Just a weird little story to share with all of you. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!
Oh yea...there should be a disclaimer here somewhere...but I figure you all know I'm just playin... ;-)
/./././
Danny didn't know why he was facedown on the floor. He did know he wasn't where he should be. He could hear the ocean. Steve.
They'd had a long day. Lots of guns, bullets flying. Words exchanged. Angry ones. Things you couldn't take back. They'd finished up the case and went their separate ways for the night.
Danny had gone home alone. To his house.
How'd he end up here? If here was where he thought it was.
He rolled ever, making his head spin. Or the room, or both all at once. Closing his eyes didn't help. That only emphasized the fact that his brain was also spinning inside his skull. Literally. He could feel it moving.
He groaned with the next breath. This alerted the other person in the room.
"Good morning, sunshine."
He couldn't say anything. Another wave of nausea rolled over him. A red plastic bowl was shoved in his face. There were bits of popcorn stuck to the bottom of it.
"Here, use this." Steve was just too cheerful.
"Ha ha funny." Danny really wanted to punch him.
"I'm serious, man."
Danny pushed up and immediately fell back down. "Mother fucker."
He rolled on to his side.
"Yea you had a rough one, Danno."
"Why am I on your floor?"
"You wouldn't stay on the couch. Said it was spinning."
"Yes. Spinning." He covered his eyes with both hands, memory of said spinning couch still fresh in his head. The pressure of his hands eased the throbbing pain ever so much. But it did not help with the spinning. "But how did I end up here?"
"You called me. I picked you up." Steve tried to be serious but a grin that started with his eyes crept over the rest of his face. "Never figured you for a drunk dialer, man."
"What are you talking about?" His annoyance, obvious all over his face, took over for the nausea and he sat up, scooting over so he could lean on the couch.
"You. Called me." Steve tapped his phone. "Last night. I have proof."
A picture of Danny appeared. Big smile, very drunk.
"Delete that now, please."
Steve chuckled. "Really? Thought I'd make a calendar. Or this year's holiday card!"
"Dammit, Steven." He closed his eyes and took a slow breath. Another wave taking over.
"Need this?" Steve nudged his friend with the bowl again.
"No, I will not puke. It will pass."
"I've never seen you like this, man."
"Hung over?"
"A mess." Steve sat close to Danny on the floor, careful not to make any sudden movements.
"What did I do?" Danny ran a hand through his hair and leaned his head against the couch.
"You're the detective. You tell me."
"This is me. And my brain is not cooperating."
"That would be the tequila's fault."
"Tequila." He must really have had a bad night. Rarely did he drink the strong stuff, not in public any way.
"You reeked like you took a bath in Margaritaville."
Danny moaned what he meant to be Oh God but it came out sounding more like Ah Gah.
"I do know you broke up a bar fight."
"And you're just sharing this with me now?"
"I thought I'd give it to you in pieces." Steve laughed. "Figured I'd save the best for last."
Danny sat up a little straighter, inspecting his hands, flexing his fingers and wrists. They didn't feel or look bruised.
"Bar fight, huh?"
"That's how you got all the free drinks." Steve grinned. "You should see your face."
"What?" Danny jumped up and headed for the nearest thing resembling a mirror. A family picture. He stared at his reflection.
Steve fell over laughing. "Got you, man!"
Danny doubled over, hands on his knees. "Now that was uncalled for."
"Got you up off the floor, didn't it?"
"You could have helped me up."
"Where would the fun be in that?"
Jokes aside, Steve was suddenly right there, strong arms ready to steady his best friend. "Want some coffee?"
"Ugh no. Water's fine. I need to get home."
They walked to the kitchen, Danny using everything but Steve to hold himself upright.
"Bar fight, huh?" He sat at the table.
"Manager said two locals were hassling some tourists. Good looking girls. Their dates tried to help. Underestimated their opponents and proceeded to almost get their asses handed to them."
"Almost?"
Steve seemed almost proud. "Yea, you stepped in. One guy took a tray to the face. Another a bottle over the head. With a few punches thrown in for good measure."
"Did I identify myself as a cop?" Danny was fascinated.
"Yes, they laughed at you – called you a dumb haole."
"Ah." Danny shook his head.
"Manager was happy to have those two dealt with. They had been causing trouble." Steve was happy to tell the tale. "Offered you drinks on the house."
"Just for that?" Danny was stuck on that part of the story. "Wow, I need to break up fights more often."
Steve frowned.
"What's with aneurysm face?"
"It's not like you, Danny. Getting in the middle of a fight like that."
"Without backup, I know." He laughed.
"Something doesn't sit right with me." Steve filled a glass with water. "Why were you at that bar anyway? It's a tourist trap."
"Maybe I didn't want to be seen? I don't know. Last night is a blur." Danny took the glass and slowly took a sip, careful not to drink too much. He wasn't sure how his stomach was holding up. Then he remembered something. "If you picked me up, then where's my car?"
"At your place."
"My place? How'd I get to the bar?"
"Another missing piece."
Danny remembered something that sucked the air out of his chest. Steve watched him, concerned his friend might puke. Then Danny cleared his throat and sighed.
"Amber and I. We broke up."
It was suddenly very clear what had happened. To some extent anyway. Steve sighed.
"Oh Danny. Way to save that piece of information until last." Seeing Danny was in no mood to take things lightly. "I'm sorry, man."
"Yea, I'd like to forget it."
"What happened?"
"Age difference. Geography."
