. I turned to hit him but he already dived off the bed and into the living room.

“I’ll kill you, I swear!” I said jumping off the bed and into the living room.

I turned the corner only to find my baby sister sitting on the couch. She was ten shades of red and Brooks had the same reaction.

“You can go put a shirt on” I mumbled pushing him into his room.

“Shit Teri, what are you doing here, and how did you get in?”

“First, I can’t live with mom anymore and two you gave me a key, and told me that if I needed anything you’d be here, I just forgot he was here too”

“What happened?” I asked sitting beside her on the couch.

“Mom is getting frustrating. She’s doing a lot better, but at the same time, she’s really angry too. We’ve had multiple fights over the last few days, and you know me, I never argue”

“I know” I nodded.

I heard Brooks come back out and her eyes diverted from me, to him. She just smiled and I could feel him smiling back. That damn charm of his. I glared back at him and he walked into the kitchen.

“Is he single?” she asked.

“First of all, yes and secondly he’s too old for you”

“How old is he?”

“25”

“How old am I?”

“21”

"Age is just a number” she pointed out.

“You’re not his type”

“Are you jealous?” she asked.

“Pshhh, no” I replied.

“Well it sounds like you’re trying to keep me away from him”

“He’s not right for you…”

“You can’t stop me Julie…”

“Fine” I huffed, “but I warned you”

She just rolled her eyes and I walked past the kitchen and looked at Brooks. Who looked confused. I ignored it and shut the bathroom door behind me.