Sound Effects and Overdramatics

I was vaguely aware of my phone ringing somewhere, but I didn’t bother looking for it. I rolled out of the bed I was in-not mine-and managed enough coherency to light a cigarette instead of my hair. My head pounded and swam.

Was it possible to still be drunk and hungover at the same time?

I walked down the hall to the living room, trying to get a sense of where I was. I kept a hand on the wall to steady myself and managed to fall into a La-Z-Boy with a groan. My phone started ringing again, louder.

My pants were on the floor by the coffee table. Logically, my phone was in one of the pockets. If I didn’t answer it, Michelle would probably wake up and come looking for me.

I took a small comfort in the fact that it was Michelle and not Jason.

I stuck my cigarette between my lips and reached for my jeans, decidedly annoyed. I didn’t recognize the number flashing on the screen but I answered anyway.

“Hello?”

“Gates, good. I need you to come get me.”

Coming out of Jason’s mouth, those were never good words to hear. I sucked down my cigarette, not bothering to ask why.

“Where are you?”

“I’m in jail.”

“What the hell for?”

“I’ll tell you when you get here. I only got two minutes. Can you bail me out?”

“Yeah, sure, how much?”

“Thirty-five.”

“Thousand?”

“Yeah…”

He sounded terrible. I knew that if he had anyone else to call, he would have, but he was still on the hunt for his mother and Beth was back in London and as far as I knew, he wasn’t seeing anyone new.

Losing Ian had put him several steps back and I was surprised he wasn’t worse off for Beth not being here.

On some level, I understood why she left and why she thought she couldn’t be with me, but I never thought she would leave Jason again, knowing that he was without any other anchor. She knew better than anyone what would happen with Ian gone.

Did she want to get away from me so much that she didn't care what happened to him?

I doubted it.

Maybe she just had enough faith in me to be there for him where she couldn't.

"You at the Huntington Beach PD?" I asked. I finished my cigarette and managed to get my jeans on without falling over.

"Yeah."

"Alright. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thanks man." He hung up and I tossed my phone down. I collapsed into the chair and scrubbed my face with my hands, feeling the stubble of a few days' growth.

I needed to sober up.

I hadn't been that drunk when I left the bar, but I did end up drinking more when I got here, with her.

It was her new place.

I found my shirt on the other side of the coffee table and carried it with me into the kitchen. I needed coffee, and one of the bakery muffins she had sitting on her stove wouldn't hurt.

As a courtesy, I scribbled a goodbye note down on the pad she had on her fridge. I may have been a dick, but I wasn't gonna be that asshole who dipped out without talking to her first. I didn't have to leave a note, but it was the least I could do after giving her a booty call.

She deserved more than that, especially from me.

At three in the morning, banks wouldn't be open, so getting a cashier's check wasn't an option, and it wasn't like ATMs gave out thirty-five grand, so my first stop was Huntington Beach Bail Bonds. Thirty-five hundred dollars later, I was chugging burnt gas station coffee and chain-smoking on my way to the police department.

By the time I walked in and told the officer behind the plastic window who I was there to pick up, Jason was being escorted through the door by another officer. He looked relieved when he saw me, even though his eye was swollen and bruised and he had a split lip.

I just clapped him on the shoulder and guided him out to my car.

"You hungry?"

"I could eat."

Nothing else was said as I drove to the Donuttery, the only place close enough open this late. It wasn't until we were sitting down with our coffee and donuts that he said anything.

"I got into a fight with Ian's new boyfriend. I showed up at his apartment wanting to talk to Ian, but he came out instead. We started yelling and I swung on him. Ian called the cops on me."

"You caught an assault charge for your ex-boyfriend?"

"No one said I was smart, Gates. When the cops showed up, Ian told them I was high and probably holding."

"Were you?"

Sheepishly, he nodded. I let the conversation settle so I could process. I knew I needed to tell Beth. If she came back and found out, I'd be the first one she went after, for letting it happen in the first place and keeping it from her.

The problem was, Jason trusted me not to. She still didn't know the circumstances leading up to mine and Jason's strange relationship, and I wanted to keep it that way. She trusted me to keep her brother sober and Jason trusted me not to tell her when he wasn't. I was treading dangerous waters by trying to do both, but it meant more to Jason to keep his confidence than his sister's, because at the end of the day, all she cared about was that he was safe.

"Don't tell her, please. I don’t need her thinking I need to be rescued again.”

I shrugged. He did need rescuing, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. “I haven’t talked to her since she left.” I mumbled.

"Why not?”

I shrugged again and slammed back the rest of my cold coffee. I sent her away because I couldn’t stand the thought of watching her leave over and over again. Part of me had hoped that she wouldn’t go, but of course she did, because it was what she’d always done.

If my love wasn’t a reason, and abandoning Jason wasn’t a reason, nothing was going to get her to stay, or come back. Not again.

“You know she’s at Ali’s, right?”

I felt like a semi just plowed right through me. I stared at Jason, who, up until now, probably wasn’t aware that this wasn’t information I was privy to.

“Fuck. Man, I’m sorry. I thought you knew. If you weren’t with her, where were you?”

That was a question for another day.

"Fuck." He sat back from the table and wiped his palms on his pants. "She said Zack knew. I didn't think he'd stay quiet." He muttered, still not looking at me.

I stood and walked away from the table. I didn't want to scare him with my reaction because he didn't deserve to get yelled at. I walked to the bathroom and splashed my face with cold water.

Definitely awake. Definitely sober.

I didn’t understand why she told Zack and not me, or why he didn’t tell me as soon as he knew she was back. Why would she keep it a secret?

I laid my fist at the paper towel dispenser. Twice. The first for being angry with her for not telling me, the second for being mad at myself for calling Michelle.

I needed sleep before I made anymore stupid decisions, so I went back out to Jason who looked guilty and probably actually did feel bad that I found out the way I did, but didn't say anything. He took my keys and drove us back to my house.

While he showered, I passed out in my room, fully dressed, on top of my blankets.