Until Tomorrow

Getting absolutely hammered was just what both Cam and Becca needed. The bartender slid shot after shot across the bar to them, and they downed them with a gloomy sort of enthusiasm. Cam remained as brooding as ever, and Becca mirrored him almost exactly. She told herself she was being reckless and beyond stupid. She shouldn’t be the one that was depressed. Hadn’t she wanted her sister to come back? Hadn’t she dreamed about it for months after she’d left? Last summer, all Becca had wanted was for her sister to come back home. Now, as she downed another shot, she wondered if she’d be better off if Kelly had never returned.

Becca wasn’t exactly the greatest at holding her liquor, and had completely lost control of her body within the hour. Her thought processes were all messed up and her head was spinning. Unsure of where she even was anymore, she stepped outside the dimly-lit and over-crowded bar to get some air and attempt to sober up.

She immediately stumbled against the wall and slid down in, landing in a heap on the cold cement. She didn’t know what she was doing. She wasn’t the type of girl that would drink enough to bring on liver failure. Becca held her head in her hands and cried, for the first time since her sister had even left in the first place. She’d been strong for a whole year but she couldn’t do it anymore. It was all too much.

Her phone started ringing, the tone shrill and irritating. She fumbled in her pocket for it, flipping it open to answer. She tried to compose herself and sound normal on the phone but Whakaio could tell straight away that something was wrong.

“Becca, where are you? Who are you with? Are you safe?” Whakaio said quickly, obviously in a complete state of panic.

“I’m at that bar that Cam always goes to and I fell and I can’t even walk and I’m outside and it’s cold and I don’t know where Cam is and I just can’t do this anymore, Whak. Any of it.”

“Indie, just stay where you are. I’m coming to get you.”

Whakaio was there in sixteen minutes. He almost fell apart at the sight of her. She looked like she’d just been dragged through Hell. She was a hot mess.

“Indie, get up,” he said. “Come on.” He put his arm around her waist and got her to her feet, but she leaned heavily on him, barely able to stand. Sighing, Whakaio put both arms around her and carried her the eleven blocks to his apartment building. Becca was wasted, and making hardly any sense. Whakaio wasn’t even sure that she knew where she was. He gently sat her down on his bed and took her shoes off, before lifting her up again to lay her down under the covers. He sat down on the bed and looked down at her sleeping face.

“Oh, Indie. What am I going to do with you?” Whakaio sighed, leaning down to kiss her on the forehead before leaving the room to sleep on the couch. Becca turned and smiled in her sleep.