Invisible
(44) Hangover
Its six in the morning. I fell back asleep after the nightmare, but I woke back up at five forty five and know I'm not going back to sleep. I head downstairs, intent on retrieving my animal crackers. I get them, and walk back upstairs, shoving about six of them in my mouth all at once. Its dead silent in the house, except for in my parents Dad's room.
I creep towards the door and press my ear against it and I get my second terror of the night. He's crying. My father is crying. He doesn't cry, ever.
I bite my lip and flee back to my room, where Corrie is nested in the blankets, sound asleep. I sit down in my desk chair and watch her almost creepily, but she is my girlfriend, and that can't be to terribly weird. Can it?
I've got the desire to do something terribly nice for her, to show her how she means the entire world to me, but I don't know what to do. I contemplate that thought and watch her slow breathing, her thin torso swelling and deflating. So beautiful. She is so beautiful.
She stirs. "Aaron?" She whispers sleepily.
"I'm over here babe."
Her eyes find me and she blinks, rolling onto her back. Corrie looks at me lazily. "Why?"
"I couldn't sleep."
"So come not sleep over here," she yawns, curling a finger in a 'come here' gesture. I crawl back into bed with her and a tired smile plays across her lips. "Any particular reason for your insomnia babe?" She never uses pet names on me.
"Not really."
"Do you want there to be?" She asks, a hand trailing down my chest. "We can piss off the twins."
I laugh at her, grabbing both of her hands and kissing them. "I don't think Ashton can complain. I'm about ninety percent sure that Emily chick lost her virginity in his rental car."
"I don't. I was talking to Izzy about her, she seems pretty clean and nice.'
"Yeah, but Ashton has a history of being rather forward. No where near as bad as Jake, though."
"How are you so nice about that and all of your friends the 'fuck on the first date' type?"
"Quinn didn't even try to kiss Alec."
"Yeah, but Quinn's gay, and something tells me you two aren't all that close."
"Well, he was never my closest friend, but we're good enough."
"You don't ever hang out with any of them. Except for Jake."
"I used to."
"What happened?"
"You came along and stole all my time," I say, running a finger down her nose. "And I love it."
"you should spend more time with your friends, though. why don't you see them today?"
"What will you do?"
"Gossip with Alec? Hang out with Izzy? I'll find something. I can survive without you, you know. even if its only for short periods at a time."
"I don't like your independence," I tease.
"Oh no?" She smirks, rolling on top of me. "You're the one attached to me."
"I am?"
"Oh yes, and I'll prove it to you." She kicks the covers off of my lower half.
~
"We were beginning to think you'd died or something," Matt crowed as he opened his door.
Jake and I entered his house where most of our friends were already congregated.
It was odd, not having Corrie right beside me. I'd grown so used to it. So used to having her pressed against my arm, holding my hand. So used to constantly checking to make sure she was okay, or just to look at her. It was like half of me was missing.
But I still fell easily back into the rouine of laughing and talking with the guys. Playing video games, throwing chips across the room, making and laughing rather crude jokes.
Eventually, though, the subject of our conversation turned to Corrie.
"He's her bitch. She's got him in her pocket," Jake was saying to the group's amusement. "She really is a great girl though. He's lucky."
"I know I am, dumbass."
"Whats... Wrong with her, though?" Ethan asks.
'Nothing," I answer, a little frostier than I had meant.
"No, I mean, she's just so super shy. Is she autistic?"
Jake gives me a look. "You know, he has a point. Don't autistic kids always end up being like super good at art?"
"Jake, you idiot, you know that isn't the case."
"You're right."
"What is the case?" One of the guys asks.
"She's just had a lot of awful shit happen to her," I sigh.
"Corrie's just so different from your usual type," Matt muses.
"Which is what makes us so perfect. She's her own breed of person."
the guys laugh to my mild frustration. "You're completely head over heels for her, man."
"I know I am, and its great." The guys laugh again and the topic turns to Jale and Lorrie.
"How did that even happen?" Hail asks.
"They got drunk and fucked on New Years," i answer. "So now they're a thing and its gross."
The guys laugh again. "I bet it is wierd!"
"I give it a month."
"You're on."
