Alrighty, so! Let's see what these two are up to.
El's POV
Where the hell is that kid?
Now, more than I had all night, was I beginning to regret this plan. I knew I should have just driven off and away once I made it to Mike's house. But I also knew it would be an interesting night, and damn it, I was curious to see just how much.
And now, he's lost. I don't even know how this happened. It's not like Axl and Dottie's place is that big.
I directed him to the bathroom when he asked where it was. I didn't think he was lying about it since by then he had a couple of shots in him and I sure as hell don't know when the last time he went to the bathroom was. I told him I'd be waiting in the kitchen and that was about an hour ago. I hadn't realized how quickly time passed since a couple of people stopped by and we would chat for a bit. But one I glanced up at the time on the stove, I knew something was wrong.
So without wanting to feel like I was looking for my lost kid in the supermarket, I set out to find him.
It wasn't like there were so many places he could be. It's also good that he doesn't know anyone because, really, what are the odds that someone Mike knows, let alone his friends, would be here? Just like Mike, this doesn't really seem to be their scene.
It's safe to assume Mike was with his friends last night for his actual birthday. I don't really want to think about how they celebrated both because it's not my business and also, I imagine it's probably the most boring thing ever. Maybe something like a Star Wars movie marathon or some special edition of that board game he mentioned earlier. Curiosity almost got the better of me in the car and I asked. But since I couldn't guarantee my reaction and I didn't want to make him nervous or insecure for what I figured was his first party, I decided not to. Apart from the recent act of getting lost, I'd say things were going well.
He, as I expected, was home and didn't have any plans for a Saturday night. Noticing he was in pajamas, I did think he probably wouldn't want to and was just going to turn in early. Thankfully, he was up to it and seeing as that was the hardest part, I thought everything would be smooth sailing. It wasn't even as hard as I thought it would be to get him to drink. But now it seemed, that was the exact reason for my problem.
However, a quick search of the basement answered the question of where Mike went.
There, standing on one end of the table pushed to the far back, his curly head bopping a little too hard to the current AC/DC song that was playing, was my tutor and the smartest guy I know.
I carefully stepped towards him because whatever was going on, I kind of didn't want to interrupt it.
"Hey Mike," I spoke loud enough to be heard over the music. It caught his attention too since he turned to me, no longer focused on throwing the ball he was holding into a cup on the other side of the table.
"El, hey! What's up?" I have never, despite the short amount of time I've known him, heard him sound so calmly confident.
"I was looking for you. You kind of escaped from me back there."
As Mike was opening up his mouth to speak, someone across the way beat him to it.
"'Ey, you going to shoot or what?" asked one of Mike's beer pong opponents.
"He's taking a break!" I answered for him as I put the weightless ball down on the table and pulled him away. "You okay?" As we got closer, I could easily smell the alcohol on his breath and could only imagine how many drinks he had.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm good," he replied in a way that was so unlike himself.
"Hmm," I hummed, thinking he probably wasn't. "Where'd you run off to, huh? I thought you were going to the bathroom." I didn't intend for it to sound the way it came out, like an interrogation after arresting him. Hopefully, he didn't see it that way.
"I was- I mean, I did. I went looking for you and couldn't find you. And then these guys came up to me and I guess they knew who I was and gave me this cup full of like a lot more of what you gave me. Then we came down here and started playing. I think this is like the third game," he ended sheepishly and out of breath, while pushing up his glasses. With all his slurring and chopping up off words, I could barely piece together what he said.
"Okay," I replied with a slow nod, so he got that I more or less understood. "But you feel alright?" While this was all extremely amusing, it didn't really go as I had anticipated. The point of bringing Mike out tonight was both as a birthday gift and to see if he was able to loosen up and have some regular teenage fun. By losing him, anything that happened became out of my control. But from what I can see, things didn't turn out half bad.
"Yeah, all good," he used similar words that he had last time with an intense gaze that I hadn't seen him use before.
The look he gave me, with his dark framed eyes staring into my heavily eyelined ones, lured me in. I then trusted him when he said he was alright and strangely enough, I felt that he would make me feel alright too.
It was harder than I would like to admit to look away.
"So umm, do you want to head out?" I spoke, finally getting my breath back.
"Nah," he answered again in an uncharacteristic way. "We just got here." And with that, he turned and walked back to continue the beer pong game, leaving me surprised and practically paralyzed. After what seemed like forever, I was able to move and decided it was probably better not to be in the same room as Mike for both, but mainly, my sake.
It wasn't very long until it felt like Mike was never my guest to begin with. After leaving the basement, I made my way through the house and eventually ran into some friends I hadn't seen in a while. Between going out for a smoke and catching up, it really felt like old times, with the exception of me not being able to drink.
Normally, when I'm out with the Kali and Max, we would choose a DD ahead of time. Having put myself in that position this time, it was what reminded me that I had come with Mike. And that led me to think about how much he must have had to drink by now.
