AN: Hello lovely readers! Sorry it's been awhile...I got distracted going to Comic-Con in London. Yes, it was amazing and ridiculous fun!
A quick and eternal thank you to naturerocs who let me join in and introduce Angie to Percy!
On with the story...
Chapter 43 – The Hangover
Urgh. Why am I awake? I have to be in some form of purgatory to be forced back to the land of the living. Whatever the time was, it was too early. My head is pounding. Why are there elephants tap dancing inside my skull? I could feel someone next to me and I really hoped it was Jim and I really hoped he felt half as bad as I did. If it wasn't, well, I really didn't remember anything. I tried to move and gave up as waves of dizziness and confusion hit me. I couldn't remember getting to bed; at least we, or I made it home. I felt mildly calmer knowing I was in my own bed. I didn't feel the residual effects of any drugs, which was another plus point. I tired opening my eyes and the assaulting light was too offensive so I quickly shut them again. I felt the person next to me moving again, obviously beginning to wake up. I heard my name.
"Oww...my head...Percy?" Enquired the other person, Jim sounded more feminine than usual, but I honestly didn't care.
"Hmm...Jim, go away." I groaned. The body next to me proceeded to shake me awake.
"Percy, it's Angie. Wake up." She demanded. I cracked my eyes open again and looked up frowning, I was so confused.
"Huh...what? Why are you in my bed?" I asked. I was really lost.
"I have no idea." Angie replied.
"I'm getting dancing and a hot blonde guy." I frowned, trying to think of what we'd gotten up to.
"What?" Asked Angie just as confused.
"It's all I can remember. God my head." I moaned. I felt like death warmed up.
"I remember...uh, I think I remember the blonde guy, but I don't really remember dancing." She frowned; Angie was trying to piece together what happened last night. I don't think either of us would successfully remember much.
"My whole body hurts. What were we doing last night?" I moaned as I rolled over.
"We went to a pub..." Angie said. I looked at her surprised.
"You drank? You hate alcohol. What, why did I let you drink?" I asked. This whole situation was backwards.
"I think I wanted to get my mind off Moran. I remember something about whiskey...but I remember something fruit flavoured later on...I didn't get a margarita, did I?" She shrugged looking worried.
"That explains why we were drinking. I remember wine...lots of wine. I think we ended up in a cocktail bar. You were dancing on a table." I remembered. Hazy moments were coming back to me. I remembered laughter.
"What?! Are you sure?!" Angie asked her eye widening in shock.
"I think I filmed it. When I remember where my phone is I'll look." I admitted. I felt kind of bad.
"Oh, thanks. I swear you'd better delete it." Threatened Angie.
"We'll have to watch it first. I haven't been this hung-over in a while. You are a bad influence on me Angela Watson." I smirked. We must have had fun to both be in such a state. That and Moran really does drive a person to alcoholism.
"Don't blame this on me. You know that your one responsibility for me is to keep me from doing stuff like that. You recommended the pub." Angie frowned.
"For a quiet drink to ease the tension not getting so drunk we can't remember what we did. I think I told you whiskey was a bad idea." I defended.
"I only had one. I believe you ordered the second round." She countered.
"I said I'd pay for the drinks, you ordered the second round." I argued.
"Alright, look, there's no point in arguing about it, we're both at fault, we didn't have to drink anything." She sighed.
"You're right." I smiled. "I think we had fun though."
"I don't know. Everyone always forgets about the hangover that comes with it." Groaned Angie.
"It's true. This isn't the worst hangover I've had and I'm sure it won't be the last. Although I refuse to move or see daylight." I said. I was adamant that moving was unnecessary and I knew it would be painful. I could be very naughty and text Jim and ask him to bring me a cup of tea. I laughed inside; he would be less than impressed. I bet I had a lot of grovelling to do when I finally faced him.
"I haven't had a hangover like this since Uni." Frowned Angie. She closed her eyes lying back against the pillows.
"Was that also induced by some Moran related incident?" I asked cynically. He was a bad person for Angie to be around.
"He took me on a cruise and insisted that I looked seasick, and said a margarita would help." She frowned at me and sighed. I nodded.
"Ah. Right. Well I do remember margaritas being bought. They were pink." I replied.
"I think I remember pink." Answered Angie.
"How did I end up in bed? I remember the taxi, then waking up." I asked. Angie seemed to remember slightly more than I did. If I had been drinking wine and then had cocktails I could have done just about anything and wouldn't remember.
"Don't ask me, I don't even remember leaving the bar." Angie shrugged.
