Thank You, Gravity

A day later, Nick and I are arguing about what to have for dinner. He's standing by the stove, glaring at me as I'm stretched out on the couch, texting. None of my suggestions for dinner seem satisfactory to him. And none of his ideas sound too great either. "Then what are we supposed to eat? You've turned down everything!" Nick leans sideways on the counter and groans, eyeing me.

"You're the one being stubborn. I thought you liked steak."

"I don't feel like eating it tonight!" I state for the third time, putting my cell phone in my lap, and looking at Nick so I can give him an annoyed look. He just rolls his eyes exaggeratedly and growls.

"You've turned down all my suggestions."

"Nyeh," I mock, sticking my tongue out and picking up my cell phone again.

"Mature. Who the hell are you texting?" he asks frustratedly, glaring at me. I can feel his angry stare as I read the screen.

"Fine. My friends have gone to the bar. I'm gonna go meet them. Do you want to come?" Nick scoffs.

"Whatever," he sighs, and gives me an accusing look. "If you get wasted again, I'm leaving you."

"I know, I know," I snap, texting James to tell him we'll be there soon.

When we get to I quickly spot James, Damien and Zoey up at the front of the bar. I run up to them, plunking down one one of the chairs next to Zoey.

"Hey, Joe!" Zoey smiles at me and James, her boyfriend, gives me a wave. Nick comes up and sits down in the chair next to me, pouting and looking displeased. I punch him lightly on the shoulder, turning in my chair to face the bar, kicking my feet against the front of it. Zoey and James already seem well on their way to being drunk. Damien, well, he never does anything.

I order two glasses of Vodka, one for Nick. It takes three minutes of me pestering him to just try it. He's such a goody-goody sometimes. And we're arguing about just how old you need to be to drink, when he finally shouts at me to shut up, and takes a slug of the alcohol. He promptly spits some of it out, making James and I laugh. He glares at me as I smirk at him, and as if he wants to redeem himself, takes another slug. He makes a face like he's resisting spitting it out. I raise my eyebrows at him, smiling in amusement, as I take a sip.

"You have to finish it," I tell him with a grin. "It's not manly if you don't." James nods in agreement, leaning away from the counter to peer at Nick. He stares at the bottle for a minute, like he's thinking about it. After a moment, he leans back, tips the bottle and gulps the whole thing down.

Seven beers all around and a couple chicken wings later, (half of them consumed by Nick) James and Zoey are full-on wasted and laughing like idiots, Damien is just enjoying the show, and I can tell by the look on Nick's face what's happening to him.

"Nicky, I think you're getting drunk," I tease him.

"I think I am," he mutters, and I laugh at the lisp the beer is giving him. We're both drunk now, and I think he likes it.

"I think you are," James sniggers, putting his cup down. He's only had half a bottle so far. His easy-going-ness was a bit aggravating.

After half of another beer, it's partly because I'm too drunk to stop myself or think twice about the dangers of someone seeing us, and partly because I've forgotten there are other people around, and partly because I just feel like it, I hop off my chair and sit on Nick's lap, while Zoey and James are too busy making out to notice. He turns to me, and puts one of his hands on my back and I lean forward, pushing my lips onto his. His mouth tastes like beer, as does mine, probably. I lean forward, opening my mouth a tiny bit.

Suddenly, I hear a conspicuous cough behind me, making me jerk away, blinking rapidly.

"Jesus! Someone got a little too drunk," Damien laughs, and the way Nick and I stare at each other makes him chuckle. "I think you two should go home and get some sleep."

"That's a good idea." I slur, pretending to be disgusted that I just kissed Nick. I push myself off his lap and step onto the floor.

"Guys, damn, break it up," Damien pushes against Zoey's shoulder, breaking their deep tongue-tying session. "Say bye to Joe and Nick."

"Bye, guys!" Zoey says, while James smiles and waves.

I get out of there as fast as I can.