Rum and Coke

After dinner, Ellie became extremely hyper, so Ryan thought it best to go raid their friend’s houses. After an impromptu band practice at Mark’s house (that lasted until midnight), Ryan and Ellie decided on going to her house since it was less than a block away and they didn’t want to risk getting caught outside past curfew. When they arrived at the house, Ellie noted that her mother’s car was not in the garage. Shrugging it off like it was nothing, Ellie walked into her home and dropped her stuff by the door. Ryan immediately made a bee-line toward the restroom as Ellie went to the liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniel’s- her favorite.

“Ellie, we need to get you another guy,” Ryan slurred as he looked up at Ellie. The two teenagers were quite intoxicated by this point. “You know, one that won’t leave and get shot and die.”

Ellie drunkenly laughed at her twin.

“I’m serious,” Ryan replied as he took another swig from the bottle. “You deserve someone to love.”

Ellie doubled over in laughter.

“Wha’ are you laughing at?”

“You,” yelled gasped out through her laughter.

“Wha’ abou’ me?” he asked.

“I just find it funny that you, of all people, are telling me that I need someone to love,” Ellie said, not quite as intoxicated as her twin. “You know, since you’re the one who has never had a girlfriend that you didn’t cheat on and all.”

“I don’ cheat on every girlfriend I have.”

“Name one that you stayed true to.”

“Cindy McNair.”

“You cheated on her with Kat Applegate.”

“Oh…yea…well, how about Jessie?”

“Yea, you totally slept with her sister.”

“Hmmm….Karen?”

“You kissed her best friend in front of her…and her best friend was a guy.”

Ryan huffed. “I don’t like this game anymore. We need to find you someone new. It’s been too long.”

Ellie shook her head at him and looked down at her feet. “No, I was in love once. I didn’t like it. I was always so worried about what I should say and what I should do..what I should wear. I never could explain my actions. I was always distracted because I was always thinking about him and what I could do to make him love me more. You know, silly little things like that. I would always daydream about our future and what not. At one point, I actually put his last name as mine and I even named our future children...No, love is a burden. It keeps us from our dreams. We’re better off without it anyway.” She ended with a shake of her head as she met his gaze again.

Ryan shook his head at her and ruffled her hair. “You’re weird.”

Ellie shrugged. “So I hear.” She moved around a bit, causing Ryan to whine as she got settled in a different position. “Besides,” she continued as she ran a hand through his short black hair. “Who really wants to deal with all that emotion attached to it? I mean, you’re happy, depressed, jealous, conniving…all at the same time!…it’s horrible. I say we were better off in the wild, where no one was anyone’s and everyone was everyone’s. No, relationships lead to love…and love leads to marriage which, you know, is the last form of legal slavery…you can quote me on that.”

Ryan grumbled and mumbled a “You’re wrong” into her lap and a “your mother is wrong, too,” before he quickly passed out on her lap.

Ellie bit her lip as she looked down at his passed out form. She thought about their conversation and weighed it against everyone else’s opinion on the matter. By the end of her internal battle, she figured that she was better following in her mother’s footsteps and becoming a polygamous person. It waseasier better if she stayed detached. It wasn’t like anyone was going to want a girl as fucked up as she was. Hell, she wouldn’t want herself.

Ellie turned her head to the door as it slowly creaked open. Danielle quietly entered her home and wasn’t too surprised to see that her daughter and practically adopted son were still up sprawled out on the couch. Well, at least her daughter was awake. Danielle quickly took in the sight of the empty bottles and cans on the coffee table. It didn’t take her long to figure out what was going on.

“Hey,” Danielle greeted her daughter. “I see that you two had fun.”

Ellie nodded, looking around at the trashed living room. “Yea, we both needed to get our minds off certain things. Don’t worry, I’ll clean it all up.”

Danielle nodded her head knowingly. “That’s fine,” she said, affectionately running her hands through both the teenagers’ hair. “Do you want to crash here or in your room?”
“My bed’s comfier. Can you help?” Ellie asked, gesturing to the sleeping boy in her lap.
“Sure,” Danielle replied, pulling Ryan off of her daughter. The two women both put one of his arms around their shoulders and hauled him up the stairs. “Is he staying in his room?”
Ellie shook her head. “No, he’ll sleep in my room.”

Danielle slowly navigated them into the prescribed room and helped her daughter lay him on the bed. “I take it that he still has nightmares?”

“Yea, almost every night,” Ellie said softly as she began to strip him of his outer layers.
Danielle left the room and returned a few minutes later with his night clothes.

“Anyways, thanks for the help,” Ellie said to her mother once they were through undressing and re-dressing the boy.

“Anytime, Honey,” Danielle said, placing a kiss on her daughter’s temple. “Sleep well, you have school in the morning.”

Ellie nodded her head. “Yea.”

“When is your performance tomorrow?”

“Curtain is at 7:30.”

“Ok, I’ll try to make it. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Mom,” Ellie smiled as her mother walked out of the room and closed the door. Sighing, Ellie looked over at Ryan, who had already started to twist and turn in his sleep. Ellie quickly rid herself of her street clothes and donned on her pajamas before slipping under the covers with Ryan. She wrapped her arms around him and he instantly stopped thrashing. “And I love you, Ry-Ry,” she whispered before closing her eyes.