Easy Come, Easy Go

“Laine? Laine, wake up.”

Jesse’s voice broke through her dreamless sleep.

Adelaine slowly woke up. She lifted her head off of Jesse’s shoulder, the blanket falling off of her as she sat up. They were still on the porch swing, and her parents were standing in front of them, looking confused. She squinted, the light way too bright, and the inevitable headache pounding her brain.

She couldn’t do what she usually did and deal with the hangover by drinking. The only alcohol she had Jesse had taken from her last night, and they would notice if she drank anywhere but closed up in her room or at midnight. Neither option was applicable.

“Adelaine, you look terrible.” Her mother observed. She felt too nauseous to mutter something sarcastic like ‘Nice of you to notice’. Which was probably a good thing.

Jesse put his arm around her. “She was feeling sick last night so I took her out here, hoping the cool air might make her feel better. I guess we fell asleep.”

Her parents looked relieved. They obviously—and correctly—had assumed she had another hangover. But either they couldn’t tell the difference or they just trusted Jesse. “Will you be okay for presents and everything, Adelaine?”

“Yeah. I’ll just crash afterwards.” She agreed quietly, looking at them despite the headache the sun behind them gave her.

Her parents went inside to get things ready or something, and Jesse made sure they were gone before looking at Adelaine seriously “I covered for you back there. You don’t have to thank me or anything else. The only thing I want you to do is stop drinking. I won’t cover for you again.”

Adelaine was silent for a minute. Then she sighed. “Maybe you’re right. I don’t know anymore. I won’t drink again.” She agreed.

Jesse smiled and stood up. “Good. Now go get dressed. Hangover or no, you’re spending Christmas with your family.”

~*~*~

And so she did. And for once, even with a hangover, she actually enjoyed herself. She didn’t know what had changed. But something must have, because for once she was having fun.

The best part of her day, though, was when Jesse invited her to LA with him for the next week.

“I know next week is your last week of Winter Break. How about, instead of me staying here for the rest of break, we go back to LA? I can show you around…we’ll just have fun. What do you say?”

Adelaine didn’t hesitate. She agreed immediately, smiling and throwing her arms around her brother.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” He laughed.

He had decided last night that a vacation would be good for Adelaine right now. She needed to get out of this town…leaving had certainly done him some good. The atmosphere VA created was toxic, it was easy to lose all track of good judgment, to get too stressed and need to turn to something to deal with it.

Him? He’d been a heartbreaker. Apparently his little sister was an alcoholic.

He felt bad, to be honest. Like he had failed her. Although they both knew who had really failed her, and that was their parents. How had they not noticed their daughter had become an obsessive dieter? He had found a food journal in her room, and he knew at once it was because of that crazy VA dance coach. Her diet was extremely unhealthy, and the alcohol just made it worse. Especially since she apparently exercised like crazy to get rid of the empty calories.

She had an exercise log too. It was excessive.

And how had they not noticed her drinking habits? Or her partying habits? Or her broken heart?

No, something was really wrong. And while a vacation may not fix everything, it might give her a much needed break.

“Can you be ready to leave day after tomorrow?” He asked her.

She nodded, then winced and held a hand to her head.

“I’m never drinking again.” She muttered, disappearing into her room. She’d sleep off this hangover, then get up and pack. L.A. would be a wonderful escape from Ohio.

And everything…everyone…in it.

Because as nice as her day had been...it was missing one very important thing. She just wished she could stop thinking about him.

The alcohol never helped, and being sober was even worse.

Maybe L.A. would help.