Disclaimer: Yadda yadda yadda. Not mine. Not seeking a profit. No legal violation intended.
Rated: T - love triangle, het, slash, gay marriage
Warning: In this chapter: bad word, het & slash kissing, adult situations (not graphic), gay marriage.
TRIANGLE
Chapter 4. - Undone
Craig's family had started packing up the gifts and extra cake as the liqueur cart trundled by. Josh was in the Gents' room, so Mindy asked for an Amaretto. Drake wasn't about to stop her!
Drake requested Bailey's. He recalled a time when he and Josh had gotten hammered on Bailey's, playing drinking games at their Aunt Barb's birthday bash. Josh hadn't been so serious in those days.
"Ow!" Drake snapped back to the moment. Mindy was pelting him with Jordan almonds.
Mindy sat there smirking at him, the little bag of candy-coated favors in her hand.
Drake ripped open the netting on another bag, tore off the nut warning label, and zinged a handful back at Mindy as hard as he could.
Scottie was the only other person left at their table in the corner. Fresh from his second stay in rehab, he'd hardly said two words the whole night. Scottie's older brother Trevor had left right after dinner with his very pregnant wife. Scottie watched the mini-food fight with an amused grin. Then he leaned forward on his elbows and said "You two selfish brats might want to stop your childish bickering for once and put Josh first. You each keep insisting that you love him. But from where I'm sitting, it looks like a contest of egos."
Scottie tilted back in his chair, picked up one of the almond 'missiles' and ate it, chewing contentedly.
Embarrassed, Drake and Mindy nonchalantly quaffed their drinks, looking everywhere but at Scottie or each other.
Josh returned, his face flushed. He'd loosened his tie and unbuttoned his collar. He automatically pulled two more alkaline tablets from his pocket stash and fed them to himself, one at a time.
"I don't know what it is, but I feel kind of dizzy and nauseous."
"Oh, God! I hope they didn't serve bad shrimp!" said Drake, horrified.
"You ate some, too. Do you feel sick to your stomach?"
"No," replied Drake.
"I do. A little. But I think it's a combination of caffeine and booze," answered Mindy.
Josh had his car keys in hand. "We'd better say goodbye to Eric and Craig. They're leaving for the Virgin Islands in the morning."
Josh carried Mindy across the asphalt lot to the car and installed her in the back seat, in case she needed to stretch out.
They hadn't gone five blocks when Josh suddenly started laughing about nothing. He lowered all the windows, needing to feel air on his face. "Let's go for a walk on the beach!"
During the half-hour drive to the shore, Drake and Mindy got into it again. Mindy had taken her shoes off. "If these weren't so expensive, I'd throw them at you!"
Drake slipped off a shoe, shouting, "Yeah? Mine weren't free, either!" With that he lobbed a size 9 Moreschi Martano at Mindy, who ducked, screaming, as the shoe went flying out the window.
Josh started laughing again. "Another forlorn single shoe on the highway, with its own sad story to tell!" His eyes watered he was laughing so hard.
Drake was more sober than Mindy. "Josh, are you alright?" he asked.
"Fine and dandy. And hungry. Who wants pizza?!"
"Josh, you NEVER eat pizza – not since high school!" said Mindy, taking notice.
Minutes away from the beach, Josh found a stand that served pizza by the slice. He seemed to wobble a little as he took the cash out of his wallet. He took off his tie and tossed it with his jacket into the trunk. Drake and Mindy nibbled at their slices and watched, dumbstruck, as Josh inhaled his piece, then went back and got two more slices, which he wolfed down in record time.
When they arrived at the beach, Mindy ripped off her panty hose, since they were already torn. Drake stuck his two socks into his remaining shoe and saw Josh up ahead drop his shoes and socks on the sand, as he lurched towards the ocean. Mindy followed but quickly grew chilled from the sea breeze. She pulled her diaphanous wrap tighter around her bare shoulders and plopped into a beach chair someone had left behind, and huddled behind her knees as she tried to keep warm.
