The Last Good Thing About This Part of Town

After Nicolettes meet, I was just so confused and upset and I wasn't thinking about what I was doing. After she walked off I went to go find Damien and basically put that douche in his place, but before I was able to find him, my phone rang. It was Joe.

“What” I answered angrily.

“Woah woah, there hostile much?” He asked

“Sorry man, just not in a good mood right now”

“Well get your ass over here dude, we have some amazing fucking news.”

“Alright man, I’ll be right there” I hung up the phone and decided that I should give up looking for Damien and just go to Pete and Patricks house.

When I got there, the guys were celebrating and clanging beer bottles together.

“Whats up guys? Why are we celebrating?” I asked, walking up to them.

“Dude, do you remember that Fueled by Ramen guy that was at our show a couple weeks back?” Pete exclaimed “Well turn out he was at the show a few nights ago and liked what he saw! He contacted me like an hour ago and wants us to record a demo!”

“No way! Are you serious?” I exclaimed, and all of the anger and frustration that had built up inside of me just vanished. Holy shit, I actually had the chance to do what I love for my career. As long as we crushed this demo, this was it.

“Fuck yeah dude! This is it, our big break!” Joe jumped up. He came over to me and pulled me into a huge hug.

“Okay well the guy needs to like the demo first guys.” Patrick, being the voice of reason, chimed in.

“Oh come on Trick, we’re totally gonna kill this demo.” Pete said, putting his arm over his shoulder.

“Yeah okay I know we are” Patrick admitted, bringing his bottle of beer up to Petes in a cheers.

“Well what the hell are we doing, lets call some girls and get drunk!” Joe exclaimed.

Amidst all the excitement, I forgot about the fight Nicolette and I had and when Joe brought up girls, I suddenly remembered and went back to feeling like shit. So I decided to text her, because she's never been mad at me and I already hated the feeling of being in a fight with her.

IM RLLY SRRY BABE. I KNOW U R SPENDING THE NIGHT W ERIKA BUT I JUST WANTED 2 TELL U THAT I DO TRUST U AND I DONT CARE WHAT THAT JERK SAYS. I LOVE U <3

It took a while but I finally got a response

NO IM SRRY I OVERREACTED. U WERE JUST TRYING TO HELP. THANK U BABE, I LOVE U 2.

And once I read that, I could finally channel all of my excitement into this amazing news and celebrated with the guys. Pete invited a bunch of people over and word must have gotten out because it turned into a full blown house party.

A very drunk Joe came up to me and put his arm around me.

“Hey man, why were you all upset when I called you earlier. There isn't trouble in paradise is there?” He asked.

“Well there was, but its all cool now we talked about it.” I told him

“Well where is she man, I thought she was you guys were attached at the hip.”

“She’s with Erika tonight. Her and Luis finally broke up so Erika isn't in the right place to party right now.” I told him

“No fucking way! This is great news!” He exclaimed. I rolled my eyes and gave him an ‘are you serious’ kind of look. “Well, that sucks for her but fucking great for me!” He said.

“Okay before you go jumping all over her just…” But before I could finish he was already jumping up and down, and headed towards the kitchen. “I’m going to text her” he yelled.

“Shit” I mumbled to myself. I pulled out my phone to let Nicolette know what Joe was doing before he could get the chance.

I MESSED UP. I TOLD JOE ABOUT ERIKA AND LUIS AND NOW HES INVITING HER 2 THE PARTY AT PETES RIGHT NOW

2 LATE. SHE GOT IT AND SHE WANTS 2 GO.

OK WELL I GUESS ILL C U SOON?

YES. DORK :P

I walked up to Joe and the other guys and joined their game of flip cup but filled my cup with water instead of beer. There was really nothing I could do about Joe at this point, and besides, I was actually pretty happy that I was gonna see Nicolette.

Once Erika and Nicolette got here, Erika started downing drinks. Its weird because I’ve never seen her drink, ever. She was just upset and needed to get her mind off of things.

“Are you sure she should be drinking?” I asked Nicolette

“Probably not, but I mean what can I do she already started.” She said

“Let’s just make sure she doesn't get too crazy.” I told her.

