{ warning : this chapter contains drinking, swearing, and a very strong mention of rape. this is a friendly reminder that all events taking place during this chapter and this entire story in general is fictional and is no way based off any real life events. thank you, I hope you enjoy this chapter. }
|| Finally. Finally I had gotten over my writers block as I continued to write like a mad man as I leaned over the table. I was writing on a small napkin I found and while it didn't provide the most writing space it was just fine for me. But then again, almost everything was fine to me as I had finally admitted it to myself. I didn't just leave Ariel for Dory.
I was head over heels, in love with Dory. I was in love with the way she inspired me and they way she made me feel, I couldn't help but love her. She always made me feel so happy even if I had a really bad day. And I was slowly inching towards telling her this. Slowly inching towards telling her the truth of how my heart beats for her and her only and how...well, how she had changed my life in a way I thought wasn't possible. I had taken her to the aquarium about two weeks ago now and while I still hadn't kissed her cheek again, I planned to the next time I would see her.
Yet my string of thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my phone ringing. I quickly answered it and hoped it was her.
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's Jeremy." I frowned and put my pen down. I began to look around a little, wondering if I was about to be recruited for something. Jeremy had never sounded more concerned.
"Y-yeah, hey. What's up? Is something wrong--"
"Jesse, I don't have time to explain. I just need you to get over here." I could hear Jeremy put down the phone and yell out something. I could hear him sigh before speaking to me again. "Like, now. As in come here as quickly as you can." I quickly stuffed the napkin into my pocket and nodded. I got up and began to walk out of the coffee shop as quickly as I could without running.
"O-okay...Where are you? You're at the Lush store right?"
"No. I'm in New Jersey." I frowned some more and stopped.
"New Jersey? Jeremy, why the fuck would you be in New Jersey? You hate that place." in hind sight maybe I shouldn't have swore, but, at this point Jeremy was worrying me.
"Well, I'm at a party in New Jersey. I'm sending you the address now. You're going to need to take a train but trust me, this is urgent."
"What's wrong are you drunk or something? Do you need me to escort you? Hell, is Dory with you?"
"No, I am not drunk."
"...Is Dory with you?"
"...That's a complicated question." my eyes widened as I began to walk even faster.
... thirty minutes later
|| I could hear loud music was playing from the outside of the house. I was just outside of New York City and while I expected this party to be at Fate and Tom's house I could now easily tell that those two were far from here. And as I walked towards the house, I began to not understand why Jeremy had told me to come here. This didn't seem at all like a place where Jeremy or Dory would hang out. But as I walked into the house, this place seemed to look familiar...
I looked around. There was several sweaty bodies of people standing around and dancing. I was slightly disgusted by this as I'm not the type for dancing nor sweating. Five minutes had gone by and I still hadn't found Dory or Jeremy, so I leaned over and tapped someone on the shoulder. A man around my age turned around to look at me.
"Uh, hello, excuse me--" he gasped.
"Whoa! You're Jesse Eisenberg!" I bit my lip. Along with parties and talking to strangers, being recognized out in public was on the list of my least favorite things.
"Y-yeah I am...Umm, listen I'm looking for a guy who might be here um...Have you seen anybody named Jeremy? He's got brown hair, brown eyes and is taller than me..." the man stared at me like a deer in headlights.
"Can I have your autograph?" I sighed.
"U-um sure, sure do you have something to write with?" the man handed me a sharpie. I quickly signed my name on his arm and kept walking. Ususally I wouldn't be so rude to a fan but right now I didn't have time to be nice. I sighed again and shook my head. Another fifteen minutes had past and I still hadn't found either of them.
"Dory? Dory..." I called out her name. I would occasionally ask people if they had seen her yet nobody seemed to know what I was talking about. Was I at the wrong place? Was I too late? "Dory? Dory!" I called out again. I gasped as I heard a response.
"Jesse!" I could hear Dory shout back from afar. I couldn't see her yet now I knew she was here. I shouted again.
"Dory..."
"Jesse!" I quickly went in the direction I had heard the response come from.
"Dory!"
