And Now the Tables Do Turn

JOBE - 4:23 PM

When I fell asleep, my arms had been wound tightly Cori’s waist. It was the middle of the day, but she had hardly slept the night before, meaning I hadn’t slept well either. Something had been bothering her, I could tell. She tossed and turned all night, pulling away from me, then returning to my arms. She was usually a very calm sleeper, and her discomfort the night before had surprised me.

She had returned home from class a bit earlier than usual. I had been sitting on the sofa, watching a few things that had built up on the DVR and was surprised to see her there. She ran a hand through her hair, leaning over the couch to put her arms around my neck.

“I need a nap,” she said quietly, kissing my temple before straightening up. I heard her heels hit the tile floor in the kitchen when she kicked them off.

I couldn’t help but yawn at the alluring thought of a nap, so quickly headed for the bedroom myself.

Her jeans and blouse were in a pile and I saw her climb into my bed in only one of my shirts that brushed that tops of her thighs. My room was rather dark and she curled up on her side of the bed. I kicked off my shoes and pulled my shirt off before climbing into the bed after her.

She sighed softly, instantly rolling towards me. I smiled at the familiar feel of her body against mine. When I went to kiss her, she turned her head, giggling quietly. I rolled my eyes, kissing her jaw before she turned back to face me and allowed me to kiss her lips.

“How was class?” I asked her quietly, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“Shh,” she hushed me, her eyes closed. She had picked that up from my sister, and I hated it. “Talk later, sleep now.”

After a few minutes, her breathing evened out and I felt myself relax. Because she couldn’t protest, I pulled her closer to me, kissing the top of her head several times. I sighed to myself and closed my eyes.

As I laid there, I thought about the girl beside me. Being with Cori was easy. She wasn’t big on going out, and her smell of her perfume was enough to drive me crazy. She was constantly stealing my clothes, which were huge on her. She was big on agreeing to disagree rather than arguing. She wasn’t Spencer.

A few hours later when I woke up, Cori wasn’t curled against me as she had been. I rolled onto my back, staring up at the ceiling for a few minutes before sitting up. “Cori?” I questioned loudly. She didn’t respond. I yawned, leaving the comfort of my bed.

I padded into the living room and I found her sitting on the sofa. Her legs were pulled up to her chest, her eyes closed. A sinking feeling filled my stomach.

“Cor?”I said softly. She jumped at the sound of my voice, her eyes opening and her head turning towards me. Her eyes were read. “What’s wrong, what are you doing out here?”

She didn’t answer right away. She licked her lips, sighing quietly. “Why didn’t you tell me you guys were leaving for tour in a few weeks?” she asked, her voice soft.

I cursed under my breath, scratching the back of my neck. “Because I knew it’d upset you.”

“So, what were you planning on doing? Just wait until the day before you leave and say, ‘Hey, babe, we’re leaving for tour tomorrow. See you in ten weeks.’”

“No, I was going to tell you tomorrow. I was going to take you out and have a nice dinner and tell you then, I swear,” I assured her. She looked away as I walked towards her, sitting on the other side of her on the sofa. Sitting beside her was her bag, packed with the things she’d been leaving at my apartment.

“Okay, so you were going to tell me that you were leaving tomorrow. When were you going to tell me about Spencer?” Cori asked, her voice hardly above a whisper.

My mouth went dry when she said Spencer’s name. I felt like she had punched me in the gut. “W-w-what are you t-talking about?” I stammered, not sounding exactly convincing.

“If you’re still sleeping with her, can you just tell me?” she said, and I could see the hurt in her face. Tears were welling in her rich brown eyes.

“Cori, there is nothing going on between Spencer and I, I promise.”

“But there was,” Cori said, making eye contact with me. I couldn’t lie to her, and when I didn’t respond, she scoffed. “That explains everything.” She stood up abruptly. She grabbed her bag, slinging it on to her shoulder, before starting for the door.

“Cori, wait,” I pleaded, trying to hold her wrist.

“Wait for what, Josh?” she yelled at me, her temper boiling. “Wait for you to explain that you’re in love with your best friends girlfriend and that you were fuck buddies? Or how about explaining that that’s the reason that she hates me?”

