Chapter 84 - Dead to Her

Ryan owned a red 2004 Honda Accord and since he only had one small beer he was able to drive an inebriated Keeley home after sternly instructing her to stay put so he could make the twenty minute walk to his apartment building to get it. He didn't trust her on the subway alone in her state.

While she waited, Keeley ended up pressing her cheek against the counter.

She really shouldn't have drunk so much; she still had homework that should probably be done tonight. Looked like that was out the window and she'd have to push herself twice as hard tomorrow.

Stupid Aaron. She never should have sent that text. She probably would have puked on the subway but so what? At least her heart wouldn't be this conflicted.

It hurt more than it should have considering she was supposed to be over him. Keeley didn't love Aaron anymore; those feelings had died a long time ago. But the anger, hurt, and betrayal lingered on like a festering wound.

She tried to remind herself that things were different in this life. Aaron wasn't being an inconsistent hypocrite; he didn't know how badly he had treated her!

This Aaron was bossy, overbearing, and didn't know the meaning of the word 'no' but he had never done anything truly horrible to her.

Try as she might, she couldn't separate the two in her head. Aaron was Aaron, no matter the timeline. Even if he wasn't bad to her now, she couldn't forget what he had done.

That capability to hurt her was buried in there somewhere. Even if it wasn't, his world was terrifying and oppressive. There was no going back.

Going back? Why would she even think of such a thing! All of the niceness, spoiling, and persistence in the world couldn't entice her to go through all of that again. She got caught up in the moment and nothing more.

Aaron was dead to her. She would do the dumb favor she agreed to and then tell him to go shove it.

The neon lights hung around the bar blurred in and out of focus before the room itself began to spin as if it was mocking her.

It was a familiar feeling—she didn't remember much about being drugged on prom night but she did remember this awful swooping sensation. That was Aaron's fault too! She ought to throttle him.

"Keeley," Ryan said while gently shaking her shoulder. She hadn't even realized she closed her eyes.

"Huh?"

"Come on, it's time to go home."

As she tried to casually hop off the stool, she stumbled and ended up headbutting his chest. He placed his hands on her shoulders trying to steady her. Five appletinis in one sitting were definitely too many.

Keeley fell asleep on the ride back to her place—thankfully Ryan knew where she lived because he had come over to play board games with her and her roommates several times.

He had been a solid presence in her life since her freshman year of college but if she knew the direction his thoughts had gone after seeing her lose her composure tonight, she would have felt extremely awkward about it.

Ryan was a great friend and she enjoyed spending time with him but that was the extent of it. She still hadn't healed enough from Aaron to date anyone.

When they arrived, Ryan woke her up and asked if she needed help to get to her apartment.

At first she said no, not wanting to bother him further, but when she tripped and fell on her face on her way out of the car he helped her anyway.

They walked slowly to the elevator connected to the bas.e.m.e.nt parking lot as Keeley's arm was around Ryan's neck, which was a bit awkward since he was half a foot taller than her, and his arm around her waist. Without him holding her up, she would have flopped right over.

On the first floor, the door opened to let someone in and Keeley giggled drunkenly when she saw who it was and waved. "Hi Aiden!"

He did a double take when he saw that a strange man was holding her upright. "Hey Keeley…are you drunk?"

"Yep," she said, popping the 'p' and giggling again.

He looked at Ryan suspiciously. "Who are you?"

"Keeley's friend. I really did try to stop her but she had a bad day."

Aiden sighed and held his arms out. "Let me take her, I live right across the hall."

Ryan seemed relieved. "Great, thanks."

"Bye-bye Ryan!" Keeley cooed before she hiccupped. She definitely owed him for tonight. "I'll buy you chicken wings next time!"

When they were alone in the elevator, Aiden asked, "How do you know that guy?"

"Mm? We had a lot of classes together in college. All my roommates were busy and I needed a drinking buddy. Sorry, but you're not legal," she said before losing her balance again, making her neighbor catch her.

"Why did you need a drinking buddy on a Thursday? You still have school tomorrow."

She hiccupped again. "Don't ever fall in love, it's not worth it."

"Who needs love when you have video games," he replied flippantly, making her laugh.

"You're funny, I like you. Not like-like you though, that'd be weird because you're so much younger than me."

"I know what you meant. I like you but not like-like you too," Aiden said trying hard to muffle his laughter.

The elevator dinged, indicating they arrived on their floor and he deposited her safely in front of her door and even unlocked it for her since her fine motor control was on the fritz. She waved him off cheerfully before stepping inside and flopping onto the couch.

Her head was killing her and suddenly all of her clothes felt constricting. She clumsily peeled herself off the couch and hurried to her room to take off Aaron's shirt, her bra, and her skinny jeans. They were exchanged for a pair of pajama pants covered in rubber ducks that she had for so long they were worn down to the perfect softness and an overlarge tee shirt.

Without further ado, she crawled into bed, already dreading the hangover she would inevitably face. It might be in her best interest to skip her morning classes and just go to work in the afternoon.