Like Every Night Before

It was a little after six.
Ben and James had promised they'd be here before seven, which didn't give us much time.
The house was empty; I had sent Hailey to the store to pick up something to eat.
We were planning on ordering a pizza later, but we needed a lot to get us through the night.
I was standing in the kitchen, going through the alcohol cabinet and making sure all the glasses were washed and dried.
James refused to drink out of wet glasses; he said it diluted the pure taste.
I was putting away the last one when the front door opened.
"I come bearing food!" Hailey announced, in a semi-dramatic tone.
She walked into the kitchen, dropping the bags onto the floor.
"What did you bring?" I asked, carrying them to the large table.
"I don't even know..." she muttered, heading back to the car.
She brought more than one trips worth.
Rifling through the plastic grocery bags, I pulled out bags of chips, candy, and soda.
There was a large box of microwaveable popcorn and some ice cream.
She trudged back in, holding of two cases of beer and paper bag.
"Really?" I asked, taking out the quart bottle of vodka.
"We can never have too much. Besides, your boyfriend could drink all that in minutes."
"So could yours!" I retorted.
Before she could reply, my phone started ringing.
"Hello?" I answered the incoming call from Ben.
"Hey babe, Danny wants me to tell you, to let him come."
It was the first Friday of the month, meaning it was the day Hailey and I had our sleepover date.
It's been going on for the past two and a half years.
After three years of dating, we still hadn't allowed Danny to join in.
"You know what the answer is." I laughed, putting the ice cream away in the freezer.
"That's what I told him! You know Danny, he's persistent."
"Tell him we're going to fuck." I decided, earning a glance from Hailey.
It was silent for a moment, save for the muffled conversation between Ben and Danny.
"He said he'd pay to see that."
I laughed, knowing it was completely true.
"He can hang out with Sam or Cam."
"They have a date tonight." Ben reminded me.
"That's right. Sucks to be him." I shrugged, hanging up in him before they convinced me otherwise.
"Danny wanted to come?" Hailey guessed, throwing away the plastic bags.
"Yep."
I left her to put away the remaining things, planning on getting dressed.
Nothing big, I decided on a pair of cotton shorts and a Memphis May Fire shirt.
It was late, so I didn't really care.
Pretty soon, Hailey came up to get dressed.
Or should I say, take one of my own shirts.
"What the fuck?" I complained, watching as she pulled on a Motionless in White shirt.
She laughed, replacing her skinny jeans with flannel pajama pants.
If it wasn't for James, she would probably marry those pants.
Or get married IN them.
We were heading back downstairs when there was a knock on the door and a complaint from Ben about it being "fucking cold".
Hailey opened it, letting them walk in.
Ben walked in first, coming straight to me and smirking.
"What?" I asked, giving him a quick kiss.
He nodded towards the door, where James was walking in, wearing a "Bitches Love Ben Bruce" tank.
"James...just, why?" Hailey asked.
"I lost a bet with Ben." James grumbled.
"What bet?"
"You'll see..." Ben laughed, turning around to give me a proper kiss.
We went into the kitchen, already planning on drinking.
"What do you have?" James asked, pulling the cabinet doors open.
He didn't wait for a reply, pulling out the bottle of jack.
"A lady doesn't drink that." Ben muttered.
"I'm not a lady." James blushed.
"Mm, my bet says otherwise."
Grumbling, he put it back and took out a bottle of champagne.
He poured himself a glass, drinking it daintily.
It wasn't long before the drinking games began and everyone was starting to lose sight of their selves.
Ben and James had completely forgotten what their bet was, much to our disappointment.

"I'm fucking hungry!" James yelled out, downing whatever was in his cup.
We were playing a variation of beer pong; only each cup had a shot or mixture of a different drink.
There were a couple nonalcoholic drinks in there too; just to surprise you.
"What did you get?" Hailey asked, taking the plastic ball.
"It tasted like tequila...and sprite."
"Boring."
"In case you guys missed it, I said I was hungry." James repeated.
"What do you want babe?" Hailey asked, picking up her destined plastic cup.
"A cheeseburger!"
"We don't have cheeseburgers!" I replied, watching Hailey's reaction to the drink.
"Okay, who the fuck used tea as a drink?" she demanded.
I laughed, raising a hand. "It was mixed with rum, if I remember correctly."
"You ruined the rum with your fucking tea!"
She threw the partly full cup at me, splashing it all over the floor.
"Fucking hell, what am I supposed to eat?" James asked. "Ben?"
"Don't think about it mate."
He edged away, standing behind me.
"I'm too short to protect you babe." I reminded him, smirking with amusement.
Last time James was drunk and hungry, he bit down on Ben's arm, leaving a bruise for a week.
"FOOD." James bellowed, stepping aside to let Ben take his turn.
"Let's just order pizza." I suggested, looking for my phone.
“Yes!”
"Where the fuck is my phone?"
Everyone was getting too drunk to make sense out of anything.
"Just use the regular phone, before I starve!" James hiccupped, kissing Hailey.
"What's the number?"