After retrieving Josh's items, Drake caught up to Josh, who was facing the ocean, arms out wide, waves lapping at his toes. Josh scanned the horizon.
"When it's time to end it all, I think I'll do it in the ocean. There's nothing bigger than the ocean. Going home to the ocean. Yup."
"What's up with you?" asked Drake, a sense of cold dread snaking down his spine. "I've never heard this kind of talk from you before."
"Sorry!" said Josh, with a lopsided smile. "I was thinking aloud. Rewind. Erase erase erase."
"Is something bothering you? When I wake up at night lately, to get a glass of water, and find you in the living room doing one-arm pushups . . . I have to wonder if you've got something on your mind."
"You hardly ever sleep more than a few hours at a time," added Mindy. She stood a few feet away, worried and shaking, clutching at her thin wrap.
Part of Josh's mind grew alarmed, the part that the drug had pushed to the back. He leaned forward, gagging, and threw up the pizza. Drake put a hand on Josh's back, to steady him. Mindy stood still, frozen in place and not knowing what to do.
Drake began shepherding Josh and Mindy back to the car. "We should go home now."
"Home to the ocean?" Josh blinked, confused, turning to look once more at the sea, with a vague sense of longing.
"To the apartment," Drake replied, turning Josh back to the car and pushing him in that direction. He fished the key ring from Josh's pocket. "I better drive."
Josh acquiesced and flopped into the back seat, groaning, and then laughing.
"Mindy, I'm not completely sober, but I guess I'm in better shape than Josh. You're going to have to help me stay alert, if you can, and watch for cops. If Josh flakes or passes out, you'll have to help me with him, too."
Grim-faced, Mindy nodded, climbing into the passenger seat next to Drake.
Every song on the radio seemed to be about the joys and sorrows of relationships. Drake left the windows open, but turned the music off.
The silence in the car was broken only by Josh's rambling efforts to tell them a joke he'd heard at the wedding.
A muscle twitched in Drake's cheek as his thoughts swung back and forth between what Scottie said and Josh's bombshell on the beach.
Mindy startled awake from a fitful doze when the car stopped. She got out and helped Drake pull Josh to a standing position. He leaned on both of them as they walked down the sidewalk.
"We don't have our shoes on!" exclaimed Josh, in surprise and delight.
Once inside, Drake ushered Josh into the bathroom. Drake took off his tie and jacket and put them away. Mindy dropped onto the couch, her legs tucked under her. She was still too inebriated to think clearly, but she knew something wasn't right with Josh.
"I'm going to call Eric at the hotel," Drake told Mindy. "If he doesn't answer, since it's his wedding night, I'll try his mom."
Mindy replied, "Or try Craig's mom. The families are listed in either Lawndale or North Lawndale. Maybe they'll know if anybody else got sick from the food or anything strange."
Drake carried the phone into the kitchen, in search of the wedding invitation on top of the refrigerator, as he looked for numbers.
Josh emerged from the bathroom. His hair was wet. He sat close to Mindy and told her, "I washed my face and brushed my teeth, so I'm minty fresh."
Mindy hugged Josh but was unable to say a word, she was so filled with concern. Josh slipped his hand under her dress and rested it on her bare thigh. "Are you wearing that thong I gave you?"
Drake looked on from the doorway and put his hand over the mouthpiece, annoyed. "This is no time for your feminine wiles, Mindy!"
"Drake, get in here!" called Josh.
"I'm on the phone."
"Well, hang up! I've come to an important decision."
Josh started tonguing Mindy's neck and earlobe. She tried not to respond, but Josh was hard to resist. By the time Drake butted in, Josh was kissing Mindy wholeheartedly and attempting to figure out how to undo her strapless bra.
"Break it up, you two, this is important."
Drake sat down on the other side of Josh, whom Mindy reluctantly pushed away. Mindy wanted to know what Drake had learned.
