Lingering Melody

Everything suddenly went dizzy and I would have fallen over if he hadn’t grabbed my shoulder in time and sat me back down. “Naaahh, jusst, waterr,” I muttered and I tried blinking cause everything was starting to… move.

He snorts and stands. “Come on,” he mutters, and takes my arm that he still had a hold on, draping it around his neck. “I’m going to take you out in the back, all right?” He explains, putting his arm around my waist.

I’ve never felt so light headed- I could almost touch the clouds. The headache had gone far, far away. Still, everything was dizzy and my stomach was rocking like a ship in a storm. Not so good. “I… don’t feelllll sssssso good,” I mutter in his ear as we weave through the crowd.

He flinches. “Of course not. And your breath reeks. Come on, we don’t want the news to catch you puking your guts out,” he mutters and opens the back door.

We go, with me stumbling and practically hanging on him. I giggle. “Why would I…” puke? Yeah, good question. I could ask that in sarcasm five minutes later, because that’s how long it took for me to finish puking my guts out. Which was extraordinarily painful, due to the lack of nearly any food in my guts.

Lait stood near, holding my hair back while I bent over the bushes. I hadn’t seen him, but he had brought some napkins that he let me use wipe my chin and I even used them to wipe my tongue. “Water helps,” he informs me in a monotone voice, holding a water bottle.

I stare at him cynically.

He smiles wryly, seeing why I’m not taking it. “No worries- it’s Aquafina and you can test it yourself that it hasn’t been opened. So drink- it’ll get that awful taste out once and for all.” He checks his watch with a frown. “We’re on any minute. I’ll see you after,” then he leaves.

I gargle the water, spitting some out to get out the puke. I can’t recall the last time I’ve been sick like this. I’ve always had a pretty good immune system, I thought. But then, right now this has nothing to do with it.

I wasn’t ready to go in, when I had cleaned up. I didn’t want to go in again. So there I sat, against the wall, alone. And unhappy and still feeling woozy and sick and tired and sweaty. I had already taken off my jacket. Now, I took off my boots to give my feet some air, which helped a little.

“Who to blame,” I wondered, playing with my hair. It was still mostly in the two limp braids. “Bartender would know, so partly to blame- did Sebastian know?” I lean my head against the wall, trying to think. He had said it was water… hadn’t he? He had. I remember. Had he known, or not?

“Wow, that sucks big time,” comes a loud voice. I glance up to see Liam. He’s alone, too. Was the gig already over? “Well we rocked the house, if you didn’t hear,” he grins, as though he had heard my question. “But Lait told us what happened,” he nods, looking around. “I can smell it.”

My head droops. This is amazingly mortifying.

“So, need a ride home? Cause I don’t think you could find the street in your shape. Not like I’m insulting you- it’s just a very commonly known fact,” he grins lazily, squatting down. “How about it?”

“You sure you want me in there?” I ask in surprise. “I mean…”

He shrugs. “You’ll be fine. And I’m betting you want your bed now, so… it’s probably time to go,” he gives his wry smile. “Come on,” he says and helps me up. “Water helps,” he says, beginning to lead me around. “And fruit. Fruit’s always good- but grains I think are the best,” he decides. He’s on a roll now, talking. All the way to his car about foods that should help.

No one else comes, but that’s good, so I can lay down in the backseat by myself, resting. But of course, being a guy, Liam has a stash of food in the back so he hands me some ‘fruit and grains’ and insists I eat them.

I eat a little, although my stomach is still woozy. I start to doze on the way over. Finally, it comes to a stop and I realize he has brought me to the street. He looks over, looking concerned. “Hey, where’s your place? It might be best if I help you there.”

I take in a sharp breath. “No!” I say quickly and blush a little. “I mean, it’s all right. I’ll manage.” I start fumbling and unlock the door.

In which he abruptly locks it again and I turn to him in surprise. Why is it guys keep locking me in their cars? I swear, one of these days I’m going to be kidnapped and held for ransom. Still, Liam’s wearing a sympathetic face. “Hey, Shy, I’m not gonna judge you. I don’t care where you live- unless you live in a box. If you lived in a box though, I don’t think you’d have those clothes, unless you stole them. But the point is,” he says, “is you can barely walk, let alone by yourself, so you need my help, and I can’t help if I don’t know where you live.”

It’s silent and I know the time is passing. I bite my bottom lip, wondering if it’s okay to trust him. Will he keep his word like Lait? I can’t decide for several minutes. But finally, I let out a sigh. “Fine. It’s two blocks over, on Brickway Avenue, building five forty-three,” I tell him quietly. I sit very still in my seat as he takes his land rover to my apartment building.

He helps me out. “Okay, which room? And floor? You know this place is eight stories, right? I hope you’re not on the eighth, cause that’s a long ride up- you have an elevator right? Cause there’s no way I’m carrying you up eight floors.”

I snort, and nearly trip as we reach the doors. “Third floor, room one twenty-seven. The elevator’s broken, though.” I mumble close enough for him to hear.

He nods. “I can live with that. Keep walking,” he adds as I stumble again when things go mushy. I do that three more times before we get to the stairs. “Seriously, I’d rather not have you topple down the stairs,” Liam chuckles and without further ado, he grabs hold where my knees bend, bringing them up. His other arm was already around me, so it turns a little as I’m being carried.

“No, wait, I don’t,” I stammer but it’s obvious he’s going to ignore whatever I say.

“Don’t like being carried?” He teases. “Well, you might want to get used to it. I remember last week, we were playing football, just us the band. Me and Lait against the others. We killed them! It was sick. But… what was I getting at?” His brow furrows. “Hm. Well, anyways, it included picking up the kitchen table, which is a really stupid plastic thing and I just wanted to say you weigh less than that.”

Perfect timing for that old Asian lady from the fourth floor to come by. She stared openly at us for a minute before we passed her. My face grew red and I couldn’t believe what he had just said. Maybe it’s just a dream….

“This the place?” He asks casually, setting me down. He’s right at my door. I nod and pick out my keys from my boots that I had put on in the vehicle.

“Yeah,” I mumble and unlock the door. But he’s still there as I’m about to go in. I feel awkwardness and I don’t know what to say to him. “Well, um… thanks. For everything,” I add, my eyes not meeting his face.