Ten: White Boxer Shorts
The kids were good, as always, and I even let them stay up until 10:00 at night since it was a weekend. We finished dinner, did some chores Diana had left in a note on the counter, watched a movie, and I helped them crawl into their beds. Zac had left early on in the night to go to the old house he was speaking of earlier, I’m assuming, and Avery had disappeared to the computer room where I could hear the chiming of her instant messaging. When I checked on her, she assured me she had no bedtime on weekends and I didn’t have to worry about her.
I took some time to wander about the kitchen without anyone watching me. I examined the family photos on the fridge and the stack of mail on the counter. It seemed like every family member had their own personal pile on the huge counters. I noticed a pile of Taylor’s mail, a book that was dog-eared in the middle, and a bottle of conditioner that I noticed, after opening it and sniffing it, smelled like Taylor. I assumed it was all Taylor’s. I opened the pantry and examined all their snacks and the three 24-packs of water. I finally settled on a fun-size bag of pretzels and a bottle of water. I grabbed a “Family Fun” magazine off the counter and sat down in the living room to eat my snack and flip through the pages absentmindedly.
I must have fallen asleep sometime while I was reading, because the next thing I knew it was 2:00 A.M. and Avery was handing me the phone.
“You’re still up?” Was the first thing I muttered when she tapped me awake.
“I was just about to get into bed…and then the phone rang,” she said, nudging me with the antenna on the cordless, “It’s Taylor…he sounds confused.”
I took the phone and held it to my ear. I could hear a distant chatter in it.
“Hello? Taylor?”
“Is Zac there?” He asked loudly, trying to speak over the people.
“No…he left…are you okay?” I asked.
“Can you please tell Zac to answer his cell phone or something?” Taylor insisted.
“Taylor, he’s not here. He left awhile ago.”
Taylor sighed, “Nooo…I don’t know what to do. I need to come home…”
I sat up, much more awake than I had been just moments ago, “You can’t drive?”
“I can…but I don’t think I really should just in case someone gets hurt…because it’s not even me that could get hurt, but other people on the road…you know what I mean?”
He had been drinking, I decided.
“Yeah…you’re right…” I nodded, “Don’t drive.”
“I would! I would wait it out and just come home in a bit…when I feel more…more driver like,” he continued, “But my parents will be home in like an hour, Gabrielle, and I want to be home and in bed by that time, you know what I mean?”
“I know what you mean…can you get a ride from someone?”
“I…maybe? If maybe…I’m not sure who could drive me…I could ask around? I don’t think Matt drank too many drinks…not that much tonight.”
I could tell by his slurred speech that he was pretty far gone. I didn’t trust his judgment in finding someone to drive him home. I didn’t trust anyone there, in fact.
“Okay…you tried to call Zac?”
“He didn’t pick up…” Taylor sighed, “I called a few…hey! You spilled my drink!” he laughed to someone at the party.
“Put the drink down!” I yelled into the phone, “Trust me, you’ve had enough.”
“Almost enough,” he said solemnly.
“No…trust me. You’ve had enough, I can tell. Put it down.”
“Okay.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Did you really or are you lying?”
“I’m lying,” he giggled into the phone.
“Taylor…” I sighed, looking at Avery who stood there with a worried expression on her face.
“Did he get himself into trouble?” Avery asked, nodding at the telephone. I nodded. “He is always doing stupid stuff like this…and he’s always getting himself into stupid situations.”
“I really don’t want to try and drive myself…” Taylor pleaded into the phone.
“I’m not telling you to, don’t worry,” I assured him, “I don’t want you to either. Are you sure there’s no one there who can drive you? Do you see anyone not drinking? Can you give them the phone?”
I had never dealt with anyone who was intoxicated except for my mother and her boyfriends, and my way of dealing with them was closing my door and ignoring them completely. I had no clue what I was doing with Taylor, but I tried my best anyway.
