Tyler unlocked the door to his apartment and stumbled in. He was drunk. And pissed. Nobody had ever turned him down. Nobody. What the hell did she think she was doing? Flirting with him, telling him that stupid story. He should have never bothered with her. He walked into the open living area he shared with his roommate, Freddy. He was on the couch with Marshall, watching some ESPN show on their flatscreen TV.
"Hey bro! You're home kinda early tonight. What gives?" Freddy questioned, not knowing at first how volatile Tyler was.
"Nothing. Just wanted to come home. Is that okay?" Tyler snapped back at him.
"Jesus Ty what happened? You only get this mad when you're drunk. Now sit down and tell me about it before you pop a vein or something."
Freddy was a great friend. He always knew what to say when something was wrong, and usually was the one that helped Tyler patch up his problems.
Tyler fell limply onto the oversized leather sectional couch and groaned. "I really don't want to talk about it. It's stupid."
"Well it couldn't have been that bad," Freddy said. Tyler could feel the confused look on his face. "You smell like Macy's perfume department and have lip gloss on your neck. Looks to me like you had a good time."
That pissed him off even more. Tyler aggressively wiped the sticky, glittery shit off of his neck, taking out his angst on his own skin. They sat in silence for more than twenty minutes.
"Alright," Tyler began, "remember the girls I told you about? The ones we were supposed to meet before the game tonight?"
Freddy said he did, and urged Tyler to go on.
"I figured hey, they're Bruins fans, they're girls, they're nineteen, one of them is bound to have a thing for me, right? And one of them pretty obviously did. So after the game, we go out. I buy her a drink. She tells me some bullshit story about her life and asks me some dumb question - " He stopped mid thought.
"Go on," Freddy coaxed.
"So I go to kiss her, and she turns away and says she can't. Come on man, she was practically all over me. And then rejects me? What kind of bitch does that?"
Freddy was at a loss for words. "That's it? Jesus man, you suck when you're wasted. So [i]one[/i] girl doesn't want to hook up with you. What's the big deal? No one wants to hook up with me, you don't see me crying about it."
"The big deal? She's a bitch!" Tyler was fuming.
"You need to settle down. Did she say why? You can't just assume it's because she's a bitch."
He hesitated. "She said... it was because she still missed her ex."
"Well, that's not cool. But I don't think that makes her a bitch. She was looking out for your feelings, and hers." Freddy was always the voice of reason, even when Tyler didn't want to accept it. "Was it a bad breakup or something?"
"He died," Tyler answered flatly.
"Dude, you're an asshole."
Freddy shut off the TV before getting up and walking into his bedroom.
* * * * * * * * * * *
"Nicki, are you sure you don't want to spend the night at my house? I don't want you to get in trouble with your dad. He's gonna know you've been drinking," Lisa offered Nicki, trying to keep her out of trouble.
Nicki let out a sigh while thinking it over. "You're right. Yeah, might as well."
Neither of them was in any shape to drive, so Milan had paid the limo driver extra to take them home. They would arrange to get Lisa's car tomorrow. Lisa rolled down the window separating them from the driver.
"Change of plans, can you just take us to 399 Oak Street in North Andover?"
The driver nodded and shut the window himself. Lisa took a good look at her friend.
"Nicki, you are an absolute wreck. What happened to you? You looked pretty happy with Tyler when I got down off the bar," Lisa prodded. She always knew when there was something wrong with her best friend.
"That's just it." Nicki could barely speak. She had never drank so much in her life. "We talked, and it was so awesome. We got caught in a moment and he leaned in to kiss me. And I turned away. I can't do it Lisa, not yet."
"Well what happened after that? He clearly didn't react well. Unless you call grinding shirtless with twenty strippers reacting well."
Tears started forming in the corners of Nicki's eyes. She didn't want to feel the way she did.
"I told him I was sorry, and I told him why I couldn't do it. I don't know if that's what pissed him off or if it was me telling him I thought we wanted different things."
She wished she had never even spoken to him.
"That might have done it," Lisa said sympathetically.
"The worst part, I swear to God, he is so incredible. He's amazing. I can't think of enough words to describe it. I barely even know him... But I guess I know him well enough to know that I need to stay away from him. I mean look at what he did afterwards. He doesn't want to date anyone. His nightmares are probably about being in relationships. And I don't want some one night stand that I'm going to regret for the rest of my life," she said, tears falling freely now.
Lisa hugged her close. "Well maybe you need something like that. Something with no emotional attachment. I'm no therapist, but I think maybe it would help you out a little," she suggested.
