AN: Sorry but I'm in a rush here so I forget who said what and I don't have
time to go back and look it up right now, just want to put up the updates
quickly here. So I'm gonna address some things in general :) Torrie was
sincere. This story started out pretty Mary Sue and a lot of her
personality quirks are my own. One of them is that we don't apologise
unless we mean it. As such it's very rare to hear either of us say sorry
and if we do you can believe it's because we really feel that way. I guess
I should have put the stuff about the fight into less chapters but the
thing is I wrote it all in one sitting then haven't had time to write on
this story since. So if it wasn't for this I wouldn't be updating this
story at all and it could be some time before I can again because this is
the end of the stuff I have prewritten and I have some huge tests on auto
electric stuff and my final ratings and starting my summer job. I mean I
only have like three weeks of school left and that means I have all these
exams to study for and write plus my 7 isn't finished yet so I'm one busy
little college girl. Anyway, I promise this is the end of the stuff I wrote
about the fight and I'm going to start to pull them all back together now.
Or I will as soon as I get another chance to write. Thanks for all the
wonderful feedback though people. I really do appreciate it. Peace,
Tempest.
Chapter 78 – Thinking to do
"Did she look kinda green to anyone else?" Letty asked.
"Yeah, she didn't look good." Mia admitted.
"Letty, you need to start minding your own business." Vince wasn't ready to let it go.
"Like you did when Dom would tell you he'd cheated on me and you'd let him and then never mention it to me? Do you know he told me all about it one night when we had a big fight and we both had too much to drink? How he'd do it, then tell you because he likely felt guilty and had to tell someone and then you and he would either talk about it, or laugh and act like it was such a great thing to be big playa's. Was that minding your own business Vince?" Letty pulled out old dirt. She'd gotten herself into such a state she couldn't calm down.
Vince turned white.
"You know about that? Dom told you?"
"I knew about it a long time ago. Dom told me years ago. So yeah I knew."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"What would I have said? Why do you think I stopped telling you stuff, why I stopped confiding in you?"
"God Letty. I'm sorry. I was just a stupid kid when I did that shit."
Mia's jaw had dropped when Letty had made that revelation and it didn't get better when she heard Vince admit to it all.
"Just try to remember it's not like Torrie's the only one who ever did something stupid and go easy on her. It's not like she doesn't know she was wrong or she doesn't have remorse ok?"
"I get it Letty. I get it now. But I really do need to talk to her in private and I better check on her anyway. She really didn't look good."
"Remember what I said Vince."
"Wha?" Vince paused with one foot on the bottom stair and faced Letty again.
"You hurt her and I'll hurt you. That's a promise." Letty looked deathly serious. She didn't know why she'd taken to Torrie but she had. It might have had something to do with seeing herself in Torrie. She saw Torrie as being the way she'd been when she was younger. She knew they were almost the same age but Torrie'd lead a sheltered life and it hadn't forced her to get older then her years the way it had Letty. But Letty knew she'd fight Vince off her new friend ferociously if she had to.
"I won't fight with her anymore Letty. I just need to talk."
"Yeah, well you better keep what I said in mind, got it?"
Vince nodded angrily at the constant reminders of things he'd said he understood.
"If she's not ok let me know ok?" Mia added.
"Yeah." Vince was on his way up the stairs. He went to the closed door of Dom and Torrie's room and knocked.
She didn't reply.
He knocked again.
He still didn't get an answer. He opened the door of the room and peaked in. The lights were on but Torrie wasn't in the room. He noticed the closed bathroom door.
He walked up to the bathroom door and knocked on it.
"Torrie? Are you ok?"
He didn't get an answer so he tried the knob. It opened and Torrie was sitting on the floor with her back against the wall. There were trails from tears down her cheeks but her eyes were closed. She didn't look very comfortable or happy.
"Torrie?"
"Um?" Came her answer.
"You ok?" Vince crouched on his haunches in front of her.