“I am over her, Cori, I am. I have been since I met you,” I told her, trying to keep my voice calm. I really just want to scream at her, to somehow prove to her that she was all I wanted, and that I was over Spencer.

Tears were streaming down her face by then and she sobbed. Her bag fell from her shoulder and she cursed, trying to wipe away her tears, but more only flowed. Biting down hard on my lip, I reached out for her, putting my arms around her. She let me, taking a step towards me to lea against my chest. She sobbed again, her forehead pressed against my throat. She stood there for a moment, crying. I locked my jaw, teeth clenched. I could tell that her heart was breaking, and I felt like mine was too.

She finally pulled away and wiped her eyes. I could tell that she was biting down on her tongue like she always did. “You, um, y-you were saying her name -- in your sleep,” she said, briefly making eye contact with me.

“I swear, Cori, I was done with her before I ever met you.” I didn’t bother to mention that Spencer and I had broken up the night I met her.

“That doesn’t matter, Josh,” she said, pinching the bridge of her nose. “You still have feelings for her. I can tell. You act differently with me around her and the way you look at her drives me insane. Hell, you were saying her name in your sleep.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Cori. I did care about Spencer, and what we were doing was wrong. But now, I’m with you, and I couldn’t care less about Spencer. I just want to be with you,” I told her, putting my hands on her shoulders and staring into her eyes, hoping she’d get the point.

My words made her sob again as she wiped her tears. “It’s not just that, Josh. I don’t think I can handle you being gone. I’m a needy person, I won’t be able to handle you being gone,” she said, trying to shift the blame to herself.

I laughed bitterly. “You know what’s really horrible about all of this?” She only looked at me, waiting for me to answer my own question. “This fight has made me realize that I’ve fallen completely in love with you.”

Cori licked her lips, nodding as she looked down at her feet. “I-I should, uh, g-go,” she whispered, picking her bag up. I sighed, scratching the back of my neck as I watched her do so. “I really wish this had worked out.”

“Yeah, uh, me too,” I responded with a nod.

Just to rip my heart out even more, she stepped forwards, pressing her hands against my chest. Tears were clinging to her eye lashes and her eyes were still red. She rose onto her toes, pressing her lips against mine. When she didn’t pull away instantly, my hands instinctively looped around her waist, holding her against me. Our lips moved together for a few seconds before we both realized what was going on and she pulled away.

“Goodbye, Josh,” she said with a sad smile, pressing her lips together. “I won’t tell anyone...about you and Spencer.”

Her hand was on the doorknob by then and I only nodded. I didn’t stay to watch her leave. I turned quickly, heading into the kitchen. I reached for a beer in the refrigerator as I heard the door close behind her. I took a long drink, trying to clear my mind.

Well, fuck.

EM - 1:13 AM

There are only a few things in this world that I hate. The top thing that I do hate is being woken up from a perfectly good slumber. I mean seriously, who the fuck wants to be woken up, like, ever?

My phone was ringing, I realized, when the sound entered my dream. I cursed aloud, pulling away from Kennedy, searching for my phone.

“Hello?” I said into the phone once I located it. Kennedy grumbled something in his sleep, reaching for me.

“Em?” Spencer asked on the other end of the line. She hiccuped, a dead giveaway that she was completely plastered. I groaned, knowing where this conversation was going. I rolled onto my back and Kennedy wrapped his arms around me tightly.

“Spence, what do you need?” I asked, sighing softly as Kennedy’s lips moved over the skin of my neck.

“Uh, John and I had a fight and I’m at this bar and I’m really drunk and I need you to come and get me,” she said, slurring like mad.

I knew it. All anybody ever wanted from me was rides home when they’re plastered. No me gusta.

“Spencer, I was sleeping. I’m in bed with Kennedy, and we’re naked, and I really want to go back to sleep.”

“Em, please, I don’t know who else to call. I just want to sleep and the bar is closing soon. Please, I’ll owe you big time.” She was speaking rather quickly, and to the degree that her words were slurred, it was a bit difficult to understand her.

I rolled my eyes. I had barely been talking to Spencer lately, and of course, she’d call me up completely plastered, asking for me to pick her up.