"Your turn!" cried Josh, trying to drag Drake onto his lap. He hooked his thumbs under the lower edge of Drake's cummerbund, putting his hands on Drake's slender hips. As Josh's eager kiss covered Drake's mouth, Drake wished for a button he could push that would cause Mindy to vanish. He felt himself falling under Josh's spell, but, after a minute, he managed to break contact.
He took Josh's face in his hands, "You need to listen, Josh. You too, Mindy."
Josh pulled Drake's hands away, allowing Drake to sit unmolested, facing the two of them.
"You're not going to believe this. It turns out that Eric's nephew was spiking drinks. He was trying to seduce one of Craig's relatives. The girl flipped out, so the kid got scared and confessed."
"You mean Josh is drunk?"
"No. What's-his-name, Maureen's oldest boy, he put pills in some drinks. Ro-hyp-nol. And somehow Josh must have gotten hold of some of it."
"Roofies! Someone slipped me a Roofie? I've been waiting all my life for this!" said Josh in a high, agitated voice.
"You've heard of it before?" asked Drake.
Mindy commented, "I don't know much about it, except that it's called the 'date-rape drug.' The person loses their inhibitions, but it also causes amnesia, so there's no clear memory the next day."
"Eric looked it up on the internet. And his mother's a nurse. Eric said since it wasn't mixed with alcohol, it wouldn't hurt Josh and should run its course within 12 hours."
"Hello, I'm right here! Roofies are for insomniacs. That's me. And they're for men with amorous intentions. That's me, too." Josh emitted a rumbling chuckle. "With all that ginger ale I drank, I should be able to keep going all night long. I'm not letting the two of you wear me down. So, bring it, Puddin' Cup. Bring it, Snackpants. I'll give you so much good lovin'!" Josh burst into a Blues Brothers riff, singing "I got a truckload."
Josh took Mindy's hand and put his other hand on Drake's shoulder. "Drake, I think you're right. This would be the perfect time for a three-way. Mindy, Drake wants to have a fuck-off. Wait. I mean a sex-off. Like a walk-off, but in bed. And Joshie wants to go for the gold medal!"
Mindy's jaw dropped open as her eyebrows locked.
"Much as I enjoy the Olympics, it wouldn't be fair for us to take advantage of you when you're not yourself," said Drake, kissing the tip of Josh's nose.
"Especially if you might not remember it, anyway," added Mindy, jealous, not wanting Drake to see how uptight the whole idea made her. This was surprising news indeed. She was beginning to question just how well she thought she knew Josh.
"Min's drunk. Why waste your A-game on her?" purred Drake.
Mindy's voice began to rise in volume, "I'd prefer not to get naked in front of Drake, drunk OR sober!"
"Joshie, Mindy can sleep right here on the couch. Why don't you come to bed with me now, where you belong? We need to talk about a few things," tempted Drake. He actually did want to talk. He was desperate to find out what was eating away at Josh. But Mindy didn't need to know.
"As if talking was all you'd be doing! I don't trust you, Drake Parker, not for a second."
"Well," Drake said, folding his arms across his chest, "you just refused Josh's offer, so I didn't think you'd mind."
"Josh, are you choosing him over me?" Mindy pouted, on the verge of tears.
Josh pressed his hands to his forehead.
"Maybe it would be best if I'm alone until this wears off."
Josh stood and started pacing before them.
"That's something I need to get used to. In the end, I'll be alone - like one of those shoes on the highway without a mate. Neither of you will stay with me forever. I've tried everything to make you love me. One hundred percent. I've told you I can't choose one over the other. I love you both too much. But one of you will give up and find someone else and then the game will no longer be interesting for the one who's left. I need you both. It's tearing me apart."
Josh entered the bedroom and closed the door behind him, realizing that the words he never wanted to say had somehow escaped from his lips. He had come undone. He slumped down in the dark with his back against the door, now aware of the drug coursing through his system, making him sleepy. His thoughts slowed, fatigue like gravity, his whole body heavy and sluggish. He was so very tired. He shut down.
Continued in Chapter 5