"I don't think so. I don't think my supper is sitting too good and I have a splitting headache."
"You gonna sit in the bathroom all night?" Vince asked. He was still upset with Torrie but he was trying not to let it show.
"I don't know yet. Depends on how the next few minutes go." Torrie sighed and opened her eyes. She closed them quickly when the bathroom light that Vince had turned on filled them and hurt her head.
"What's that mean?" Vince asked, thinking it meant depending on how their talk went.
"I mean if I get sick now then I'll leave and if I don't then I'll stay till the feeling that I need to be sick goes away."
"You just got nauseous out of the blue like that?"
"Yeah. I hope I didn't get food poisoning."
"Maybe you just made yourself sick worrying while we all argued."
"Maybe, but either way I'm about to be sick."
Torrie thought with irony that she sure had been sick in front of Vince a lot lately. She also thought that maybe her illness at that point tied back to the fact that she hadn't really let her stomach recover from all the booze she'd consumed the night before.
When she was done she dragged herself to her room, refusing Vince's offer of help out of principle and flopped back on her bed. "Kill me now." She moaned out, more to herself then anyone else.
She was sick, upset, tired, and weary. She was also still very unsure of her position with Vince and she really didn't want to be alone with him at all. But she also didn't want to send him away rudely so she figured she'd put up with his company for awhile. She pulled her knees to her chest as she rolled onto her side, facing away from Vince and wrapping her arms around her now tucked up legs.
"What if we talk instead?" Vince asked as he sat on the side of the bed opposite from where Torrie had dropped herself.
He wanted to settle things. Some things he didn't think would wait. He hated being mad at Torrie but he still was. He was glad she knew she'd been in the wrong in a lot of ways but he just didn't know if she was really sorry for it all. He was glad she hadn't taken Dom's easy way out, but he felt betrayed by the fact that she'd whined to Dom about what had gone on. He saw it as a betrayal. Like they couldn't work their own issues out between them.
"Do we have to?" She whined. "I said I was sorry and I really mean it. Do you think I could just lay here and contemplate my death in piece?"
"What if you lie there and just listen to what I have to say? You don't have to do anything else if you don't want to."
"Do I have any chance of getting you to go away and talk to me about whatever tomorrow?"
"Not really."
"Then talk away." Torrie sighed and put an arm over her eyes and tried to concentrate on Vince's voice instead of the pain in her head.
"What you tried to do last night really hurt me Torrie. I mean that. It wasn't fair of you to try and use me to get back at Dom and Chris. It really wasn't right of you."
"I told you I got that Vince. I don't know what more you want me to say."
"I just want you to know it really hurt. I know where you were coming from, but you and I are supposed to be really good friends. Did you not consider how much it would hurt me if Dom found out we'd done anything if we ever did? I mean he's my best friend Torrie. I've known him since grade school. And we both would have lost him over it. Would it have been worth getting back at him and Chris if we lost everyone else over it?"
"Of course not. I was really drunk. I know it was wrong. I know it would have been the most stupid thing I ever did in my whole life. I'm quite glad you were smart enough to make sure it didn't happen. And thanks for taking care of me anyway when we got home."
"I was so worried about you girl. You had some sort of breakdown right in front of me. I never would have thought it would be terrifying to watch someone laugh and cry at the same time."
"I don't hate you." Torrie murmured as the pills she didn't tell Vince she'd taken started to kick in.
"I know you don't. And I don't hate you either." Vince though for a second. "You know I think I was so angry because I thought about it. I wanted what you were offering for a few seconds at least and it pissed me off. At myself and at you for offering me in the first place."
"You don't think I'm ugly?" Torrie rolled back onto her back and looked at Vince for the first time. Her eyes had trouble focusing and she blinked a few times as she tried to focus on something other then the end of her own nose.
"No. What made you think that?"
"When you said it wasn't like it was hard to turn down what you figured I was offering."
"I said that to hurt you because I was mad. I'm sorry I said it."
