Black Out Twizzlered: An Alfie Deyes One Shot
*Alfie's POV*
I walked in the door of Maisie's apartment, using the key she had given me last week. What I saw was a shock. She was sitting on the couch, hugging her knees. The vacant expression on her face was extremely creepy, and she was eating Twizzlers. I could tell she'd been there for hours, considering the 20 empty packages of Twizzlers on the floor around her.
"Maisie?" I knelt down by the couch to get to her eye level. She just kept staring blankly ahead. "Maisie, are you ok?" I asked. No reply. I waved my hand in front of her face, and moved right in front of her face when she didn't respond. She seemed to be staring right through me at the wall behind my head. She bit off another piece of Twizzler, and it was sort of funny, but at the same time terrifying. There was only one person I knew who might understand what's going on. I picked up my cellphone and dialed her best friend, Zoe. I waited while the phone rang.
"Hello?" Zoe answered.
"Hey Zoe, It's Alfie." I greeted quite hastily.
"Oh hey Al, you doing you well?" She asked.
"Fine, but I think something is wrong with Maisie." I replied nervously.
"What do you mean?"
"Well I came over to make a video with her, and she's just sitting on the couch hugging her knees and-"
"eating Twizzlers?" Zoe finished.
"Yea how did you know?"
"It's a thing she does." Zoe replied like it was no big deal.
"She's got this vacant look on her face, and she won't respond to me."
"She's blacked out."
"She's WHAT!" I was suddenly very nervous. I'd heard stories of the things people do when they're blacked out.
"Pull-n-peel or regular?" She asked.
"What?"
"The Twizzlers, are they pull-n-peel or regular?" she elaborated.
"Oh, um…" I checked one of the empty packages, then another just to be sure. "regular." I finished "why?"
"When Maisie gets really upset about something or really angry she blacks out and goes on a Twizzler binge. If they're pull-n-peel, you know she's mad. You're lucky they're just regular."
"What does regular mean?" this all seemed very strange to me.
"It means she's upset, or really sad. She probably got herself all worked up over something that's not a very big deal." Zoe sounded totally calm, so I relaxed a little.
"So how do I wake her up?" I asked
"You don't."
"What?"
"There's no way to wake her up. She eats until she pukes, then she'll pass out, and when she comes to, she probably won't remember any of it."
"How long will that take?"
"It depends. Sometimes an hour, sometimes more. One time she ate only Twizzlers for 3 days straight. We had to put ipecac on them to get her to throw them back up. She was sick for nearly a week after." Lizzie told me.
"What was she upset about?" I wondered aloud. I didn't expect Zoe to actually answer me.
"She was sad because she saw her ex-boyfriend making out with some cheerleader only a week after they'd broken up."
"Oh." Wow. That had to hurt.
"Yea, Listen Al, I gotta go, I'm almost late for work. Stay with her, yea? Call me when she wakes up."
"Sure thing." And with that, Zoe hung up, and I started my long wait.
*three hours later*
Maisie's POV
I woke up on my bed with the covers pulled around me. My mouth tasted horrid and immediately the only thing I could think of was brushing my teeth. I climbed slowly out of bed and walked to my bathroom. After scrubbing the horrid, vomity, strawberry taste from my mouth I took time to consider why it was there. I couldn't remember throwing up. Come to think of it, I couldn't remember going to bed. The last thing I remember I was in the kitchen waiting for… Alfie! He was supposed to come at 5! What time was it now? I had to call him!
I rushed out to my living room to grab my phone only to see a tall figure lying on my couch. Alfie was asleep. I was about to wake him when my stomach gurgled threateningly. I tip-toed into the kitchen and opened the fridge, quickly grabbing the ginger ale and pouring the last of it into a glass. I went to the garbage to throw out the empty ginger ale bottle, but stopped before tossing it in, noticing a huge pile of red wrappers in the garbage. Twizzler wrappers. Oh no. that's why I couldn't remember going to bed. I blacked out. And Alfie found me. How soon? Had he seen me vomit? Or did he just find me by the toilet? I glanced at the clock on the microwave. 8:37. Surely he had found me on the couch. I was embarrassed. And not just that, I was also afraid. What would he think of me now?
I took my time finishing the ginger ale, slowly building up the courage to go wake him up. I tip-toed back over to the couch and snuck a glance at him. He was adorable when he slept, and even in the dim light from the table lamp you could see his black patch. I walked over and knelt next to the couch, gently placing my hand on his shoulder.
"Alfie." I whispered softly, shaking him, "Time to get up Alfie." He grumbled slightly before creaking his eyes open.
"Hey," he mumbled lightly, "you're awake." He stretched slightly and then sat up on the couch, patting the spot next to him. I got up from my kneeling position and took the spot, as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I could feel the fireworks going off in my stomach. Every part of me tingled at his touch, so much that sometimes I wondered if he could feel it. "How are you feeling?" He asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Fine." I replied, although I wasn't. The reason I had actually been upset was because of Alfie, and our current position wasn't making me feel better.
"That's good." He said lightly. I nodded. "So, are you gonna tell me what's wrong, or do I have to force it out of you." I blushed in the dim light. I didn't want to tell him. It was too embarrassing. I'd started getting very excited for Alfie to come over, but in the time between my initial excitement and his arrival, I had suddenly veered off-track. I liked Alfie. A lot. And I started thinking about if we were together how happy I would be. And then I started thinking about how we would never be together. Because Alfie doesn't like me like that. We were only friends. I'd never be good enough for him. I put myself down, and down, and down, until I had hit rock bottom. The next thing I could remember was waking up in my bed. "Maisie?" Alfie snapped me back into reality again. He had been patiently waiting for me to explain. I looked into his eyes and…I just couldn't do it.
"I can't tell you Alfie." I said looking away quickly. I couldn't handle his gaze any longer.
"Maisie, you can tell me anything." Alfie said.
"No. I can't."
"Yes you can." He said a bit more forcefully, but still sounding gentle.
"No!" I nearly shouted. I pushed myself off of the couch. "You wouldn't understand." I started to walk away, but Alfie was quickly behind me. He grabbed onto my forearm, and I tried to pull away, but he was strong. He tuned me toward him, and in one swift move my arms were caught between our chests, with his arm around my waist, the other still on my arm. I gulped and quickly looked down. I stared at the pendant around his neck until his fingers rose off my arm and lifted my chin, so I was forced to look at him. I was instantly aware of how close we were. And getting closer. I stood on my tip-toes to reach him, and the space between us was quickly closed. I grabbed his shirt and pulled myself as close as I could. I had been waiting for this moment to come for what felt like forever. I instantly felt cold when we parted.
"Wow." Was all I could manage to say.
"Yea." He breathed, looking down at me, "So will you tell me now?"
"I don't have anything left to tell, now." I replied. It took him only a second to understand.
"You were upset because of me?" I just stared down at the ground, embarrassed. "Why?"
"I told you that you wouldn't understand."
"Then explain it." He said strongly, pulling me close again.
"I just…I never thought… that you… and I… would… you know…" I stuttered through, not clearly explaining.
"Maisie." He said my name, calling my attention to his eyes, "I may never show it, but I really like you. And I don't want to cause you anymore pain." And as we kissed again, I knew he was telling the truth.