Freaks and Fortune

He came back drunk. The kind of hard, solid intoxication that reeked of bittersweet raspberry vodka.

There was a hesitation at the door that suggested guilt and regret... But, in reality, Cal just couldn't remember wether he was supposed to turn the doorknob left or right.

"He's back!" Aqua hissed, leaping out of bed.

His swift feet padded against the hardwood. He was always rushing to help, eager to offer guidance and strength with his subtle wit and slender fingers. Savannah and I followed blearily after him. She moving with the slightly bubbly gait that hinted at the weight I'd lifted off her shoulders when I revealed that Cal didn't like her anymore. I, however, lumbered with a guilty clumsiness.

I didn't know if I had been leading Cal on when I'd let him kiss me. It was certainly possible that I was only leading myself on... Playing with the idea of some kind of relationship. But with Cal? I had no idea if I wanted that... that responsibility.

"Someone get his shoes!" Aqua yelled over Cal's drunken shouting.

"Hey! Hey," he bellowed, stumbling over his feet. "Don't touch me, man! Don't... Get off, Greg!"

"Are you girls going to help, or do I have to get him under control all by myself?!"

Savannah and I moved in on Cal. He darted backwards, his face locked in anger. His shoulder thumped into the bureau with a force that I could tell was unintentional. He looked surprised as the mirror fell forward and had just enough time to shout a very rude swear word before the glass shattered at our feet.

"Bad luck!" he yelled giddily. "Bad luck!"
"Cal, stop!"
"Hey, I told you to get the hell off me, man!"

"Just get him into the hammock, don't worry about his shoes," Aqua told us, changing his tactic. "He could step on the glass."

"Shit, who broke the mirror?" Cal gasped, looking at the delicate shards on the ground.

Savannah and I each grabbed a shoulder. Cal writhed and bucked but, with Aqua's help, we managed to restrain him long enough to get him to calm down.

"A plague on both your houses," he muttered to us.
"Just go to sleep, you idiot."
"And a very nasty plague on your house, sir!" he said to me, hooking a finger in the neck of my shirt and pulling it out so that he could peek down it.

I slapped his hand away and pushed him, rather roughly, into his hammock. Once he hit the blankets, all his fighting spirit left him. Heat radiated from him and he sighed listlessly. Sweat collected on his upper lip and pooled in the dip of his collar bones. The heat seemed to crush him, to beat him down. He awkwardly kicked off his shoes and turned on his side to stare at my feet.

I ached to say something to him... My chest and throat felt heavy. I could image myself kneeling down beside him, telling him quietly that I still had to work out a few things with myself before I could ever even think about... But I just couldn't bring myself to do it with Aqua and Savannah right there.

-_-_-_-_-

"Oh, hi guys," I breathed, stress and anxiety making my voice sound desperate.

Anthony was sitting on the counter inside the Time-Card Booth, his kiss-bruised lips opening in a soft "Oh!" of surprise. Ravi jumped out of his skin and abruptly removed his hand from a very indecent part of of Anthony's anatomy.

"You're back together," I commented, out of breath. "That's nice."

"Uh..." Anthony muttered. "We were just... Uh..."
"Nothing!" Ravi shouted.
"Ivy... What are you doing here?" he asked, trying not to laugh at how deeply Ravi was blushing.

He reached out a hand to fix Ravi's tangled hair. Ravi groaned in embarrassment and tried to hide his face in his hands. The part of his hair that used to be blonde was mussed to the point of defying gravity.

"I need to talk to you about something," I said, hopping up on the counter and leaning my heavy head on Anthony's shoulder. "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything."

Ravi sighed heavily and started wistfully out the window.

"Sorry..." I muttered. "I just didn't know where else to-"
"It's fine," Anthony told me warmly. "I don't mind. Neither does Ravi. Right, Ravs?"
Ravi just grunted.

His eyes darted up to Anthony, quick as a shadow, then widened. He mouthed something and Anthony let out a small bark of laughter. His shoulder suddenly started to make my head bobble as he did up the buttons on his shirt.

"So!" Anthony stated loudly. "What's wrong, Ivy-kins?"

I took a deep breath, bracing myself.

"Cal."

Ravi leapt up from the chair he'd sunken into.

"What did he do to you?" he demanded.
"Nothing!"
"I'll kill him!"
"Calm down!" I shouted. "Ravi! No -- Don't laugh, Anthony! Ravi, calm down!"

He threw himself back down into the chair and glared hotly at the door.

"Cal didn't do anything... I'm... Okay, I can't believe I'm saying this. He... No, we sort of... Well, we kind of..."

Anthony and Ravi suddenly started digging around in their pockets.

"We kissed," I was finally able to say. "I... I didn't know what to tell him. I haven't said anything to him... What are you two doing?"

Ravi was twiddling a money clip in between his fingers and Anthony was slapping his wallet rhythmically on his knee. Ravi fished out two ten dollar bills and held them out of Anthony, who snatched them up eagerly and tucked them away in his wallet.

"I was hoping you'd be able to restrain yourself!" Ravi groaned at me. "Now he's going to gloat all day!"
"It's not my fault that I'm perceptive," Anthony teased in a sing-song voice.

"Bets?" I moaned. "You were taking bets?"
"Ravi thought you would last until the 4th of July," Anthony bragged. "Didn't you, little Ravs-ey?"
"Shut up."

"It's completely obvious that you like him," Anthony told me. "It was sort of a matter of time."
"Are you serious?"
"Unfortunately."

I sighed and wrapped my arms around my knees. I guess everyone had come to their senses long before I'd come to mine.

"What do I do?" I asked. "I don't want to fall for him-"
"Do you honestly think that everybody falls for someone they like?" Anthony scoffed.
Ravi laughed. "Just look at this idiot," he said, aiming a half-hearted kick at Anthony's feet.

My heart started thudding. Rattlesnakes and butterflies awoke in my stomach. It was the truth. It wasn't as if I'd chosen Cal.

"Just go with your gut," Anthony said quietly.
I gave a little discontented sigh, but decided to play it off like I had made up my mind.

"Thanks, you guys," I mumbled. "I'll leave you alone."