"Don't be. I had it coming." Torrie started to slur her words.
"What's wrong with you?" Vince asked in concern, turning to look at Torrie's face more fully.
"Nothing." Torrie followed her statement with more rapid blinking in an attempt to focus on Vince.
"Don't feed me that line Torrie. What's wrong with you?"
"I took one of those pills Dom got for me when I had the flu. I needed something to settle my stomach and help my headache and it was all we had that claimed to do both."
"But they mess you up. Remember? How you couldn't think straight and had bad dreams and couldn't stay awake?"
"Yeah, but it was better then feeling as sick as I did before. But I think I'm going to pass out soon so you'd better say anything you want to quick. Otherwise we can talk more tomorrow if you want."
"Ok." Vince said and got up to leave the room. He couldn't resist the urge he had to brush her cheek with his knuckles as he stood up. He might be mad, and confused about some things, but Torrie was still like his little sister in a lot of ways and he hated to see her miserable.
Vince headed back down to the living room and found Mia and Torrie sitting there talking. The conversation stopped when he entered the room. Both girls looked up at him.
"She said she wasn't feeling well and then she was sick." Vince answered their unspoken questions.
"Is she ok?" Letty asked as she stood up off the couch.
"I think so but she took one of those pills that put her in a total daze till it wears off to settle her stomach and help with her headache. She was asleep before I left the room. She never could stomach much after she got wasted and it seemed to me like she just pushed herself too hard today after her wild night last night. She'll likely be fine when she wakes up in the morning tomorrow."
"She'll never sleep all night long." Mia said, looking at Vince. "It's only 9pm."
"She might. I don't like how that medicine affects her but she'd already taken it when I got up to her room."
"You didn't say anything to her did you? You didn't make her cry or anything?" Letty growled at Vince.
"No Letty. I'm still pissed as hell but I guess I know she's not the only one who ever fucked up. Plus, it's hard to yell at anyone you just watched throw up and try not to cry about it in front of you."
"Good. Someone should check on her every once in awhile." Letty added.
"I might go sit with her for awhile." Mia said, starting to feel guilty about how nasty she perceived she'd been when they'd been grilling Torrie earlier.
"There's no need of that Mia. She's just going to sleep." Letty said to her friend.
"I know. I just think I'd like to watch her for a while." Mia stood up.
"You don't have to feel bad about what happened Mi."
It was like Vince read her mind. He knew Mia quite well, maybe better then she'd even think, and he knew how her mind worked. She'd had every right to be angry but that didn't mean she was pleased that she'd had to show her anger. She was likely still upset about having yelled at Torrie. Even if Torrie had deserved it.
"I know I don't, and I don't. But I still worry when she does stuff like this."
"Go sit in her room with her if you want to Mia, but you're not really going to be able to do much for her."
"I know." Mia said and headed up the stairs.
"She's too soft for her own good." Letty said on a sigh.
"I thought you thought we went too hard on Torrie." Vince half snarled. He was still sort of pissed at Letty too.
"I sorta did think you were too hard on her. But that was mostly you. I didn't really see Mia say that much to be sorry for. You know you totally pissed Dom off tonight right?"
"I didn't do anything to piss Dom off."
"He will be when he hears what you said to Torrie."
"How will he hear that?"
"You don't think he's gonna ask Torrie how her 'fight' with you went when he gets back?"
"Well, maybe Torrie better tone down what was said the same way I'm gonna have to tone down what she tried to do with me and those other guys." Vince threatened.
"Oh, and will you tone down the way you spent the night in her room and Mia found the two of you curled up together the next morning? Will you tone down how close you came to taking her up on her offer? She's not the only one with issues or the only one who almost went to far." Vince went to open his mouth to reply but Letty cut him off. "I can see it in your eyes that you almost got with her Vince. It's all over your face the way you look at her. And don't give me any shit about how you're a guy and you're bound to want to screw anything that gives you the opportunity. Its bullshit and I know it."
