Until the End

I woke up the next morning with the worst hangover I’ve experienced in a long time. I groaned, rolling over. I had expected to fall off the couch or even just roll onto more carpet. Instead I ended up smashing my face into the side of the bus from inside what felt like a bunk. I let out another groan as I opened my eyes. Over me and wrapped through my legs was a Pokémon comforter. Oh yeah, definitely my bunk.

I rolled back over so I was practically hugging the edge of my bunk. I forced myself up to a sitting position. The world shifted a little, causing me to take deep breaths to stay calm. Once I was sure I wasn’t going to black out I slowly stood to my feet. I grabbed at the wall, feeling myself sway. It was then I felt the bile rising up my throat. I rushed forward on wobbly legs, just hoping to get to the toilet in time.

Luckily I did. As my stomach’s contents emptied into the tough, plastic bowl a thought ran through my mind. Whatever dumbass said it’s not manly for a guy to get shitfaced is retarded. Oh wait, that was me. I groaned, sitting on my butt with my back on the bathroom wall. I rose up my knees so I could rest my elbows on my thighs, covering my face with my hands. I let out a sigh and allowed my head to fall back against the wall.

“Hey Jimbo.” At first I thought I had only hallucinated her voice. But then I felt a hand on my head. I moved my hands away to see a short figure with dark hair. My vision was still spinning and it was slightly blurry so I squinted my eyes, hoping I could make out who it was. “You don’t look very good Jimmy.”

“Leana?” Whoever it was sighed, turning their head away from me.

“I really wish you would quit calling me that. I’m Hayden Jimmy, Hayden.” I blinked rapidly, my eyesight slowly clearing up. Kneeling down in front of me was Hayden, examining the shower instead of looking at me.

“Stop calling you that?” I repeated, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. I groaned, covering my eyes with my hands again as a headache hit me as I tried to think. “Have I done it before this?”

“Last night,” Hayden informed me. I cursed myself. I wouldn’t bother asking her if she knew anything about it. The look in her eyes as she looked away had told me all; she spoke to one of the guys who explained the situation. I uncomfortably shifted in my spot, automatically sending another wave of sickness through me. I emptied out more of my stomach as Hayden rubbed my back comfortingly.

“This must seem totally attractive,” I said sarcastically once my stomach temporarily stopped. She chuckled, giving me a small smile.

“I’ve seen worse doll.”

“Really? Like who?” I mocked.

“Well there is Brian,” Hayden trailed off. I winced at this thought. Brian was a pretty shitty whenever he got completely trashed.

“When did he get up?” She looked at the clock that was hung up on the wall. 12:53 flashed at us.

“Twenty minutes ago, or somewhere around there. You two were the worst after last night. You guys are lucky me and Zack are here. We got promoted to cleanup crew since no one else wanted to,” Hayden remarked. I gave her an apologetic smile, scratching the back of my neck.

“Sorry your first night of tour ended with you taking care of us,” I sighed, studying my shoes. Did I always have shoes on? I don’t even remember that I had been wearing any.

“It’s okay.” I gave her a doubtful look which caused her to giggle. “No really, I don’t mind. Besides, I made Zacky take care of Brian. He was much worse than you. Can you stand up?”

“I’d rather not risk it,” I muttered, another headache hitting me full blast.

“It’s okay. I expected as much. Stay here for a minute.” With that she walked out of the small room. I turned my head, my stomach contorting inside me. Since I had nothing else to puke up I was left dry heaving. My only thought was how the hell was Brian worse off than me? I heard Hayden enter this time, the soft pat pat of her bare feet on the tile. “You gunna live? ‘Cause if you cough up your lungs I don’t think it will end pretty.”

“It’ll be fine…eventually.” She let out a soft chuckle, sitting next to me cross legged on the floor. She was still in her clothes from yesterday which made me realize she must have been too tired to actually change. For some reason I felt like that was my fault.

“Here, take these.” I looked down at her hand that was curled into a fist. After I placed my hand, palm up, under hers she dropped me two white pills. She picked up the glass of water that sat next to her and also handed that to me. I nodded my head in thanks, even though it made me feel queasy all over again, and downed the two pills. I drank the whole glass of water, my throat thankful for something besides the huge amount of alcohol I had drank yesterday. “Hey Jimmy?”

“Yeah?” I placed the cup on the floor and flushed the toilet. The smell of vomit was making me only want to puke again.

