Chapter 15
I had finally arrived at the party. I walked up to the front door, and some guy greeted me.
"Are you here to party!?"
"No. I'm here to pick up my boyfriend."
"Who's your boyfriend?"
"Riker Lynch?"
"Oh… Yeah… Uh… I think he's still on the floor behind the couch."
"WHAT!?"
I pushed past the guy and ran inside. Sure enough, I found Riker right where the guy had said. He was lying on the ground behind the couch.
"Riker!? What happened!? Get up!"
I pulled Riker into a sitting position. He looked at me with a strange expression on his face.
"Alex. Where are we?"
Riker's words were all slurred together. I could barely make out what he was trying to say.
"God Riker, you're drunk."
"Wha…?"
"Come on. We need to go home."
"We are home."
"No we're not! Get up!"
"Whoa… Everything's moving!"
"No it's not! You're drunk! Come on. We need to go home."
"You want me to drive you?"
"No! You're not driving!"
"I brought a car."
"You brought your brother's car. He can get it in the morning."
I pulled Riker over to the front door where the guy that greeted me was still standing.
"Did he know he was drinking alcohol?"
"Probably not."
"Why'd you let him drink it?"
"Listen, I'm just the door opener. I don't do anything else!"
"Well then do your job and open the door so we can leave!"
"Ok, but here, take my number. Call me."
"I'm not going to call you!"
I pulled Riker out the door, and stopped. Stairs… Oh boy… This'll be fun…
"Riker. You have to be really careful now, ok? Just move slowly."
Yeah… That didn't end up happening… Riker took one giant step forward, completely missed the step, and went tumbling down to the ground.
"UGH! Riker! Are you ok?"
"Everything's spinning so fast!"
"Get up. We're going home."
"You want me to drive?"
"YOU'RE NOT DRIVING, RIKER!"
"WHY ARE YOU TALKING SO LOUD!?"
Oh. My. Gosh. Could this night get any worse? It was like I had a toddler to look after. One really big, stupid toddler. And on top of that, I was sick!
"Ok, be careful getting in. Don't hit your head."
"I can get in a car, Alex. What do you think I am? 5?"
Well you're acting like it!
I closed Riker's door, locked it, and buckled his seatbelt for him before leaving. This was going to be a long night… I was planning on taking him home with me. Not bringing him home to his family. As mad as I was at him, I felt bad for him. And I knew there would be a bunch of I told you so's from his siblings. And his parents wouldn't be too happy with him either. He was only 18. He couldn't legally drink yet!
"You look really pretty."
"Thank you."
"Your boyfriend must be really lucky."
"Riker. You're my boyfriend."
"I am? Wow…"
Yup. He was right. Wow… And he was really lucky. Lucky I was saving him from getting busted by his parents.
"What's this?" Riker asked, pointing to a button that controlled the AC.
"Don't touch it."
"Why?"
"Because I said so."
So of course he had to touch it. I shut the AC off again.
"Riker. Don't touch anything."
Apparently that was extremely hilarious because Riker started laughing uncontrollably.
"Riker."
"What?"
"Do you remember what you drank tonight?"
"Yes."
"What did you drink?"
"I asked this guy for a soda, so he got me one."
"How many sodas did you drink?"
"I don't know."
"Ugh."
"You're really pretty."
"Thank you, Riker."
"Where are we going?"
"To my house."
"Why?"
"Because you're drunk, and if I bring you back to your house, you'll get in trouble."
"Your voice sounds weird."
"I'm sick."
"Oh."
We finally made it back to my house. I unlocked Riker's door, unbuckled his seatbelt, and helped him get out. I tried my best to close the car doors as quietly as I could. The last thing I needed was for my dad to catch me doing this.
"Ok Riker. You need to be really quiet, ok?"
"Yes. I will be very quiet."
"Good. Otherwise you could get us both in big trouble. And that would be bad."
"Ok. I will be very quiet."
I walked Riker down the walkway to my house, and silently unlocked the door. Once we were inside, I relocked the door. I held onto Riker's hand as we walked slowly over to the basement door. I silently twisted the doorknob.
"Ok Riker, you need to be really careful. We're going to go down there. Ok?" I whispered.
"Yes."
Riker and I successfully got onto the first step. I closed the basement door and turned on the lights. 15 more steps to go.
"Hold onto my hand and the railing. Ok?"
"Yes."
Thankfully, we made it down the stairs without anything happening. But it took us 10 minutes.
My basement had a couch, some boxes, random junk, and a bathroom in it. I sat Riker down on the couch.
"What are we going to do now?" Riker whispered.
"You, are going to go to sleep."
"What are you going to do?"
"I, am going to make sure you go to sleep."