Vince sighed.
"I have nothing to say to that. I will make sure that Dom never knows what went on for my part of things. I'll also hope that Torrie is fair in what she tells him about the discussion we just had about what went on."
"Ok. It'll all work out if everyone has just made up before Dom comes back."
"I sure hope so." Vince said and then walked out the front door.
He wanted to be alone, and the best place for that was in his car on a fast drive.
He had a lot to think about. He had some decisions to make about how he felt about Chris. He realized he'd left the other girl hanging while he played at being single and at being her boyfriend all at once and that wasn't fair.
Chapter 78 – Thinking to do
"Did she look kinda green to anyone else?" Letty asked.
"Yeah, she didn't look good." Mia admitted.
"Letty, you need to start minding your own business." Vince wasn't ready to let it go.
"Like you did when Dom would tell you he'd cheated on me and you'd let him and then never mention it to me? Do you know he told me all about it one night when we had a big fight and we both had too much to drink? How he'd do it, then tell you because he likely felt guilty and had to tell someone and then you and he would either talk about it, or laugh and act like it was such a great thing to be big playa's. Was that minding your own business Vince?" Letty pulled out old dirt. She'd gotten herself into such a state she couldn't calm down.
Vince turned white.
"You know about that? Dom told you?"
"I knew about it a long time ago. Dom told me years ago. So yeah I knew."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"What would I have said? Why do you think I stopped telling you stuff, why I stopped confiding in you?"
"God Letty. I'm sorry. I was just a stupid kid when I did that shit."
Mia's jaw had dropped when Letty had made that revelation and it didn't get better when she heard Vince admit to it all.
"Just try to remember it's not like Torrie's the only one who ever did something stupid and go easy on her. It's not like she doesn't know she was wrong or she doesn't have remorse ok?"
"I get it Letty. I get it now. But I really do need to talk to her in private and I better check on her anyway. She really didn't look good."
"Remember what I said Vince."
"Wha?" Vince paused with one foot on the bottom stair and faced Letty again.
"You hurt her and I'll hurt you. That's a promise." Letty looked deathly serious. She didn't know why she'd taken to Torrie but she had. It might have had something to do with seeing herself in Torrie. She saw Torrie as being the way she'd been when she was younger. She knew they were almost the same age but Torrie'd lead a sheltered life and it hadn't forced her to get older then her years the way it had Letty. But Letty knew she'd fight Vince off her new friend ferociously if she had to.
"I won't fight with her anymore Letty. I just need to talk."
"Yeah, well you better keep what I said in mind, got it?"
Vince nodded angrily at the constant reminders of things he'd said he understood.
"If she's not ok let me know ok?" Mia added.
"Yeah." Vince was on his way up the stairs. He went to the closed door of Dom and Torrie's room and knocked.
She didn't reply.
He knocked again.
He still didn't get an answer. He opened the door of the room and peaked in. The lights were on but Torrie wasn't in the room. He noticed the closed bathroom door.
He walked up to the bathroom door and knocked on it.
"Torrie? Are you ok?"
He didn't get an answer so he tried the knob. It opened and Torrie was sitting on the floor with her back against the wall. There were trails from tears down her cheeks but her eyes were closed. She didn't look very comfortable or happy.
"Torrie?"
"Um?" Came her answer.
"You ok?" Vince crouched on his haunches in front of her.
"I don't think so. I don't think my supper is sitting too good and I have a splitting headache."
"You gonna sit in the bathroom all night?" Vince asked. He was still upset with Torrie but he was trying not to let it show.
"I don't know yet. Depends on how the next few minutes go." Torrie sighed and opened her eyes. She closed them quickly when the bathroom light that Vince had turned on filled them and hurt her head.
"What's that mean?" Vince asked, thinking it meant depending on how their talk went.
"I mean if I get sick now then I'll leave and if I don't then I'll stay till the feeling that I need to be sick goes away."
"You just got nauseous out of the blue like that?"
