Erin arrived at Paddy's after taking every short cut she could think of. It only took twenty minutes or so. She stood in front of the door for a second, wondering possibly if she couldn't just walk away and maybe nobody would know she'd been there. Of course they wouldn't. There was nobody on the streets. She sighed, shrugging her shoulders and entered the bar with a casual swing of the door. The bar was empty, save for Dennis, who was now sitting upright on the pool table. He had a beer in his hand. The redhead didn't really care that the bar was closed, instead she raised a rather concerned eyebrow. She knew Dennis when he was drunk. And it was unlike Mac and Charlie to leave him when he looked as though he would spill right over if he tried to stand up. She treaded cautiously forward. Placing her purse on a bar stool before attempting to make any sort of communication with Dennis. Drunk Dennis had three levels: drunk flirting, vomiting at the drop of a hat or him doing something stupid. It could be either one. And she wasn't sure what he was capable of, now that she noticed the many empty beer bottles.
Fuck.
"Dennis?" Erin asked.
He turned to look at her, moving his head a little slowly due the fact he realized he was rather unstable and wobbly. He tried to focus on any words or thoughts in his head. Everything was getting foggy, except seeing her standing not ten feet from him. He stayed quiet for a second, trying to gather himself as properly as possible. He had been sitting there by himself for the past twenty minutes, thinking over what he was going to do. And it had to be perfect. Of course, he knew Charlie was the only one who could get her here. That had gone over smoothly. She'd do anything for Charlie. Dennis tried to fight back the warm indigestion he was feeling, due to the fact he had had nothing to eat with his drinks. As he stared at the redhead, memories flooded back: watching her during school dances, them hanging out in what had been the abandoned bar (that was now Paddy's), seeing her sitting in Dee's room while the girls did homework, her sitting outside with Charlie and passing around a paper bag, her drunkingly dancing on the hood of the landrover during their college years, and the one that made him want to burn everything to the ground, watching her leave the bar with Liam for dates or for other unknown reasons.
"Dennis?!" Erin repeated, now waving her hand in front of his face, "Dennis? Are you okay? Where are Dee and the guys?" She wanted to know.
Dennis came out of his thoughts and snapped to attention, "I have no idea where Dee is but I told Charlie and Mac I wanted to be alone", he shrugged.
"Charlie just called me because he said you were drunk and you had nobody to watch the counter", Erin replied, "Dennis, tonight was supposed to be my night off".
That drunken slurred smile appeared a second later, "I'm sure Liam can go an hour without you", he gestured holding his beer, "Have a drink with me. Come onnnn", he laughed out of a drunk stupor, hiccuping, "Just one".
The redhead sighed, holding up her hands, "Your gong to put that down and I'm going to take you home".
"Oh come on! Don't be like that!" Dennis whined, "When have you ever turned down a beer?"
"Dennis, you look like an ass right now. You're sitting on the pool table and you've drunken yourself into a stupor", Erin told him, feeling brave enough to stand near him. She put her hands on his legs to keep him steady, "Just give me the beer".
Dennis could feel the warm indigestion but continued to ignore it. Their faces were merely but a few inches or so away from each other and he could tell she was not in the mood to put up a fight. Of course his brain was foggy and fuzzy and he could feel the crawling hangover that he would be experiencing tomorrow morning at best. But that didn't matter. He was still awake. He set the beer bottle aside and leaned forward. The smell of alcohol on his breath reached her nose quickly but it was just a few minutes of hesitation. His mouth was pressed to hers in seconds and it was his hands taking hers that made her snap to attention. She pushed herself away and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Your an asshole", Erin told him.
"Me? Your the one who wants it. Why can't you see that?!" He gestured with hands, "Why can't you just forget about Liam and be with me! Clearly I'm the one you want and we both know it".
"He has nothing to do with this", She pointed a finger at him, "You got drunk on purpose. That's all this was".
"And I was right!" Dennis laughed, "My brilliant plan masterminded. You let me kiss you!" he was laughing, shaking his head, "And that means you like me".
She just tilted her head, folding her arms, "Your brilliant plan was to kiss me?" She shook her head, not being able to help herself and laugh. She couldn't believe she was spending her night off dealing with this. Rolling her eyes and scratching behind her ear, she stared down at the floor. "Alright, fun time's over. I will carry you to the car if I have to".
"Marry me", Dennis spoke up, not really in the mood to move or get up. And whether she wanted to move him or not, he'd let her. He was watching her with a heated desire and if she wanted to play this game. He'd play.
"What?" She frowned, looking confused.
"Oh you know you're one of those 'get married and have kids' types", He continued, smiling, "And I'm here to help you achieve that fantasy".
Erin laughed, "Wow", she paused, "Wow", she shook her head, "You think I wold ever think about marrying you?"
Dennis could feel the fun of the buzz in his head going away very slowly, "Yes. Yes I think so. And you will answer and we can be together", he gestured with his hands, "Don't you see how that works?"
"Uh, no", she shook her head, gesturing with a finger, smiling now, "You don't seem to get that I will never ever go out with you. Let alone marry you".