"Oh. Ok."
"Now Riker, I'm going to go upstairs to get some pillows and blankets. I need you to promise me that you'll stay exactly where you are, and not move an inch. Can you do that for me?"
"Yes I can Alex."
"Good. I'll be right back."
I didn't really trust drunk Riker to stay still and not make noise, so I hurried up the stairs as quietly as I could. I went into my bedroom, grabbed some pillows, blankets, and my phone before heading back downstairs.
Surprisingly, I found Riker in the same spot I had left him. He was sitting there happily with his hands folded in his lap, looking at me with a smile on his face.
I put a pillow down on the couch.
"Lay down."
"Why?"
"You're going to go to bed now."
"Ok. I'm really tired."
"Good. You should be."
Riker laid down on the couch. I spread some blankets over him before making my own bed on the ground next to the couch.
Within minutes, I could tell Riker was asleep. I laid down on the ground. There was no way I would be falling asleep anytime soon. I had a headache, and I was concerned about my boyfriend.
After about 45 minutes, Riker woke up again.
"Alex."
"Riker, what's wrong?"
"I don't feel good."
"Come on. You might throw up."
"Where are we going?"
"The bathroom."
I pulled Riker up from the couch and walked him to the bathroom. I sat down next to him in front of the toilet. Almost immediately, he started throwing up. I found a headband and pulled his hair away from his face for him. After about 20 minutes of Riker puking, he was finally finished. I dragged him back to the couch after telling him he was not allowed to sleep on the bathroom floor. He fell asleep pretty quickly again, and by now, I was really tired. I fell asleep quickly as well.
The Next Morning…
Alex POV
I woke up when I heard my parents leave for work. It was probably around 7:00. I looked over at Riker. He was still sleeping. I turned my phone on. I had a bunch of texts and missed calls from multiple Lynchs and Ellington. I decided to just text Rocky, and tell him Riker was fine, and had stayed at my house last night because he didn't want to wake anyone up.
When I looked up from my phone, Riker was staring at me with his hand on his forehead.
"Hey," I said softly.
"My head is killing me."
"Yeah. I bet it is. Do you remember anything that happened last night?"
I could tell he totally didn't, but was trying really hard to remember.
"No… I don't…"
"You went to a party…?"
"Oh yeah. I went to a party for this guy. Uh… Then what? Why don't I remember anything?"
"Wow. Uh well…"
"What happened, Alex?"
"You were drunk, Riker."
"I was what!?"
"You were drunk."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Wait, are you sick?"
"Yes, I am."
"So what happened last night?"
"I tried texting you, you wouldn't answer anything, and I was worried."
"I thought you were mad at me."
"I am! And I hate myself for loving you so much! Rocky gave me the address of your party, and I drove there. You were lying on the ground, drunk. I drove you here, and brought you downstairs in my basement for the night."
"Why?"
"Because your parents would totally kill you if they found out you were drinking!"
"Oh. But I don't remember drinking…?"
"You probably didn't know you were. The guy in charge of the drinks probably put some in your drink without you knowing."
"Oh. What else happened?"
"Well, on your way out of the house, you fell down the stairs. And you also woke up in the middle of the night and threw up a bunch of times."
"Wow…Ugh my head is killing me!"
"Here. I'll go get you something for it."
"Thanks Alex."
I ran up the stairs, came back downstairs, and handed Riker 2 pills and a glass of water.
"Do my brothers know?"
"No. I didn't tell them. They've all been calling and texting me like crazy though. I texted Rocky back and told him you stayed here for the night because you didn't want to wake him up since we got back really late."
"Thanks. Let's not tell anyone about this."
"Ok."
"Thanks for doing all that Alex. My parents would've killed me if they'd found out I was drunk. But… Why did you do it?"
"Why'd I do what?"
"Save me from last night. Aren't you still mad?"
"Of course I'm still mad. But I still love you, and I didn't want you to get in trouble or arrested! And don't you think it would be bad to see yourself on the cover of a magazine, with a story about you at that party getting drunk!?"
"Yeah. I just… That's crazy… I can't believe you did all that for me. And you're sick."
"Believe me. I really didn't want to. I felt awful all day yesterday. Ross actually came over yesterday to take care of me. But I love you, and I didn't want anything to happen to you."
"Well thanks."
"You're welcome."
"And I'm sorry about everything. I'm sorry about thinking you would cheat on me, and I'm sorry for going to that party and making you come get me. Rocky and Ellington told me it would be a bad idea, and I didn't listen."
"Well you know what? This is the kind of situation that boyfriends and girlfriends are for, getting each other out of trouble."
"So you're still my girlfriend?"
"For now…"
"Yes!"