BANG! BANG! BANG!

I sat up straight, accidentally hitting Greyson in the face. It was like rapid fire gunshots. Not unusual but still scary. I looked around for the noise, my head rotating clockwise and counterclockwise. When my heart beat slows down a bit I saw where it was coming from. It was coming from the door.

"Wahhappened?" he asked sleepily. 

I grabbed my phone and slowly got up. I was walking very tediously to the door, making sure my feet did not clack on the floor.  As I approached the door my clock told me it was one in the morning. 

One in the morning?  Who was here so late?

I got to the door and peeped through the window to see who it was. It was Dad and another guy standing there. 

Dad?  He was being supported by the other guy, his arm around Dad's neck, giving him a hard time. I fumbled with the locks and the door opened. Once it burst open the whole party came in.

"Dad?" I asked, a bit worried. He stumbled over the door and was acting like he was drunk. But he wasn't, wasn't he? He looked very dirty and he had a bunch of stains on his pants. A huge indicators of being drunk. No, but it can't be. Dad never was really drunk before. He has never been drunk before.

"Who is buying the next drink?" he shouted no one. He was trying to walk which gave the guy a hard time holding upright. The guy looked completely sober though. He had a determined face on but still struggling with the stupid person he was holding. 

"Where is his room?" asked the guy. I was scared that he was talking to me. I just stared at him, thinking that he was talking to someone else. I forgot what he asked me at first but then I showed him to his room. He threw Dad on the bed which Dad enjoyed thoroughly, giggling so much and was trying to touch the guy. The guy was trying to get out of Dad's grip but Dad had a firm hold on him. 

"What happened?" I asked.

"He had a bit too much fun tonight," he sighed as he tried to move Dad's hands, which was traveling down to his waist. I was in shock. Dad had settled his hands on the guy's wait and was fumbling with his pants. The guy finally moved his hands and recomposed him self. 

"So he actually went to a party? I asked, even more in shock. 

"Yeah," the guy said so normally. But that wasn't normal. My dad went to a party? It is like the world was completely upside down. I'm not in the Upside Down, right?

I bent next to Dad for closer inspection. He had drool coming down the side of his face. His eyes were fluttering open and close, trying to stay awake. His ears were so red that when I went to touch them he literally flinched; he was flushed, his cheeks glowing brightly. His neck was very sweaty, like sweat was still dripping down his neck and back. I pushed the hair from his face and the pungent smell of alcohol hit my nose hard.

I gagged as the smell went to my brain. Whenever I got bloodwork done at the doctor's office I always almost pass out. Anemic powers. Bless those nurse they always stuck an alcohol wipe under my nose which always burned my head. That's how Dad smells. I looked at the guy and asked "What did he have?"

He said hesitantly "Just a few drinks. But nothing really heavy- I hope."

I looked at Dad and thought "Yeah, a few drinks." Since when did he act like this? I looked back at Dad and silently wondered so many things. But the main question was why? Why did he just let loose tonight?

I pushed this from my mind for now. I saw the guy move and realized I should do something. I stood up and faced him, trying to make myself look presentable. "Well thank you for bringing him home."

"The pleasure is all mine," he said but instantly regretted it. He smiled and shook his head then said "I mean, no problem."

I extended my hand towards him and said "I'm Daisy, his daughter."

"Hello Daisy, I am Victor, his friend." I am glad that he is trying to make this situation light.

"From the hospital?" I asked, thinking of today.

"Uh, yeah. We both work together." he said, his smile somehow becoming bigger.

"I am so sorry that you had to cover for him today," I said, making wild hand gestures as I tried to explain our situation. "I- He- You see- My friends and I-"

He held up a hand and said "Don't worry, he explained everything to me at dinner."

"Oh." I felt awkward. I subconsciously put my hand on my neck, bringing my hand down. We stood there, just waiting for something to happen. Luckily something happened to save us in the form of my father.

He ran towards the bathroom and we both heard it all come out of his system. Victor's lips tightened and he sighed again. "Do you think you can bring a glass of water and some aspirin?" he asked as he walked towards the restroom.

"Yeah," I said as I stood there for a second before the impact of the words hit me. I left the room. and went to the kitchen to get everything. Greyson was trying to talk to me but I completely ignored him, focusing on getting the two simple things this random guy named Victor who I just met 5 minutes ago asked me to get.

I walked in the room with all the essentials to cure a party sickness. I placed it on the nightstand, waiting for them. I didn't hear him throw up anymore so I guess he got it out of his system. But the question that now arises is when did it get in his system? He never did anything like this, not even when divorced Lori.  He had something every now and then, but he always made sure to hide it from me and never go overboard. It helped to some degree. He did what he had to do with a broken heart and a child.