“Okay, okay, I’ll be there in twenty. Where are you?” Spencer told me which bar she was at and I hung up. I sat up, pulling away from Kennedy. He mumbled something as I tugged sheet off the mattress, leaving only the comforter for him to curl up with.

“You’re seriously going to pick her up?” he asked, his face pressed into my pillow, as I wrapped the sheet around me, my phone still in hand.

“Fuck no,” I said, scrolling through my contacts. “I’m calling Jobe to go pick her up.”

“You don’t honestly think he’ll go and pick her up, do you?” I held up my index finger to silence him as I held the phone to my ear.

It rang and rang, and I expected it to go to voicemail. Finally my brother answered.

“What do you want, Em?” he questioned, sounding half asleep still.

“Jobey-poo, do you love me?” I asked him, slurring my words together to the best of my ability.

“Jesus Christ, Em, why are you drunk and why are you calling me?”

“Kenny and I had a fight, and I just needed a drink, so I kept drinking and kept drinking.” I paused for effect. “Please, best brother ever, will you come and get me?”

It took a bit more persuading and slurring before Josh finally agreed to come and pick “me” up at the bar where Spencer actually was. Mission accomplished, I crawled back into bed with Kennedy.

“You’re too good at that fake drunk voice,” he said quietly, pressing against me. I giggled, kissing him quickly.

JOBE - 1:41 AM

After Cori left, I could only stomach the one beer. I didn’t even want to drink. I made dinner for myself and watched shitty romantic comedies on TBS for the rest of the night before falling asleep on the sofa.

Em’s call at one in the morning woke me up. After the number of times she’d come to pick me up at a bar, it was my brotherly duty to go pick her up. It was strange that her and Kennedy had been fighting. The last thing they had even fought about was which brand of peanut butter was better, Jif or Skippy.

I dragged myself off the sofa and changed into a pair of shorts before grabbing my wallet and my keys before heading out the door. I got in my car with a sigh, preparing myself to deal with drunk Em. Since she and Kennedy had been fighting, that pretty much guaranteed that she’d be angry, drunk Em. She would probably ask about Cori too.

I drove to the bar, not even bothering to turn the radio up. I was exhausted. I decided that once I took Em home, I was going to go back to my apartment, turn off my phone, and sleep for days.

I entered the bar and coughed as I walked through a cloud of smoke. I looked everywhere for Em. There weren’t a lot of people in the joint, only the single drunks. I described my sister to the bartender, asking if he’d seen her. He only shrugged and I cursed. I fished for my phone in my pocket, about to call Em and demand to know where she was when I saw Spencer.

She was sitting at the bar, her phone and keys beside her. There was still a glass in front of her, half full. Her shoulders raised as she hiccuped and I cursed again. Em hadn’t been at the bar at all, she hadn’t fought with Kennedy either. Spencer had called her, asking Em to pick her up, and Em, the bitch, had called me to do it instead. I very strongly wanted to turn around and go home, but I could see that there were tears in Spencer’s eyes.

“Spence, let’s go,” I said, grabbing her phone and her keys off the bar.

“Hey!” she said, punching me lightly in the chest. “I didn’t call you!” Her words were strung together in a slur and I rolled my eyes.

“I know. You called Em and she called me. Now come on, let’s get out of here.”

Spencer slid off the stool, nearly face-planting on the floor. In her extremely intoxicated state, she found the situation hilarious. I sighed, putting an arm around her waist and guided her to the door.

“Don’t let your bitchy little girlfriend see you doing this,” she sneered as I pushed the door open.

“Shut up,” I grumbled to her.

“Oh, did I hit a sore spot?” she asked loudly.

“Cori isn’t my girlfriend anymore,” I told her, the same sinking feeling hitting my stomach again. I hit the unlock button on my car remote, and she pulled away from me.

“What, did she dump you because she got tired of you being in love with me?”

“Can you just shut the fuck up?” I snapped at her. She looked very taken aback, giving me a deer in the headlights kind of look. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, so just shut your mouth. You’re lucky I didn’t walk out when I saw you, and if you can’t keep your mouth shut, I’m going to leave you standing in this god damn parking lot and you can walk home.”