“Uhhh…” Taylor mumbled, and I assume he was looking around, “Maybe her…hang on…”
I waited until a girls voice came into the phone. “Hello?” “Hi…is Taylor okay?” I asked.
“He’s pretty…he’s pretty gone. He was drinking a lot, I hear, and he doesn’t have a very big structure…who is this?”
“A friend of his he called,” I said quickly, “Do you think you could drive him home?”
“I’m staying the night…” she said, “I don’t have my car here at all. The girl who drove us is wasted. In fact, I think most of the girls are staying over for the night. Maybe I can help Taylor find a sober guy….although that’s going to be pretty hard…”
I sighed and closed my eyes. It was too late, and I was too tired, to think this hard.
“Can you give him the phone back?” I replied.
“Sure…Taylor…take the phone. Your friend wants to speak to you.”
“Hello?” He slurred into the phone moments later. It scared me that he could hardly utter a word as simple as hello.
“Tay…listen…I need you to focus okay, just for a second,” I spoke evenly to him, “Okay? Are you going to listen?”
He giggled into the phone.
“Taylor? I need you to listen to me okay?” He laughed again, “I can hear you’re speaking to me funny. I can hear you’re talking down to me. See, that’s the funny thing, Gabrielle. You think I can’t understand, but I can. I can understand completely!”
He was a rambling drunk. I should have figured.
“Okay, sorry. Well listen, could you just stay the night there…?” I asked.
He paused, “My parents…Gabrielle, listen. I need you to come get me. I need you to.”
It was my turn to pause. I didn’t respond. Of course I couldn’t come get him. I didn’t have a car for Christ’s sake!
“Gab, listen. Get the keys to the van and get me okay? I’ll be waiting right here.”
“Where is right here?” I cried into the phone, “Taylor, I can’t come…”
“Okay? Okay…I’m going to hang up. Just come get me,” he stated.
“Put that girl back on the phone!” I shouted into the receiver.
“Okay…here she is…” he mumbled, and as I heard him hand the phone off I heard him announce that he just couldn’t think and he was going to lay down.
“He’s laying down,” she narrated.
“Good…where are you located?”
“Huh?”
“Where is the party? Where is Melissa’s house?”
“Oh…34 Chester Drive in Glenpool,” the girl recited, “At least…I think…hang on.”
I turned to Avery while the girl muffled the phone for a moment.
“I don’t know what to do…” I told Avery, “I guess you’re old enough to know that your brother has gone and gotten himself drunk and now he can’t drive himself home so…someone has to get him. I don’t know what to do.”
“Can you get him?” Avery asked.
“36 Chester Drive,” the girl said into the phone, “And I asked around to see if anyone is willing to take Taylor all the way down to his house, but the only people who are able to said they have to be heading home soon and can’t. There’s this one girl who offered…but she seems sort of tipsy herself.”
I felt ashamed that I briefly considered risking it and letting Taylor get in the car with her.
“Alright…it’s fine…someone will come and get him soon, okay? Tell him to hang tight and give him his phone back.” I wondered how I could handle the situation so calmly considering the idea of drunk people was enough to throw me into a fit. I hated drunkenness. Drunkenness made people do things they would never ordinarily do when sober, and usually those things were bound to hurt someone else.
“Okay, I will. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help!” She said into the phone.
“It’s fine. Thanks,” I said before hanging up. I turned to Avery again, “What on earth do we do!?”
“Call Zac?” she suggested, flopping down on the couch, “We can’t leave him…because my parents will check on him before he goes to bed…”
I huffed and laid back against the couch, “Well maybe he should get in trouble!”
Avery shot me a look, “No way. Taylor in trouble means he’s grounded…which means he’ll be hanging around the house more. No freaking way,” she grinned, “But seriously, we’ve all sort of taken a vow to get each other out of trouble when we can.”
I nodded. “He deserves to be caught though, just so you know.”