“I would – you know what? Never mind, it’s not important,” Hayden said quickly, cutting herself off. She stood to her feet and opened the mirror to show a cabinet behind it. She pulled out a light blue toothbrush – my toothbrush – and placed paste on it. She passed it to me, but I held it, not placing it on my teeth yet.

“No, what were you going to say Hayden?” She looked away from me again, choosing to stare at the shower again.

“It’s just; I wanted you to know I would never treat you like that.” I almost choked on the toothbrush that was in my mouth.

“W – what?” I choked out.

“I mean, I’m your friend. Friends don’t pull that kind of shit,” Hayden explained, her hands moving to try and help show what she meant. Instead it looked like she was just having a seizure.I regained my breath and nodded.

“Thanks Hayden.”

“I’ll be right back. I'll go get you some new clothes. I don’t think you want those anymore.” With that she quickly left the room. I looked down to see some puke stains on my shirt and pants. I groaned, spitting out some foam into the toilet since I was too lazy to get up. I was just a mess, wasn’t I? And with Hayden’s last thing she talked about, shit, I must have looked like a lunatic. What did I expect? Her to randomly admit she loved me? Geeze Jimmy.

“Get it together,” I muttered to myself, reaching up to fill my cup with more water from the faucet. I poured some in my mouth, swishing it around before spitting it into the toilet. I flushed it just as Hayden walked back in, clothes in hands.

“Feeling a bit better?” Hayden asked, taking the cup and toothbrush from me.

“Well my teeth surely taste minty now,” I replied, shrugging a little.

“Okay, well, let’s try to get you up.” I nodded, holding out my hands. Together we got me to my feet only for the world to spin before me. I began to fall, but Hayden caught me, her arms wrapped around my waist. “This is totally not working. Just sit on the toilet.”

After shutting the lid, she did just that; she let me fall onto the toilet. She huffed a little, leaning over with her hands resting on her knees. “Well now I feel fat.”

“It’s not that. My muscles are killing me after last night,” Hayden explained, rolling her right arm in it’s socket. “The Berrys and I cleaned up too quickly. My arms want to fall off.”

“Because of us, right?”

“Would you quit trying to turn this all around on you Jimmy?” Hayden sighed, running a hand through her hair. I fell silent, examining the floor. It was a nasty habit I had picked up recently. I would lie and say it wasn’t Leana’s fault, but it would be just that: a lie. “C’mon, let’s get you dressed.”

“Crazy, short lady say what?” I rushed out as she shut the door to the bathroom.

“Well you aren’t going to be able to do it yourself and I don’t think the smell of puke is very nice,” Hayden remarked, scrunching up her nose. She was right, it was disgusting. “So as your friend I’m going to help you out.”

“You can just get one of the guys to do it. They’ve done it before,” I said quickly, my voice raising an octave which made me want to slap myself. I was like a kid going through puberty again. Hayden rolled her eyes with a smile.

“Okay Jimmy, it’s cute and all that you are worried, but it’s not like we’re going to do anything. Let’s just get this over with, okay? You can close your eyes if you wish,” Hayden teased. I glared at her.

“Please. Fine, let’s do this.” Hayden walked forward, grabbing my foot. She tossed the shoes off before pointing towards my chest. I raised my arms and she pulled the shirt over my chest, leaving my upper half naked. She studied my ‘Fiction’ tattoo before pulling on the new shirt, Metallica written across it.

“I always liked that tattoo of yours,” Hayden said nonchalantly.

“Thanks.” All of a sudden she grabbed my belt buckle and undid it. I blushed, turning my head away from her. Just the thought of her sliding my pants down was enough to arouse me a bit. Shit, can’t have that happen. Just think of something sad. Dead puppies, dead puppies. After raising my hips she finally pulled down my pants to reveal my Batman boxers.

“I have some just like these,” Hayden giggled, tossing the jeans aside. This only caused me to blush deeper and let out a forced chuckle. She slid on some light blue jeans, me having to yet again raise my hips. She placed some slip on black Vans for me to slide my feet into. She then decided to help me put back on my belt. “All done.”

“Thanks Hayden.” She nodded, picking up my old clothes.

“No problem. I’ll go toss these in the hamper and then come back and help you to the front. You need to get some food in you.” I nodded and she left the room. Matt popped his head in as soon as she left and grinned.

“So, did you get lucky Jim Jam?”

“Get out of here Matt!” I ordered, flipping him off. Matt grinned and left just as Hayden came back. She looked back at the way Matt went before looking at me.

“What was that about?”

“Nothing,” I muttered. Stupid fucking Matt. I don’t think any of them will let me live this down, whether they know what really happened or not.