"I'm still here," Jake said loudly, annoyed.
"Two sluts together," someone else says. "I give it until the next party."
'Hey!"
"Jake, you've cheated on the last four girlfriends. Just now, when you do, Aaron will beat the living daylights out of you."
Jake scoffed. "I could take him."
Half the guys snorted. "As if."
"Thank you," I say. "And if you get drunk and cheat on Lorrie, you'll have Corrie to deal with."
Jake winces. "What if Lorrie gets drunk and cheats on me?"
"Then she'll have Corrie to deal with, but either way, it will not be fun, and one of you will end up permanently sober."
"Corrie's against alcohol, like Aaron," Jake explains to laughter.
"She's a virgin too, isn't she? No wonder, you finally found a girlfriend that mirrors you!" Jakael laughs.
"Oh he's not a virgin anymore," Jake says, eyes glinting mischeviously. I hit him on the arm, mortified.
"WHAT?!" Is the general response as the guys all turn to me with looks of shock.
"With Corrie?" Andy asks. "You actually had sex with Corrie?"
"Jake I'm going to kill you," I sigh. "If word of this ever gets out to Corrie... Yes, we did-"
I'm shouted over and given the impression they really and truly believed I wouldn't have sex until I was married. Hell, I half believed that.
"God whats happened to you?" One of them eventullay asked. "Jake, you finally corrupted Aaron. Next he's going to start getting drunk."
"Never. Corrie hates booze with a passion. she has every right though."
Quinn's the first one to put two and two together. "Wait, you said a lot of shit's happened to her and the-"
"We're not talking about this anymore," I say, shutting down the conversation. The guys sober up for about twenty seconds, then differr to some new topic.
~
We all go out for dinner, to Taco Bell, nonetheless. The workers all think 'fuck my life' when we come in because there's about twenty-five really obnoxious guys entering the resturaunt.
My eyes immediatly find Corrie, whose sitting in the corner with Izzy, Penelope, Alec, and a few other people I don't really know by name. Corrie's face brightens instantly (as I'm sure mine did as well) and she skips over to my side. Half the guys roll their eyes and look away, the other half make suggestive movements that Corrie doesn't see and I ignore.
Our groups converge into one loud, laughing mass. Alec sits next to Quinn the entire time, but neither of them do anything to suggest they just went on a date.
"Is Alec still in the closet?" I ask Corrie quietly.
"Yeah. I've talked to him, and Ashton's talked to him, and I think Quinn tried to. You should too."
"He has to realize no one gives a shit."
"He's terrified of Jake finding out."
"But doesn't he like Quinn?"
"Yes, but its going to take him a while to get over such a strong, long lasting crush." She's got one of my hands in both of her tiny ones.
"And thats it."
"No, thats just the biggest issue."
I pull her hands up and kiss her knuckles. "I love you angel."
Corrie blushes cutely.
Alec ruins the moment by hitting me with a set of keys. "Keep it PG, Goddammit! There are kids here!"
"I am PG! You're the one cussing!" I snap in annoyance, throwing the keys back. But Alec ignores me, beaming blissfully because Quinn's laughing beside him.
Corrie begins to unravel from all the noise and people and the fact she's been around them all day. I excuse us, glad I have my truck, and we put all he bags in (when did she go shopping?). When we're halfway home she says, "I had fun."
"I'm really glad."
"I would have had a nervous meltdown every ten minutes, but thank God Alec was there. Otherwise it was fine." Corrie scooches over and leans her head against my shoulder. "Its almost like being normal, I suppose."
"I missed you. It was wierd, not having you around." I kiss the top of her head at a red light.
We get home, and take her bags upstairs, and Corrie drops something in my lap. I look down and there's a bundle of cloth on my lap. I unfold it, its a shirt. "Oh my God, this is the most epic shirt ever."
"I know!" Corrie squeals. "There's another one."
Its two Hangover t-shirts. The first one says 'Not at the table Carlos' and the next [url=http://www.troundup.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/hangover-zach-galifianakis-too-stupid-500x448.jpg] one has a picture of Alan and says 'Literally to stupid to insult'.
"You said the Hangover was your favorite movie, and these were my two favorites out of all the ones they had. You already have the one with the baby on the front in the carrier." She smiles shyly. I drag her down and kiss her. "They're great."