"Yeah. I hope I didn't get food poisoning."
"Maybe you just made yourself sick worrying while we all argued."
"Maybe, but either way I'm about to be sick."
Torrie thought with irony that she sure had been sick in front of Vince a lot lately. She also thought that maybe her illness at that point tied back to the fact that she hadn't really let her stomach recover from all the booze she'd consumed the night before.
When she was done she dragged herself to her room, refusing Vince's offer of help out of principle and flopped back on her bed. "Kill me now." She moaned out, more to herself then anyone else.
She was sick, upset, tired, and weary. She was also still very unsure of her position with Vince and she really didn't want to be alone with him at all. But she also didn't want to send him away rudely so she figured she'd put up with his company for awhile. She pulled her knees to her chest as she rolled onto her side, facing away from Vince and wrapping her arms around her now tucked up legs.
"What if we talk instead?" Vince asked as he sat on the side of the bed opposite from where Torrie had dropped herself.
He wanted to settle things. Some things he didn't think would wait. He hated being mad at Torrie but he still was. He was glad she knew she'd been in the wrong in a lot of ways but he just didn't know if she was really sorry for it all. He was glad she hadn't taken Dom's easy way out, but he felt betrayed by the fact that she'd whined to Dom about what had gone on. He saw it as a betrayal. Like they couldn't work their own issues out between them.
"Do we have to?" She whined. "I said I was sorry and I really mean it. Do you think I could just lay here and contemplate my death in piece?"
"What if you lie there and just listen to what I have to say? You don't have to do anything else if you don't want to."
"Do I have any chance of getting you to go away and talk to me about whatever tomorrow?"
"Not really."
"Then talk away." Torrie sighed and put an arm over her eyes and tried to concentrate on Vince's voice instead of the pain in her head.
"What you tried to do last night really hurt me Torrie. I mean that. It wasn't fair of you to try and use me to get back at Dom and Chris. It really wasn't right of you."
"I told you I got that Vince. I don't know what more you want me to say."
"I just want you to know it really hurt. I know where you were coming from, but you and I are supposed to be really good friends. Did you not consider how much it would hurt me if Dom found out we'd done anything if we ever did? I mean he's my best friend Torrie. I've known him since grade school. And we both would have lost him over it. Would it have been worth getting back at him and Chris if we lost everyone else over it?"
"Of course not. I was really drunk. I know it was wrong. I know it would have been the most stupid thing I ever did in my whole life. I'm quite glad you were smart enough to make sure it didn't happen. And thanks for taking care of me anyway when we got home."
"I was so worried about you girl. You had some sort of breakdown right in front of me. I never would have thought it would be terrifying to watch someone laugh and cry at the same time."
"I don't hate you." Torrie murmured as the pills she didn't tell Vince she'd taken started to kick in.
"I know you don't. And I don't hate you either." Vince though for a second. "You know I think I was so angry because I thought about it. I wanted what you were offering for a few seconds at least and it pissed me off. At myself and at you for offering me in the first place."
"You don't think I'm ugly?" Torrie rolled back onto her back and looked at Vince for the first time. Her eyes had trouble focusing and she blinked a few times as she tried to focus on something other then the end of her own nose.
"No. What made you think that?"
"When you said it wasn't like it was hard to turn down what you figured I was offering."
"I said that to hurt you because I was mad. I'm sorry I said it."
"Don't be. I had it coming." Torrie started to slur her words.
"What's wrong with you?" Vince asked in concern, turning to look at Torrie's face more fully.
"Nothing." Torrie followed her statement with more rapid blinking in an attempt to focus on Vince.
"Don't feed me that line Torrie. What's wrong with you?"
"I took one of those pills Dom got for me when I had the flu. I needed something to settle my stomach and help my headache and it was all we had that claimed to do both."
"But they mess you up. Remember? How you couldn't think straight and had bad dreams and couldn't stay awake?"
