Waking up in Vegas

[York]

No matter how many times I wake up with a painful hangover headache, I'll still plan on drinking again at night. There's nothing like getting wasted with your buddies, and this weekend has been the best so far. Eddy, Rick, Andrew, David - the whole gang. I was known as the party animal, which is probably a fitting description since I rarely remember what happens after I get drunk.

This was our big Vegas weekend. We were no longer high school students. After summer ended, we'd all be heading off to colleges throughout the country, but none of us were staying together. We avoided the sappiness of it - we just wanted to spend as much time together as possible. So we did as true bros do - get drunk, go fuck, and have a kick-ass time.

We've been dreaming about our Vegas trip since freshman year. It was all we thought about senior year. After a week of enjoying graduation time with our family, friends, and now ex-girlfriends, we packed up David's huge van and hit the road. We thought about extending our Vegas weekend to all summer, but Rick and David have to ship off to school in August. So for now, we have fun here until we wipe out our Vegas funds on girls, booze, and casinos, and then we'll head up to Rick's lake cabin to just have a chill summer together.

One night in Vegas and I was already so fucking wasted. All I remember is checking into the hotel and hitting the town. My head was pounding so much I didn't want to get up, but I couldn't lie here much longer without any aspirin. I slowly sat up and groaned loudly as my brain protested. I dug my nails into the mattress. The sunlight was blazing through the window. I threw a pillow at the window, but that didn't help much. I was holding my head in my hands when I heard another groan... that didn't come from me.

"Fuck." They muttered.

I slowly turned my head to the left. Someone was in bed with me. I pulled the sheets on the bed and screamed my fucking head off.

"Andrew! What the hell! Why the fuck are you naked?!"
"Shut the fuck up I've got a mad hangover."
"Andrew, why are you naked in my bed?"

He looked at me like I was crazy. "You're naked too."
My eyes widened. I looked down. I was.
"Why aren't you in David's room?"
"I don't know. We were drunk last night - I'm lucky I passed out in a bed and not some sleazy motel bathroom."
I gently rubbed my head. "Dude, what happened last night?"
"How the hell should I know?" He sat up. "Ask Dave - I don't think he had that much to drink last night."

I got up and closed the curtains before heading to the bathroom. I splashed cold water in my face and looked at my reflection. I was a mess. I ran a hand through my messy hair. Something metal rubbed my scalp. I pulled back my hand. I had a ring. Since when do I have a ring? A simple gold band. I shrugged - probably something I picked up last night.

I took a shower and stepped back out into the room. Andrew was still in bed.

"Dude, wake the fuck up and take this." I threw the bottle of aspirin at his back. He groaned and rolled over. I took some aspirin and water. He sat up and opened the aspirin bottle. I handed him a cup of water and he took it with a hand that was also sporting a ring. The same ring.

"Andrew... why do you have a ring?"
He shrugged. "Hell if I know." I looked at my hand. "Wait... why do you have a ring?"
"I don't know."

We stared at each other.

He laughed nervously. "Maybe we just found 'em."
"Who finds rings like this?"
"I don't know, dude. Do you have a better answer?"

I shrugged. He climbed out of bed but fell to the floor right after.

"Aw fuck!"
"What's wrong?"
"My ass hurts like hell."
"Took it up the ass, huh?"
He stuck up his middle finger.
"I'm not gonna fuck you - ask your boyfriend."
"Shut up. I didn't fuck a dude."
"How do you know? You said you can't remember anything."
"Yeah, well neither can you."
"Whatever. Go take a shower. I'll call Dave and see where everyone's at."

He staggered to the bathroom and shut the door.

I put on some clean clothes and sat on the bed. I lost my phone somewhere in the room, but I saw Andrew's on the kitchen counter so I grabbed his and called Dave.

"Hey, dude did you make it back to the hotel last night?"
"Of course we did, but where the fuck did you and Andy go?"
"What?"
"You two took off after we hit the bar. When we got to the casino, Eddy said he hadn't seen you guys."
"Well, we're in my hotel room."
"When did you make it back?"
"I don't know. We can't remember shit from last night."
"I told you not to drink so much."
"But then I'd be a stick in the mud like you."
"Ha ha. If you two want to join us, we're having breakfast on the dining floor."

I hung up the phone, then started the search for my own phone. I gave up when Andrew came out of the bathroom.

"Where are the guys?" He asked while towel-drying his hair.
"Eating breakfast in the hotel. Have you seen my phone?"
"Nope." He tossed the towel on the bed. "Hand me my suitcase."
I grabbed it and slid it over to his feet.
"D'you remember anything from last night?" I asked him.
He shook his head. "For once, I'm as clueless as you are."

I ignored him. I searched for my room key and found it in a pair of pants that I think I wore last night. Why were we naked before?

"I'm heading down."
"I'll catch up."

I left and went to the elevator. I really couldn't remember which floor the dining room was on, I just knew it was one of the first few floors, so I just checked each floor until I wound up at the correct floor two. I walked in and looked around for the guys. They sat at a round table near the back, laughing around plates of food. I ran over and put Eddy in a headlock before they saw me. He grunted and pushed at me, Rick just laughed and David rolled his eyes. That guy has no sense of humour. I let go of Eddy and sat down in the empty seat next to him.

"Why can't you ever say hi like a normal person?" Eddy punched me in the arm.
"Fine. Hi." I punched him back.
"Where's Andy?" Rick asked.
"Still in the room. He's coming down." I grabbed a piece of bacon off of his plate.
"Go get your own food!"
"But it's so far away."
"Lazy bastard." He chuckled.

I got up and went to the line to stack food on my plate. Andrew walked through the door and came over to me. He grabbed a plate and did as I did.

"What are the plans for today?"
"Same as yesterday - drink til we forget."
"Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. I'm sore and I don't even know what happened."
"That's weird. I feel fine." I shrugged.
He looked at me. "York, what's the very last thing you remember from last night?"
"Uh, I dunno... the bar?"
"Come on, there was more than that."
"I said I don't know, Andy. All I remember is taking shots at the bar, dancing with some chicks, then leaving the bar with my arm around somebody and a bottle in my hand."
"I remember seeing someone dressed as Cupid."
"What? How drunk were you?"
"I'm serious. I don't remember the bar that much, but I do remember standing next to some guy dressed up as Cupid and he was saying something... uh... happy... union... lovers..."
I stared at him. "I think you reached your limit last night. Tonight, you're staying sober."
He rolled his eyes. "I'm not making this up. It's pretty much all I remember from last night."
"Well I don't remember that, and the guys said we disappeared last night, so there's no one to believe your whacked out dream."

He didn't say anything, so I just walked back over to the guys with my food.

We all ate, then drove around taking in the sights. We stopped at random places just to mess around and act like assholes until we got thrown out. When night fell, we went from bar to club to bar again, just like last night. This was our last night in Vegas, and we were gonna make the most of it.

We wound up at the same bar as last night again. I slammed down my shot and dared the other guys to go on - I was the drinking champ. David took another even though he wasn't a heavy drinker. Eddy was already wasted and could barely aim for his mouth. Rick was the designated driver for tonight since we're heading to his lake house tomorrow. Andy downed one so fast he stumbled back and bumped into me. He knocked me off balance and we both fell to the floor in a drunken heap.

I tried to pick myself up at the same time he did so we were face to face. I closed my eyes for a minute because my head was spinning. I must've been really drunk, because my brain made me imagine I was making out with him... in a hotel room. I opened my eyes and stared at him, but he was looking down at the ring on his hand. I looked at mine again, and suddenly it dawned on me. We looked up at the same time in shock.

"Holy shit."