I drag Corrie onto the bed with me. "Thanks babe."
I creep towards the door and press my ear against it and I get my second terror of the night. He's crying. My father is crying. He doesn't cry, ever.
I bite my lip and flee back to my room, where Corrie is nested in the blankets, sound asleep. I sit down in my desk chair and watch her almost creepily, but she is my girlfriend, and that can't be to terribly weird. Can it?
I've got the desire to do something terribly nice for her, to show her how she means the entire world to me, but I don't know what to do. I contemplate that thought and watch her slow breathing, her thin torso swelling and deflating. So beautiful. She is so beautiful.
She stirs. "Aaron?" She whispers sleepily.
"I'm over here babe."
Her eyes find me and she blinks, rolling onto her back. Corrie looks at me lazily. "Why?"
"I couldn't sleep."
"So come not sleep over here," she yawns, curling a finger in a 'come here' gesture. I crawl back into bed with her and a tired smile plays across her lips. "Any particular reason for your insomnia babe?" She never uses pet names on me.
"Not really."
"Do you want there to be?" She asks, a hand trailing down my chest. "We can piss off the twins."
I laugh at her, grabbing both of her hands and kissing them. "I don't think Ashton can complain. I'm about ninety percent sure that Emily chick lost her virginity in his rental car."
"I don't. I was talking to Izzy about her, she seems pretty clean and nice.'
"Yeah, but Ashton has a history of being rather forward. No where near as bad as Jake, though."
"How are you so nice about that and all of your friends the 'fuck on the first date' type?"
"Quinn didn't even try to kiss Alec."
"Yeah, but Quinn's gay, and something tells me you two aren't all that close."
"Well, he was never my closest friend, but we're good enough."
"You don't ever hang out with any of them. Except for Jake."
"I used to."
"What happened?"
"You came along and stole all my time," I say, running a finger down her nose. "And I love it."
"you should spend more time with your friends, though. why don't you see them today?"
"What will you do?"
"Gossip with Alec? Hang out with Izzy? I'll find something. I can survive without you, you know. even if its only for short periods at a time."
"I don't like your independence," I tease.
"Oh no?" She smirks, rolling on top of me. "You're the one attached to me."
"I am?"
"Oh yes, and I'll prove it to you." She kicks the covers off of my lower half.
~
"We were beginning to think you'd died or something," Matt crowed as he opened his door.
Jake and I entered his house where most of our friends were already congregated.
It was odd, not having Corrie right beside me. I'd grown so used to it. So used to having her pressed against my arm, holding my hand. So used to constantly checking to make sure she was okay, or just to look at her. It was like half of me was missing.
But I still fell easily back into the rouine of laughing and talking with the guys. Playing video games, throwing chips across the room, making and laughing rather crude jokes.
Eventually, though, the subject of our conversation turned to Corrie.
"He's her bitch. She's got him in her pocket," Jake was saying to the group's amusement. "She really is a great girl though. He's lucky."
"I know I am, dumbass."
"Whats... Wrong with her, though?" Ethan asks.
'Nothing," I answer, a little frostier than I had meant.
"No, I mean, she's just so super shy. Is she autistic?"
Jake gives me a look. "You know, he has a point. Don't autistic kids always end up being like super good at art?"
"Jake, you idiot, you know that isn't the case."
"You're right."
"What is the case?" One of the guys asks.
"She's just had a lot of awful shit happen to her," I sigh.
"Corrie's just so different from your usual type," Matt muses.
"Which is what makes us so perfect. She's her own breed of person."
the guys laugh to my mild frustration. "You're completely head over heels for her, man."
"I know I am, and its great." The guys laugh again and the topic turns to Jale and Lorrie.
"How did that even happen?" Hail asks.
"They got drunk and fucked on New Years," i answer. "So now they're a thing and its gross."
The guys laugh again. "I bet it is wierd!"
"I give it a month."
"You're on."
"I'm still here," Jake said loudly, annoyed.
"Two sluts together," someone else says. "I give it until the next party."
'Hey!"
"Jake, you've cheated on the last four girlfriends. Just now, when you do, Aaron will beat the living daylights out of you."