It was getting late and to be honest, I was getting concerned. As far as I know, this is his first real night out, probably ever. I couldn't have him get into any danger on me. That was sure as hell something, I did not want to deal with.
With a little bit of reluctance, I said my goodbyes and made my way to the basement from out in the lawn. It didn't take very long to see that he was no longer there.
From the house, stumbling and nearly tripping over his long limbs came Mike. Afraid he was going to crash into something or someone, I caught up to him. He looked completely different to when we first arrived at the party and not necessarily in a good way. The best way to describe it was that he looked like he was about to hurl.
God, this was embarrassing, It might have been dark, but if I could spot him, so could anyone else. If I considered myself lucky that not many people knew he and I came together, that luck was about to end.
"Mike," I spoke, letting him know I was here. "Are you okay?" As fucked up as it was, I held in my laugh successfully. Of course, he wasn't okay. At the same time though, I felt a pang of guilt because, after all, it was my fault he and, I guess, we were in this situation.
Thinking fast, I knew exactly what to do, if anything because I had done it so many times by now.
Linking arms with him, and putting most of his weight on me, we headed back towards my car, trying to seem as normal as possible and attracting the least amount of attention . Not making an eye contact with anyone, we made our way there as discreetly as we could. It went so well that when he finally threw up, just a couple of feet away from the car, no one noticed, and it spared us both the humiliation.
It was a relief from me, and based on the sounds of retching from him, it was one for him too.
Nearly forty minutes later, I stood impatiently as some long-haired pale guy with an eyebrow piercing who couldn't look more miserable if he tried, rang me up. Unlike most times when I'm in a convenience store this late, I didn't have to endure small talk or the occasional judgmental look, and that was just fine with me.
"Thanks," I barely let out as shoved the change he handed me into my jacket pocket. I swiftly walked to and through the entry door, making my way to the curb in front of my car, only few feet away. There, with his head between his legs, trying to get into a decent enough shape to get home, was Mike.
"Okay, so," I started as I began pulling out a bottle of water and twisting the cap. "We need to get you hydrated. Here." I held the plastic bottle out to him and looking over to make sure it was, in fact, water he took it.
As I watched him chug half of it, I reached over to the bag of potato chips I bought and tugged it open, breaking the seal. In an unlike Mike move, he moved and grabbed a handful. "Those were for me, but okay…." Trailing off, I moved my finger under the small metal ring and popped open my can of Red Bull. Moving it to the other side so Mike wouldn't try to get it, I nodded towards the bag.
"The rest of it is for you."
"Oh. Uhh, what for?"
"For the killer hangover you're going to have in the morning," I spoke bluntly, knowing he wasn't going to be prepared for what's coming. "So there's some Advil, a bottle of OJ, breath mints if you think your mom or whatever will see you. Just rest and drink lots of water and you should be okay."
"Uhh, thanks," by the way he ducked his head down, I could tell he was slightly embarrassed by it all. "Here, let me pay you back."
"Oh, no it's alright. This," I gestured to him, "is payment enough." I let out a small laugh so he would know I was just teasing him and luckily, based on his smile, he seemed to get it.
I picked up the lighter I also bought and lit up a cigarette, holding it between my lips for a few seconds. Mike swallowed another gulp of water before speaking.
"That's really bad for you, you know," he said it very abruptly, almost as if he decided to tell me at the last second.
Knowing it was the alcohol talking, I smirked and blew out the smoke dangerously close to his direction.
"I didn't realize you were also tutoring me in health."
"Well, it sure looks like you need it," he snapped with no hesitation.
"Says the guy who got plastered off a few vodka shots and cheap beer."
"And whose fault is that?"
"You're an adult now." I said it as if he didn't know. "You can make your own decisions and do whatever you want."
"Not everything."
Close. He was so close.
I pulled away, making it look like I was taking another drag though it really was to move away from him. As I blew out smoke I let out a shaky breath too, the drop in temperature seeming to get to me.
"Are-are you cold?"
"No," I shook my head. "I'm fine."
"Are you sure? I can give you my jacket."
"Mike, I said I'm fine," I crossed my arms both as a sign of stubbornness and because I was in fact, cold. "Your jacket is a lot thinner than mine so it won't make a difference anyway."
"Fair enough," and he didn't fight it anymore.
Sneaking a quick glance at my watch, I spoke again. "So, what's your curfew? We should probably get you home." With a chuckle and a smile I didn't expect from him, he turned to me.
"You got me out of my house on a Saturday night, had me getting drunk with people older than me that I've never met, and sitting in a 7/11 parking lot at midnight, and you're worried about my curfew?"
I replied with a smile similar to his, because hell, it was infectious.
"Fair enough."
To make up for my absence, I did add a some extra Mileven fluff at the end there. For more of an explanation on why I've been MIA lately, please see my Twitter. I love you guys. You all really keep me going. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review.