Avery nodded, and smiled again, “I know. And he knows it too. With the band, it’s just stupid for him to go out doing stuff like that. That’s how gossip starts.”
“It’s stupid period,” I sighed, and then looked at her seriously, “Never drink, Avery. Alcohol makes people do stupid things. Don’t you ever drink.”
She smiled, “Okay.”
“What’s Zac’s cell phone number?” I asked her.
She ran to the kitchen to get the list of emergency numbers off the fridge and brought it back to me, reciting it off the sheet. Just as Taylor had said, he didn’t pick up when I called. In fact, it didn’t even ring. I assumed his phone was turned off.
I scanned the emergency list for another number. “How about…who’s Sally?”
Avery chuckled, “My aunt. There is no way we’re calling her.”
“Ashley?”
“A family friend. Sometimes he’s cool about being our friend, and sometimes he’s on our parents side. It’s hard to say. You could try him?” I glanced at the clock. It was 2:08 AM.
“Taylor did say…he told me to pick him up with the van.”
Avery’s eyes lit up, “That’s right! You have your license right?”
I chuckled, “I have my license. No car to use it with…but I at least have it.” “Well,” she said, taking the list from me again, “Take the van and go get him. The thing is like 10 years old. As long as you’re a good driver…it shouldn’t be a big deal.”
I eyed her nervously, “Avery…I don’t have permission to leave you all here and go off in the middle of the night to pick Taylor up.”
She didn’t say a word, just walked into the kitchen, put the list back on the fridge, and returned with keys in her hand.
“You’re supposed to be watching my parents’ kids. By not getting Taylor, you’re risking him being desperate and getting in the car with someone else.” She tossed me the keys.
She had a point. I wouldn’t rest until I saw him before me, safe in his house. And I knew I would never forgive myself if something happened to him.
“What about Mackenzie and Zoe…?”
Avery shrugged, “They’re sleeping. I’ll just stay up and have some ice-cream and watch TV.”
I smiled, “It sounds like you might enjoy this…”
“Hey,” she said, reaching for the remote, “It’s not often I get the television to myself…or the house for that matter.”
I spent the next ten minutes using Map Quest to find Chester Drive on the family computer and printing it off. Avery told me where to find the van out by the wood shed. I reluctantly waved goodbye and made my way, in the drizzling rain, out towards the lone van. It was huge, and for a moment I wondered if I would be able to control it. I was thankful though, as I got in the car and pulled out onto the street, that I was getting Taylor. The roads were slick, and the last thing I wanted was for Taylor to ask one of his semi-drunken friends to drive him home.
I struggled to drive the humongous car on the wet roads, switching the light on every few stop signs to make sure I was going the right way. The more I drove, the more I began to think about how angry I had been at Taylor. The asshole had belittled me and insulted me, done his best to make me feel bad about myself, and here I was carting his drunk ass back to his house in the middle of the night. After two wrong turns and twenty minutes of driving, I pulled up to a house packed with people and cars lined up along the roads. The house was large, but it wasn’t a mansion like I expected. I had always figured that Melissa had lived in a house that looked like it came right out of Beverly Hills.
I parked the car down the street where I could find the first open spot, and actually sat there for a few moments debating just turning around and driving back to the Hanson’s without Taylor. I was terrified to walk into a party of people I didn’t trust. I couldn’t bear to have everyone look at me. Even in my Gap clothing that Taylor had bought me, I still felt like undeserving of walking into such a party.
Finally, I worked up enough courage to get out of the car and walk along the slippery sidewalk to the front door. The house was considerably smaller than Taylor’s, I noted as I pulled open the front door. I considered knocking, and then decided no one was actually going to answer. The first thing I noticed as I stepped inside was the smoke. It was everywhere. It humored me how the inside of Melissa’s huge home could be just as filled with smoke as my own shack. It was ironic.
I filed through the crowd, looking for Taylor everywhere. I noticed faces of people from my school, but that’s all they were. Faces. I hardly knew anyone’s name.
