My Unexpected Forever (Beaumont 2)

I made the mistake of stopping at the store before heading home. The thought of sitting in my empty house, alone, did not sit well with me. Except now I sit in my empty house, alone, hurt and drunk. And I think I’ve broken my hand, but that’s neither here nor there.

I flex my fingers into a fist and back out again. The pain is a dull ache now, but that’s likely to be from the amount of beer I’ve consumed. The bottles are lining up nice and perfect on my coffee table.

I don’t know how long I’ve been sitting here, but the sun is up. That can’t be a good sign. I tip my newest bottle back and take in the contents in one swig. I set the bottle down next to the others and lean back. Each bottle mocks me. From the first to the last, each one is laughing at me.

Her words replay over and over in my head.

I met your girlfriend.

I met your girlfriend.

I met your girlfriend.

If I knew how to get hold of Alicia, I would. Not that I’d know what to say. It’s not like we have history. I know nothing about her, except that she’s an evil, conniving bitch hell-bent on making my life hell. We weren’t a couple. We weren’t in love. We didn’t have a falling out and decide to go our separate ways. That’s what Katelyn doesn’t understand. I haven’t seen her since the day she left Quinn with me. My last image of her is her retreating backside as she hightailed it out of my apartment.

She believes the lies. Every single one of them, and for the life of me, I can’t understand why Alicia would say those things or take the time to doctor the photos to show us together. This would all make sense if Alicia and I had broken up recently. I can see a woman scorned making up some shit, but this doesn’t make sense.

I pop the top off another beer and realize I’m almost out, which is very unlucky for me. It’s not like I can go down to the store to get some more. I don’t think I can even make it to the bathroom without falling over.

I down the contents, as my heart kindly reminds me that I cried in front of her. I fucking cried like a god damn baby. Worse yet, it didn’t even faze her. She didn’t care. She just wanted me out of her house.

And I left.

I left because I can only take so much rejection.

I lay back and close my eyes. She flashes before me. She’s smiling one minute and the next, she’s kicking me out of her house and out of her life. Tears seep down my face. I hate it. I hate myself for crying over her. I should know better.

THE clanking of bottles wakes me. I roll over, suddenly.

Mistake.

I groan and hold my head as I try to sit up. My eyes are blurry, laden with sleep. It’s dark out, which means I’ve slept the day away.

Liam comes into view. He’s carrying a garbage can and picking up my bottles.

“I’ll do that,” I croak out.

“I got it,” he says shortly.

I stand, weary that I consumed an abundance of alcohol. I make my way to the bathroom. I shut the door and lean against it, exhausted. My hand throbs and is black and blue. I have to lean my head against the wall while I relieve myself. I can barely stand on my own, clearly I’m still drunk or extremely hung over.

I drag myself back into the living room, which is now clean. I sit down next to Liam, who’s flipping through my newest DRUM! Magazine. I don’t know why he’s here; maybe Katelyn went and told him that I walked out on her.

“Quinn wants to know when he can come home,” he says nonchalantly. I look at him like he has three heads.

“What are you talking about?”

“Quinn’s been at my house for two days now. I guess he’s a bit anxious and wondering what happened to his dad.”

“Fuck,” I yell. I rake my hand over my face, pulling at my hair. I’ve never left him, at least not unintentionally. I’ve always made him a priority and now look at me. Some chick breaks up with me and I forget about my son. Guess I’m not making dad of the year any time soon. “I’ll go get him.”

“Not yet,” he says. He sets the magazine down and stands. “We need to go to the hospital first and have your hand looked at it.”

I look down and shake my head. “It’s fine. I’ll go after. I just want to get Quinn.” I turn and look out the window and imagine Katelyn walking up to the door. “I think I’m going to head back to L.A. for a bit.”

“Well Quinn can stay with us.”

“Nah, man, it’s cool.” I turn back and look at him and shrug.