"She's moving back to the mainland?" Boy Danny didn't have any luck.
This was a little too much for Danny to handle. Talking made his head hurt. God, it made his whole body hurt. And now he was shivering. Just as fast a wave of warmth rolled over him.
"Puke." He didn't give Steve much warning but the big popcorn bowl found its way to the right spot. Disaster avoided narrowly. A kitchen chair was shoved under him. Then a cool, damp towel showed up. All in a few quick moves. He rested his head on the table. The glass of water was nudged into his hand again.
"Drink?"
No response.
"Rinse at least?"
"And spit where?" Danny's mumble barely intelligible. "This isn't a saloon. Can't spit on the floor."
Steve half grinned. "You better not."
"Gonna stop me?" Danny looked up with one eye open. A brief flash of mischief.
Steve crossed his arms, not amused. But inwardly relieved Danny was at least half joking.
"Might puke again, Steven. Not sure."
"Think you can make it to the bathroom?"
Danny nodded but didn't move. "I fucked up."
"Nah, you're just hungover. We've all been there."
"Not like this." He sipped the water. His stomach gurgled in response.
"Amber?"
Times like this he was thankful his partner could read his mind.
"Yea. I messed up."
"I'm guessing you did the breaking?"
"I flashbacked to Gabby."
"Aw man. I'm sorry." Steve held out his hand. "Come on, Danny."
"I panicked." He took Steve's hand, letting himself be pulled to his feet. He stumbled and Steve tightened his grip. "She's leaving for one month. For work. A class."
"And she's coming back?"
"Yea, back to Hawaii." Danny closed his eyes as another wave passed. "I know I screwed up."
"You want her to be free?"
"She's young."
"What? Who cares?" Steve led Danny toward the bathroom. "So you did the noble thing and dumped her."
Danny stopped suddenly, causing Steve to bump up against him. "When you put it like that."
"You sound like an idiot." Steve nudged his friend.
Danny sighed and didn't move. "I let her go."
"She's not a butterfly."
"What Steven?"
"You know – that poem."
"Still nothing, babe." Danny's giggle ended with a burp.
"Grace has it on her wall. If you love something set it free."
Danny spun around to face Steve. "Why were you in Grace's room?"
"I tucked her in the other night, remember? You were watching the game. Remember?" Steve had the odd feeling he was about to get punched.
Instead, Danny groaned, hand on the wall to steady himself.
"Come on, man. You are not puking here."
Danny barely made it to the toilet. Thank God Steve left the seat up all the time.
/././
When he opened his eyes again, Danny was in bed.
Not his bed.
Steve.
How the hell did he get upstairs?
Wait, why was he even at Steve's?
Amber.
Tequila.
A bar fight.
Danny definitely remembered the tequila. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, and it felt like his brain might pop out of his ears. He broke things off with Amber.
What an idiot.
"Sleeping Beauty awakes." Steve swept into the room carrying a tray. Danny's eyes were too bloodshot and sticking together to tell what was on said tray.
He groaned and sat up. "Isn't Prince Charming supposed to kiss Sleeping Beauty?"
"Oh that can be arranged." Steve grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.
Danny threw a pillow at him. Steve dodged the attack, but not without spilling some orange juice.
"Stop or you'll lose your breakfast." Steve laughed. "Wait, bad choice of words."
Another pillow. This one way off the mark.
"Glad you shoot better than you throw things."
Danny sighed, rubbing his temples.
"I broke up with Amber."
"I know, buddy. You told me already."
"Wish I could take it back."
"Call her." Steve held out a cell phone.
"Too late. She's on a plane."
"Call her later then."
"Maybe it's for the best."
"Come on, Danny. Don't give up that easily."
"I was never all in anyway. I tried." Danny took the glass of orange juice Steve offered. "Mostly because of you."
A confused look from his friend led Danny to continue.
"Your pep talk. When we were trapped."
"Oh that." Steve set the tray down, opening a bottle of pills into his hand. "Here, take two of these."
Danny palmed the pills, eyeing them closely.
"They're aspirin."
"I was hoping for some Super Seal hangover remedy."
"I could give you a few options."
"Hopefully they don't include swimming five miles and calisthenics." Danny took the aspirin with a slow sip of juice. "Because I'm barely breathing here."
"Big baby."
"Hey, I seem to remember a night not too long ago where you were conversing with multiples of yourself after crawling into a bottle of Jack."
Steve grinned. "Wish I remembered. That sounds like fun."
Danny whacked Steve on the head with the remaining pillow. "You would think so, you animal."
Steve shrugged and Danny chuckled, feeling some of his headache fading. Then another thought drifted into his mind. And he finally had the balls to say it.
"Maybe I don't want to call Amber."
His words strangely loud in his head. He cleared his throat and shifted a little bit in bed. Steve didn't comment. He simply waited, making what Danny was about to say even harder for him.
"Maybe there's someone else."
This got a response from his best friend.
"Someone else? What did you meet someone at the bar?"
Clearly an attempt at a joke. A lame one. He hoped to break the tension because now Steve felt it too.
"You really are dense, you know that, right?"
"Dense?" Steve sat on the edge of his bed.
They stared at one another for a long stretch. Steve with his self assured smirk though Danny kept his face blank. He took a deep breath and leaned in a little closer to Steve.
Laughing, Steve leaned in the opposite direction. "You aren't kissing me with that mouth until you brush your teeth."
Danny laughed. "Fucking mind reader Navy Seal."