"Jesse!" I sighed in relief as suddenly Dory turned around to see me. She smiled widely. "Jesse!" she repeated. jumping up and hugging me. I chuckled and hugged her back tightly, holding her close to me for a few moments. I was really worried that something bad had happened, but I guess Jeremy had just lost her and gotten scared. I didn't mind. I was just glad I had found her in time before anything horrible could happen. Yet I was stunned as when I pulled away,
Dory slammed her lips on mine.
My eyes were wide open. I was too mortified to kiss back before she pulled away. My cheeks were a bright red. She chuckled and leaned on me. I slowly began to understand...Dory was drunk. And by drunk, I mean I quickly noticed that she was stumbling. "W-what the hell?"
"Sorry, I just thought it would be a fun way to greet you." she giggled. I opened my mouth to speak yet gasped as I was interrupted. Oh no. This was the last thing I needed. This was the thing that was horrible. This was why Jeremy had called me. Suddenly I realized why this house looked familiar. Out of all the people in the world. Out of all the people in the world it could've been, it was Ariel. This was the house her parents had left to her after they died.
Ariel put her hand on Dory's shoulder and smiled at me. "Hi Jesse. See you've met my great friend here Dory?" I narrowed my eyes. I knew what Ariel was doing. Ariel was trying to take Dory as her next victim. Ariel, was trying to make Dory become who I used to be. I shook my head.
"Dory and I know each other. And, we need to leave." I grabbed onto Dory's hand and turned away and began to walk away. As Dory didn't walk with me, I turned to her and raised a eyebrow. I tugged her hand and tilted my head to the side. "Dory, c'mon..."
"Oh, Jesse, Dory isn't going anywhere." I titled my head as Ariel spoke. I pulled Dory closer to me and sighed.
"Ariel, anyone can see that it's time for me to take Dory home. And I'm not interested in you trying to tell me otherwise."
"Why? I don't wanna go home...This place is fun!" Dory chuckled before walking in another direction. I sighed again and walked towards Ariel. She folded her arms and smirked.
"Nice to see you've come running back to me." I rolled my eyes.
"Ariel, this is not me running back to you. For the last time, I don't love you anymore. And I'm just here to take Dory home. She's my good friend and--"
"Oh. So she's your new fake high school girlfriend?"
"She's not in high school."
"She acts like she's in high school. Or did she even go to high school?" she tilted her head. "After all she's so dumb I'm surprised she isn't blonde."
"Also for the last time, just because someone is blonde it does not mean they are stupid. You need to get over that. Dory is a brunette anyways."
"Whatever. Anyways Dory is my friend now therefore you're not allowed to date her." I scoffed.
"Ariel, I was here first. Hell, I was her friend first! If anything you shouldn't be allowed to be her friend."
"That's not how this works!" she took a step towards me and got in my face. People around us were starting to look at us. I looked back at the other people before looking down at Ariel again. I growled.
"Stay away from her. I don't want you to hurt her like you hurt me."
"Maybe it was your fault..." I shook my head.
"You've told me that lie for three years now. I don't believe it anymore and I'm not going to let you feed Dory the same bullshit." and without another word, I turned and walked away. My eyes widened as I found Dory again. She was talking to a very large man when I walked over. I grabbed onto Dory's hand.
"Dory, we gotta go."
"What's the rush? This nice man was just offering me candy!" Dory chirped, looking at the man again as he smirked. My eyes widened even more.
"W-what kind of candy?"
"A lollipop."
"I like lollipops!"
"Oh really? Well then, why don't you come with me sweetheart--"
"Okay Dory, let's go..." I grabbed onto her arms and began to push her out.
"But I want a lollipop!" despite the man protesting in the back round, I kept walking.
"Dory, I can buy you a lollipop on the way home if you really want one. Let's just go okay?" she looked at me and smiled.
"Whatever Jesse you say!" she then let out a small hiccup as we walked through the front door.