“Oh, you want to yell?” she screamed back at me. “I have a whole lot that I can yell at you about right now.”

“Lay it on me, slut!” We were standing on opposite sides of my car, both of our hands on the door handles.

“You ruined my fucking relationship!”

“No, I’m pretty sure you did. You’re the one who decided to keep fucking me!”

“I spend every second terrified that John is going to find out about what we did. And I don’t even know why we did it. You’re a pig, and you disgust me.”

“I’m the pig? Well, you’re the whore. Now just get in the fucking car before try to run you over,” I warned, sliding into the drivers seat.

She moved to the backseat, sliding in and crossing her arms over her chest.

I started driving and instead of taking Spencer to her own apartment, I took her to Em’s to let Em clean up the mess. I was glad that I’d finally made a copy of Em’s house key so I didn’t have to stand on the door mat, supporting Spencer while we waited for Em to answer the door, probably in some short robe that made me throw up in my mouth.

Spencer wouldn’t shut up as I nearly carried her down the hall to the guest room. We finally made it, and I shut the door behind us. I released Spencer when we reached the room. She collapsed on the bed, fully silent.

She sighed, her face pressed into the pillow. She stayed like that for a moment and I stayed beside the bed, unsure of what else to do. She rolled onto her side, looking up at me. There were tears in her eyes.

“Dammit,” I cursed under my breath, looking away from her, feeling the pull towards her. I started for the door.

“Josh?” she said when I was halfway to the door. I swallowed, turning to face her.

“What, Spence?” I asked, trying to avoid making eye contact with her.

“I’m sorry.” I could barely hear her. She was whispering, her voice breaking slightly. “I’m a horrible person. I don’t deserve John, or you, or anybody.”

“Spencer, you’re drunk. Just go to sleep,” I instructed, clearing my throat awkwardly.

“You know what’s sick?” she questioned, ignoring my words.

“No, Spencer, I don’t, and I don’t want to know. Just go to sleep, please.”

She was staring down at the quilt on the bed, toying with the fabric. She looked up at me and there were a few tears sliding down her cheeks. “I miss you. I miss being with you.”

“Spencer, just shut up! You don’t know what you’re saying,” I snapped at her, a lump forming in my throat.

She wiped her eyes, giving me a hurt look. “Don’t you miss me? Don’t you want me?”

“No, I don’t miss you. I was -- I am over you. You’re with John and as long as you are, there can’t be anything between us.”

,”She looked as though I had slapped her in the face. “What the fuck is wrong with you? You had no problem fucking me senseless before, and now that you’ve had your finger in another pie and she dumped you, you’re too good for me?” Spencer yelled at me, leaving the bed and approaching me. She stopped in front of me and I took a step backwards to put space between us.

“Spencer, it’s not like that. It was wrong to begin with.”

“What if I don’t care?” she asked, looking up at me through her eyelashes. Tears were still welled in her eyes and she was biting her lip.

“You’re drunk, Spencer,” I told her quietly, looking away from her again.

“That didn’t stop you before,” she reminded me.

She rolled onto her toes, pressing her lips firmly against mine. They were warm and soft, and buried under the taste of alcohol on her, I could still pick up the taste of vanilla on her skin. Her hands pressed against my neck, her thumb tracing along my jaw.

I didn’t react at first, but the longer her lips moved against mine, the harder it was to resist her. Finally, I couldn’t stop myself. My hands moved to her waist and I could feel the warmth of her skin through the thin fabric of her tank top. She smirked against my lips, knowing she had me where she wanted me.

We stumbled back over to the bed as she struggled to push my jacket off. I hastily untucked her tank top from the waist of her skirt as her legs hit the edge of the bed. She dropped backwards and a pulled my shirt off before climbing on top of her, her lips moving down to my neck. I slid my hand up her thigh, under her skirt. She pulled away quickly, pulling her tank top off over her head.

I kissed down her neck to her shoulder, the familiar taste of her skin driving me crazy. She skillfully undid my belt and unbuttoned my jeans as I pushed her skirt up quickly.

Damn, this girl was good.