Chapter 6

The next day Alex and Nick had to go to the town for some supplies. As they were on their way over, Alex couldn't stop thinking about Claire and her unexpected behavior during their evening with the pub. He couldn't understand why she would even comment on his drinking. She never seemed to have a problem with that, moreover she herself like to drink a beer or two once in a while. He didn't get the sudden hostility towards him and his drinking habits.

"Hey, has Claire talked to you recently?" he decided to ask Nick whether he knows something about the whole deal.

"What do you mean? I talked to her just this morning." Nick answered surprised.

"Yeah, I know, but has she talked to you about anything important? Like why she keeps looking at me funny? And that outburst at the pub. She's acting weird and I feel like it's because something that I did."

"Well, she never mentioned anything." Nick said. "But you have a way of screwing things up without you even knowing it." He added laughing.

"Oh thanks mate." Alex replied sarcastically. "That makes me feel so much better."

"What? I'm just saying... It wouldn't be the first time that you did something stupid and didn't even know about it. You are good that way."

"Oh very funny." Alex pretended to laugh, but really he was getting a little bit annoyed by Nick's comments. On the other hand, though, he was perfectly aware of the fact that he has a talent of stuffing up even when he means well. He just had no idea what he might have done that made Claire so angry. He wasn't even sure that it was indeed something that he did, but remembering Claire's face expression, he felt like he was the one responsible for whatever it was that she was going through. He didn't like to see her like that and he certainly didn't like the tension that was building up between them.

"Maybe it's not even your fault." Nick tried to console him and he really didn't have anything better to say. "Maybe she was just in a bad mood or something."

"I think it was more than that. I don't know, there was something in her eyes." he sighed. "Like someone really screwed up badly. I just really hate to be the guy who could have done that."

"Then why don't you just ask her?" Nick suggested.

"I don't think she will tell me."

"You're best friends, you tell each other everything." Nick noted.

"Then why didn't she come to me in the first place? I mean she clearly had a problem with me the other night."

"Like I said, why don't you just ask her?"

"Maybe I will. It just keeps driving me nuts. Plus angry Claire really terrifies me." He added and they both started laughing.

"She can be pretty scary." Nick said in between laughs.

"Yeah, I don't wanna be on her bad side. Seriously." He said and couldn't stop laughing.

"This is driving me insane." Claire said as she was pacing nervously in the kitchen. Tess was watching her not really knowing what advise to give her. This has been the most she had seen Claire obsess about something. Except that it was easy to explain why she was obsessing over it so much, but very difficult to come up with a solution.

"I think that's the longest distance anyone has ever walked in the kitchen." Tess tried to lighten up the mood and for a while it worked as she saw her sister smiling. But her tense expression came back quite quickly.

"Seriously, how thoughtless and stupid can I be?" she paused for a moment. "Tess, I have no idea what to do… What do I do? Do I tell him or do I just forget about the whole thing and move on? And if I forget, how the hell do I do that?

"First of all, please stop walking or you're going to drive me insane." Claire finally stopped. "And second of all, just talk to Alex. You have to tell him or you're gonna go crazy yourself." Tess advised.

"And just what I supposed to say?" she looked at Tess meaningfully. "'Hey Alex, remember that night when you got stoned and don't know what happened? Well, I drove you home and we slept together.'"

"WHAT?!" they suddenly heard Meg's voice. She just entered the kitchen and apparently heard what Tess and Claire were talking about. They both looked like 5-year olds who just broke a family vase. "Did I hear you right?" Meg still wasn't sure if she understood everything correctly. "You and Alex…?" she looked at Claire questioningly.

"Yes." Claire answered blushing, still not able to believe that she actually did what she did that night.

"How did it happen?" Meg was curious.

"Exactly like I just said. Alex was drunk and I took him home and then he started saying all those things…"

"What things?" Meg was almost shocked to hear what Claire was saying.

Claire wasn't sure if she could handle talking about it again, but she also knew that she had to tell Meg everything, because maybe she would have some advice on how she should handle this whole situation.

"Well, he said that he loved and that I was the only person he trusts and all the things guy say to get women to sleep with them. And of course he was drunk, but I went for it. I, Claire McLeod, couldn't resist Alex's tender words and… I feel so stupid. It's like I was a totally different person that night."

"He told you that he loved you?" Meg didn't know whether to be excited or terrified by it.

"Yes, but he was drunk and he didn't know what he was saying. He didn't mean it."

"What if he did?" Meg asked, hopeful. "Maybe it wasn't just because he was drunk. I mean you and Alex have known each other for such a long time, it wouldn't surprise me if he had feelings for you."

"Oh don't be ridiculous, Meg. Alex is a mate. And he treats me like a mate too. What happened between us was stupid and irresponsible and I feel like such an idiot for letting it happen."

"Have you talked about it?"

"Well, the problem is." Tess started explaining. "That Alex was so drunk that night that he doesn't remember a single thing that happened."

"Oh my." Meg sighed. "That is not good."

"I know. And I'm trying to figure out how to deal with this whole thing. I mean I'm afraid to tell him the truth, because I know it's gonna freak him out. But then again I'm afraid that if I don't tell him and that if we don't talk about it, I just won't be able to treat him the way I used to. This is crazy!"

"I think you should tell him." Meg decided.

"That's what I told her." Tess agreed. "If you don't, things are just gonna get weirder and weirder between the two of you."

"Exactly! You have to talk to him and tell him what happened and then the two of you can get back to being friends again."

"Or more than friends." Tess winked.

"Tess!" Claire did not find that funny.

"What? I'm just saying. Maybe that night finally ignited long lost passion between you and Alex."

"OK, clearly you have spent too much time on the sun." Claire playfully hit her sister on the shoulder. "You're working inside today." she paused for a moment. "But you're right, I have to talk to Alex about it. Otherwise I don't know what will happen to our friendship."