“Gabrielle!” Someone gasped, grabbing my arm. I turned to see Ryan, the boy who always offered to give me a ride home.
“Hey!” I sighed with relief, “I’m glad to see someone I know. Maybe you can help me…I’m looking for…”
“What are you doing here?!” He grinned, reaching out and wrapping his arms around me, giving me a huge hug, “I had no clue you were coming!”
“I’m actually…I’m just picking someone up…” I mumbled into his chest, muffled by his hug.
He released me and looked at me, “You’re beautiful.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
“Thanks…”
“No…I mean it. People always say that you’re really pretty for…well you know. Considering you never really try to look pretty. But you’re pretty period. Just pretty period.”
I noted the drink in his hand and nodded, “Thanks.” I forced a smile. It was nice of him, really, but all I wanted was to find Taylor and get him home before his parents. “Do you know where I can find Taylor Hanson?”
Ryan smirked, “Melissa’s boyfriend?”
My heart sank.
“He’s passed out on the couch, I heard. Are you a friend of his? He’s famous…you know…”
I nodded, “I know. It was good seeing you Ryan.”
He grabbed my arm as I tried to walk off, and looked me in the eyes, “Seriously, Gabrielle. It was good to see you.” He looked to serious and solemn. I couldn’t help but chuckle just a bit.
“Thank you,” I nodded just as seriously back, before pulling myself away and wandering into the next room to look for Taylor. I convinced myself, as I walked, it had nothing to with how much I cared for Taylor, and everything to do with his parents. I told them I’d look after their children, no matter how old. It was my responsibility to make sure he was home safely.
As I walked into the next room, which looked like a den, I spotted Taylor sitting on the couch with his head leaning against the pillows. His eyes were closed, and he was asleep. I walked over to him and sat down next to him, shaking him gently.
His eyes fluttered open and he looked at me, “Gabrielle…?”
“Hey, ready to go home?” I asked him.
He smiled and wrapped me in a hug very similar to Ryan’s hug, “I knew you’d come.”
I couldn’t decide if I resented that or not. In a sense, it implied he could predict and control my actions, and that was not something I was willing to give Taylor Hanson control of.
“Ready to go?” I repeated.
He nodded, standing up and sitting back down as soon as he did. He rubbed his temples and looked at me, “That felt weird…”
I helped him stand up again, wrapping my arm around his skinny waist and helping him secure his long arms onto my shoulders.
“We’re going to walk for the door okay?”
“But I didn’t say goodbye to anyone…” he mumbled, walking slowly with me.
“You can call them.”
“Gabrielle! I met so many new people tonight! Amazing people! I want to say goodbye to them.”
I sighed and looked around the room, “Okay do you see anyone you want to say a quick goodbye to?”
Taylor pointed in the direction of a group of giggling girls. They were watching him and when he noticed he gave them a bashful smile and batted his eyes in their direction. I snorted as I helped him walk over to them.
“Taylor is going home,” I announced when we made it to the group.
He began to say something, but then turned to me quickly, “Gab…I don’t feel so good…”
“You’ll be fine,” I assured him, “Just say goodbye.”
He turned back to the girls and gave them a sloppy lopsided grin, “It was good meeting all of you. It really was.” They laughed and exchanged various different phrases with him like, “You’ll have to come back another time!” and “You need to give us backstage passes when you do shows here in Tulsa!” He basked in the attention. After a few minutes, I tugged on his sleeve again and tried to pull him towards the door.
‘Taylor, your parents. We need to beat them home.”
He nodded, waving to the girls, and letting me guide him towards the front door. We were almost out into the rainy night when someone grabbed his arm from me.
“Taylor!” Melissa said, grinning at me as if she was as nice as she pretended she was, “Good, I’m glad someone is driving him home! I was worried that he wouldn’t have a way to get home.”
I’m sure you were. You were just so concerned that might just have to stay the night, huh? I mused.