"Right. I think Jim let us in." I winced.
"Okay..."
"The real world is too loud, I'm staying in bed." I closed my eyes and frowned. I wasn't ready or in the mood to face life. My legs didn't seem to be responding to my brain's order to move either.
"Okay. Good idea." Nodded Angie. We lapsed into a comfortable silence. I started dozing off and Jim popped into my mind. I rolled onto my side and looked at Angie.
"Do you think Jim will be a bit upset with us?" I asked. I had no idea how we behaved last night.
"How should I know? It depends on how we acted last night, and considering we were drunk, who knows?" Angie shrugged she seemed less than bothered.
"That's not helpful." I frowned. We fell silent again. This silence was more tense. After a few minutes, and my stomach telling me it wanted food, I looked at Angie again.
"Angie...I'm hungry." I whined.
"Yeah, me too." She nodded.
"Shall we attempt to find food?" I asked. It sounded like it would be hard, but my hunger was mounting.
"I don't think it would kill us to get up for that." Smirked Angie. I pulled myself up; I was far lazier than Angie.
"Nope and I'm craving a bacon sandwich. Do you want something to change into?" I asked. Angie shook her head and rolled out of bed.
"I think I'm fine for now, thanks." She said.
"Okay, give me a second." I asked as I went in search of a jumper and found Jim's university hoodie. It was warm and smelt of him. I came out of the wardrobe with a smile.
"Let's hunt for food!" I grinned.
We slowly made our way down to the kitchen and I started rummaging through the cupboards.
Angie sat on a stool and looked deep in thought.
"I think I want a fried egg sandwich." She requested. I nodded and pulled out the eggs, butter and ketchup from the fridge. I started cooked. The smell of food was so good. A few minutes later, Jim walked in smirking at us. I smiled at him. He seemed to be in a good mood, this was a good sign.
"Good morning, or should I say good afternoon?" He smirked. Jim came over to me and kissed my cheek.
"How are the heads?" He asked.
"Shh. Too loud." I winced.
"You two were out of it last night. I was worried, Percy." Jim said seriously. That pang of guilt swiped through me again.
"Sorry. Things escalated. It really was just supposed to be a quiet drink. Can we talk about this later, we're hungry." I asked, sounding very pathetic. Jim nodded, but he looked less pleased.
"Fine. We I'll talk about it though. You both need water and aspirin." He ordered. I smiled.
"My hero. Ang, did you say you wanted eggs?" I asked.
"Yes, please." She nodded.
"Coffee, tea? I know I need very strong coffee right now." I moaned. I was a bit useless when I was hung-over. If you ever meet Jim, ask him, as long as he's not working. In fact, don't ask Jim; ask Angie or John. Even ask Mycroft, he's seen me hungover more times than I care to remember, but don't ask Jim, unless you already know him.
"I think coffee is a good idea, thanks." Nodded Angie. She was lying on the counter with her head resting on her arms. I made us both very strong coffee and added four sugars to mine. I handed Angie a mug and a plate. She smiled in thanks. Jim had disappeared, probably to find us painkillers. I set down a huge mound of egg and bacon sandwiches. It looked and smelled amazing.
"Enjoy." I said enthusiastically as I dug into a bacon sandwich, it was heaven.
"Thanks." She smiled a little.
Jim walked back in and set some pills on the counter in front of us. I beamed at him, picking up two of the tablets and downing them with my coffee. Classy doesn't cover it. Jim smiled me. He'd seen this dozens of times, but that probably didn't make it any better.
"Here are your painkillers. So what caused your night drunkenness?" Jim enquired.
"I love you more than normal, thank you. Ang, you can take that question." I said as I bit into an egg sandwich.
"Usually the cause of drunkenness is alcohol. Thought it was obvious." Frowned Angie.
"So witty, Angie. Why do I have the feeling Seb's name is going to be mentioned?!" He answered looking at Angie expectantly. Seb was in for a world of pain.
"Because you would be right." Spat Angie.
"What's he done now?" Jim groaned.
"Quite frankly, it's none of your business. It's my own personal problem that I will deal with myself." Snapped Angie. I frowned at her. I know she was upset about sleeping with Seb, but Jim was just trying to be friendly.
"Ang, he's only trying to help. No need to bite anyone's head off." I replied.
"It is none of his business." Angie bit back.
"Okay, fine. Sorry." I sighed. Jim glanced between us and stepped back.
"I'll leave you girls to your hangovers. Find me later Percy?" He asked. I nodded.
