Chapter 7 Confrontations
As light starts to shine through the curtains, some residents of the Palm Woods are quick to wake up. But after a night out on the town, some have more trouble.
In apartment 2K one person wakes up in her bed, groaning as the light hits her eyes. She grabs a pillow and puts it over her head. It doesn't help much, because her pounding headache is only the start of her morning.
As soon as she starts to turn on her stomach, she realizes what a bad idea that was. She stumbles out of the bed as quick as she can, races to the bathroom to empty the contents of her stomach.
She groans again and rests her head on the lid, creating a somewhat cooling effect on the jackhammers residing in her brain.
She remembers going to a salsa club last night. She remembers swaying her hips to the music in the arms of her boyfriend. She remembers getting lost in the moment as both of them entwined and danced to the Latin dance beat. She remembers having a cocktail. Or two.
But she definitely doesn't remember ever leaving the club. Or heading home for that matter.
She lifts her head for a short moment as she tries to remember those final moments of that magical night. But as soon as her head starts to hurt even more, she can also feel her stomach turning again.
How did she get home? And how did she end up in bed, with her clothes on?
She doesn't have time to think much longer as she has to lean over the toilet once again.
Meanwhile…
In the apartment next door, one person is having the same problems. The loud sounds of his retching slowly wakes up the other residents. But while they would usually go and assist each other on such days, his friends feel he deserves the feeling of hell he is going through right now. Because even though he might not remember what happened last night, they all do.
James tries his best to ignore the sounds, but pretty soon he can't take it anymore and gets up. He wants to run over to the bathroom door and pound on it angrily, but decides against it. Because as much as he wants to torture his friend more, he's been hung-over himself and done stupid things. So instead, he grabs a glass of water, a couple of aspirins and gently knocks on the bathroom door.
"Logan?" He asks, trying to hide the annoyance in his voice. He hears some mumbling on the other side. "It's me, James. I'm coming in, okay?" He hears more mumbling and heads inside.
He sighs when he sees Logan sitting on the floor pathetically with his head on the lid of the toilet. There are large bangs under his eyes and he looks very pale.
"Wow, you look like crap." James announces as he leans down and hands Logan the glass and pills. He takes them gratefully and quickly downs the pills while drinking the water. James goes to sit on the edge of the bathtub as he silently watches his friend.
"Man, I have never felt this sick before." Logan groans.
"Yeah, that's what alcohol will do to ya." James muses.
"Is it normal for your hand to hurt as well?" Logan suddenly asks as he tries to stretch his fingers, wincing as he does so. James can't help but wince as well as he sees the blue edges on his knuckles.
"No, but punching one of your best friends might." James tells him nonchalantly and gets up again.
"Wait, what?" Logan asks as he gets a frown on his face.
James heads for the door, lingering for a moment as he looks back at Logan.
"Dude, you did a lot of totally uncool stuff last night. I mean, I know I've done some pretty stupid things when I got drunk. But that… That just beat everything by a mile." James tells him and shakes his head, before heading out.
"James, wait!" James sighs before poking his head inside for another minute.
"Look, I'd stay in here for a while if I were you." James tells him softly.
"That bad, huh?" Logan asks in a near whisper and looks at his hands.
"Yeah, pretty bad, Logan." James tells him in a disappointed tone and heads out, closing the door behind him with a soft click.
Logan groans and lets his head fall against the toilet in frustration. He groans even louder when his head pounds even more.
Logan decides to follow James' advice and waits inside the bathroom a while. He was expecting anyone to come in and shoo him out because they had to shower, get ready. But for some reason, no one even knocks on the door.
After a while he gets up to listen to the door when the room is filled with silence. He decides now is as good time as any and he slowly twists the door handle.
He peaks his head out first to see if anyone is inside. He sighs when he realizes the apartment is completely empty and walks out of the doorway.
He holds his head down low in shame, even though he still doesn't remember what happened. But just the look of disappointment in James' face was enough to tell him it must have been bad. And his bruised knuckles told him someone got hurt, one of his own friends even, according to James.
How did he screw up so badly? He didn't even want to go out. He knew something bad would happen. But in all honesty, he didn't expect himself to be the one to mess up. He never got drunk. But he remembers the first drink he took and he remembers he only drank it because he wanted to loosen up. The drinks came by pretty fast after that and suddenly everything was blank. He couldn't remember a single thing.
When did he punch someone? How did he even get home? No, wait. His friends probably took him home.
