Dane: Drunk

Dane blinked languidly. He couldn’t quite remember how and when he’d ended up on the wooden floor, but there he lay. He vaguely made out the wooden legs of stools on the floor near his head and shoes belonging to the bodies standing over him. A female voice, angry and distant came from somewhere above him and it was answered by another voice, male this time and very familiar; it seemed to be pleading with the other. Dane couldn’t tell what the voices were saying, but that was probably because he was too drunk to care.

Suddenly, a pair of strong hands rolled him over onto his back and Dane squinted up into the lights that glared down from the ceiling. He was about to protest when a man kneeled into his view and he recognized his best friend’s scowling face. Chris didn’t look to happy to see him, but Dane smiled stupidly anyway.

“Didn’t know you were here too.” Dane said to his friend’s floating head. The Chris head huffed and it’s scowl deepened, if that was at all possible.

“I wasn’t, Dane.” The head said unhappily. “I was at home, sleeping. But I had to wake up and come get you. Again.”

“That’s cause you’re a good…good…you know what I mean?” Dane said sloppily, chuckling at his own inability to find the word he meant to use.

“A good friend? Yea, I know. Luckily for you.” The Chris head, huffed again. Dane nodded, groggily. Friend probably was the word he was looking for. Chris always seemed to know what it was he meant.

“Alright, let’s get you out of here.” Chris sighed. Dane agreed it was probably time for him to go and before he knew it he was being hefted to his feet by strong arms. Grateful, he slung an arm around Chris’s shoulders and gripped the other man’s neck with his free hand. He stared the man in his eyes and stated as seriously and sincerely as the alcohol in his bloodstream would allow him: “I love you, Chris.”

“Yea, I love you too.” Chris said quickly and started towards the door supporting most of Dane’s weight. As they made their way towards the door, Dane caught the tail end of a few whispered conversations. In those conversation he was quite sure he heard something concerning ‘gay’, ‘fairies’, and ‘f**s’. He looked to Chris, but in his concern for Dane, he was sure Chris hadn’t heard the comments. Dane was sure if Chris had he would have made sure to set those ignorant assumptions straight. They were already out the door before Dane could tell Chris what he had heard.

“Watch your head.” Chris said as he unceremoniously deposited Dane in the back seat of the car. Dane blinked suddenly confused. When had they made it all the way across the parking lot to the car? He didn’t get an answer to that question because Chris was shoving something into his hands. It looked like a half emptied water bottle; or was it half full?

“Drink that, ok buddy. All of it.” Chris sat as he climbed into the seat behind the steering wheel. Dane nodded and did as he was told. He up ended the bottle and then slumped against the car door. The water tasted funny. Dane tossed the bottle onto the floor and made a face at it. He hated nasty water.

“I’m getting kind of tired of this.” Chris said without looking over his shoulder. Dane thought he’d said something else, but it was lost in the roar of the engine as Chris turned the ignition. As the car started to pull away from the bar, Dane’s world started to spin. He was tired too.