I heard the door open and I immediately wiped my eyes. Dad came out in his pajamas, ready for bed, and Victor was rocking the mom friend look. He had thrown up and water on his pants and shirt. He sat Dad on the bed and was pulling the tray towards him. He grabbed the glass and took out two aspirin and handed it to Dad. "Here," he said, giving it to Dad. Dad chugged the water like he never had it before. He downed the aspirin and laid back down, knocking out fast.

Victor set the glass aside and tended to Dad. He put him under the covers and tucked him in, making sure he was okay. He let go of Dad and started to make his way towards the door. He signaled to me to leave while we could. We got to the door and opened it but Dad, out of nowhere, said "It is so hot!" He threw off his blankets and sat up. Victor looked like a kid who was caught red handed and went back to him. He went by his side and tried to put Dad back to sleep. I heard them talk slash have a friendly argument which ended in Victor taking off Dad's shirt. He put him back under the covers and put him back to sleep. After he pushed the hair out of his face again he walked back to me. We were at the door when Dad said "Goodnight Sweetheart." I turned around to see if he was okay.

"Goodnight, Dad."

He finally started to snore. Victor and I took our chance, finally leaving the room and shut the door as quietly as we could. We completed mission impossible.

As soon as the door closed I whipped around and faced Victor. "Are you sure he only had a few drinks?" I asked suspiciously. It seemed like someone constantly spiked his drink tonight. 

"I was with him most of the night. I believe he only had a couple of drinks." he said, trying to calm me down.

"Where was the party even?" I'm not even sure that Dad knew places where to get stuff like that to get really wasted. 

"At a local club with a few friends. The one on San Jacinto." 

We started to walk towards the door. 

"Is he going to be okay?" I knew that this was a stupid question, like he isn't on his deathbed, but I just needed to hear it out loud. "He should be fine by the morning. He is just tired from everything that happened."

We finally reached the door. I felt a bit calmer than I was earlier, but I just had one question that was making me anxious to another level.

"Did he... was he... by any..." I tried to ask but failed. "Dihedoanythinwitanyone?" I asked quickly.

"Sorry?" he said, kindly. I took a deep breath and asked the question. "Did he escalate things with anyone?" I was fiddling with my fingers as I waited for an answer.

Victor looked visibly uncomfortable. Choosing his words carefully he said "I cannot confirm or deny this."

"Oh."

"I am so sorry. Who knew he was a wild man."

I accidentally laughed then felt nervous again. It would be much appreciated if he leaves right now. As words failed me for the millionth time I just nodded, swallowing this whole thing.

"Well, thank you, again, for everything." I opened the door for him to give a little hint. I saw his taxi still waiting for him. I hope he takes the big clue and books it.

"No problem. Please, if you need anything don't hesitate to call. Your father has my number saved on his phone."

"Thank you." I was rocking my feet.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I smiled really big like an idiot. He looked at me curiously which made me stop. He finally left and I closed the door. I leaned against the wall, gathering my thoughts and catching my breath. I don't think that I did anything extremely embarrassing. In fact, by my standards, that was good. However, the same thing can't really be said for Dad. As I made it back to the couch a thought occurred to me. Why did Dad not have any-

"Everything good?" Greyson asked, propped on one arm.

I couldn't understand everything and I didn't feel like explaining so I just said "Yeah." I got under the blanket and felt really sleepy. Tiredness was laying on top of me but I felt like this conversation wasn't over.

"Is he okay?"

"He should be fine by the morning," I said, echoing Victor. Greyson was going to get up but decided not to. He looked in the direction of Dad's room and by the time he faced me again I knocked out.

...

I start and end my day with the same person. Greyson woke me up a few hours later; it is time for "school". At this point it is really kind of useless for the four of us to go at this point. We did everything we needed to do during freshman, sophomore, and junior year so that senior year would be "fun and breezy". Mind you those three years were literally traumatizing for all of us. I was admitted into the hospital a total of 4 times due to panic attacks, Greyson broke plenty of things in response to his anger, and Joshua and Dani had a fair share of mental breakdowns. I am not saying that it was completely worth it but what happened happened.

Finally Dani and Joshua came around. When they groggily asked what time it was, Greyson was satisfied and went to go get ready. I followed suit as soon as my eyes came back into focus.