Nicki shook her head against Lisa's shoulder. "Maybe you're right. But not with him. I actually have feelings for him Lis. Sleeping with him would be the worst possible thing I could do."
Nicki didn't have the strength to keep talking. She didn't even want to think. She let herself drift off to sleep, the subtle moan of the engine her lullaby.
* * * * * * * * *
Tyler woke up to the smell of coffee. His head was pounding. He rubbed his forehead, trying to ease the pain away. When he opened his eyes he had no idea where he was. Once he realized that he had passed out on the couch, the memories from the night before came rushing back to him. There were some things that he didn't remember. But there were some that he did.
"Shit!" he shouted as he buried his face in his hands.
Freddy came running into the room. "What is it?"
Tyler needed confirmation. "What did I tell you happened last night?"
"You told me that you made a move on some girl whose boyfriend died and got pissed off when she turned you down," he said, shaking his head. "That was really shitty man."
Tyler couldn't believe himself. How could he do that to her? He never noticed how badly he acted when he drank. He had to get in touch with her somehow.
He turned to Freddy. "Did I tell you I got her number?"
"Nope."
"Crap. What do I do? I can't just not apologize. I was a total dick." He felt absolutely terrible.
"Why don't you call all the guys that were with you last night? Maybe one of them got it."
That was a good idea. Tyler got up and went into the kitchen, where Freddy had already prepared coffee. He poured a full cup. No sugar or cream, he needed the full effect of the coffee to help him wake up and clear his head. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. It was almost dead, as he passed out before he could plug it in to charge.
He speed dialed Brad, hoping that he was awake. "Ugh Segs what is it?" A groggy voice answered on the other side of the phone.
"Hey bro, I know it's early for ya. Listen, did you get Nicki's number yesterday? Did anybody?"
"That's what this is about? You couldn't have waited a few hours? Seriously?" Brad was not happy with him. He was a man who enjoyed his beauty rest.
"Seriously. Did you?" Tyler didn't have the time or the patience to listen to Brad complain.
"No, dude, I didn't. I don't think anybody did. She was kind of anti-social last night." Tyler knew why. "Hey.. wait a minute. I think Luc got her friend's number. Lisa? They really hit it off."
"Really? Perfect. Sorry to bother you Marchy. See you later," he hung up before Brad could answer and went to his contacts to call Milan.
The phone rang over and over. Eventually his voicemail picked up. He decided to leave a message.
"Hey Luc, it's Ty. I know this probably sounds random, but I need Lisa's number. I gotta get in touch with Nicki. It's really important. Call me back as soon as you get this."
He didn't know what to do with himself. All he could think about was how terrible he was to her last night. Like the girl hadn't been through enough. He took a long sip from his coffee. It was still hot and burned his tongue. He took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. The only thing he could do now was wait.
* * * * * * * * *
Nicki sat at Lisa's kitchen table, sipping some weird organic tea that she and Zach were obsessed with. Last night was the first night since Mark died that she hadn't woken up sweating, screaming, or shaking. She would have been happy, but the reason she didn't wake up that way was because she never went to sleep at all. Her eyes were still red and inflamed from crying through the night. She had lost all hope for herself. She was too damaged; no man in his right mind would want to be with her. She would have started crying again, but there were no tears left. It was all she did lately.
She checked the time on her phone. It was barely past eight. It would be hours before Lisa and Zach woke up. She planned on making breakfast for them in return for letting her spend the night. She folded her arms in front of her and let her head fall on top of them.
Her phone started vibrating on the table. Must be dad, she thought. She picked up her head and looked at her phone. She didn't recognize the number. She let it ring. Whoever it was, they didn't leave a message.
Only a few seconds later it rang again. The same number. Maybe it was important.
"Hello?" The sound of her voice scared her. It didn't sound right.
"Nicki? It's Tyler."
Her stomach dropped. Why was he calling her?
"Oh.. hey. How did you get my number?"
"Long story. Nicki, I need to talk to you. Can I take you out for breakfast?" He sounded like he really wanted to see her.
"I don't know, Tyler. I was gonna make breakfast for Lisa and her boyfriend. Can we just talk on the phone?" She was still embarrassed from last night, and wasn't sure if she could face him just yet.
"How about coffee? We can pick up some breakfast for them if you want."
Nicki didn't say anything.
"Please?" Tyler begged.
"Alright. If it really means that much to you. I am a little hungry," she couldn't say no to him. No matter how badly she wanted to.
Tyler's voice cheered right up. "Great. I'll pick you up in forty five minutes. Text me her address?"
"I will. Bye Tyler."
"I'll see you soon."
She hung up the phone. What had she just agreed to? Forty five minutes was barely enough time to shower.