Jake scoffed. "I could take him."
Half the guys snorted. "As if."
"Thank you," I say. "And if you get drunk and cheat on Lorrie, you'll have Corrie to deal with."
Jake winces. "What if Lorrie gets drunk and cheats on me?"
"Then she'll have Corrie to deal with, but either way, it will not be fun, and one of you will end up permanently sober."
"Corrie's against alcohol, like Aaron," Jake explains to laughter.
"She's a virgin too, isn't she? No wonder, you finally found a girlfriend that mirrors you!" Jakael laughs.
"Oh he's not a virgin anymore," Jake says, eyes glinting mischeviously. I hit him on the arm, mortified.
"WHAT?!" Is the general response as the guys all turn to me with looks of shock.
"With Corrie?" Andy asks. "You actually had sex with Corrie?"
"Jake I'm going to kill you," I sigh. "If word of this ever gets out to Corrie... Yes, we did-"
I'm shouted over and given the impression they really and truly believed I wouldn't have sex until I was married. Hell, I half believed that.
"God whats happened to you?" One of them eventullay asked. "Jake, you finally corrupted Aaron. Next he's going to start getting drunk."
"Never. Corrie hates booze with a passion. she has every right though."
Quinn's the first one to put two and two together. "Wait, you said a lot of shit's happened to her and the-"
"We're not talking about this anymore," I say, shutting down the conversation. The guys sober up for about twenty seconds, then differr to some new topic.
~
We all go out for dinner, to Taco Bell, nonetheless. The workers all think 'fuck my life' when we come in because there's about twenty-five really obnoxious guys entering the resturaunt.
My eyes immediatly find Corrie, whose sitting in the corner with Izzy, Penelope, Alec, and a few other people I don't really know by name. Corrie's face brightens instantly (as I'm sure mine did as well) and she skips over to my side. Half the guys roll their eyes and look away, the other half make suggestive movements that Corrie doesn't see and I ignore.
Our groups converge into one loud, laughing mass. Alec sits next to Quinn the entire time, but neither of them do anything to suggest they just went on a date.
"Is Alec still in the closet?" I ask Corrie quietly.
"Yeah. I've talked to him, and Ashton's talked to him, and I think Quinn tried to. You should too."
"He has to realize no one gives a shit."
"He's terrified of Jake finding out."
"But doesn't he like Quinn?"
"Yes, but its going to take him a while to get over such a strong, long lasting crush." She's got one of my hands in both of her tiny ones.
"And thats it."
"No, thats just the biggest issue."
I pull her hands up and kiss her knuckles. "I love you angel."
Corrie blushes cutely.
Alec ruins the moment by hitting me with a set of keys. "Keep it PG, Goddammit! There are kids here!"
"I am PG! You're the one cussing!" I snap in annoyance, throwing the keys back. But Alec ignores me, beaming blissfully because Quinn's laughing beside him.
Corrie begins to unravel from all the noise and people and the fact she's been around them all day. I excuse us, glad I have my truck, and we put all he bags in (when did she go shopping?). When we're halfway home she says, "I had fun."
"I'm really glad."
"I would have had a nervous meltdown every ten minutes, but thank God Alec was there. Otherwise it was fine." Corrie scooches over and leans her head against my shoulder. "Its almost like being normal, I suppose."
"I missed you. It was wierd, not having you around." I kiss the top of her head at a red light.
We get home, and take her bags upstairs, and Corrie drops something in my lap. I look down and there's a bundle of cloth on my lap. I unfold it, its a shirt. "Oh my God, this is the most epic shirt ever."
"I know!" Corrie squeals. "There's another one."
Its two Hangover t-shirts. The first one says 'Not at the table Carlos' and the next [url=http://www.troundup.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/hangover-zach-galifianakis-too-stupid-500x448.jpg] one has a picture of Alan and says 'Literally to stupid to insult'.
"You said the Hangover was your favorite movie, and these were my two favorites out of all the ones they had. You already have the one with the baby on the front in the carrier." She smiles shyly. I drag her down and kiss her. "They're great."
I drag Corrie onto the bed with me. "Thanks babe."
♠ ♠ ♠
:)