“On it. I’ll keep an eye on her, but I still think we should be able to have fun tonight.” she pulled me out to the dance floor and pulled me close to her. After a lot of dancing and making sure a very drunk Erika wasn’t doing anything too crazy, we found ourselves in Petes bedroom.

We were making out and soon, our clothes were coming off and we were rolling around on Petes bed.

“So is this make-up sex for earlier?” I asked jokingly in between one of Nicolettes kisses.

“Its a mix of that and I love you sex” She smiled. She got really serious and caressed my cheek, before kissing me.

“I love you too” I softly said against her lips. I flipped her onto her back and without unlocking lips, I stole a condom from Petes drawer. I put it on and once It was finally on, I inserted myself into her and started going.

Once we finished and were putting our clothes back on to head back out to the party, the door swung open and we were interrupted by a very drunk couple making out. It was Joe and Erika.

“Woah! Okay Erika, I think its time to go home!” Nicolette jumped up and cut in between them.

“Hey stop cock blocking!” Joe slurred, trying to grab Erika from Nicolette before I pulled him back.

“Joe you’re plastered. And Erika needs to go home. Think about what your doing.” I told him. “Babe get her out of here, I’ll see you tomorrow.” And she nodded and left with Erika.

“What the fuck dude!” I pushed Joe onto the bed.

“Hey! She came on to me, she started making out with me!” He stammered.

“Listen I know you're drunk and like in love with her, but you have to know that it was a rebound. She was drunk and heartbroken. If you do really want something more, you have to give her time.” I explained to him.

“Yeah I know, but I couldn’t help it! I’m a guy!” He laughed. He was hammered, and was most likely not gonna remember much tomorrow.

“Okay you're cut off. Lets go get you some water.” I helped him up and we stumbled back to the party which died down quite a bit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I dragged Erika into the hallway right outside of Petes room before she realized what was going on.

“Hey where are we going?” She yelled.

“We’re going to get you some water, then we are going home!” I told her.

“I don’t wanna go home” She objected, but still followed me.

“Well too bad” I dragged her into the kitchen where Pete and Patrick were still hanging out. Patrick was in a deep embrace with his girlfriend and Pete had some girl I’ve never seen before on his lap with his face buried in her neck.

Erika was giggling and making a lot of noise and it got Petes attention. I opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water for my very drunk best friend.

I twisted off the cap and handed her the bottle “Drink” I ordered. She gave me a disapproving look but took a big sip of water anyway.

“Damn! You and Joe got it done quick!” Pete exclaimed to Erika.

“You put them up to it? Dammit Pete!” I yelled at him, hitting his arm.

“Hey no, I didn’t put them up to it! I just offered my room thats it! It was all them” He surrendered.

“Well nothing happened, Ms. cock block here was in the room with Mr. cock block when we got in there.” Erika slurred.

“Wow, you got some in my room and didn't even ask first. Did you at least clean up after yourself?” he asked, playfully. I knew he was just giving me crap. He didn’t really care that we had sex in his room. It wasn't the first time.

“Okay we’re leaving. Bye guys!” as I started pulling Erika out of the house and to the car.

“Bye sweeties” Pete jokingly called out after us.

I got Erika into the car and we rode in silence for a few minutes until she finally broke it.

“Are you in love?” She asked me. She sounded so sad, and it broke my heart.

“Erika… W-we don’t have to talk about this” I tried to steer the conversation away from my relationship.

“No, I’ve been a horrible friend. I’ve been so focused on me and Luis lately, I forgot about your feelings.” She said

“Its okay Erika. My feelings aren't as important as yours right now.” I tried to assured her

“Of course they are! You're in love, and that hasn't happened in a really long time. I remember how it feels to start falling in love with someone. I know you want to talk about it all the time. You don't have to hide your feelings for me. I’ll be okay.”

Even though she said she would be okay, I knew she wouldn't really be, but I agreed anyway. “Alright, but we’ll talk about me tomorrow. Right now I’m just trying to wrap my head around the thought of you and Joey T” I joked. She laughed and it was the first time I personally made her laugh all night.

“He’s hot. And I have a crush on him” She said.

