The bathroom was spinning in an interesting way.

Archie looked around and found that if he turned his head the right way and at the right speed, it almost felt like he was in a fun house. He did it once too often, and the whole room tilted oddly, sending the side of the toilet crashing into his head.

Archie let out a surprised, "Ouff," as the floor thudded into his head at a strange angle. He lay staring at the corner of the cupboard under the sink, feeling the edge of the rug under his cheek. How was the room doing this, when all he was doing was being completely still and trying not to vomit?

Mystifying.

As he rested, hoping that the gyrations of the room wouldn't make his stomach expell its contents, since he was nowhere near the commode any longer, he spotted Clio's favorite green toothbrush, far back under the recesses of the cupboard, near the wall. She'd nearly emptied the small cupboard behind the mirror looking for it about a month ago, finally just using Archie's toothbrush, complaining the whole time. Well, mystery solved, finally.

Archie rolled his eyes and wondered if he should attempt to sit up, when suddenly Melody and Harmony poked their small, astonished faces over the side of the counter to look down at him, kitten eyes wide. They'd been sleeping in an amiable, furry ball in the sink, he recalled. They seemed to be asking what he was doing on the floor clutching his stomach and retching.

Good question.

"Never drink, my darling moggies," Archie moaned to his fur babies. "This is what will befall you."

"Hey, Archie? You okay?" Willow called through the door. "You've been in there a long time. And are you talking to someone?"

"Just the cats," he managed to call. "I'm fine, gimme a mo."

"Okay." She didn't sound convinced, but he could hear her walking away.

How had he gotten himself in this position again? He remembered Willow coming over so they would work on something, and he remembered feeling morose, as usual, about his Clio.

Clio, who was out dancing, with Zeke.

"No no no," Archie groaned, which made the kitties' pupils expand. Archie noticed that their eyes were changing color from the baby blue of kittens' eyes to the typical amber of most adult cats'.

"I'm fine guys, relax," Archie said, making a monumental effort and pulling himself up to a sitting position by using the commode for support. His stomach protested momentarily, and he leaned over the bowl, but nothing happened, and he leaned back after a minute.

And he realized that, although nearly hurling one's guts out was very unpleasant indeed, being this inebriated was actually quite pleasant, because it let him forget that feeling of that forgotten night, of the knowledge that he'd been inside some unknown person, that he'd had sexual contact with someone without his consent, maybe multiple people, but one for sure. It put a veil of ambiguity over the events of that awful night.

It was kind of nice.

The knocking came on the door again, persistent, irritating. "Arch? You sure you okay? Maybe you should let me in?"

Archie pulled himself to a standing position. "No, I'm fine. I'm coming out."

He opened the door to find Willow, arms crossed under her breasts, pretty eyes narrowed with concern. "What happened? Did you puke?"

Archie made himself smile. "No, I didn't, as a matter of fact. But I came damned close. I'm through drinking for the night, okay? I guess I'm getting old, I can't handle the drink like I could before."

Willow put a hand on Archie's forehead, then ran her fingers through his hair. "Yeah, you definitely feel sort of dampish and not very good. But it's probably from drinking on an empty stomach, more likely.

"Anyway, laying off the booze sounds like a good idea, at least for tonight," she agreed. "Maybe we should just watch a movie or something, what do you think?"

Archie would much rather have gone to bed, but he shrugged acquiescence and they headed for the sofa, where Willow chose a slasher/action movie and made some popcorn. She covered them with a blanket, and they settled down to watch the movie, with Archie's head in her lap.

After a while, Willow complained that her leg was falling asleep, and she stretched out in front of him, pulling his arm around her so she could snuggle into his back, pulling the blanket over both of them.

Archie began to feel uncomfortable with how she close she was, knowing that it would lead to a physical response from him that would give Willow the wrong idea. He finally sat up, just to get away from her, saying he was getting a little hot.