“Yeah, I’m driving him,” I said, grabbing him tightly as he tripped over the welcome mat.
“You have a car?” I sighed. Of course, she had to remind me where I stood. “It’s his family’s car. We’re going to have to leave his car here…it’s the silver sports car. He’ll pick it up tomorrow, I guess.”
“No problem. Taylor…Gabrielle’s going to take you okay?” She cooed at him, squeezing his arm.
“Sure,” he smiled, looking at her only it was obvious he wasn’t truly looking at her. His eyes had a glassy, distant look to them as he looked around.
“Call me okay?”
He nodded, “On the phone. Sure. I’ll call you. Thanks so much….for inviting me,” he struggled to get the words out. “I wish we could have danced more. You should have more dancing next time.”
I smirked as he stood there looking like an idiot. I could only picture the sight of him dancing, especially drunk like this.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Melissa nodded. I could tell she was tipsy by the way she grabbed onto the wall to steady herself, but she was much more capable of faking normal conversation than Taylor was.
“Sexy dancing music,” Taylor grinned.
I shook my head and held onto him tightly, beginning to walk down the steps with him.
“Sexy music,” she giggled, watching him trip down the steps. I had a secure hold on him though and he didn’t even come close to falling, “Make sure he’s okay, Gabrielle!”
I rolled my eyes. “Sure thing!”
Finally alone, I was able to concentrate solely on getting Taylor into the car safely. He stumbled when there was nothing to stumble over and leaned against me to keep himself up.
“You’re so good to me, Gabrielle,” he grinned as we walked towards the van.
“That’s right,” I agreed. “And don’t you forget that…”
He chuckled and dug his fingers into my arm, holding onto me as we walked down the slippery sidewalk.
“It’s wet out, huh?”
“Sure is.”
“Raining. February is a rainy month.”
“Yep.”
“Everything looks sort of…glittery, doesn’t it?”
I giggled and nodded, opening the passenger door, “Here we are. Get in.”
He grabbed onto the car and pulled himself into the seat, dropping his head back onto the head rest and sighing.
“Put on your seatbelt, okay?”
He fumbled to find the seat belt and then fumbled some more, trying to get it hooked. I watched in amusement as he struggled with it, simply unable to complete the task.
“Need help?” I said, not waiting for an answer. I grabbed the seatbelt from him and reached over him, buckling it. He looked pathetic, sitting there with his hair falling in front of his face and his eyes halfway shut. I smirked and closed the door, going around to the driver’s side.
“Gabrielle,” he stated, as I started the car up and carefully pulled onto the street. The rain picked up and I drove slowly to avoid slipping.
“Gabrielle…you’re a really good person to me. I was mean to you, and you still are taking care of me…” he mumbled, closing his eyes. “You don’t have to do this…”
“I do,” I nodded, “So you don’t get hurt.”
He sighed and nodded with me, “But…thank you for getting me. Thank you for being Gabrielle and thank you for being a friend…a driver…a good person to me. And I’m sorry that you had to. I feel pretty stupid…”
I carefully tried to remember the way I had come. The last thing I needed was to get lost on the way home and have his parents arrive before us. I felt slightly panicked that they might retire to the house earlier than they’d expected.
“I’m sorry if I’m not making sense too…” Taylor added.
“You’re making sense. A heck of a lot more sense than you have been making lately.”
It relaxed me to see Taylor as a kind drunk. The only drunks I had ever been around were rude, mean, and selfish. My memory was stored with visions of my mother and her boyfriends having sex on the living room couch after they’d finished off two 6 packs of beer. But Taylor was kind, and gentle…he was thoughtful in fact while he was drunk.
“Not making sense lately? Huh?”
“You’ve been so mean,” I said, fully taking advantage of his drunken state to say what I needed to say and be guaranteed he wasn’t sober enough to play games with me.