"Sure." I replied with a smile. Jim turned and left, looking a bit upset.
"Wow, what's got you so grouchy?" I asked. I knew she had a slight problem with Jim, but she was usually polite.
"Sorry. But there is no way I'm telling him of all people why all this happened." She frowned.
"Fine, but you were being rude. He really was just trying to help." I replied.
"Sorry, it's just a natural reaction. You keep forgetting that I'm used to a completely different side of him than you are. He starts asking me questions, I get defensive." Angie defended.
"I know, I know, but he really isn't that bad when you get to know him. I understand why, it's fine. He won't take it personally." I sighed. Jim was a complex person, at home he was goofy and lovely and very normal, at work he was terrifying and brilliant and slightly unhinged. Angie cast me a furtive glance.
"No offense, but I don't really plan on getting to know him." She grumbled.
"It's fine." I dismissed. I really wished she would. It hurt, but it was a difficult situation to say the least.
"It's still just too weird." Angie said quietly.
"Want to talk about the whole Moran thing? We didn't talk much last night, you know with the drinking." I asked, ignoring the Jim topic.
"Are you still gonna make me if I say no?" She frowned, apparently really not in the mood to talk about it.
"No, but it'd appreciate it if you just opened up to me." I said honestly. I knew what had happened, I could read it on her clothes, in her body language and Seb's, but she didn't need some mental deduction she needed her friend.
"I don't know. I was stupid and made a horrible, horrible mistake that I hate myself for." She sighed and shook her head. I looked at her for a minute and sighed.
"Come here." I went over and hugged her. "It's done, it's over and we pretend it never happened."
"Thanks. And that's the last straw, I'm done with him, there's nothing even to talk about, I'm done. I'd be really happy if I never see him again, but if I do, I'm giving him that stupid necklace back. Maybe he'll get the message. I doubt it, but it's worth a try." Smiled Angie.
"I'll be right by your side if you need it." I nodded.
"Thanks."
"You're my best friend Ang, we might not always agree on some things, but I'll never let you suffer alone through something like this." I smiled.
"Thanks. I really appreciate it. I don't know what I'd do without you." Said Angie.
"You'd be fine. We survived without each other for a while. It was terribly dull though!" I laughed.
"Well, not really, but it's still a lot better that we're reunited." Angie shrugged.
"It is."
We ploughed our way through a lot of sandwiches and a whole pot of coffee, both full and more awake. I did feel better. I stood up. I had to go and speak to my husband. He deserved and explanation and an apology. I'd only been home for two nights, one was spent out drinking with my best friend, and I knew he'd understand, but we needed to talk.
"Well, I think I'll go find Jim. I think he deserves at least a partial explanation of what happened last night." I smiled.
"Okay. I'll clean up here." Nodded Angie.
"You don't have to do that, Ang." I replied. She was a guest.
"It's fine. Besides, cleaning will keep my mind off my enormous headache." Smirked Angie.
"If you insist." I smiled and left to seek out Jim. I checked his study, the living room and the library and couldn't find him, I eventually found in him sat at the piano. I sat next to him on the wide bench.
"Hey, I've been looking for you. Thanks for trying earlier, I know it's difficult, Angie doesn't mean to be tense, she just doesn't know you like I do." I said as I rested my head against his shoulder.
"I know, and it's fine. We don't have the best history; I guess she doesn't want to fix that. Oh well. I don't suppose you're going to tell me what spurred last night?" He asked. He sounded hurt.
"Angie was miserable, we went for a run, got some food and we went to the pub, we just got carried away." I said simply. That is what happened; I just can't remember the details.
"And that's all?" He asked.
"Yeah, well there was dancing as well." I smirked.
"Well, the way you were acting last night...Percy, you didn't..." He trailed off. I looked up at him confused.
"Didn't what?" I asked.
"You didn't take any drugs, did you?" He asked. I was taken a back. We'd obviously been bad for him to have asked me that.
"What?! No. I was with Angie. I'd never do that in front of her." I said quietly. "I promise, I'm clean. I drank way too much, but I did nothing else." I said looking him in the eye.
"Alright, sorry. I just worry about you." He said. He ran a thumb across my cheek. I brought my hand up to cover his.
"It's fine. I know you do. I'm sorry about last night. Were we really that bad?" I asked, dreading the answer.
"I've seen you worse. You were being very...playful, and goofy." He chuckled. Oh dear. "Angie was being more stubborn than usual." He smirked.
"I don't know if that's a compliment or not? I don't think Angie can be more stubborn?!" I smiled back.
