I get drunk. My friends left early, but I decided to stay here and get so drunk I drown everything inside of me and everything is blurry. I was drinking hard liquor tonight, which means I really wanted to get drunk.

I stayed at the bar, occasionally giving Aaron appreciative glances because I couldn't help but admire him and occasionally talked to Rory. I probably won't remember half of our conversations, anyway. 

Aaron served me drinks the whole evening. I didn't let Rory do it, I wanted him to do it. He didn't show any trace of discomfort, but he didn't show any interest, either. Bummer. 

"Brooke? I'm closing soon, how are you planning to go home?"

"Since I came here with my friendsss ..." I drunkenly slur. "Oh my god he's so hot," I say when I catch a glimpse of Aaron again, talking to some drunk girl who's clinging to him. 

Rory sighs. "Brooke, look at me," she calmly demands. I look at her. I pop my lips and start laughing. Rory sighs again. "Brooke!" she demands, more harshly this time. I try to stop laughing and look serious, but that makes me laugh even more. I don't even know why I'm laughing. 

"Brooke, do you have anyone you can call to come pick you up?"

I stare at her for some seconds, processing her question. Damn. I probably shouldn't get this drunk. I start nodding my head, my brother coming into mind. 

"Good. Can you call someone to take you home?"

I nod again and start searching through my purse. I pull out my phone and want to unlock it, but I have it turned the wrong way and when I notice it, I start laughing again. I almost drop my phone, but I catch it the last second and it makes me laugh even harder.

When I look at Rory, I notice her looking at Aaron with her hand on her forehead and they seem to be communicating with each other without words. And then it kind of hits my drunken self what's going on in front of my eyes. 

"Holy shit, Rory!" I shriek. Rory looks at me with wide eyes. "Why didn't you tell me you two are dating? And I thought he wasn't flirting back because he wasn't interested!" I smile big at her but then I pout when I realise I've been going for my new flatmate's man the whole night. "Shit, Rory, I am so sorry, if I knew you were dating him, I would have never flirted with him!" 

Rory starts shaking her head, her mouth hanging open. "Brooke, no, we're not -" She doesn't finish the sentence because I suddenly lose my balance and fall right down on the floor. I start laughing for some reason.

Rory is instantly on this side of the bar, helping me sit in my chair again. I can't even stand. "Jesus, Brooke, how much did you drink?"

I lift my hand and try to show her 'a little' with my thumb and pointer, but my fingers aren't cooperating with me and that makes me frown. After some trying, I just shrug and drop my hand back down.

I lean into her, trying to say something in her ear. She leans into me back and I tell her, "You have a really hot boyfriend." Rory cringes because I may have said that a bit too loud.

I start giggling and she rolls her eyes. "Okay, Brooke, it's time for you to go home. Give me your phone."

I pout at her but I give her my phone anyway. 

She calls someone and steps aside a few steps, never leaving me out of her sight. Aaron is keeping me busy, trying to get me to drink some water but I only laugh at him because I can't do anything else. I just want to go to sleep. 

"You and Rory look really good together. Sorry I went after you, thought you were single," I whisper in Aaron's ear.

Aaron's eyes widen. "What? No -"

I cut him off with my laughter.

Rory comes back then. I'm in such a happy mood now. But I still want to sleep. 

I don't know how much time passes before I spot my brother coming in the bar. Of course he does it like he owns this place, I think to myself. 

He comes straight to me and I smile at him. "Hey, brother!" I say loudly, maybe a bit too loudly because Braden visibly winces. 

"You came here to have a good time, too?" Braden is shaking his head by now. He shushes me and tries to talk to me. 

"You know better than to do this, Brooke. Don't you know your limits?"

I giggle. "Let me have fun for onceee!" I drawl out. I stare up at the ceiling and I get serious. "Oh. Those are some really nice lights."

"What? Brooke," Braden says, trying to gain my attention again. 

"Why is it spinning, though?" I cock my head to the side and stare up at it in amazement. 

Braden places a glass filled with water in my hand. "Drink this. All of it."

"Geez," I mutter, looking at him. "I'm starting to think you're single because no woman wants to be in a relationship with a dad, not because you don't want to commit." I point a finger at him.

Braden scowls. "Drink the water, Brooke."

I roll my eyes but drink it anyway. "Happy?" I ask.

"No." He gives me another glass. "Stay here and drink this, I'll go check up on Rory," he says. 

I rest my elbow on the counter and put my head in my hand. I just want to sleep! 

I almost fall asleep until Braden and Rory come back again. 

I wave at them, but I lose my balance in the process and fall off the chair. Again.

Braden instantly rushes to me, asking me if I'm okay, but I'm incapable of answering because I'm laughing so hard I can't even stand up. I also hear Rory laugh somewhere in the distance and we're both laughing together as if we're crazy.

Braden looks from me to Rory then back at me and Rory again. We start laughing even harder at his lost face.

"Did I miss something here?" Braden asks, not knowing what he did or what he should do with us.

I slap his arm and shriek, "Oh, shut up!" I start laughing even more, as if Braden said something insanely funny. 

Braden picks me up in his arms and stands up. He turns to Rory. "Follow us. And God help me, Rory, if you don't ..." he warns and starts walking away.