“I know…” he said quietly, and I could see from the corner of my eye that he looked down at his lap, “I’m sorry.”
I nodded, “It’s been hard to be around. I met you and you were so…nice and friendly and fun to be around. And lately you’ve just been hell to hang out with.”
He nodded sadly, “I’m sorry. Gabrielle, you’re the last person I want to be mean to. Honest. I just am mad I guess.”
“Mad at what?”
He shrugged, “Mad that you don’t like me like I like you.”
So he did buy it. I felt guilty for a moment that I had let him believe I hadn’t liked him at all. But I cleared my throat and tried to remind myself he deserved to feel bad. He had treated me like crap, and I had a right to let him think I didn’t like him as much as I had grown to.
“I’m sorry.”
“You can’t always get what you want…” he sang quietly to himself, looking up and grinning at me, “It’s true. You can’t.”
I let out a deep laugh and shook my head as I drove, “You’re nuts…”
I was expecting him to reply, or keep singing or something, but he grew strangely quiet. He didn’t say anything for the next few moments, so I finally looked over to see him grasping his stomach.
“Are you going to be sick?” I said to him.
He didn’t reply, just sat there holding his stomach and focusing his eyes on the dashboard.
“Taylor…are you going to be sick! Tell me now.”
He nodded slowly and I swerved to pull off to the side of the road. As soon as the car stopped, he struggled to release his seatbelt. I undid it for him and he swung open the door, scrambling out and hunching over on the side of the road. I listened to the sound of him throwing up over the guard rail. I sighed and got out, closing the door and walking over to his side.
He looked as pathetic as he sounded. I approached him and put my arm tentatively around him, rubbing his shoulder gently and he vomited liquid all over the side of the freeway.
“You’re okay…” I spoke to him quietly, trying to coax him, “You’ll feel better in a second…I promise.”
I think I did more comforting Taylor that night than I did comforting his little siblings. He nodded appreciatively as he continued to heave. After a few moments, he finally lifted his head up and wiped his mouth on his sleeve, looking at me. He looked terrible. His face was sweaty and his hair was wet…his eyes looked absolutely exhausted.
“Do you feel better? Is that it?”
He paused and then nodded, “I think.”
“Are you sure…?”
He nodded, and as I helped him step towards the van again, he turned and vomited all over the ground again, this time right at our feet. I gasped as I jumped away from him, protecting my Pumas. I groaned and rubbed my eyes with my palms.
He grabbed onto the side of the car and used it to balance himself, resting his forward against the wet window when he was done vomiting. I waited for him to speak before I said anything.
“I think I am done this time…” he finally managed to articulate.
I nodded, “I hope so…can you get in the car?”
He nodded and pulled himself in the car. I went around to my side, cringing at the puddles of vomit on the side of the road, and noticed he had managed to successfully buckle himself in this time. He was asleep as soon as I stepped on the gas.
“Taylor,” I whispered, tapping him gently when I pulled back into the spot I had found the van in his driveway. I had been able to finally figure out, after a few minutes, open the gate by using the remote on the dashboard.
He stirred and opened his eyes, sitting up and looking around. Robotically, he got out of the car on his own, getting his seat belt undone and the car door opened all on his own. I got out too and went around to him, taking him by the waist again and walking him toward the house. I opened the door and pushed him in gently before him. I looked around to see Avery sitting on the couch with a bag of chips. She was watching the Cosby Show.
“Hey,” I whispered to her, grabbing Taylor again as he began to stumble.
She turned around from the couch and looked at us, “I was getting worried about you guys,” and then after a second of contemplation she added, “You’re an idiot, Taylor.”
He just grunted in response and held onto me tighter.
“I’m going to bring him to bed okay?”
She nodded, “I’ll be right here the whole time…enjoying every bit of junk food and late night television.”
I smiled and began to struggle as I dragged Taylor up the stairs. He hardly did anything to help me. Finally, after a minute or two, I had him to the top of the stairs and walked into his bedroom. I walked him over to his bed.
