Drunken Drive

Bus's eyes glazed over the road as he drove back to his house. He was exhausted, despite not being at the party for as long as everyone else. The only thing that he could think about right now is going home and getting under the covers. Yet, when it was time for him to roll up to his driveway, his mind slowly shifted focus from bedtime to seeing Tired again. After all, if he was "tired", it was only natural at this point for his mind to wander to the one who was always tired.

He opened the front door and looked around, expecting to see her there, but she was nowhere to be seen at first glance. He cleared his throat and called out for her.

"Tired? I'm back! You're allowed to go home now."

There was no response. At least, that's how it was for the first few seconds before he heard a quiet groan from behind the couch. He walked past it to see what the noise was, only to be met with exhausted, sunken eyes. Bus held himself back from snickering at how sleepy she looked so that he could kneel down next to her. Tired had her head laying on the armrest, her arm wrapped around a pillow. She stared into Bus's eyes for a few seconds before lighting up with a big, excited smile.

"Oh, hiiiiiii! You're back!!"

"Pfft- Uhhh, yeah? I literally just said that."

Bus knew that something didn't feel right. Tired had never expressed so much excitement when he arrived, but all the sudden, she decided to let it all show. He also noticed that her eyes looked more than just sleepy. Everything already felt off, but it was only all the stranger when tired wrapped her arms behind his neck and snuggled up to his chest.

"Did you? Sorryyyyyyyy…"

She giggled after that sentence, and Bus noticed that her breath smelled of wine. He was tense during this entire interaction. Tired was never so affectionate towards him before, so he wasn't entirely used to this side of her. Considering that and the clues he picked up so far, he came to a solid conclusion.

"Tired, are you drunk?"

"Whaaaaat? *Hic* Nooooooo, ya silly goose! ~"

Yep. She was drunk. Bus sighed and picked her up bridal style.

"You must've had too much wine. I'm taking you to bed."

Tired didn't seem to acknowledge what he said, though. She was in her own world, playing with Bus's afro.

"Sssssssso fluffy. So very cute and fluuuuufffffy. I loooove youuuuu ~"

Bus almost had to stop at that. His cheeks turned red, and his heart skipped a beat. Talking about things he wasn't used to, he definitely wasn't used to this. He didn't know what to do except to laugh awkwardly.

"I love you, too, but uhh…you probably shouldn't treat me like this."

Tired's expression changed from extremely happy to extremely sad quickly after that.

"Why not? I want toooo!!"

He laughed again, more so because of how Tired was acting, as opposed to any awkwardness.

"It's just…y'know…"

His smile slowly faded, and the reality of the situation seemed to set in for him.

"I don't really wanna…you know…get my hopes up? I mean…I know how you usually act, and…I know that when you wake up tomorrow, you're never going to act like this again…so you might as well not do it at all."

"But I wanna do it more!"

"Tired-"

He looked down at Tired as he spoke, only for him to immediately shut his mouth when he saw Tired's face. Her eyes- besides being droopy- were also upset and teary. Bus- who became immediately concerned- laid her down on the bed and sat next to her.

"Tired, are you okay?"

"Yeahhhh, it's just…"

She rubbed her eyes and sniffled.

"You just care so much for meeee, and…I dunno why, but you're always super niiiiice and…sweeeeeeet. And funny..." She giggled. "You're really funny."

She points at her chest, and her smile at the giggle quickly turned into a frown.

"And I'm…me. I'm super…What's the word? A loaf…?"

"You mean aloof?"

"Yeah, yeah. Aloof. I'm super aloof and…I'm just…"

She hid her face at this part, curling up into a ball.

"I'm sssso stupid."

"What? Tired, no!"

He wrapped an arm around her and squeezed her gently as she sobbed.

"You are not stupid. You may say mean things, but I know you're not serious! Actually, you're not even mean! You're just snarky! You don't have to feel so bad."

"I dooooo, thoughhhh! I wanna say ssssssso much to you, like how muchhhhh I love you, and…how handsome you look, and…and I can't, because I'm just so…"

She put her hand over her eyes and groaned.

"Shyyyy, and…mean…and stupid." She sniffled. "I was really scared and stupid."

"Stop saying that. You are not stupid at all. You're just shy is all. I get that."

"Yeahhhh, but…when you told me to stop, I got rrrrealllyyyy sad…'cuz you should be used to it…to me saying that stuff…but I was being unfairrrr…I can't even say 'I love you' back on the phoneee."

"Well…"

He held her wrists and made her face him.

"Will you say all of this when you're sober?"

"…"

Tired looked away, and Bus thought he saw her cheeks turn redder. Although, he couldn't exactly tell.

"I dunnooooo…*hic* but I mean iiiiit…Don't let sober me tell you otherwise. *Hic* She's too shy…She's stubby, too…"

"Pfft- Stubby? You mean stubborn?"

"…Sure, whatever…"

Bus chuckled at that part.

"Well…just know that whatever you might say or think about yourself, and no matter how shy you are, I still love you. You don't have to beat yourself up, okay?"

Tired sniffled again and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

"Okayyyyyy…Mmmm…" She put her head on her forehead. "My heaaaad…it's like someone's hitting it with a hammerrr…"

"How about I go get you some meds. I'll be right back."

Bus was about to get up, but his arm was weighted down. He looked at Tired to find her clinging onto his arm. Bus laughed a little at the sight.

"Tired, what're you doing? You've gotta let me go so that I can get you some medicine."

"Noooooo…"

She burrowed her face deeper into his sleeve.

"You're not goin' anywhere…The pain isn't that bad."

"You just said that it's like a sledgehammer to the head!"

"Yeahhhh, but that doesn't mean I'm letting you go."

"Pfft- Come onnn!!" Bus laughed again and started to get in a joke-y mood. "You know what? I take it back! You are mean!!"

He tried making it perfectly clear that he was joking by smiling and laughing at the end, but Tired was too drunk to notice. He heard her sniffling and hiccupping more, to which Bus was quick to back down.

"Oh, shi- Sorry, sorry!! Bad joke…"

He brushed her hair with his fingers and calmed her down for a few minutes, waiting for her to quiet down again to suggest a new idea.

"How about I carry you to downstairs, and you can take your medicine down there. Does that sound like a plan?"

Tired nodded and hugged onto him, her legs wrapped around his waist. Bus smiled and laughed a bit through his nose.

I guess this was how they were going to do it.

Bus walked downstairs and towards the kitchen While walking, all he could hear were Tired's mumbles. She became quieter, and she sounded like she was going to doze off any minute. Her face was in his shoulder, making her voice muffled.

"Wuv youuuu…I wuv youuuu…"

Bus reached up and grabbed the pain meds from the cabinet. He called over his shoulder to Tired, who- at this point- wasn't saying anything.

"Alright, I get your meds and a cup of water on the table. Do you think you'll be able to take it on your own?"

No response came from her. Confused, Bus kept on calling her name and tried to shake her a bit. Nothing.

She was fast asleep. Bus sighed with a grin plastered on his face.

"Oh boy…"

He went back upstairs without the meds and laid Tired back into the bed. He tried to untangle her grasp away from him, to no avail. Accepting his fate, Bus lied down next to her and pulled the covers over them. He'd need to explain himself later, but for now, he couldn't be in a better place.

"Love you, too, Tired."

He kissed her forehead and fell asleep.