Dennis laughed, "You say that but I feel like you don't mean it".
Erin huffed with a sigh and put her hands on her waist, looking at him, "Look, I am not going to stand here and argue with you about this. And obviously the guys are not going to come back to get you so", she sighed again and moved back towards him, "I'm taking you home before you hurt yourself".
"Oh but see you do care about me", he made a face, "And I might be drunk but I am sober enough to take care of you if you will just say 'yes'".
She really wanted to smack him, she did. But she reserved the energy and just grabbed his hands to get him to stand up. But Dennis just smiled and she was two seconds too late to realize he let himself go limp as a doll. Erin screamed and the two fell onto the floor of the bar. Erin seethed from hitting the back of her head and groaned realizing how heavy Dennis was when he was drunk. And he was not going to move. She muttered a "son of a bitch" as she laid there. Erin remembered a while back when she and the gang had gotten themselves into a high end club but they had gotten kicked out and weren't allowed back in. So as revenge, she and Dennis had snuck in via the back door. Dennis had too many shots and they both had gotten stuck in a bathroom stall because he'd fallen on her due to being too tipsy. He'd been in his "vomiting drunk" stage and she couldn't call for help because they weren't allowed to be there and she was sure they'd get arrested. Also they had gotten stuck in the men's bathroom. She remembered narrowly getting them out and nursing Dennis's drunk state in the back of the rover with a slushy and a bottle of water. Erin laughed, making Dennis glance sideways at her.
"Wha's so funny?" He drunkenly muttered.
"You remember that time we got stuck in that shitty club that kicked us out?" She asked.
"Yeah, I got wasted and we got stuck in the men's bathroom", Dennis said, head throbbing now, "You called the place and pretended to be the cops and we got out. I left vomit in their toilet", he laughed.
"How'd I ever get you off of me?" Erin wanted to know.
"You used this stupid technique called "roll over", where you flipped me over", Dennis told her, "Why?"
Erin remembered now. She'd come up with it back in their college days when she used to get left with Dennis a lot. It wasn't that she couldn't move him, it was that his drunken state made him top heavy and he learned to lay on her when he was drunk. He thought he'd get into her pants that way but she'd always find his weak points in his body and push him off. The redhead gripped his waist and pushed him off after a second or so. She rolled him over onto his back and got up on her knees before standing up altogether.
"So that's how you do it", he laughed.
"Alright Dennis, time to get up", She sighed, grabbing his hands and trying once again to get him to stand.
Dennis complied, if only because he had to vomit and his head was heavy. He leaned himself on her shoulder before drunkingly running for the bathroom. Erin sighed loudly and went to stand by the door, listening to him. She put her face in her hand, staring down at the floor. After a second or so, she went over to her purse and dug out her phone. She texted Dee and told her about Dennis and then she called Charlie. She left a message for him and Frank before giving up trying to reach Mac. After a second or so, she went to check on him. Dennis was slumped against the toilet bowl. Erin just went over and grabbed a paper towel, kneeling down next to him, she wiped his forehead and around his mouth. Wishing she didn't give in so easily sometimes. She frowned, hating herself. Dee showed up at the bar about fifteen minutes later. Dennis was still sitting in the bathroom and Erin was sitting at the bar, having cleaned up the empty beer bottles Dennis had drank.
"So, what's going on? Why's the bar closed?" The blond wanted to know.
"The guys left the bar and Charlie called me to tell me I had to work", Erin stood up, putting her hands on her hips, "And when I got here, Dennis was drunk on the pool table and the bar was closed".
"Those dicks! What the hell?!" Dee stammered, wondering why they would that. The bar was their baby for godsakes, "And they just left Dennis drunk?"
"He's in the bathroom", the redhead told her, looking royally pissed off.
"Wow you look really pissed off", Dee told her, "What happened?"
"Nothing happened. Dennis got drunk and asked me to marry him", Erin waved her hand, she shook her head, "Do you have any idea where he could have gotten that idea from?"
"Nope", Dee shook her head, "I tried talking to him but you know my brother", she laughed shrugging, "He doesn't listen".
Erin shook her head. Literally fed up. She looked at her best friend, "This has got to stop. I am done. Alright? You tell Mac and the guys, they either deal with me being with Liam or they do something about Dennis", she pointed at the bathroom door, "I was scared the bar was busy and might burn down. What if we were broken into again?!"
"I know right?!" Dee agreed, "We have tons of money in the register! Those assholes", she paused, knowing how to warm up to the other woman, "You are completely right. You go bang your disgusting boyfriend and I will talk to the guys", she nodded her head.
Erin laughed, knowing Dee was just agreeing with her so she wouldn't get into trouble. The girls sighed and decided to take matters into their own hands. They got Dennis into Dee's car and Dee drove him home. Leaving Erin to actually returning to her apartment for the night but Liam seemed to know this and was waiting for her out on the front steps when she'd pulled up to the curb. She got out and smiled.
"What are you doing out here?" She asked, half laughing.
