Ineffable Plan

“To fairies and unicorns; werewolves and vampires. To all the things that grace the dreams of little girls and invade the nightmares of little boys. Dream on, you fucking dreamers.”

I raised my shot glass and spilled a little in the process.

“I think I might be drunk,” I giggled after slamming my fifth shot glass onto the table.

We were in a pub just a little ways from campus. It was around midnight and for the most part we were all more than a little drunk. At the moment we were surrounding a small table in the back of the bar and I was somehow managing to balance myself on a stool.

“How you can manage to be poetic in your state is beyond me,” James said slurring his words. He wasn’t much better off than I was.

Chris and Amber stumbled over holding a tray of drinks between them, Bloody Mary.

“How about we drink to Mary and the Vampire?” Chris said placing the tray on the table and handing one to me and Amber. The rest of the guys grabbed one and we raised our glasses, toasting again.

About a half an hour later, and a few incidents of James, Phin, and I falling off our stools, one of the waitresses ushered us into a booth.

“When did you get you here?” I asked looking down at Aaron. I was still sitting at the booth but on his lap and I couldn’t figure out how I’d gotten there. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”

He laughed a little. “Are you ever not inebriated? I think your roommates might be a bad influence on you,” he said pulling me closer to him so that my back was resting on his chest.

I shrugged and looked over at Amber and Phin who seemed to be sitting closer than necessary.

“We’re not a bad influence,” Chris chimed in. He wasn’t as drunk as the rest of us. “We’re just celebrating.”

“Yea. Celebrating,” I agreed.

“Exactly,” Phin concurred. He raised another shot glass in the air. “To winning the battle against Mary the vampire slayer.”

“What happened?” Aaron whispered in my ear causing the shivers I’d learn to expect whenever I was around him.

My mind flashed on the event of that evening but I was losing the ability to formulate my thoughts into a coherent story. It seemed that I didn’t have to, though. Before I had time to attempt to explain I heard a soft ‘oh’ escape Aaron’s lips. I smiled, glowing in the way that he always got me. He did that often. He could always understand what I was thinking or what was going on without me having to actually say it. Of course that came in handy. I always found it hard to articulate when he was so close.

The waitress came back to our table with a tray full of glasses and a mug of beer. As she handed out the glasses and went to pour the beer, Aaron stopped her from filling up my glass.

“Can I get a couple of glasses of water?” He asked politely. She nodded and I didn’t protest.

“I’m cutting you off,” he whispered. “I would like it if you remembered I was here tomorrow.”

“I won’t forget you, Aaron. I promise,” I said finding his hand in my lap and linking our pinkies.

He laughed again and lightly stroked my side with his free hand. “So Mary is still bothering you?”

I nodded and thought about the antics with the crosses and garlic. He chuckled lightly.

“She’s not dangerous is she?” I frowned slightly and shook my head. If she were a danger I would know. I felt him nod and he wrapped his arms tighter around my waist.

A minute later the waitress returned with the water. “Here, drink up,” Aaron said pushing one of the glasses towards me. “It’ll help. I promise.”

I drank my glass of water and then his and then another one after that. Very soon those three glasses of water, several shots of alcohol, a few beers and a bloody Mary had caught up to me. I had to make a mad dash to the bathroom to prevent any ‘accidents.’ When I got out of the bathroom I noticed the table was empty except for Aaron.

“Where’d everyone go?” I asked as I sat down next to him.

“I got them into a cab and sent them home. We're driving Chris’s car back to your place. Well, I'll be driving.”

“Oh ok.”

He threw an arm around my shoulder and kissed my cheek softly. “You ready to go?” He asked whispering in my ear again. I felt the familiar rush of butterflies in my stomach and I wished he wouldn’t do that. I had way too much alcohol in my system and the last thing I needed was another reason for my stomach to turn. I heard him laugh again and then he whispered an ‘I’m sorry’ only this time it wasn’t directly into my ear.

We got back to the suite about fifteen minutes later. Chris and James hadn’t been able to make it to their rooms and were both passed out on the two couches. I didn’t see Amber and Phin around so I figured they managed the few feet it took to get to their bedrooms. Aaron lightly placed Chris’s car keys on the kitchen counter and took me to my room. By now he was holding me like a child. My arms were wrapped around his neck and my legs wrapped around his waist.

“Come on,” he said softly as he sat me on my bed. I watched as he took off my shoes and socks and then helped me get my jacket off.

“Do you want your pants on or off?” He asked still speaking very softly. I smiled lazily.

“Off. If I sleep with my pants on they bunch up at my knees. It's very uncomfortable.”

A few minutes later my pants were off and Aaron was tucking me in. He kissed me on the forehead and headed towards the door.

“You can sleep here if you want.”

He looked at me for a second, nodded and then walked back to the bed. I smiled to myself. He turned off the lights and soon he was under the covers and next to me.

“’Night,” I whispered.

Aaron wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer to him. “Goodnight, Justine.”