No matter how many times we tried, we couldn't steady our hands long enough to press the right number.
Or what we thought was the right number.
"Fuck it, let’s make cupcakes!" James decided.
He had been searching through our cabinets, pulling out a box of chocolate cake mix.
"Sure."
"Where are the bowls?" Ben asked, searching.
Hailey turned on the oven while we looked. We couldn't find any, deciding to make it in this large pot we found.
"I want to do it!" James begged, tugging at the bag of mix.
"James! Careful, you're going to-"
"Fuck!"
He had covered himself, and us, in a fine dark brown powder.
"What are we going to use now?" Ben sighed, seriously upset over this.
"There's still half the bag..." James tried, putting a hand on Ben's shoulder. "It's okay, we'll make it work."
By then, Hailey and I were standing on the other side of the counter watching them make cupcakes.
"We have to add water." James read, searching for a glass.
"How much?"
"Um, two over three..." He guessed, bringing down a wine glass. "I think it means we add two of these, and then three?"
"You only have half the bag!" I reminded them.
"Oh! Okay, so... one glass?"
They added the water, looking at the next step.
"Two eggs."
Pulling them out, they stared at the fragile shell in pure concentration.
"Is anything wrong?" Hailey called out.
"Babe! How do you get the egg out?" James pouted, staring at it.
Ben put his between his hands, pressing down.
It cracked between his palms, the yolks running through his fingers.
"Fuck! I killed the egg!" Ben cried, looking at me for help.
"That's how it goes." I laughed, watching as he shrugged and dropped it in.
"Not the shell!"
He fished it out, watching James expectantly.
"Here." James handed Ben his egg. "I can't kill it. You do it."
He cracked it, throwing away the shell.
"Egg murderer..."
"Just finish the cupcakes, Cassells!"
"I don't know what to do next!"
"You mix it, pour it in a pan, and bake."
"I knew that!"
"Sure."
James practically fell over himself, taking a cupcake pan out of another cabinet.
"I want to pour!" Ben demanded, taking the pan from James.
"No! You mixed! I pour!"
"No!"
They were clutching the shinning metal pot, playing tug-a-war with the chocolate batter.
Before you could blink, the bowl had flown through the air and splattered along the wall.
Well, fuck.
"My cupcakes!" James yelled. "Look what you did you fucking bastard!"
"I didn't! It was you!"
Shaking our heads, we pulled out a couple bags of chips and dragged our boyfriends towards the living room.

Ben and I were sitting across from one another, playing catch with the chips.
We were trying to toss the Cheetos into the other one's mouths.
If you got it in, you won a drink from the bottle next to us.
Needless to say, the bottle was still full after half an hour of playing.
Hailey and James were huddled together behind the couch, doing SOMETHING.
It was silent; we were holding soft conversations with each other when my phone started ringing.
"My phone!"
I finally found it, underneath the armchair.
"Heeeyyy!" I answered, draping myself over Ben's lap.
"You're drunk." the softly accented voice stated matter-of-factly.
"Yep!" I hiccupped, listening to Danny laugh.
"Does this mean I can come over?"
"Sure."
"Really?"
"On two conditions." I decided. "You have to bring pizza."
"Okay!"
We hung up and I tossed my phone towards the coffee table.
"DANNY IS COMING OVER." I yelled. "AND HE'S BRINGING PIZZA."
"FINALLY!" James sighed in relief, standing up.
"My eyes!" Ben yelled out, covering his face with one hand, and mine with the other.
"What?!" I demanded, forcing Ben's hand off.
"Oh, fuck."
"What's going on?" James asked, looking at his with a confused expression.
"YOU'RE NOT WEARING PANTS, JAMES ARTHUR CASSELLS." I pointed out. "OR ANYTHING FOR THAT MATTER."
"Shit!" James panicked, covering himself with his hands. "WHERE ARE MY BOXERS?"
"You weren't wearing any!" Hailey laughed, standing up.
She was holding a deep pink thong in her hand, trying to keep a straight face. "You were wearing this."
"WHAT THE FUCK JAMES!” I demanded, closing my eyes and burrowing into Ben's chest
I could feel him laughing underneath me, causing his chest to rumble.
"I remembered the bet!" Ben announced, through gasps of air.
"Fuck you." James muttered, ignoring the lace and going straight to his skinny jeans.
"Where did you even get those?" Hailey laughed, looking at them closely.
"I made him buy them this morning." Ben laughed.
Everyone was laughing, except for James who was sitting red-faced in the corner of the room.
"Come on babe!" Hailey pouted, patting the floor next to her.
After a second of deliberation, he finally stood up and came closer.
"I still get pizza, right?" He asked, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Of course."
The door swung open, revealing Danny.
"We should really think about locking the door..." I muttered, standing up.
"I'VE COME, BEARING PIZZA." Danny announced, walking in with three large boxes.
Picking up the thong from the couch, I tossed it at Danny.
"A thank you, for the good work."
"Oh!" Danny grinned. "Who does this token belong to?"
"James." I shrugged picking up the boxes and walking back to Ben.
