Nothing Goes As Orchestrated

Even though Jack had drank near his weight in alcohol, he was still his normal hyper self in the morning when he made his way downstairs. Matt was awake but hadn't gotten up for fear of waking Cassie, who had fallen asleep with him on the couch. The sight stopped Jack dead in his tracks and he stared at his friends with one eyebrow raised.

"How long have you been awake, bro?" he asked.

"Probably about two hours," Matt said quietly, trying not to disturb the sleeping girl.

Shaking his head, Jack knelt down next to the couch and stuck his face right next to Cassie's. Before Matt could do or say anything, Cassie's eyes snapped open. When the boy in front of her came into focus, she groaned and tried to roll over, away from Jack but found it impossible since she was between a body and the back of the sofa.

"Fuck," she muttered, putting her hand on Jack's face and pushing him away.

"You know, for two people who claim to be just friends," he said, "You certainly give off a different vibe."

"Don't be a shit starter, Jack," Matt said, tapping Cassie lightly on the back. She shifted and he slid his arm out from underneath her and got up.

Cassie sat up slowly and groaned, feeling like she'd been hit over the head with a ton of bricks, "Hello hangover," she mumbled.

The moment she was upright, her stomach lurched. She moved as fast as she could, which wasn't very fast at all, and made her way to the bathroom. Kneeling down, she quietly began emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Matt entered the bathroom, kneeling behind her and pulled her hair back away from her face, rubbing her back as she continued and then finally finished.

"Thanks," she said, as he let go of her hair and handed her a tissue, "How much did I drink last night?" she asked.

"You don't want to know," Matt said.

Cassie sighed, "I didn't do anything stupid, did I?" she asked, sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall.

"Nah. You're a surprisingly coherent drunk," he said, "And very ladylike when it comes to throwing up."

Cassie laughed, "Thanks, I think," she said.

"Well, you weren't retching or anything. It was very quiet and got the job done. Not everyone can do that," he explained.

She chuckled softly and fell quiet for a minute before speaking again, "I'm sorry, though. I don't usually drink very much. I guess I'm just trying not to think about Alex," she said quietly.

"Drinking yourself silly isn't the way to do that, Cassie," he said as he stood up, "Focusing on yourself and having a good time is."

"I know, I know, I know. I'm sorry. It won't happen again," she said, holding her hand out to him, "Help me up?"

Matt took hold of her hand and pulled her to her feet and then led her back to the living room where Jack was, "You wanna take us home?" he asked.

Jack nodded and they all left the house and piled into Jack's car. The drive to Cassie's house was relatively quiet. Cassie leaned her head against the cold window and stared at the houses they passed, smiling to herself. She was happy to be away from the drama, happy to be home.

Cassie invited the boys inside when Jack pulled up in front of her house. They all got out and Matt grabbed Cassie's duffel bag from the trunk and carried it inside for her. The smell of breakfast hit everyone's nostrils as they headed toward the kitchen.

"Hi Mama," Cassie said.

"Hi Baby!" Tina said excitedly as she set down the spatula and pulled her daughter into a hug, "How was your flight?" she asked.

"It was good," she said, "Do you remember Jack?" she asked.

"Of course I do. I run into him occasionally when I'm out and about," she replied, "How are you, Jack? Thank you for picking Cassie up from the airport," she said.

"Oh, it was no problem, Tina. I'm always up late," he said, "And I'm good. Doing really good. I'm enjoying my time off."

"That's good to hear," she said, her eyes falling on Matt, "And who is this handsome young man?" she asked.

Matt's cheeks tinted pink and Cassie spoke, "This is Matt Flyzik. I told you about him," she said.

"That's right. You did," she said, "Matthew, I'm Tina. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Black," Matt said with a smile and wave.

Tina laughed and turned to Cassie, "You always bring home such a polite people, Cassandra," she said and looked at Matt again, "It's really okay if you call me Tina," she said, "Would you boys like to stay for breakfast?"

