Until Tomorrow

Becca woke up, a pounding in her head. Flashes of memory from the previous night came to her as she groaned and sat up in bed, holding her head in her hands. She hardly ever got hangovers, because she didn’t drink enough to get one in the first place. She knew she shouldn’t have gone out to that bar with Cam. He was always getting her into trouble.

Becca sighed and lay back down in bed, groaning and rubbing at her eyes with her hands, still not fully awake. When she turned on her side, she came face-to-face with her best friend and screamed in surprise. Her scream woke Whakaio and he looked around with wide eyes.

“What happened? What’s wrong?” he asked, suddenly wide awake.

“Why are we in your bed!?” Becca screeched, looking down to realise she was wearing nothing more than her underwear and one of Whak’s tee-shirts. She stared at her best friend, who was shirtless, and wearing only a pair of boxers.

“You asked me to stay with you, last night,” Whakaio explained.

“We didn’t have... did we?” Becca asked hesitantly, feeling embarrassed.

Whakaio frowned before he realised what she meant. Then he started laughing, loudly.

“What! It’s not funny!” Becca protested, although she was now smiling.

“We didn’t have sex, you idiot! You couldn’t even walk, and anyway, I would never take advantage of you! You know that,” Whakaio said.

“Tell me exactly what happened, then, and please explain to me how I ended up wearing nothing but my underwear and one of your shirts.”

“I can see how you’d think this looks bad…” Whakaio trailed off, grimacing a little.

“Oh, you think?” Becca replied sarcastically.

“Okay! Shit, sorry. Last night, after the show, you took off with Cam to some bar and I got worried when I hadn’t heard from you for a few hours so I rang you and you sounded like absolute shit on the phone, but at least you were conscious enough to tell me where you were. Anyway, then I went and got you and had to carry you the entire eleven blocks back here by the way - and you pretty much passed out in my bed so I went to sleep on the couch but -”

“What the fuck?” Becca interrupted.

“Just let me finish,” Whakaio said. Becca jutted out her bottom lip, but remained quiet.

“A few hours later, you woke up and startled stumbling around the apartment because you told me you needed to throw up, which you did. Then you kept saying that sleeping in skinny jeans was the worst idea ever and then you just took them off, right there in my bathroom,” Whakaio said, a huge smile spreading across his face.

“Oh my fucking fuck. I am so sorry you had to witness that,” Becca said, feeling embarrassed.

“Becca, I’ve seen you in a bikini before. It’s no big deal. Just be glad I didn’t have to help you shower or something,” Whakaio said with a laugh.

“Oh fuck, this is so bad…” Becca said, mostly to herself, holding her head in her hands.

“It’s fine, Indie. You woulda’ done the same for me, right?”

“Wait. This still does not explain why your scantily-clad ass ended up in the same bed as me.”

“Like I said, you asked me to stay with you in the middle of all your drunk crying,” Whakaio said.

“Oh god, there was drunk crying? This gets better by the fucking second.”

Whakaio chuckled softly. “Since we didn’t have sex, that means you can stay for breakfast,” he said.

“Gee, thanks,” Becca said sarcastically, still dying internally from embarrassment.

She reluctantly followed Whakaio out to the small kitchen in his apartment, and was just about to go back for pants when Jenna burst through the door to Whakaio’s apartment. At the sight of the two of them in not much more than their underwear, her mouth flew open and she started saying “shit, sorry” over and over again as she backed out of the apartment and shut the door behind her at a break neck pace.

Whakaio raised his eyebrows at Becca, who stared at him for a few moments of awkward silence, before erupting into fits of laughter.

“Good luck explaining that one!” she said.

“Come here, you knucklehead,” Whakaio said with a laugh, pulling Becca into a hug.

Becca laughed and wrapped her arms around his naked torso, resting her face on his chest as he rested his chin on the top of her head. She felt his chest move beneath her face as he laughed again and smiled to herself, and for the very first time, a part of her wished they could be more than friends.