A Week, A Lifetime

One thing was certain – the drink Alex had given Dakota was kicking in. Her head was a blur, and she was laughing uncontrollably at some very poor joke Jack had told. Kaylee was trying to support the weight of her friend, who absolutely could not stand on her feet.
“I am so drunk, Kay!” Dakota exclaimed, and giggled, showing all of her pearly white teeth. Alex was laughing hysterically at his friend, mostly because he too was absolutely pissed.
“Ok, Dakota, sweetie, you need to sit down.” Kaylee commanded, and forced Dakota into a nearby seat.
“And you can’t talk to anyone besides us either, because you are bound to make a fool out of yourself.” Alex plumped down on the seat next to Dakota, and they fell over each other in laughter.
“Dude, that drink!” Dakota grunted, as she fell over Alex, making them both fall to the floor. Kaylee sighed, and put away her drink. There was absolutely no way she was going to get that drunk. Dakota was lying with her head on Alex’s stomach, as they were in no state to be able to move. Some fans were walking over, curious to know what had happened.
“They are just… Really, really drunk,” Kaylee excused, and she snapped her fingers at her two friends.
“Seriously guys, you need to leave. You are making complete fools of yourselves.”

Zack and Kaylee had practically pushed both Dakota and Alex out of the building, and into the bus.
“And stay here until we get back,” Zack said in a stern voice, and Dakota tried keeping her face serious. She bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from laughing. As the bus door closed, they both fell together in laughter once more.
“What the hell… was in… that drink, Alex?” Dakota asked in between laughs. Alex shrugged, and laughed out loud again.
“I have never been this drunk. Gaskarth, you ass!” she exclaimed, and Alex’s face sobered up.
“What did you call me an ass for?” Alex said, sounding hurt. Dakota furrowed her brows, looking at Alex. She leaned at the wall they were sitting at, and tilted her head to the side. Drunken Alex was cute.
“You are kind of an ass, Gaskarth, and you know it.”
“Why? Because I got you drunk?” he sniggered, and pushed Dakota, making her fall to the floor.
“Wow, the room is spinning,” Dakota exclaimed as she sat back up, and she used Alex for support.
“Dakota, look at me. I want you to know something…” Alex started, and Dakota scrunched her face to try and focus on his face. “Your eyes… Are watery and kind of red, because I got you drunk!” He threw his hands in the air in victory, and Dakota snorted with laughter, which made Alex laugh even more.

“But seriously though, D. Listen to me.” He grabbed hold of her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. “I’m going to miss you. I’m going to miss your snorting, I’m going to miss your sarcastic comments, and I’m going to miss singing with you.” Dakota’s face twisted, as she was about to start crying. She shook her head as if to shake the tears that were threatening to fall out of the way.
“Don’t say that,” she started, but Alex cut her off.
“Seriously Dakota. You and Kaylee should just travel with us.” His face lit up. “You should come with us to America!”
“I can’t do that. I have school, family, and friends. My dog!”
“You can bring your dog along!” he said, as if to make it all easier.
“I have six more months of school, and I will be done. I can’t just up and quit after almost three years in school. And I can’t leave my family.”
“You can come back and visit them! Come one, you can both come work for us!”
“As what?”
“I dunno, Kaylee can be our assistant, and you can be Rian’s personal sex-bunny.” Dakota giggled at that last comment, before her face turned sad again.
“I wish I could, Alex. I really wish I could.”

They had moved to the couch, and were sitting comfortably with a glass of water each. Hopefully that would sober them up a bit.
“You could at least come visit!” Alex said, trying to find a solution to them being separated the very next day.
“We could do that. Except neither Kaylee nor I are rich, and travel is expensive. But what you can do is come to Britain more often, and we can come bother you when you do.”
“We’re in England pretty much once every year.”
“Yes… But considering everything, once a year is not enough.”
“Because of Rian,” Alex stated, and Dakota nodded and a single tear forced its way down her cheek. Alex carefully swept it away with a soft finger.

Alex and Dakota were having a very serious conversation, when a drunken Jack came falling in through the door. All the others came walking in, one by one, after that. Jack stumbled over his own feet, and landed on top of Dakota as he fell onto the couch.
“Sorry, babe,” he grunted, but he simply kept lying there, on top of her.
“Jack!” she exclaimed hopelessly, trying to push him off, but he wrapped his arms around her.
“I’m never letting you go!” he yelled, and buried his face in her hair. She giggled, as Zack grabbed hold around his waist, and lead him to his bunk.
“Time to hit the sack. You are no good to any of us awake right now.” Jack tried objecting, but as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was gone. Kaylee plumped down on the seat next to Dakota, and it appeared she too had been crying.
“What’s wrong?” Dakota whispered, and grabbed her hand.
“They are leaving tomorrow, and Jack just had a very long talk about how much he is going to miss me, and it broke my heart.”
“Yeah, Alex and I had one of those too,” Dakota said, her heart sinking. She put her arm around Kaylee, giving her a tight hug. Kaylee started crying a little, and Alex looked at her with a look of worry.
“Wanna go to sleep, Kay?” he asked, and Kaylee nodded. Alex put his arm around her, and they went to bed. Zack also went to bed, leaving Rian and Dakota alone.

“Did you have a good night?” Rian asked, and sat closer to Dakota. She shrugged, and lay down in arms.
“You are leaving in the morning,” she stated, and the words made her lose it. She started crying, and Rian wrapped his arms closely around her, and pulled her to his lap. She loved being in his arms; she loved how fragile and small she felt in his arms. She moved her head to kiss him, but she stopped as she saw that he too was crying. She kissed away some of the tears.
“I don’t want tomorrow to come,” he said in a whisper, his eyes filled with sadness. She hated seeing him cry, and most of all she hated seeing the sadness in his eyes.
“Neither do I,” she agreed and kissed him softly.
“You could come with us?” Rian said, not really asking, but more stating the option. Dakota shook her head lightly.
“I have school, Kaylee has work. We can’t just leave everything.” Rian nodded in agreement.
“We need to figure something out. Why don’t we just… Start out by writing to each other, calling, skyping, and then we can find some way of seeing each other again.” Dakota nodded once more, and she kissed him softly on his lips.