Wonderwall

Darcy woke up with her head pounding and her stomach churning. She darted for the bathroom before she was even fully awake and emptied her insides into the toilet. Her body felt frail and weak as she slumped against the wall. She managed to flush the toilet and drag herself into the shower.

She threw up a few more times in the shower, but her stomach was pretty much empty by the time she got out. When she glanced at herself in the mirror, her nose scrunched up. She was paler than normal and her makeup from last night had left black circles around her eyes.

She sighed and washed her face again before she tiptoed back to her bedroom. After pulling on some fresh pajamas, she crawled back into her bed. John came to check on her a few hours later, but she had already fallen back to sleep. He tucked her in and then left her alone. He was downstairs watching the television when the doorbell rang.

John stood up to answer it, but frowned when he saw who it was. “What do you want, Kenny?” He crossed his arms and eyed the boy standing on his porch with a few bags in his hands.

“I came to check on Darcy.” Kennedy swallowed. He could hardly believe he was standing there, just like John couldn’t. Last night had showed him how uneasy things could get with John when something happened, but Kennedy hadn’t been able to get the memory of Darcy’s lips out of his mind. He had barely slept and when he woke up, his thoughts were trained on her immediately.

John clenched his jaw but then stepped aside. He didn’t blame Kennedy for what happened. He knew how fragile Darcy was at the moment and he should have known a party was not the best thing for her, though it had seemed like it would be beforehand.

Kennedy stepped in and headed straight for the kitchen. “I, uh, stopped by the store on my way here. Picked up a few things for hangovers.” He rubbed at his arm after he sat the bags down on the counter.

John nodded. “I’ll go see if she’s awake.” He turned and headed down the hall. He heard the wrenching noise before he even made it to the bathroom and his heart dropped because he knew it was her. “Darcy? You okay, Darc?” He worriedly turned into the bathroom and frowned.

The thin girl was struggling to keep herself over the toilet as she gagged over and over. John responded quickly and grabbed a washcloth, wetting it with cool water before he pressed it to her forehead. It calmed her instantly and he helped her sit up against the tub. He frowned at her exhaustion filled body.

“Kenny’s here.” He muttered and her eyes fluttered open. He could see the fear and more exhaustion clear in them. Her body shuddered and she pressed her lips together until it stopped.

“Wh-what’s he d-doing he-ere?” Her words chattered, like she cold. John’s frown deepened.

“He came to check up on you.” He saw a smile flicker across her lips. “I told you he was a good guy.”

“Can I at least shower so I don’t smell like vomit?” She winced and he chuckled.

“I don’t think he’s going to care, but go ahead Darc. Might want to brush your teeth too so you can kiss him.” John was getting a kick out of it now. He was full on laughing as he helped her stand up and she shot him a glare. “It’s not like you haven’t done it before, Darc.”

“J—,” his name stuck in her throat as she suddenly flashed back to the previous night. She had kissed Kennedy. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh. Now he’s got this puppy look in his eyes. It’s kind of weird.” John shifted as he admitted the weird factor to his cousin. He wasn’t used to his best friend with his cousin, but he was getting there.

“I’m going to shower.” She shook her head and turned toward the shower. John headed for the door.

“I’ll let him know.” He shouted and then closed the door behind him. Darcy bit her bottom lip as she turned the water on and stared at herself in the mirror. She couldn’t remember much about the kiss just that it had happened. She wondered what his lips felt like and then her stomach churned. He was just a few rooms over.

Darcy shook her head again and pushed the strange thoughts away as she stepped into the shower. Ten minutes later she was tip-toeing to her bedroom. Her ears were strained to hear something in the living room but it was useless. John had the television still on and it was practically blaring throughout the house.

She sighed with a bit of relief as she snuck into the guest room. Part of her wanted to dress up for him, but a bigger part of her was still feeling sick. She ended up in pajamas before she crawled back into bed. She didn’t have the energy to go see the boys in the living room. Her eyelids were heavy again and the quiet enveloped her in a lovely sleep.

Kennedy, on the other hand, was a ball of nerves. He sat on the couch with John and stared at the television. The same thing he had tried to do at home, but had failed miserably at. His leg bounced as he ran his hands over his thighs. It was hard to keep his mind from wandering to the mental picture he’d had stuck in his head since John mentioned shower.

“If you don’t fucking stop that, I’m going to throw you out of my house.” John calmly spoke though he was thoroughly annoyed. He glanced at Kennedy and then frowned. “Just go back there, man.”

Kennedy’s eyes widened. “But—,”

“She’s done showering. Has been for the past ten minutes. She probably fell back asleep.” John turned his attention back to the television. It was quiet for a moment, but then he smiled as he watched Kennedy get up from the corner of his eye.

Kennedy felt like even more of a mess as he strode down the familiar hallway. It was weird to think a girl was making him feel like this, like he was walking on ice. He hadn’t felt that way, well, he couldn’t even remember when a girl had made him feel like that. It was all just too strange.

