Renee asked Dean to leave, and he did. That was it for him. Renee, on the other hand, stayed alone, awake, and depressed. Thankfully, there was somebody who gave a damn and wouldn't leave her alone in her misery.
Emergency didn't care what time it was. Seth hurried to get to Renee. It was late and he should be sleeping; but when it came to that, nothing was as it should have been. Dean was not with Renee. Renee was alone, and God knows in what state, both mental and physical. Seth couldn't stop thinking about what might have happened between them. Maybe he was overreacting; he wished he was. But what if not?
In the middle of the hallway there lay male boxers. Well, that would explain why Dean was naked, Seth thought to himself. He picked them up, carefully – hardly were they clean. Then he quietly knocked on the door. "Renee," Seth called. His voice was too quiet; she had no chance to hear him. He knocked again.
She finally opened the door. Her face was not approachable to Seth. Renee was looking down. To make it even harder for Seth to recognize her emotion, she was hiding her face with her hand. That made Seth wonder, had she been crying?
Renee swallowed. "Dean's not here." She assumed that was the reason Seth came there.
"I know. He's at Roman's. I suppose this is his," he pointed at the underwear.
"Yes," she sighed, and took it from Seth. Then she carelessly threw it in the room. She didn't care where it'd land.
"Can I come in?"
Renee shrugged her shoulders. What it mattered? It did, when she thought about it. Maybe it was strange, but she didn't want to be alone. That'd be a torture. Those few minutes that she had already spent in there by herself were enough. Desperation surrounded her and wouldn't let her sleep. Sleep . . . that was just a wish that wouldn't come true anytime soon.
Seth entered the room. First thing he did was looking around. He became a detective looking for evidence. Small hints that would tell him what had happened. But the room was actually quite tidy. And if he expected blood stains on the floor, there were none. This was not a crime scene.
"Did you fight?" Seth asked Renee, who was getting a night gown out of the closet and putting it on.
Then she looked at Seth and answered him, "No . . . I don't know, actually. Maybe."
"But . . . you're still together, right?" He was worried. And even more when he got no answer.
Renee was quiet. Terrified of answer? Only she knew. Seth had no idea what was going on her mind.
"Please, tell me you two didn't break up," he was begging now. But that wouldn't move her. Her tongue was tied. Seth hated this. How come nobody ever answered him that question? They thought it was funny keeping him in ignorance? No. Definitely not Renee. The woman that Seth was looking at certainly didn't find anything funny. Her expression was sour. Sadness couldn't be hidden beneath a fake smile. No matter how much effort Renee'd put into convincing Seth that everything was fine, she could never make it look believable. She was sad; she was suffering. Any person able to see would notice her misery.
"Seth," she called his name. "I don't know what to do." She felt desperate. If anybody could help her . . . but Renee ceased to believe there was a way out.
Once again she was getting close to bursting into tears. But she didn't want Seth to see her crying.
"Come here," he invited her into his arms for a compassionate hug. She could cry; she could let everything out. She was safe with him.
A minute later, he let her go. The window curtains were closed and he wanted to change that. Secluding oneself from everything never solved anything. He looked around what else he could improve. "Go lie in bed," he advised her. On the nightstand there was a remote control, which he picked and used to turn on the TV. He glanced at it to see what was on but didn't change the channel yet. Instead, he walked toward the minibar and opened it. Alcohol, that was what he needed. A bottle of champagne would do to begin with. And there were two glasses already awaiting nearby. As Renee watched the TV, Seth poured the champagne and carried the full glasses to the bed. He handed her one.
"A toast?" Seth asked. But that was the last thing she could think of. "No? Ok." Seth smiled and drank a bit. So much he wished to see a smile on Renee's face. "So what are we going to watch?" he asked out loud and started switching channels. No. No. No. Then Seth suddenly cheered up. "Hey! A soap opera. It's always nice to get reminded how small our problems are," he was joking. A female character was sitting on the floor, crying furiously. "Do you think that Fernando screwed her over?" Another shot at a man picking up a baby out of the crib. "Maybe she found out that the baby her sister just gave birth to is his," he said dramatically.
"You watch this?"
"No. You wanna see what I watch?" His voice sounded enthusiastic.
"No!" Renee shouted before Seth could get to the channel he was looking for.
"It's not porn," laughed Seth.
Renee wouldn't believe him. "Really?"
"Not always."
"But you wanted to show me porn, didn't you?" she suspected.
Seth looked away. She got him. "All right," Seth gave up. "Let's watch a movie." And he went to the On Demand section. Horror? No. Romantic? Hell no. Comedy? Seth asked, "Hangover?"
"Movie, or are you predicting the state in which we'll be in the morning?"
"Movie of course," he responded but he wouldn't cross out the other option either. He poured her another glass and emptied the small bottle. "Play it if you want," he handed her the remote to go to get more alcohol. Once there, he shouted at Renee, "Whisky? Gin? Vodka? Tequila? Oh, hey! Jagermeister!" he shouted and took it out along with a bottle of wine.