Matt and Jack looked at each other and shrugged, "We'd love to, Tina," Jack said, "It smells delicious."

They all sat down and Tina set plates of food in front of each of them when she finished cooking before taking a seat. Breakfast was filled with conversation. Tina asked Matt tons of questions about himself and what he did, which he answered without hesitation. Jack told stories, whether they were real or made up, no one was sure. And Cassie was mostly quiet, just listening to everyone else talk.

When she was done, she set her fork on her plate and pushed her chair away from the table, "I'm feeling rather dirty and hungover," she announced as she stood, "So, I'm going to go shower. You guys don't have to stay. I planned on spending the first day home hanging out with my mommy," she said, walking out of the kitchen.

Tina looked at Cassie's plate that was still full of food and then looked up at the boys, "Is my daughter okay?" she asked, "It's not like her to be so quiet and not eat."

"Maybe it's just the hangover," Matt offered, even though he knew it was more than that.

Ever since she'd had the huge blow out with Alex, Cassie hadn't been the same. She definitely was more quiet and he too had noticed that she would push her food around her plate more than she would eat it. But he didn't want to force her to talk about Alex when he knew she didn't want to.

With a nod, Tina stood and started collecting the dishes from the boys. They both quickly got up. Jack helped her clear the table and Matt insisted on washing the dishes. When the kitchen was cleaned up, the boys were about to say goodbye when Tina mentioned baking cookies. Jack's eyes widened in excitement and asked if he could help.

While they did that, Matt sat at the table and pulled his phone out. He had a couple missed calls but no new message. Assuming it wasn't anything important, he slid his phone back into his pocket. Without a word, he got up and wandered through the house. He smiled at all the pictures of Cassie on the wall, ranging from her as a young child to her during her last visit home.

He found himself by the front door and noticed her duffel sitting by the stairs. Thinking that she might want clean clothes to wear after her shower, he picked up the bag and made his way up the stairs. Once he was at the top, he realized that he had no clue which room belonged to her. Starting with the door nearest him, he pushed it open carefully.

The third door he opened revealed a room that undoubtedly belonged Cassie. He stepped inside and set her duffel down next to the bed and looked around. There were more pictures. Pictures of her with her parents. Pictures of her with Rian. Pictures of just her. And then his eyes fell on the framed picture on her night table. He walked over to it and picked it up, studying the genuine smiles that adorned hers and Alex's faces.

"Whatcha doin'?"

Surprised, Matt set the picture back down and turned to see Cassie, wearing only a towel. Her wet hair hung messily over her shoulders and down her back.

"I, uh, saw that you left your duffel downstairs and I thought you might want some clean clothes so I brought it upstairs for you. Then I was just looking at your pictures. Um, I'm sorry, though. I'll leave," he said nervously.

Cassie laughed, "You're fine Matt. I don't care if you look around my room. I was just curious about what you were looking at," she said, walking further into her room.

"Oh. Just a, uh," he trailed off and picked the picture up again, nervously showing it to Cassie.

She took it from him and sighed softly, "I forgot this was here," she said, "We took this on his birthday when we were at the aquarium. I'm still convinced that he would've liked to go somewhere else, but he was such a sweetheart about it," she said as she stared at the picture, biting down on her lip.

"Are you kidding?" Matt asked, "That dude loves the aquarium. The science center, too."

"Really?"

He nodded, "He couldn't stop talking about how much fun he had on his birthday with you," he said.

"Are you sure he wasn't talking about all the sex we had that day?" she asked, putting the picture face down on the night table.

"I'm positive," he said with a heavy sigh.

"This must be hard for you," Cassie said quietly.

"What?"

"This. All of it. Defending Alex when it comes to anything that had to do with my relationship with him. Being here with me. Being my friend at all," she said, her eyes falling to the floor.

Matt sighed again, "I'm fine, Cassie," he said, reaching out and lifting her chin.

"Really?" she asked, looking him in the eye, and he nodded, "God, I wish I could say the same," she mumbled quietly.