He helps me inside of the car. I'm still giggling. Braden then holds the passenger door open for Rory and she climbs into the car after the slightest hesitation. 

I lean forward in the seat. "Braden, did you know Rory here has the hottest boyfriend I've ever seen?" I say loudly. I turn to look out of the window, sighing to myself when the image of Aaron comes back in my head again. I'm totally jealous of Rory, but she's gorgeous, too, so it's no surprise. They look good together. 

"She does?" Braden murmurs.

"It's the new guy working at the bar she works at. Yum. You have a nice taste, Rory," I giggle and then stop. I become all serious and look at Rory in apology. "Oops. I swear I won't talk about how hot he is anymore. At least not in front of you." I start giggling again and then throw myself against the seat.

"No, I-" Rory starts denying my statements but I don't let her finish her sentence.

"I'm sleeping!" I yell. I'm so bloody tired. I just really want to sleep. I rest my head on the seat and close my eyes in comfort.

   ◊    

When I wake up, I just wish I didn't. It would be better if I just died in my sleep so I wouldn't feel this kind of a pain in my head. 

I am never drinking again. And this is a vow. I burrow my head into the pillow and groan. Just at the slight movement, my stomach protests and I feel like I'm going to throw up. I roll on my stomach and just breathe in and out. It feels like I'm giving birth. Jesus. I shudder at just the thought. 

And then I realise, to my surprise, that I remember everything that happened. And I just want to go die in a corner. I remember Aaron. Oh, I remember him very well. I also remember how disinterested he was in me. I also remember a conversation I had with Rory, how I found out he's her boyfriend. And then Braden coming, saving me and he must be the one who carried me to my bed. 

I put my pillow over the back of my head and just lay like that for a few minutes before forcing myself to get up. I have to keep still for a few minutes, pressing my hand to my stomach because I almost throw up. My head feels like it weighs a ton. 

When I go out of my room in search for some caffeine, I hear voices from the kitchen. 

"Look, I just came here to make sure my sister is okay."  

I furrow my eyebrows. My brother? Braden? He's here? 

"Have you called me?" I ask and come into the kitchen to find Braden and Rory in an intense staredown yet again. The tension is basically radiating from both of them and the tension in the kitchen is almost palpable. 

Rory looks at me and I see her eyes widen. Yeah, I must be a sight to behold with bedridden hair, my makeup probably smeared all over my face and still wearing the dress from last night. I also probably look like I'm going to murder someone. "Does anyone have any coffee? My head could use some." I don't even wait for an answer and go straight for the coffee machine, already sighing at just the smell of good coffee. "God, what a rough night that was," I mutter to myself.

I hear Rory laugh somewhere behind my back and I turn around. I focus my stare on Braden and when he feels me looking at him, he finally turns his gaze from Rory to me. "What are you doing here?" I ask him after our short stare down. I lift my cup of coffee to my mouth, still watching my brother. 

I also take the time to notice that he's already in his suit, all polished and ready to take on the world - yes, even on Saturday, meanwhile Rory is only wearing a shirt that's too big for her, coming down to her knees. 

"Wow, don't you two just love my presence. I can feel the love, I swear," he mumbles. "It's my flat the last time I checked," Braden points out and circles his hand around for bigger effect.

I huff and look away from him. "And I live here the last time I checked!" I shoot right back at his face.

Rory suddenly starts uncontrollably laughing. She has to lean on the chair so she doesn't fall on the floor.

Braden rolls his eyes at me and then looks at Rory when she quiets down again. 

"Look, I just came here to make sure you're okay." He is looking at me again, his eyes soft now, his voice thick with concern.

I can always - anytime, anywhere - rely on my brother. He's always so considerable with the ones he loves, he always takes the time to check up on me when anything happens or he just concerns himself with nonsense things sometimes. He's a protective big brother and I love him with all my heart.

He's my only family left, after all.

But as much as I love him, I'm not in the mood for any chat this morning. I'm in the mood to throw myself out of the window if I go into the details. "I'm still very much alive, as you can see. You can go now." I dismiss Braden with my hand jokingly and turning around. 

Braden scowls. "Yes. Barely, if I judge from your appearance."

I lean my hip on the counter. "Forgive me, brother dear, but I think I have the right to look the worst way possible after the night I had."

Braden puts the empty mug down on the counter and crosses his arms on his chest. Uh oh. He's in a full Dad mood and I see he's preparing a speech for me. "Which leads me to the question; did anything happen last night that prompted you to drink? You don't usually go for the hard drinks." He gives me a chastising look.

I feel like a five-year-old when talking to him sometimes. No, Braden, I just wanted to drink because my head was full of the one who-shall-not-be-named yet again. I think that's a good reason to drink hard liquor. But I can't tell my brother that. "No, nothing happened, I just wanted to go out and have fun like many 27-year-olds do." 

Braden nods like he's trying to understand. "Alright. Be more careful the next time, Brooks. You know better than that."

But do I really? "Of course," I mumble, avoiding his eyes as I take another big sip of coffee. 

I'm almost finished with my finals! Yay, can you believe it? I'll have time to focus on my writing more now. Ahhh, the smell of freedom. 

Hope you liked it and you can check out this story on radish too!

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