He walks over to the couch and lets himself sink into it. He meant to sit down, but decides lying down would be better. He rubs his hands over his face and groans.
"So stupid…" he mumbles into his hands and then suddenly registers the door opening.
He looks up and stares into Carlos' face. He smiles, because Carlos can always brighten anyone's day. And he could use some cheering up right now. But the smile fades when he seems the angry and disappointed look appearing on his bubbly friend's face.
He frowns. "So, last night was some party, huh?" he laughs nervously, but Carlos just stares at him. His face now seems to show some disgust as well. "Look, I know. I screwed up. Me, the future doctor, Logan Mitchell got drunk. I know, I'm supposed to be the responsible one and I messed up." He says, nodding his own head while looking at his hands.
"You are unbelievable." Carlos' voice suddenly answers in distaste.
Logan looks up with another frown.
"What? What did I do? James said I did something bad, but I honestly can't remember. So, help me out here.." Logan asks with a small smile. But Carlos shakes his head in annoyance.
"I just came here to get my towel." Carlos tells him softly and walks out of the room. He comes back after a few seconds, towel in hand and is ready to head back out.
"Carlos, wait." Carlos stops for a moment, but doesn't look at him. Then, Logan's eyes widen as he studies Carlos' face. "Hey, who gave you that bruise?" He asks as he stares at his swollen right cheek, which is black and blue and looking very painful.
"God, Logan, you really did drink too much, didn't you?" Carlos laughs. But the laughter quickly dies down and Logan realizes it wasn't a joke of any kind. He just stares at his own bruised knuckles for a moment and it starts to dawn on him.
"Oh my god… I don't even remember that… why would I… why would I punch you?" He asks.
"Just forget it." Carlos tells him and he slowly starts to move again.
"Carlos…" Logan softly pleads.
"You know what? Don't talk to me for a few days okay? Don't even hang out with me; just stay away for a while. I need some time." His hurt voice replies and he finally heads out the door, closing it with a soft click.
Logan watches him go with sad eyes.
"What the hell did I do?" he whispers to himself and he lets himself fall back into the couch once again.
Carlos heads back to the pool, towel in hand and face into an angry scowl. He doesn't even notice how hard he is clutching the towel, until his friends stare with raised eyebrows. He looks down and suddenly sees how white his knuckles have turned and quickly releases the towel.
He sits down with a sigh in one of the lounge chairs and stares ahead. He tries to ignore the sympathetic gazes his friends are throwing him, but rolls his eyes when he finds he can't.
"Guys, I'm fine, alright? Quit looking at me like that." They quickly look away when they realize how much they've been staring.
"Sorry, bud. We're just worried about you, I guess." James gives him a small smile, but Carlos doesn't return it.
The guys just sit in silence for a moment, until suddenly Jo and Madison walk up to them.
"Hey guys." Jo announces as she gives Kendall a kiss on the cheek and Madison goes to sit in James' arms. The others try not to look surprised at how close the two have gotten in just a day, but it's hard to ignore.
"Hey, Carlos." Jo's voice sounds a lot more pitiful now and Carlos rolls his eyes again. "How are you?" Both girls wince when they get a sight of Carlos' cheekbone.
"God, why do you all need to keep asking me that? I'm fine. I should have stayed with Logan. At least he doesn't even remember last night." The others all look down uncomfortably at that. "Oh come on, guys. You know, whenever you get sad, I try to get you mind off of it. So why can't you at least try to do the same for me?"
Kendall sighs. "You know what? You're right, Carlitos. How about tonight we're going to have a guy's night, huh? Just movies, dome-hockey and whatever else you want to do. What do you say?" He offers with a smile.
"With or without Logan?" Carlos asks him. Kendall's smile fades again.
"Uh, well, that's up to you of course. I mean, I was thinking without him, but if you want him there…" Kendall trails off uncertainly.
Carlos takes a deep breath. "You know, maybe tonight isn't such a good idea. I uh… I think I'm just going to walk around the park for a few hours. To clear my head or something." He softly tells them before getting up and leaving his towel and helmet behind.
"But Carlos…" James starts, but he already walks away. James watches him with concerned eyes as his shoulders hunch. "Man, we are really lousy friends." He says, Kendall nods in agreement.
"How does he do it? I mean, he's right. Whenever one of us is sad, he figures out a way to make us laugh or at least smile. Why can't we do that?" Kendall whines a little.