He stood up and smiled, "Figured you wouldn't be up for a long night if you worked the bar", he said.
"The guys left Dennis drunk on the pool table", Erin told him.
Liam smiled and brushed a strained of hair out of her face. She smiled back and kissed him. Taking his hand, she led him inside the building. Dee hadn't actually taken Dennis home. She'd just followed Erin back to the apartment building. Parking just some odd spaces away. Using binoculars that she'd hidden in the glove compartment, Dee watched as Erin and Liam went inside together. She wasn't intentially spying on her but seemed like a good idea. Dennis stirred in the passenger seat.
"Dee what are you doing?" Dennis groaned, "Ughhh you stupid bitch! You ruined my plan!"
"Your plan?!" Dee squawked back, "Your plan was stupid! You ruined it yourself!" She sighed and tossed the stupid binoculars into the backseat, "Doesn't matter, Liam was sitting outside waiting for her".
Dennis sighed even more, "This was not how my night was supposed to go!"
"I'm sorry", Dee said, though not very sincerely in the least, "What fantasy world do you live in where tonight was supposed to end good for you?"
Dennis grumbled in response, feeling as though he was about to be sick. Dee huffed and told him not to vomit in her car as she drove him home. Inside, Erin had gone straight in the bathroom to brush her teeth since it smelled of booze from Dennis kissing her. She grabbed the mouth wash and gargled with it before spitting it out and rinsing her mouth again. She went into the living room and grabbed the remote to the DVD player and plopped down next to Liam on the couch. His arm around her shoulders. He leaned over and nibbled on her earlobe, making her playfully kiss him back as she laughed.
A couple of days later, Erin and Charlie were sitting at the bar. Frank was sitting in front of the TV, commenting about how stupid and bullshit the news was and they were lying about the economy. The other two just shook their heads, mostly ignoring his rants. Erin was playing "words with friends" on her phone, Charlie glancing over her shoulder, watching in interest.
"You are very good at this game", Charlie said in amazement.
Erin laughed, looking at him. He was like a cute puppy sometimes. Dee came into the bar a second later, carrying a latte and the newspaper. She came around the bar, standing opposite the other two. She leaned over, watching the redhead's phone.
"Words with friends huh? You are ya playing with?" the blonde wanted to know.
"Ryan. He thinks he can beat Liam's score", Erin told her, "He doesn't know I let Liam win last time".
"You had ten more points than him and you let him win?" Charlie asked her.
"Yep", Erin nodded, emphasizing the "p" as she spoke, giving it a popping sound.
Dee shook her head, "So, what are you doing tonight?" she asked her.
"Just hanging out with Frank and Charlie, why?" Erin wanted to know.
"Cause, this girl right here, got a date", Dee pointed herself, "And I was wondering if you wanted to...I don't know...go on a double date with me?"
Erin looked up from her phone and raised her eyebrows, "Dee, the last time I went on a double date with you to help you out was back in college and Charlie clung to me the entire time we were on that bus because my car got towed".
"There were hobos on that bus!" Charlie told her, "They could'a murdered us or raped us or slit our throats and it was dirty and-"
"Charlie for the thousandth time, they were not hobos", Erin looked at him, "They were Mexican's and we got on the wrong bus", she paused waving her hands, "I am not calling Ryan at four in the morning again", she added, "he and Liam carried baseball bats with them for a week after that".
Dee made a 'huh' face, "Oh yeah, I remember that", she nodded her head, "Well...I was kinda thinking more...", she shrugged, playing with her hands,"Dennis?"
Erin, who had gone back to playing her game and Charlie pointing things on the screen, looked up, eyebrows nearly disappearing into her red hair, "Run that by me again?"
"I told Dennis I had this new boyfriend and he said he would help only if you helped too", Dee shrugged.
"When were you going to bring this up?" The other female asked.
"I was gonna tell you yesterday but you had Liam's tongue shoved so far down your throat, I couldn't tell if you were going to be able to breathe without oxygen", the blond threw up her hands.
"How did you know I was with Liam yesterday? I was at home all day yesterday", Erin scrunched her face.
"I may have broken into your apartment while you were giving Liam a blow job because I was out of nail polish", Dee tried to look apologetic.
Charlie's face looked past uncomfortable at this point and Erin just put her hand to her forehead. Her fingers rubbing her temple. She sighed and looked at her friend. But Dee made another face.
"Please don't make me beg. I hate begging", Dee told her.
Erin caved after a few minutes, "Fine. But I'm doing this because you asked", she then returned to playing on her phone.
Dee took a sip of her latte, "I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" She was talking to herself.
Charlie nodded, not really knowing she was talking to herself, "Yeah, you're gonna regret this", he answered.
"Shut up Charlie", the blond told him and went to sit away from them at the end of the bar.
And THAT is the end of Chapter 4.
Dee is going to regret teaming up Erin and Dennis. She really is. If you think Erin & Dennis fighting is worse, you're wrong. They're just as bad when they get along. Pretty sure this is still not going to end well for everyone...more so Dee's new boyfriend. LOL.