"Yeah, but it was better then feeling as sick as I did before. But I think I'm going to pass out soon so you'd better say anything you want to quick. Otherwise we can talk more tomorrow if you want."
"Ok." Vince said and got up to leave the room. He couldn't resist the urge he had to brush her cheek with his knuckles as he stood up. He might be mad, and confused about some things, but Torrie was still like his little sister in a lot of ways and he hated to see her miserable.
Vince headed back down to the living room and found Mia and Torrie sitting there talking. The conversation stopped when he entered the room. Both girls looked up at him.
"She said she wasn't feeling well and then she was sick." Vince answered their unspoken questions.
"Is she ok?" Letty asked as she stood up off the couch.
"I think so but she took one of those pills that put her in a total daze till it wears off to settle her stomach and help with her headache. She was asleep before I left the room. She never could stomach much after she got wasted and it seemed to me like she just pushed herself too hard today after her wild night last night. She'll likely be fine when she wakes up in the morning tomorrow."
"She'll never sleep all night long." Mia said, looking at Vince. "It's only 9pm."
"She might. I don't like how that medicine affects her but she'd already taken it when I got up to her room."
"You didn't say anything to her did you? You didn't make her cry or anything?" Letty growled at Vince.
"No Letty. I'm still pissed as hell but I guess I know she's not the only one who ever fucked up. Plus, it's hard to yell at anyone you just watched throw up and try not to cry about it in front of you."
"Good. Someone should check on her every once in awhile." Letty added.
"I might go sit with her for awhile." Mia said, starting to feel guilty about how nasty she perceived she'd been when they'd been grilling Torrie earlier.
"There's no need of that Mia. She's just going to sleep." Letty said to her friend.
"I know. I just think I'd like to watch her for a while." Mia stood up.
"You don't have to feel bad about what happened Mi."
It was like Vince read her mind. He knew Mia quite well, maybe better then she'd even think, and he knew how her mind worked. She'd had every right to be angry but that didn't mean she was pleased that she'd had to show her anger. She was likely still upset about having yelled at Torrie. Even if Torrie had deserved it.
"I know I don't, and I don't. But I still worry when she does stuff like this."
"Go sit in her room with her if you want to Mia, but you're not really going to be able to do much for her."
"I know." Mia said and headed up the stairs.
"She's too soft for her own good." Letty said on a sigh.
"I thought you thought we went too hard on Torrie." Vince half snarled. He was still sort of pissed at Letty too.
"I sorta did think you were too hard on her. But that was mostly you. I didn't really see Mia say that much to be sorry for. You know you totally pissed Dom off tonight right?"
"I didn't do anything to piss Dom off."
"He will be when he hears what you said to Torrie."
"How will he hear that?"
"You don't think he's gonna ask Torrie how her 'fight' with you went when he gets back?"
"Well, maybe Torrie better tone down what was said the same way I'm gonna have to tone down what she tried to do with me and those other guys." Vince threatened.
"Oh, and will you tone down the way you spent the night in her room and Mia found the two of you curled up together the next morning? Will you tone down how close you came to taking her up on her offer? She's not the only one with issues or the only one who almost went to far." Vince went to open his mouth to reply but Letty cut him off. "I can see it in your eyes that you almost got with her Vince. It's all over your face the way you look at her. And don't give me any shit about how you're a guy and you're bound to want to screw anything that gives you the opportunity. Its bullshit and I know it."
Vince sighed.
"I have nothing to say to that. I will make sure that Dom never knows what went on for my part of things. I'll also hope that Torrie is fair in what she tells him about the discussion we just had about what went on."
"Ok. It'll all work out if everyone has just made up before Dom comes back."
"I sure hope so." Vince said and then walked out the front door.
He wanted to be alone, and the best place for that was in his car on a fast drive.
He had a lot to think about. He had some decisions to make about how he felt about Chris. He realized he'd left the other girl hanging while he played at being single and at being her boyfriend all at once and that wasn't fair.