Meanwhile, Carlos is on his way to the park, when a familiar voice suddenly sounds very close next to him.
"Carlos, there you are!" Sarah calls out to him and walks over. He doesn't have time to do anything as she pulls him into a hug. She lets go and frowns as he didn't hug her back. He just tries to look anywhere but at her, making her confused. "Carlos, what's wrong?"
"How's your hangover?" He asks her in a cold voice.
"I had some coffee, so it's slowly wearing off. Wow, some night, huh? I don't even remember getting home." She laughs, but it fades when he suddenly turns around and starts to walk away. She catches his arm and pulls him back towards her.
"What?" He asks her and now she notices the anger and hurt in his eyes. Not to mention the black and blue cheekbone. Her hand moves up slightly and almost touches it, but he flinches and pulls away. "Don't."
"What happened to your cheek?" She asks in concern and even more pain flashes through his eyes.
"Not really sure. Why don't you tell me?" He tells her and she can see how he is balling his fists.
"What do you mean?" Then, she gasps. "Oh no, don't tell me I did that." She tells him, looking even more worried.
He sighs and looks down for a moment, before bringing his eyes back up to land on her. "No, you didn't. Logan did. Although, he did do it for you. I think." He says, looking a little confused as he ponders on what happened.
"Huh?" She asks in confusion.
Carlos suddenly smiles a little. "Yeah, you know what? It doesn't really matter. I'm just glad I got to know you so much better last night. Yeah, I'm upset, but at least we weren't together for too long, right?" He moves to turn around again and she grabs his arm again.
"Wait. What are you talking about?" She asks and nearly gasps at how much pain shines through in his eyes now.
"Do you remember anything of last night? Anything you did or said?" He asks her. She tries to think.
"Well, I remember dancing with you. By the way, amazing salsa moves. I knew you'd be great at that. Swaying your hips and everything." She smiles slyly. But it fades when he doesn't look the least bit amused. "Uh, I drank a cocktail and then I'm not really sure. It gets a little fuzzy."
He nods for a moment. "Yeah, then I totally get why you're confused." She frowns. "Look, last night I saw a whole other side of you. And to be honest, I don't think I want to even be friends with that person." She nearly gasps and her heart starts to beat faster. What happened?
"You know, I told you I didn't like alcohol, because I know what I can do to people. I've seen it firsthand. And last night… last night I got even more proof." He chuckles a little and shakes his head as he keeps his head down. But when he looks up, she's surprised to see tears welling up in his eyes.
"Carlos…" She starts and holds out her hand to touch him. He moves away immediately.
"No, don't… I just… I really thought I could do this. I thought I could tell you it was over and walk away. But now that you're actually here and you smell like strawberries and I can't…" his voice cracks a little. She moves up a hand to her mouth, feeling like crying herself as he swallows and tries to talk again. "I just can't do this… You really hurt me last night, Sarah. I mean, I love you and I thought you loved me. I thought you were that girl, you know? The one who finally loved me back the way I loved her. The one who I could be myself around and who didn't walk all over me. And then last night you just threw everything away, just like that. I really thought you didn't care the sex. I thought you didn't mind me wanting to wait, but you made it pretty clear that I was wrong last night…" He rambles on while Sarah tries to process what he's saying.
"Carlos, wait, wait a minute… What are you talking about? I-I don't care about that. Yes, it drives me crazy, because I want to jump you every time I see you. But I also love how you want to wait, so it can be special for both of us." She tells him quietly, her voice breaking up as much as his.
"that is not what you said last night. You were pretty clear then while you tried to assault me in the men's bathroom." He tells her and she gasps and puts a hand on her head.
"Oh my god…" she shakes her head as her eyes fill with more tears, ready to spill.
"And that was before you told me you were sick and tired of waiting for me and just walked out. And that would be the moment before I caught you making out with Logan of all people on the dance floor." She gasps loudly in shock.
"No… Stop it…"
"Don't worry. That was after I already caught you grinding with him, so you already had foreplay." No more tears dare to spill as Carlos just feels more and more anger building up.
"Oh god…" But Sarah's tears are already coming down, softly pleading Carlos to stop as she finally understands what happened.
"And here I thought he was the one I could trust. Even with alcohol I thought he would be responsible. But no, not only did he throw away his relationship with Camille, he wanted to break us up, too. And he has the nerve to punch me!" Carlos' voice is getting louder and louder as he tells Sarah everything that's been on his mind since last night's events. His voice is so loud even; it has caught the attention of everyone at the Palm Woods and soon his friends as well.