“Get in,” I encouraged him, pushing his knees against it so he could feel it.
He collapsed against it, but his legs remained standing. I smiled and lifted his legs, putting him on it completely. It felt nice, taking care of him, as much as I didn’t want to admit it. It was a connection I had with him that Melissa didn’t have.
“Taylor…come on…work with me here…”
He sat up when I said that and did his best to focus on me. I could tell he was struggling to look at me without getting dizzy just by the way his eyes were floating.
“Okay…what do you want to do before bed? Anything? Can you live without brushing your teeth?”
I didn’t know what was the standard procedure for bringing a drunk teenager to bed. Do they skip getting ready and just pass out? Do you do what you can to ensure a normal rest?
He gripped his jeans in his fingers, yanking on them a bit.
“What do you want?” I said.
“Can you help me get these off?” He finally asked.
I swallowed. I knew that’s what he wanted. I was just hoping he’d pass out before he could get the words out. I wondered briefly if he was just a perverted 18 year old boy who wanted me to undress him, but judging by his frustrated noises as he tried to get his pants down, I assumed otherwise. He managed to get his pants undone on his own, but getting them off was a completely different task.
“Okay…well kick your shoes off…” I told him, helping him by sliding the sneakers off his feet and tossing them aside. “Okay now…just pull your pants off…” I mumbled with embarrassment. I smiled though when I realized he was the one that would be embarrassed in the morning. With that as my motivation, I reached for his pants and helped him slide them down. He wore white boxer shorts underneath.
“Can you get the socks off?” He mumbled, trying his best to keep his eyes open.
I felt completely awkward, taking off Taylor Hanson’s socks for him, but I did it anyway, tossing them aside with his pants. I carefully undid the buttons on his shirt, knowing very well it was way too complicated a task for him. I helped him pull his arms out of it and put the shirt with the pile of clothing. I figured he would just sleep in his white wife beater that he wore underneath the shirt and his boxers, so it surprised me when he clawed at his wife beater and pulled it over his head. Before me, lay the man of my dreams, despite how moody I had discovered he could become when he didn’t get his way, in his boxers. I did my best to keep my eyes off of his body, and his groin, but I couldn’t help but steal a few glances.
I pulled the covers back out from under him and helped him crawl under the covers, pulling them up to his chest. He looked angelic, actually, laying there with his messy hair sprawled across the pillow and his eyes struggling to stay open.
“I’m going to get you a glass of water, okay?” I said, figuring he needed it after all his vomiting earlier.
He nodded appreciatively. I found his bathroom and filled a glass, surprised to find his eyes wide awake when I returned to him.
“Here,” I said, handing him the water. He pulled himself up to a sitting position and drank the water slowly. I giggled as a little bit trickled down his chin. He gulped it all down until the glass was empty, and then set it on the night stand next to him.
“Do you need anything else? A tooth brush?”
“I’m fine,” he said sleepily, his articulation still sloppy, “Thanks.”
“Okay…” I said, suddenly feeling awkward standing in his bedroom. He looked at me, probably waiting for me to turn and leave, letting him sleep in peace.
When I turned, he spoke. “Gabrielle…”
I looked at him.
“Come here,” he said, patting the side of the bed. I walked closer to him and stood right at his side.
“Do you feel okay? You don’t feel like you’re going to throw up do you…?
He shook his head adamantly, “I feel better.”
“Just make sure you go down and pick your car up sometime tomorrow okay? Hopefully your parents won’t notice your car missing…”
He nodded, “It lives in a different…house. They won’t.”
I smirked at his wording, assuming he was trying to tell me he kept it in a different garage.
“Would you…sit with me for a few minutes?”
His request was so innocent and sweet sounding, and there was no way I could say no. I nodded and sat down on his bed resting my head against his headboard and closing my eyes briefly. He was so exhausted he would probably be asleep within seconds. He slid down in his bed again and tossed and turned for a few moments before he finally found a comfortable position on his side facing me. He smiled gently when we made eye contact, quickly closing his eyes and exhaling a deep sigh.