"It was...interesting last night." He said gently, but his expression told me how bad it was.
"Oh God, just tell me." I groaned.
"I was trying to get you to go to bed, but you didn't want to go unless I went with you." He smirked. He looked quite pleased.
"Oh right. Like you didn't enjoy that?! I'll admit it was probably fairly unattractive. Was Seb with you when we came in?" I asked. That would explain Angie's reactions.
"Yeah, he wasn't much help though. He wasn't trying anything, but he wasn't much help." Jim said wryly. I could imagine.
"He's so annoying. Was he flirting with Angie?" I asked worried. Seb was beginning to push his luck. I then had a sudden thought. "Please tell me he didn't flirt with me?" I asked. Again dreading the answer.
"He'd be dead right now if he'd flirted with you." Jim answered darkly. He pulled me close to him so my back was against his chest, his arm wrapped possessively round my waist. "No, he didn't flirt with Angie; I think he was a little shocked."
"You do know he flirts with me when you're not around?!" I told him. Jim just sighed. Sorry Seb, but the only man I want to flirt with me is my husband. "Shocked? He's seen us drunk before, maybe not together, but it's not totally unheard of." I said cynically. Shocked. I think he didn't like the idea that Angie and I cold have fun without him and that Angie would want to forget him.
"I don't know I was kind of preoccupied dealing with you." Jim replied.
"Thank you for looking after me, and Angie, you are a wonderful husband." I smiled, turning my head to kiss him.
"I know." He smiled. I smirked and shook my head. Jim chuckled behind me.
"What?" I asked.
"Last night, Angie didn't want me anywhere near her because I 'killed' Sherlock." Jim smirked. I nodded in understanding. Yeah that makes sense.
"Well you did, after shooting yourself. I still haven't forgiven you for that." I said firmly.
"Well, obviously, there was no harm done." Jim said playfully. He placed a kiss on my neck.
"That's not the point. I mean I get that you two are rivals, but ruining him and then forcing him to fake his own suicide whilst his loved ones watched?! How do you think it would've felt the other way, if I'd had to watch you die?" I asked. I would've been so broken having to watch that, just seen Jim come home covered in fake blood terrified me. He sighed
"I told him I would burn him, I was just keeping my word." Jim said plainly. It was true.
"Sometimes I really don't understand you." I admitted.
"I did warn you about that sort of thing before we ever got serious." He said grumpily.
"I know you did. It doesn't change the way I feel about you, but some things I find harder to accept than others. You don't always understand the things I do." I told him gently. I wasn't criticising him, just trying to explain.
"I know. But we still make it work." Jim nodded.
"We do. I think weirdly, we're surprisingly normal. I mean so many couples don't argue or talk about the stuff that bothers them, it sometimes takes us a while, but we've always sorted it out." I smiled.
"Yeah, we do." He smiled back. We sat together, just enjoying each other's company. The moment was broken when I heard raised voices.
"Can you hear arguing?" I asked.
"Uh, yeah. That sounds like Seb." Jim agreed. I stood up quickly.
"I am going to kill him, why can't he leave Angie alone?! Come on we better go and intervene." I snapped. I really wasn't impressed.
"Alright." He nodded. We raced downstairs to see what damage was being done.
"No! I don't want to hear it! I am DONE with you! Get that through your thick skull!" We heard Angie yell.
"What the hell is going on?" Jim walked in frowning; he was not impressed with Seb.
"Ang, you alright?" I asked. I kept a safe distance from Moran. Neither of them acknowledged our presence. Seb frowned at Angie.
"Don't do this..." Pleaded Seb.
"I've made up my mind, and you are not going to change it this time, no matter what words you use. I am done." Angie glared back. He just stared at Angie until Jim finally frowned at him.
"Moran, out. I've had enough of you upsetting Percy or Angie. Get out, now." Jim snarled.
"But…" Protested Seb, shocked at Jim's temper.
"I said OUT!" Jim grabbed Seb's arm and dragged him out and shortly after, the front door slammed.
Angie leaned back, her hands gripping the side of the counter. She glanced at Jim as he came back in. "Uh...thank you. That was getting a bit out of hand." She smiled nervously.
"You're welcome. You are a guest in this house and deserve to be treated with respect." He nodded. He was breathing heavily. I smiled at Jim, and turned to Angie.
"Are you alright, Sweetie?"
"I'm fine. Hopefully he got it through his thick skull that I really am done with him." Nodded Angie.
"Hopefully." I agreed.