"What's with the yelling?" Kendall asks as they push through the wide-eyed whispering teens standing near Palm Woods park. As soon as they see Carlos completely with red face and Sarah quietly sobbing, they get the commotion.
"Oh no…" James murmurs as he and Kendall share a look.
"I can't believe I actually fell for all of this. Exactly what am I to you? Just someone you can jump on as soon as he lets you? Is it fun for you to mess with my head?"
"What is going on?" Logan's tired voice sounds suddenly from beside them.
"Oh that is just perfect. Just perfect." Carlos exclaims as he waves a hand over Logan. "Why don't you just start making out again and make this my perfect day ever!" he screams out the last part and Logan looks at him in confusion and than to Sarah, who is standing in her spot trembling.
"Sarah, are you okay?" he quietly asks her and he puts an arm around her.
"And there we go." Carlos exclaims again. "Now how does that feel, Logan? Or maybe you should get closer. Because you're not going to be able to stick your tongue down her throat from that distance!" he spats and Logan opens his mouth in shock.
"Okay, buddy. I think that's quite enough." Kendall announces as he grabs Carlos shoulders and goes to steer him away from the shocked Logan and sobbing mess Sarah.
"Did you see that? He just put his arm around her like he doesn't know what he did last night." Carlos exclaims. Kendall looks him over in concern. He is breathing hard and his hands are balled into fists as he moves from foot to foot.
"Well, for one thing; he doesn't remember what happened and neither does she. Secondly, you really need to calm down, dude. You don't want to punch him." Kendall tells his young friend as he tries to calm him down.
"I can't calm down, Kendall. Just look at them, all close against each other. Oh, look at that, now she's in his arms, crying. Just freaking perfect!"
"Dude, stop looking at them." James suddenly announces beside Kendall. Carlos still looks at them. "Carlos, look at me. Carlos?" Carlos moves his head up to meet James' eyes. "Just focus on me, okay?" Carlos closes his eyes for a moment and opens them again. He tries to slow down his breathing while James tries to breathe with him. "In through the nose, out through the mouth." He coaches and Carlos follows his movements.
"This is just really hard. I thought it would be easy, you know? I was so angry, I thought I could just tell her to go away, but I can't.. I just can't…" His voice grows softer as it begins to break. James and Kendall's eyes grow worried as their friend starts to break down in front of them.
"Come here, buddy." Kendall softly tells him and pulls him into a hug. For a moment Carlos doesn't react, but within seconds, he moves his arms around Kendall's torso and starts to sob into his chest.
James takes up the job of clearing out the crowd surround them.
"Come on, people. Nothing to see here." The crowd quickly shatters, especially when James shoots some people a threatening look as they linger. When everyone is gone, he slowly makes his way over to Logan, who is still trying to soothe Sarah. "I think you guys should leave, too." He suggests and Logan looks up in shock.
"What. Us? Why?"
"Because you caused this, Logan. Again, you may not remember, but we do, especially Carlos. If you really want to know, you can ask Sarah, since Carlos pretty much filled her in on the details." He says as he crosses his arms over his chest. Logan looks into his eyes.
"You're serious. You really want me to leave." He says.
"Look, Logan. Don't make this any more difficult that it already is." James says, looking away from Logan now.
"I can't believe this." Logan exclaims. "I don't even remember last night, but whatever I did, I'm sorry. Carlos, I'm sorry." Logan exclaims, but is surprised to find James slightly pushing him away. He frowns a little, but then looks down.
"Okay, fine. If that's how you want to settle this." He becomes a little angry as everyone tried to avoid his gaze. "Come on, Sarah. We know when we're not wanted." He puts an arm around the sniffling girl and together they walk off.
James turns around to find Carlos sadly staring after them and Jo and Madison both now soothingly rubbing his arms as he sniffles as well. He shoots a look towards Kendall and realizes he looks just as concerned about this situation. He didn't want to send Logan away like that. But right now, Carlos needed them and Logan and Sarah being there did not help his broken heart.
A/N Yeah, I'm really sorry about this chapter. I'm not even sure why I started this drama with the alcohol. This story was not meant to be about drama at all. But now I wrote it and now I have to get them back together. Because seriously, I like the Latino fire thing and it has to come back. So, anyone any ideas?
Again I apologize for this awful chapter and hope you don't kill me.
Until next time!
Love, Baxxie
