Obliterated Beginnings

• 11 •

"Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on? " he snapped.

"He threw up. I think he's had too much to drink. "

"Correction, " Omar forced out brokenly, his breath coming in short gasps. "I didn't. I know my limit just fine. "

"Shut up, Omar. "

"Who is he? " Axel asked.

"That's not important at the moment. What I—"

"I saw him hug you. " he bit out.

I tried not to take offense at his tone. His anger was completely unwarranted and unsolicited and a huge part of me wanted to snap right back at him, but I bit my tongue. What were a few words compared to the trouble he was about to go through?

The song ended and a slow one came up. People paired on the dance floor, grinding against each other sultrily with their eyes closed, absorbed in their own little world, losing themselves completely in the moment. That was when I realized I still had my hands on Axel's chest and I was horrified to find that they were clutching his shirt. I dropped them quickly like his skin burned. And somehow, they did.

I glanced up at him; he hadn't even seemed to notice.

"He's my best friend. " I answered his previous question. Glancing back at an obviously flushed Omar, he didn't look a lot like my best friend in that moment. My chest tightened. What could he possibly be going through that had made him drink to this extent?

"How? " his brows seemed to climb even more. "He doesn't school with us. I would recognize him. "

I shook my head. "I met him a long time ago. "

"You're going to have to do a lot more explaining than that. " he seemed to take in the state of the floor and the looks we were garnering just then. "But not here. Come. "

He shoved both drinks in his hands into a passing guy's chest and I watched as the guy desperately tried to catch them before they hit the ground. With his hand now free, he snagged mine, attempting to pull me with him, but I dug my heels into the ground rather futilely. I wasn't leaving. Not without Omar.

"What? " he frowned down at me, yes, even in my heels I was still inches shorter than him.

"I can't leave him. "

"I wasn't saying you should. "

"You just tried to drag me away. "

"And he should know to follow. " his eyes blazed. "The fuck do you want me to do? Write it out in the sky that he should come with us? He's not a baby. "

"Right now, he might as well be. " my anger started to surface.

"Not my fault he can't drink responsibly. "

"What do you know about responsibility? " I snapped. It was a cheap shot, but I threw it at him regardless. He just did not have the right to talk about Omar like that. He didn't even know him.

"Enough to be able to take care of myself even when I get drunk. " he shot back.

"Jesus. You're so annoying. "