He shook his head and pushed the thoughts away as he approached the guest bedroom. The door was closed and he lightly knocked on it, getting an even lighter ‘hmm’ back in response. He pushed the door open slowly and held his breath.

His lips quirked upward when he saw her, all curled up in the large bed. He stepped in and quietly closed the door behind him. He could see her eyes were still closed as he tip toed to the bed. He smiled sadly at her frail figure, just imaging the old ache of a hangover. He bit his bottom lip as he contemplated on what to do next but then her eyes fluttered open and his mind went completely blank.

“Hey Kenny,” she croaked out and then started to try and clear her throat. Her face twisted for a moment as her stomach lurched in a not so good way.

He frowned. “I brought you pretty much anything I could think of to heal the hangover.”

She smiled lightly and managed to sit up. “Would some ginger ale happen to be included that?”

“And soda crackers; you want some?” He needed to do something to help her. Seeing her so miserable made him sick as well. She simple nodded a little and he was gone. He grabbed the few things and went back to the room, completely ignoring John as he passed him. “I grabbed you some meds to. It’ll help with the pounding.”

“Thanks.” She muttered as she took the small cold bottle of ginger ale from him and feebly attempted to open it. He chuckled after a moment and sat the rest of the items on the nightstand before taking the bottle from her.

He opened it and handed it back. She gave him a grateful smile and took a few small sips before taking the aspirin from the nightstand. Kennedy stood there, watching her carefully, as she swallowed the pills and then ate a few crackers. She then put everything back on the table and turned those pretty green eyes up to his.

“You just going to stand there and stare like a creeper?” She giggled a little and patted the spot beside her. Kennedy blinked a few times before he realized what she was asking. He slipped his shoes off and then sat straight up on the bed. He felt slightly awkward. “You could relax. I’m pretty sure you catch a hangover like the flu or something.” She joked to try and ease the tension. Then she bit her bottom lip as she focused her eyes down on the comforter. “Thanks for coming, Kennedy.” She mumbled the words lowly, but he heard them.

He smiled and his body finally thawed. He leaned against the headboard and cautiously wrapped his arm around her, pulling her to his chest. “It’s nothing, Darc.” His stomach warmed as her head rested on it, but then it got really cold. He chuckled. “Your hair’s still wet.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” He ran his fingers through the cool, wet strands and started to hum out of habit. They sat there for a while, him humming and her drifting in and out. It was a comforting little bubble that surrounded them. But eventually, Kennedy’s mind got to thinking and questions started to burn in his mouth. It took a few minutes for him to build the courage to finally voice the questions. “Darc? Darcy?”

“Hmmm?”

“You awake?”

“Barely. You’re really comfy.” She giggled a little and he placed his hand on her back. The silence settled again for a moment but this time it had that tension again.

“Can I ask you a question, Darcy?” He licked his lips carefully as he stared at the wall and waited for her answer.

Darcy’s heart sank as she focused on the beating of his. “Yeah.”

“Was there a reason you drank so much last night, like something in specific?”

She didn’t want to lie to him. “Yes.” She muttered lowly into his shirt, closing her eyes against the reality of her reasons.

“Was it the same reason you came to Arizona?”

She wondered how he’s been so observant. She’d expected John to know there was something, but Kennedy was a complete stranger almost. He shouldn’t be able tell when she was lying or when something was bothering her. He hardly knew her. But somehow, he did. Darcy swallowed and let out another weak, “yes.”

Kennedy fell quiet after that. He couldn’t really find a reason for a girl like Darcy to run away from something, to seek comfort in alcohol and boys. He wanted to ask more questions about why, but decided against it. He didn’t want to upset her.

Darcy sighed after a few minutes and sat up a little. “Would you mind handing me that remote, there please?” She pointed toward the nightstand. He reached over and gave it to her, keeping his eyes away from hers. She turned the small television on top of the dresser on and clicked through a few channels before she found the lifetime network. She smiled a bit. “John’s always hated lifetime.”

“It’s kind of dramatic.” He only repeated what he’d heard a million times, but smiled himself when she giggled and looked back at him over her shoulder.

“It’s a guilty pleasure.” She shrugged and then bit her bottom lip as she looked over at her bottle of ginger ale. “Would you, uh, want to stay with me some more and maybe watch a movie?”

Kennedy grinned and opened his arms. “I got nowhere to go.” She cuddled back up to his side while he wrapped his arms around her again. Her head rested on his stomach as he slouched down a bit more. He honestly had nowhere else he’d rather be.

Darcy wasn’t so sure about things. She felt a twinge of guilt at the thought of leading Kennedy on. She didn’t want to hurt him, for more than just the reason that he was John’s friend now. She could see how much of a good, honest, sweet, guy he was. But she also didn’t want to let him go just yet. She enjoyed his company and the calming air that surrounded him.

Soon enough, she fell asleep on him again. He leaned his head back and drifted too. John check in on them hours later and smirked to himself, thinking he’d been a genius to put this plan into effect.