01 || Read Between the Signs || Chad Crawford

I'd been back for a month. Work was going well, but that was about the only thing. Oh, and my friendship with Steven, which I was beginning to hate myself for.
In that four weeks I'd recieved three phone calls from Chad. Three. And all were short, of course. I'm not sure if I was getting used to the idea of the close-to-lost contact with my boyfriend, or if it was bothering more as time passed.
I was sitting on the kitchen counter waiting for my strawberry PopTarts to jump out of the toaster, presenting me with a delicious dinner.
"Dawn?" Tor's voice startled me, for I was unaware of her presence.
"Oh, hey Tor. Nice seeing you out of your room for a change."
"I know..." She looked down, something she did not do often. She'd always seemed so strong to me.
"I was actually thinking it would be good for me to get out of this apartment."
"I agree with you." I could smell something burning, and I knew it was my PopTarts. I ejected them from the toaster and threw them away. Whatever. They weren't even the frosted kind. "So what did you have in mind?"
"I don't know. I was thinking we could go to a club or something?" She had hope in here eyes, but I resisted.
"Yeah, you have fun with that. I'm gonna pass."
"Dawn! You have to come. Pleeease?" she begged.
"I'm sorry," I laughed, "but that just doesn't sound like a good time to me."
"Too bad. You're going. We'll bring Steven along," she tantalizingly, knowing how to hit my soft spot.
"Alright, alright," I cracked. "But I'm playing the role of designated driver."
"Well someone's got to do it. Call him," she said, handing me the phone.
"Okay, you've convinced me," I said with a smile. Once he answered I told him about what was going on, and he was excited to go.
Tor and I each took showers then got ready, dressing appropriately for the occasion. And to kill some time before Steven was there to pick us up, we played a nice card game of Go Fish.


Of course I ended up being the one to drive us back, me bring the only one who hadn't drank (not that that stopped me from enjoying myself).
Tor wasn't exactly drunk, but had a really good buzz. Steven was completely smashed. I was so exhausted that I was about an inch away from falling asleep at the wheel.
"Steve, I'm just going to take you back tomy apartment, okay? I'm way too tired to do more driving than I need to," I said, catching glances at him without taking my eyes off the road too much.
"Whaaah?" He was sunk down in his seat, head leaning against the window, in an obvious state of extreme intoxication.
"You're, coming, home, with, us." I spoke slow and clear so that maybe he would understand me.
The whole ride home, Tor was hanging out the window in the backseat, barking atpedestrians, and laughing hysterically at their reactions. I laughed along with her.
It was awfully hard carrying Steven up to the door with his arm around my shoulder and mine around his waist, because he weighed much more than me. I'm sure Tor would have helped me, had she not been having such a hard time unlocking the door.
Once in, Tor ran to the bathroom-- they'd both been urinating a lot since they started drinking. I lay Steven down on the couch. I made sure to put him on his side, so if he passed out, he wouldn't puke then drown himself in his own vomit. That wouldn't be very pleasant.
I got into bed, satisfied from a fun night, and also very tired. I was more than half-asleep when Steven stumbled into my room and crawled in next to me only minutes later. The smell of alcohol was nauseating. Even in my barely-concious state an alarm went off in my brain, warning that snuggling close to him was not a good idea. I did it anyway. Right then it was just nice to have someone to lay with.