“Okay but you really need to give yourself some more time okay. Don’t lead him on, cause he’s like in love with you” I laughed.

“I know. Tonight was a mistake, I didn’t really realize what I was doing. I just wanted to forget about Luis for a little while.” She gazed out the window and I heard her sniffle, she started bawling.

I pulled into my driveway and pulled her over for a hug.

“I know love. I know.”

I held her in my arms and let her cry until she calmed down enough for us to sneak back inside. When we were finally inside, and Erika was in the bathroom getting ready to go to sleep, I texted Andy

MADE IT HOME. ERIKA IS DONE 4

SO IS JOE. ILL STOP BY IN THE MORNING. I LOVE U

I LOVE U 2

We were both ready for bed and Erika came in and cuddled up beside me and she cried herself to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, I let Erika sleep in while I woke up and made some breakfast. After I was done I got a text from Andy.

I GOT COFFEE. JOE IS W/ME 2. HE WANTED 2 TLK 2 ERIKA

COOL I MADE BREAKFAST. C U SOON

“Come on love, time to wake up.” I gently shook Erika awake so that she could get ready.

“I feel like crap” were the first words out of her mouth.

“Yeah I know. Take these.” I handed her two aspirin and a glass of water. “Come on, Andy and Joe are on their way with coffee.” I told her. She seemed surprised.

“Why is Joe coming?” She asked.

“He wants to talk to you”

“Oh god. I need to shower” She got up as quickly as she could, considering how hungover she was, it wasn't very fast.

“Yes, and I made breakfast so hurry.”

“You’re the best” She said

“I know” And I walked out.

I was in the kitchen, just scrolling through twitter when I heard the door open and Andys voice.

“Babe?”

“In the kitchen!” I yelled

He walked in with a tray of 3 cups of coffee and Joe trudged along behind him, a cup of coffee in hand, his head of curly brown hair was loosely tied back in a bun and he still had his sunglasses on.

“I have never loved you more than in this moment” I told him and grabbed my iced coffee from him and gave him a quick kiss.

“Don’t talk so loud” Joe whispered behind him, then slouched over the counter.

“Jesus christ” I told Andy under my breath.

“Ugh I feel you Joe” Erika walked in the kitchen and sat down on the counter stool next to him.

Andy handed her the coffee that he got her and she appreciatively took it.

“You’re an angel”

“You’re welcome” He laughed

“Andy come help me put the food on the table please” I eyed our two hungover friends and motioned for us to leave the kitchen so they could get some time to talk. He got it right away.

“Of course” He said, grabbing the bowl of berries.

We walked into the dining area with a tray of food and patiently waited for them to talk about the previous night.

“I’m scared of what he’s gonna say.” I told Andy. “I’m eavesdropping” But Andy pulled my arm away from the door.

“Don’t do that. I talked to him you don’t need to worry.” He told me

“This is my best friend, of course I have to worry.” I said

“Okay babe, I love you but really, stop worrying. Joe knows what he needs to do.” He tried assuring me

“Okay well since you seem to know whats going on why don't you tell me what he’s gonna say.” I crossed my arms to show him that I was serious. I don’t mess around when it comes to my best friend.

“I told him that he needed to respect her feelings and that she needs time if he really wants that to be something real. And he agreed so thats what he’s gonna tell her. Trust me, he had a speech prepared and was making sure it sounded okay in the car.” reassuring me, this time succeeding.

I took a deep sigh of relief and wrapped my arms around his waist “Okay, I trust you. And I’m sorry for getting so defensive, it’s just that she's my best friend and I love her more than anything.”

“Even more than me?” He asked jokingly

“Different kind of love babe. I like ours because I can make out with you” I smiled and pulled his collar and pressed my lips against his and started making out with him. I felt him smile in the kiss and he finally pulled away.

“I like it a lot too”

“Do you think they're done? I’m starving.” I asked

“I think they should be. Lets just go in and if not they can finish later.”

“Okay” He started walking toward the kitchen but I pulled him back really quick. He turned with a questioning look.

“I love you” I said

He smiled and just returned with a “I love you too” and pulled me into the kitchen.