I had closed my eyes again when I felt his hand engulf mine. His hand held onto mine and his fingers laced through mine, and when I opened my eyes to look at him, his were closed and he was innocently laying there. I debated pulling my hand away, but whether it was my undeniable crush on him or my desire for him to fall asleep that caused me to leave my hand there, I don’t know. But I did. I let him hold my hand until I was certain his breathing had become deep enough to prove to me he was asleep. Even then, I didn’t want to get up.
I eventually did, just in time to join Avery on the couch and watch Diana and Walker’s headlights pull into the driveway. Avery and I quickly composed a story and she ran to the kitchen to put the keys in the drawer they belonged.
Walker and Diana dragged their feet through the door, clearly as tired as the rest of us. Walker went straight to bed, but Diana gave me a tired, affectionate look as she sat down on the couch with Avery and I.
“Oh, Gabrielle, you’re still up,” she smiled, “You must be exhausted. Avery, sweetheart, why are you awake too?”
“Just watching tv,” she replied, munching on a chip.
“Can you call it a night and get this food cleaned up…take Gabrielle up to Jessie’s bed and give her a pair of your sister’s pajamas?”
Avery nodded and gathered the food in her arms, beginning to carry it all to the kitchen.
“How were the kids?” Diana asked when it was just the two of us.
“Good,” I nodded, “They were good, as always. No problems with either of them…and Avery was helpful too. She’s really good at looking after herself.”
Diana smiled and sunk down in the couch with me, “So she says. Did Taylor end up going out?”
I nodded, “He’s back though. Sleeping already.”
“Good,” she sighed a breath of relief, and I was suddenly all the more grateful that I had gone out and gotten him. His mother would have been worried sick if he wasn’t safely sleeping his bed. “Is Zac sleeping?” “Zac actually went out to your old house I guess? Said he was going to sleep there to get away from everything…”
Diana raised an eyebrow, “That’s odd. I’ll have to investigate that tomorrow…” she paused before winking, and adding, “I’ll have to see if Kate coincidentally flew into town too this weekend.”
“Ready for bed?” Avery said behind us.
“Sure,” I nodded, clicking off the television with the remote and standing up.
“Do you have a particular time you want me to get you up and bring you home in the morning?” Diana asked, “You’re welcome to stay for breakfast…or lunch…or whatever meal it is when you wake up.”
It astounded me how welcoming this family was. I could not get over what a host Diana was to visitors in her house. She truly made everyone feel like family.
“Just let us sleep until we wake up!” Avery laughed, “I am so sick of alarm clocks!”
Diana looked to me.
“I have no plans,” I smiled, “Sounds good to me.”
She smiled, “It sounds good to me too…although don’t be surprised if a four-year-old jumps on you in the morning.”
Avery showed me to the bedroom she shared with Jessica- a room decorated in purple, flowered wallpaper.
“This is Jessica’s bed,” she said, patting it and then opening a dresser drawer, “And let me get you a pair of her pajamas….” She pulled out a pair of pink shorts and a t-shirt.
“Perfect,” I smiled, “Thank you.”
“I hope that’s okay,” she shrugged, “If you want you can change and wash up in the bathroom. We keep a bunch of new toothbrushes in the top drawer for guests…go ahead and take one. And sorry the sheets aren’t clean…”
She was exactly like her mother. The entire Hanson family, with the exception of Taylor during one his moods, was incredibly welcoming.
I smiled graciously and pushed the thought into the back of mind that they were pitying me. I never accepted charity or tolerated pity, but I liked this family too much to let myself put a wall up to them. Somehow I realized, as I got ready for bed and crawled underneath the covers of Jessica’s bed, that I simply couldn’t afford, emotionally, to put up a wall anymore.