"That's okay, though, isn't it?" Willow asked with a smile, sitting up herself and scooting close to where Archie was sitting. "I mean, you and Clio broke up, weeks ago, so it doesn't matter any more, right?" She snuggled into Archie's side and leaned close to whisper in his ear. "Look, a girl can tell when a guy's into her and thinks she's pretty, so thanks for that." She snaked her arm around Archie's midsection, so their bodies were touching nearly from shoulder to hip. "And I'm telling you now that I think you're pretty hot, too, Mr. Spencer, so what's the problem? Hmm?" And she huffed warm air into his ear before kissing it and sucking briefly on his earlobe.

Archie closed his eyes at the sensation, and at how good her body felt pressed into his, but, even as he was experiencing all these things, his brain was protesting that it was the wrong mouth on his ear, the wrong breasts pressed into his side, the wrong hips rolling into him.

He sighed and turned, finally, putting his hands on her shoulders to push her away, gently but firmly. "Willow, no. This isn't going to happen."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm in love with Clio."

Willow's body stiffened when she heard the name.

"Well, you should know that I'm in love with you, Archie Spencer," Willow said softly, grasping his hands in her own. "And I wouldn't have made a move if you were still with Clio. I don't get what you see in her, but I'm not a thief, you should know that, okay?"

Archie nodded. He tried to extricate his hands from Willow's but she held fast. The movie played on, forgotten by both of them.

"And if you don't want to be my boyfriend, I can live with that, I guess." She squeezed his hands. "I can live with that," she repeated. "Will you be my friend, then? Can I at least have you as my friend?"

Archie considered. He finally nodded. "I guess a fellow can't have too many friends," he said, smiling at Willow. She finally released his hands, relieved.

"I mean, it's not like there's no possibility of anything ever happening between us, is there?" she asked, hopefully. "You aren't repulsed by me?"

Archie laughed out loud, shaking his head. "No indeed, Willow Cordero. You're a lovely girl in every way, and I'm not repulsed by you at all." He patted her hand. "With that said, however, I have to tell you that I love Clio a great deal. I've never felt this way before in my life. I honestly didn't know I could feel this way about anyone, if that doesn't sound too silly."

Willow shook her head. "I think it sounds nice, honest. But I can't help the way I feel, either, you should know that, too, okay?" She took a deep breath. "I guess I'll just have to try harder to make you fall in love with me.

"If you don't mind my saying so, I think it was really short-sighted of her to break up with you over what happened at the party, Archie," Willow continued. "I mean, guys cheat sometimes, and it's usually indicative of something being wrong with the relationship, you know? I just want you to know that I could forgive you cheating on me if it were a one time thing, I really could."

It was on the tip of Archie's tongue to tell Willow the truth about what happened at the party, but he decided that doing so would only complicate this already royally fucked up and complicated situation, so he held his tongue. But, he wondered, how could Willow think he'd cheat on Clio, or anyone? Didn't she know him at all?

Jesus, what a cluster fuck his life had become.

"Speaking of being friends, you know about the winter formal fundraiser Columbia's Cardiac wing is hosting down in Tribeca next month?"

Archie nodded abstractedly, still thinking about what had happened at the party.

Willow grasped Archie's hands once again. "Do you think you'd like to go with me? As friends? I'm sure Zeke and Clio are going together, and we could all just rent a big car and make an evening of it, you know, show our support for our professors and just have a fun night of dancing and all that? Yeah? Please say yes, Arch. Life's been kind of a big 'fuck you' lately, you know, it would be nice to have something like that to look forward to, don't you think?"

Archie did know about the fundraiser; he and Clio had in fact talked about going together, renting a car and going as a group, having drinks somewhere first and making an evening of it.

He sighed.

"Okay, Willow, let's do that, see how many people we can get involved and go as a large party, buy a large block of tickets and help the charity out and all that. Sounds smashing."

"Wonderful!" Willow flashed a large smile as she rose. "Well, I guess I'd better be getting home, then, Friend." She leaned in and kissed Archie on the cheek. "And thanks for not making me feel all embarrassed and like an idiot and everything about what I told you. You were very kind."

Archie shook his head. "I would never do that. Good night, Willow. See you at school."