I Don't Do Lonely Well

I slide up next to Jack at the bar. “Whiskey on the rocks,” I order.
“Well, hello to you, too,” he greets. I laugh once and take the glass as it slides down towards me.
“Thanks, Blake.”
“Rough day?” Jack wonders. I nod and take a sip of the whiskey, cringing away from it. “Talk to Dr. Jack.”
“I’m talking to one of them right now.” I hold the glass up to show him half the liquor now missing.
Jack laughs. “How was the interview? You got the job, right?”
I shake my head. “Nope. I didn’t get it.” I finish the whiskey.
“What! Are you serious? You had that job nailed in! I’ll head over to Dulaney if you want—“
“Jack, shut up. I just don’t want to think about it.” He rubs my back comfortingly.
When Alex arrives to bring me home, my head is in my arms on the counter, and the room is spinning rapidly around me. “Babe, what did you do to yourself?” he sighs. He wraps my arm around his neck and helps me up.
I barely notice the tears pouring down my cheeks. “You got her?” Jack ensures.
Alex nods. “Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow, man. Thanks for calling me.” Alex hauls me out of the bar and assists me into the passenger seat of his car. He climbs in on the other side.
I just sit in the front seat drunkenly crying. I think he knows why, too. When we get home, he silently helps me into pajamas, puts me to bed, and kisses my forehead. “I love you, babe. No matter what.”

The next morning, I don’t get out of bed until well past noon, and I skip my classes for the day. Alex and Cody are gone, so I grab one of Alex’s hoodies and curl up on the couch.
“Gin, wake up,” Cody stirs my sleep. “It’s almost five.” I sigh and rest my head on my knees after pulling my legs to my chest.
“I didn’t get the job,” I tell him.
He rubs my back sympathetically. “I know.” I frown, tears pooling in my eyes.
“What am I going to do now? That was my go-to, and it was perfect. I could do basically my dream job, and stay close to Alex.”
“Alex travels. I think no matter where you go, you’ll always be close to him.” I furrow my eyebrows. “Mom’s been trying to call all day to see if you got the job. She called me to tell me that our old high school needs a counselor and would love to take you. She wanted me to relay the message to you.”
I sigh and lean my head back. “When do I have to decide by?” Cody shrugs. “I left LA with no intentions of going back. I love it here. I feel more at home here than I do anywhere else.”
“I know. Just consider it, okay?”
“Alright,” I agree with a small nod.
The door pushes open, and Cody looks behind us before retreating to his room. I glance behind me. “You’re actually alive. No shit,” Alex greets, laughter leaking through his tone. He pecks my lips and takes a seat next to me on the couch.
“I’m sorry about last night.”
He laughs whole-heartedly at this statement. “Like I’ve never done the same thing.” My lips pull into a faint smile. “What happened?”
“I didn’t get the job.” He frowns and wraps his arm around me. “And, this could just be Mom’s way of trying to get me to come home, but she said my old high school is offering me a job.”
His eyebrows rise. “Back in LA?” I nod. “Take it,” he encourages.
I’m definitely taken aback. “What?”
“Babe, that’s your dream. I don’t want to hold you back from that. We work it out when I’m travelling, and lord knows I’m in LA enough.”
“Really?”
He nods encouragingly. “What kind of guy would I be if I held you back from what you wanted while I went after what I wanted?”
“You’re amazing.”
“There’s just one condition.” His eyes shimmer with a little playfulness. “You have to come on tour with me this summer.”
I laugh. “Fine, fine. You win. I’ll come with you…what about Cody?”
“Oh, I didn’t tell you?” he chimes in from the kitchen. “Alex got my band a slot. So, we’ll be travelling, too.”
Alex shrugs in response to my look. “I might have been planning everything possible to take you with us this summer.”
I laugh and shake my head. I gesture Cody over and wrap my arms around him and Alex. “You guys are the only reason I stick around. I fucking love you both.”

“Yeah, I’ll come out for the interview,” I assure my mom. “I’ll give Mrs. Christiansen a call later today. Can you text me the number?”
“Of course, honey. Oh, I’m so excited that you’ll be coming home!”
I sigh heavily. “Mom, I’m not going back to stay…Alex just moved in with me, and I think we plan on getting engaged in the near future.”
“You do?” The shock rings through her voice like no other. It’s so evident that I’m surprised by it.
“Yeah, mom. You knew this was coming. We’ve been together for over three years. I’ll be twenty-five kind of soon, and he’ll turn twenty-five before me. It’s kind of time for us to make that next step, don’t you think?”
“Well, yes, but—“
“But what?”
“Honey, he’s not going to be able to support you forever. He’s a musician, and talent dies out.”
“Seriously? You sound like Dad. I thought you liked Alex.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t think your relationship with him was this serious.”
“He makes me happy, Mom. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to want for me?”
“Of course. I just—“ I hang up the phone, immediately dialing Alex.
“Hey, babe. What’s up?”
“Hey, when are we leaving for tour?” I question, even though I already know.
“Two weeks. I’ve told you a million times,” he laughs.
“I know. I’m just trying to schedule this interview, and I like talking to you.”
“Don’t you have finals next week?”
“Yeah, that’s part of the problem. I’ll figure it out eventually.”
“Oh, when I get home, remind me to give you the clothes from Marky. He said as an official member of Warped, you need some GK attire. So, I’ve got like a fucking box of clothing—featuring the new AWG line created by yours truly.”
I smile. “Free clothes? Have I told you I love you?” Alex laughs. “GK is that Glamour Kills stuff you wear all the time, right?”
Alex gets quiet for a moment. “Yeah, we’re going to need to put you through a Warped Tour 101 course before we leave.”
I stick my lip out in a pout. “It’s not my fault that I was a sheltered child.”
“That might be the farthest thing from the truth.”
We share a laugh. “Yeah, it probably is. Either way, I’ll see you when you get home tonight. I’ve got my last clinical for Counseling in an hour.”
“Good luck, babe. I love you.”
“Love you, too.” I hang up the phone and return my attention to my Counseling notes.

“Woo! College grad!” I cheer, throwing my collection of grad school papers into the air in the living room.
“Well, almost,” Cody chimes in. I frown and flip him off. Alex lets out a laugh from the kitchen table where he sits with his laptop and a fresh cracked can of beer.
“Shut up. I have one exam left and then I leave for LA.”
“Stay there, please,” Alex teases. I glare at him. He just laughs and lifts the beer to his lips for a sip. His phone rings, and he sighs, picking it up and walking into the bedroom. “Hey, Matt, what’s up?” The door closes. I start picking up my papers from the living room floor.
“I really like having Alex live with us,” Cody states bluntly. I turn my attention to him.
“Really?”
“Yeah, it’s like being back in a functional household again. I mean, even though you’re my sister and he’s your boyfriend, you’ve both been better parents to me than Mom and Dad have.”
“Alex? A parent?” I laugh.
Cody laughs, too. “Believe it or not, yeah. He’s actually really good at giving advice. And English homework.”
“I would have never guessed. Well, I’m glad you’re not entirely creeped out by him living with us.”
“I was at first. But now it’s just normal for me.” He shrugs and looks back down at his homework. “I can’t wait to graduate.”
“Me either.”