"Don't mix," Renee advised him.
But Seth didn't care. He just checked where the bathroom was . . . in case. "Look," he addressed Renee, "as long as we don't get as drunk as they," he pointed at the screen where the movie was getting ready to be played, "we're fine." Sure, in the morning he'd regret getting wasted, but now it didn't matter to him. Besides, the priority was cheering up Renee; or at least helping her forget about tonight. "I better grab some beer," he announced.
"Please don't," protested Renee; but as soon as he had two beers in his hands and returned to the bed, she took one when Seth opened them.
And they could press play and start watching. Seth at times preferred watching Renee to watching the movie. He wanted to know what effect the comedy would have on her. It made her smile. When not the movie, Seth's impersonations did. The way he joked made her forget. And laugh; like when he spilled the beer over the bed sheets. "Here, take mine," Renee generously offered him her bottle of beer.
Seth replied, "I'll just get another one." And went to take two out of the minibar. The stock was getting tight. Seth had already taken out a lot and it was piling up all around the bed. He wondered how expensive that would be. "Well, I guess it's on Dean tonight," he said quietly so that Renee couldn't hear him.
One thing was sure. Renee didn't pay attention to Seth anyway. Her eyes were set on the screen. "Seth! Seth!" she cried. "The best part."
Seth hurried to see it. Then, after it was over, he realized, "You know, you could have just paused it." They both burst into laughter. Not that it was that funny, but the alcohol got in their heads.
Seth lay down in bed again, right next to her. As she laughed, he was thinking. Without stopping the movie, Seth started speaking. "I'm telling you this as your friend, not Dean's." The words immediately grabbed her attention. "If you're unhappy in that relationship, end it. I know it sounds harsh, but you need to ask yourself, is it all worth it? Do you want to be with him at all costs?"
The good mood was gone in an instant. Serious look replaced the smile on both of their faces.
"Unless," Seth spoke again, "you've already broken up." She actually never told him what happened earlier that night. He asked, but she didn't say. "Renee," he was left to beg.
Renee went back to watching the first part of the Hangover series, but she couldn't enjoy it anymore. Her mind became Dean's slave again.
Seth couldn't let this torture continue. All right, he shouldn't have brought that up. All that he had achieved earlier now collapsed.
And then, when Seth stopped hoping that she would say something, she did. "What did he say?"
"Dean?" Seth double-checked. "Nothing."
Renee nodded. She was not surprised; perhaps she expected Dean to not talk about it.
"Well, I guess we're done with watching," Renee said and turned the TV off.
"What do you want to do now?"
"Sleep? Drink? Cry? Scream?" While posing the questions, she was smiling. She made peace with the misery Seth was talking about earlier. "I don't know. But that's not a reason for you to have a sleepless night."
Seth shook his head. "Nonsense. I'll stay; no matter how long."
That made Renee happier. There was somebody she could share her worries with. Maybe she should open up to him . . . But it felt wrong asking him for anything; even staying with her that night. "I don't need a guardian."
Seth leaned to kiss her on her forehead. "You need somebody you can count on. Somebody you can trust." His eyes lingered on the upper part of her body. A smile appeared on his face. "Where did you get that shirt?" asked Seth. It took Seth's interest.
Renee welcomed the new topic. "From Dean."
"He gave you my T-shirt?"
She chuckled. "He didn't realize it until tonight. And I had thought it was his," Renee explained.
"You still wear it," noted Seth.
"I like it; it's comfortable. Besides, I feel good wearing it since I know Dean's not very excited that I wear a shirt that turned out to be yours." It was her way of a protest.
"Really?" Seth grinned.
"He said it smells like you . . . And he didn't mean it as a compliment."
Renee was surprisingly enthusiastic. As if she liked the idea of making Dean jealous. The sight of Seth by her side, lying next to her, while she was in his shirt . . . Renee wondered how Dean would react if he accidentally walked inside and got to see this. Deep inside, she wished it would happen. "What if he walked in right now?" she expressed her thoughts.
"Rather not," Seth replied.
But Renee still waited. Wasn't it in moments like these that the Murphy's Law proved right? Yet nothing happened. Dean was probably already asleep. But . . . Renee was thinking vehemently. Dean would come in the morning, wouldn't he? He will have to since all his stuff is in this room. He wasn't even wearing any clothes when he left, after all. So when he wakes up, his first steps will lead to Renee. And if everything works out as planned, he'll find the two of them together. And then it's just up to him how he decides to handle to situation.
Her plan had to stay secret, though. "I guess you're right," she lied in reply to Seth. Renee didn't necessarily want her plan to work out. Maybe it would be better if it didn't. But she was curious. She secretly hoped that Dean would get jealous. It was because she believed that once he gets jealous, he realizes that he needs to fight for her, and not passively keep on believing that it'll end the way it should. There was no guarantee. It might have been already over between them. But then again, something needed to be done.
Finally, Renee looked pleased. "Do you want to finish the movie?"