"WHAT THE FUCK!" He yelled, throwing it towards him. "WHY WOULD YOU PUT THAT, THAT THING IN MY HANDS?"
Ben laughed, muttering something about how he thought he'd want to fuck James.
"Whatever." Danny shook his head. "This means I can stay right?"
"I said in two conditions!" I reminded Danny.
Taking the pizza to the kitchen, I pointed out the mess. "Clean this up and you can hang with the cool kids."
"Fuck no!" Danny yelled, taking a box from my hands and walked out the door.
"LOVE YOU TOO ASSHOLE!"
He laughed, closing the door behind him. "YOU LEFT THE OVEN ON BY YHE WAY."
"Fuck!"
Turning the oven off, I faced the others.
"Someone's cleaning up." I announced, grabbing another pizza box and heading upstairs.
Someone was following me, but I didn't pay attention.
"I'm begging you." James muttered, standing at my door. "Share the pizza with me."
"There's another box on the table!" I shrieked. "This one’s for me and Ben!"
"He said I couldn't have any unless I helped clean..."
"Fine!"
"Thank fuck!"
He closed the bedroom and door and we climbed into my bed; the pizza between us
We were lying on our backs, just talking between bites of the pizza.
"Do you think it's safe to go downstairs?" James whispered, a couple slices later.
"I don't know, but I want to sleep."
"Same."
We threw the box on the floor, pulling the blanket out from under us and started to fall asleep.
"I wonder what Ben will say when he finds us." I trailed off, curling onto my side.
"Want to make it look like we fucked?"
"If that means you have to take off your pants again, that's a no." I yawned, turning away from him and searched for sleep.

When I woke up, the curtains were drawn shut.
Despite that, the room was still too bright for my liking.
James was sprawled on his back, still fast asleep.
The blanket was pulled down to his waist, revealing his bare torso.
There were two glasses of water and a bottle of aspirin on the night table near the bed.
Courtesy of, someone…
Running a hand through my hair, I left James asleep and trudged downstairs.
The room was warm.
Someone had started the fireplace, keeping the curtains shut.
All the bottles of alcohol and bags of chips had been tossed away, the floor obviously vacuumed.
I could smell bacon cooking from the kitchen.
Following the smell, I found Ben standing over the stove.
The mess had been cleaned up, leaving a vague stain on the wall.
There were four plates lined on the counter piled with eggs, pancakes, and soon bacon.
"Morning." I smiled, kissing the back of his neck.
"Hey there."
He poured coffee, and handed me the cup.
"I'll go wake everyone else up." He murmured, kissing my forehead.
I watched as he walked out of the room, a little stiffly.
He must have cleaned the entire house last night!
He returned a few minutes later with a silent Hailey and a yawning James.
"Fuck yes!" James grinned. "FOOD WITHOUT THE WAIT."
He took the plate with the most food on it, attacking the steaming eggs.
"You're eating the eggs?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I didn't have to see them get killed." James laughed, playing along.
Ben was watching as from the other side of the counter with a serious expression.
"So, what did you guys do last night?" He finally asked us.
"We ate pizza and talked."
"About what?"
"Our undying love for each other." I answered sarcastically.
His face dropped instantly, causing me to feel bad.
"I was kidding!"
"Oh."
He stayed quiet the rest of the conversation, barely touching his food.
When James was done eating, Hailey stood up.
"Let's go to your place." she decided.
They left almost instantly, James practically being dragged outside.
"DONT FORGET YOUR THONG." I called out, taking a sip of the coffee.
Ben and I stared at each other for another minute.
"So...you didn't do anything with James?" Ben asked hesitantly.
"No!"
"It's just...when I went to go find you, you were cuddled into James. And...he wasn't wearing anything."
Oops.
"Nothing happened."
"Okay."
The stress didn't leave his face, but he didn't say anything.
After another moment, I spoke up again.
"I can't believe you cleaned the house...especially drunk. Or hung over, whichever it was."
"Yeah...about that."
"What?"
"I really don't know how else to say it, but just to say it. The house is cleaned so it’s just one less thing for you to worry about..."
"WHAT." I demanded, frustrated with his run on sentences.
"Hailey and I fucked." He whispered quickly, the words running together.
"Oh."
I nodded, playing with my fork.
"Baby...?"
"Don't call me that." I snapped.
"I'm sorry."
Standing up, I left the dishes on the counter.
"You can let yourself out when you're done washing the dishes." I forced out, leaving the room and back upstairs.
I fixed my hair and makeup, changing into a pair of tight skinny jeans and a black lace shirt before picking up my phone.
Scrolling through my contacts, I paused at James' name.
Nah.
I kept scrolling until I found the person I was looking for.
"Marine!" He answered after the fourth ring.
"What's up, my favorite Mexican?" I laughed, pulling on a pair of shoes.
"Nothing much, just hanging in SD with Jaime."
"What do you say you ditch him, and hang with me Perry? Just like old times?"
"Yes!"
"I'll see you in a few hours." I smiled, hanging up.