"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, concern in her eyes.
Snow looked at his petite girlfriend. She looked so fragile, how could he tell her the truth? He vowed he'd never lie to her, but here he was, opening his mouth to tell her the exact opposite once again.
"I'm fine," he answered, giving her his biggest-and most fake-smile. She didn't look like she bought it, so he went a step further and pulled her into a bear hug, kissing her lightly on the forehead. She was smiling when he put her down; a good sign.
"Well, if you're sure...I'm heading off to meet Lightning in town so I'll see you back here later, okay?"
"Sure, no probs. Enjoy your day." He kissed her once more; this time on the lips and watched her leave. Once the door was firmly shut he quickly locked it, then went straight to his secret stash in the bedroom.
Within no time at all he felt better. The pain of past memories was more or less gone. Now, he only felt numbness and a little woozy. He gulped some more from the bottle in his hand, then staggered downstairs.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Perfect." he thought to himself sarcastically. He had no intention of answering the door; the last thing he needed was whoever it was to see him like this and tell Serah. She'd only worry, and if she told Lightning, well, that was even worse.
Knock, knock, knock.
He took another swig from the bottle.
"Snow? You in there?"
Oh. So it was Hope.
Snow waited silently until he heard footsteps fade away, then threw the empty bottle in the trash, tied the bag up and took it outside. He was still a bit off-balance so he stumbled upstairs to the bathroom and splashed his face with cold water.
"Better brush my teeth, too," he thought, and did so.
Two hours later the house was clean and tidy, and Snow was asleep on the couch smelling of toothpaste and strong aftershave. He didn't hear Serah come in, and she startled him awake by spraying him with water.
"Hey!" he yelled as she giggled, "What was that for?"
"Don't be so lazy," she replied, still laughing. "It's still early."
He grinned back at her sheepishly, then pulled her towards him for a kiss. He loved her so much, and he felt guilty for keeping things from her but it was the only way to keep her innocence. He just wanted to protect her.
"So..."said Serah, looking a little worried, "we're going out tomorrow...with Lightning."
Snow froze.
"How long for?" he asked.
"Just the day." she smiled, "You can be civil to each other for one day, right?"
"Uh...right." he said, only his heart was pounding. A whole day without a drink? He couldn't do it. He had to find a way to get out of it. Maybe he'd act ill so Serah would cancel.
"Are you really sure you're okay?" Serah asked for about the twentieth time that day.
"Yeah, just fine." he lied. Maybe he could do it. After all, it wasn't like he drank loads. Just enough to block everything out for a couple of hours. Yeah...he could manage one day. Easy.