I went to see if they were truly up; the Royal Majesties wished to continue their nap. I shook my head and rubbed my eyes. I walked upstairs to go get ready. I got inside of the room and I heard Greyson using the hair dryer. I went through his half of the closet to find him some clothes to wear. He spends more time at my house than his so at this point we share everything in this room.

I laid his clothes out, a sweater with jeans, on the bed. I pulled out a hoodie and tights for myself and laid them next to his. Deciding at the last minute to wash my body after feeling very hot I grabbed my towel and pounded on the door.

"Greyson, get out!" I yelled after about 5 minutes of knocking.

"Give me a minute, woman!"

I sighed really loud, making sure that he could hear it.

I got back on the bed Robert Harjavec with a Sleep Hug style. I heard someone knock on the door and come in after permission was given. Joshua came in, yawning as loud as a lion. He pointed towards the closet and asked "Can I-"

I nodded before he finished asking. People always say that best friends don't need to ask before doing or that they can just do whatever they want, but my friends and I have a healthy agreement that no matter what relationship you have with a person, respect and privacy is an undiscussed agreement.

He walked out with an outfit from both Greyson's and my side of the closet. I looked to see what he grabbed and saw a shirt and a dress.

"No offense but with that dress you would not be able to see any of your curves."

"And dare disrupt the learning environment. How could you Daisy?" he said playfully seriously. He stepped out and closed the door behind him.

"Greyson!"

"Okay!" He finally got out.

"You have been in there for an eternity!"

"Good god, woman, I was only in there for 10 minutes." I gave him those "really?" eyes and marches into the restroom.

"You forgot your stuff!"

I felt stupid. But that does not mean I was going to show him that. I mustered all the dignity I could, walked out with my nose in the air, and grabbed my stuff.

I finally got in the shower and was able to get ready. I got out and wrapped my towel around my hair. I walked to the sink and took out the 4 makeup and skincare products I use daily. By the time you are a senior you really don't care about your appearance. I mean you do want to be presentable but you don't care as much. I can literally walk in with my hair not completely dried, no makeup on, an oversized Mickey Mouse shirt and mom jeans, my tennis shoes on, and people won't care anymore.

I dried my hair and braided them. I washed my face and applied some moisturizer and sunscreen, then dabbed on some skin tint and blush. I left the restroom 15 minutes later, almost ready. I put on my clothes and some perfume and headed downstairs. I got to the kitchen and hid around the corner when I heard Greyson's voice mixed with Dad's. They were standing at the island with a glass of water, aspirin, and the bread out and open.

"You are going to have a headache for the rest of the day," Greyson said, pushing a bottle cap towards Dad.

"And I am going to knock out while driving," Dad said in an argument. He took a bite of plain bread and said "And please, don't yell." He rubbed his temple and sat down, trying to not be dead.

"Morning Dad!" I excitedly screamed as I walked into the kitchen. I extravagantly poured myself a bowl of cereal; I made sure that I slammed each cabinet loudly and made everything more crazy.

"AHHHHHH!"

Dad yelled as each Cheerio hit the bowl. I sat down at the island and began eating as Dad recovered from the incident. Greyson took his coffee from his machine and took his front row seat to enjoy the show.

"I can explain," Dad said after he rubbed his temples again. I didn't respond. I just stared at him intensely. He was the one who started this, he is going to be the one who finished it.

"The people at the dinner were planning to go to the local club and invited me along. We just wanted to have some fun."

"Dad, you came home at one in the morning completely wasted."

"I am sorry for it. I promise I will make it up for it."

I looked at him and a question immediately sprung to my lips.

"Dad, you have never done this before. Why now?"

He stuttered as he tried to give me an answer.

"Well-" he was at a complete loss of words

"Just forget it."  I did not feel like dealing with it right now.

I finished my cereal quietly. Dad looked at Greyson who shrugged and left with his coffee.

"We will drop you off," I said as I washed my bowl.

"And why is that?" he said humorously. He tried to do something that isn't going to work right now.

"Because you can't even back out of the driveway without doing any damage."

"And who is going to drop me off at home?" he asked.

"Victor," I said.

"Victor? Victor who?" he had a questioning look on his face.

I leaned against the counter and said "Victor, your friend. You know, the one who took off your shirt last night."

Dad's eyes popped out his sockets.

"What do you mean?" he asked seriously.

"You practically fought with him last night and he took off your shirt in angst."

Dad froze in shock.

"What?!"

"Yeah."  I should have an award for maintaining this poker face. The laugh was fighting to come out.

After an awkward silence I started to move towards the door.

"Let's go or we will all be late!"

...

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