... thirty minutes later
|| As we walked out of the subway station, Dory threw away her lollipop stick. I smiled at her and put my arm around her as she stumbled again. I felt slightly strange after she kissed me, yet I understood that she was drunk and it was just supposed to be friendly. Deep down I didn't want it to be a friendly kiss but, for my own sake, I had to decide that it was just friendly. Yet, she chuckled and kissed my cheek again. I blushed wildly. Then, my phone rang again. It was Jeremy. I quickly answered and put the phone to my ear.
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's Jeremy. Have you found Dory yet?" I sighed and nodded, then answered when I realized he couldn't see me.
"Oh yeah, yeah. I got her. She's drunk out of her mind...Hey, um, why is she drunk out of her mind? And where are you?"
"That was Ariel's doing. She was the one that talked Dory into taking like six or seven shots, not to mention Ariel was the person who invited her over. Hell, she's probably had more than that at this point. I'm actually very surprised with how she can hold her alcohol...I thought she'd more of a lightweight but--"
"Jeremy, get to the point. Where. Are you?"
"I'm on a train. Ariel had said that she wanted to go home and she stepped off the train last second, with Dory with her." I bit my lip. Clearly I had missed a lot what happened. Look it was Ariel's idea to have us over, I tried to protest but she wouldn't listen. I'm sorry." I sighed.
"It's fine, I believe you. Don't worry about it." it wasn't fine. I was offended by Ariel's actions more than anything. She had not only manipulated me but my two best friends also. "Just don't let Ariel come near Dory. Ever. Again."
"What are we talking about?" Dory slurred as she nearly fell over again. I caught her with the one arm I had available, putting my arm in front of her before turning back towards my phone.
"Jeremy, I gotta call you back."
"Okay that's fine. You don't have to call me back, I trust that you can take Dory home. Just don't let her go anywhere else okay?"
"Again, don't worry. I'm already one step ahead of you. I'll see you soon."
"Okay. Take care and DON'T let Dory out of your sight. I cannot stress this to you enough." I began to chuckle.
"I got it Jeremy. I'll talk to you soon."
"Okay cool. Bye."
"Bye." I turned towards Dory and smiled. I put my phone in my back pocket, then grabbed her hand and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. "How are you feeling?" I tilted my head. We kept walking down the sidewalk, nearing my apartment complex already.
"Oh, I feel fine. I don't feel great but, fine." I smiled a little more.
"I think that's the first thing you've ever said to me that's borderline negative." she laughed and shook her head.
"Oh no, no. For someone who feels like throwing up and dying I feel very positive." I chuckled again and pulled her closer somewhat, wrapping my other arm around her waist. Dory giggled again and looked at me, a bright smile on her face. "Can we go back to that party now?" my smile slowly faded into a frown.
"...N-no. No Dory, I'm taking you home." she tilted her head and stopped walking.
"Why? I wanna go back to that party..."I stopped also and stared at her.
"W-what? Dory, w-why would you wanna go back?"
"Because! It was fun and that girl was really nice to me." I shook my head.
"No Dory, that girl was not nice to you. I don't want you to be around her." she tilted her head a little more.
"Why? I liked her..."
"Dory, just don't okay? Stay away from her."
"Why? She didn't do anything bad to me or you!" I suddenly huffed and turned towards her, stopping and staring at her.
"Dory, Ariel is my ex-girlfriend. Don't you remember?"
"N-no..." she hiccuped and giggled again. "She is?"
"Dory just stay away from her. I don't want you to get hurt okay?" Dory thought for a few moments then nodded slowly.
"Okay Jesse...if that's what you want..." she groaned again, throwing her arms around me as we began to slowly walk again. "I feel awful." I gave her a small smile. I knew I couldn't stay mad at her for very long. As she put her arm around my neck again, I held her hand. I looked around to see we were now standing in front of my apartment complex. I stood in front of her and smiled some more.
"Well, maybe if you drink a lot of water you'll feel better soon." I turned and went to start walking to the building, yet she tugged on her hand and stopped me.
"H-hey um, Jesse? Can you wait for a second? I need to ask you something..." I tilted my head and stopped in front of her again.
"Y-yeah what is it?" she slowly took a step towards me and squeezed my hand.
"D-do...Do you mind if..." I bit my lip as she came closer and closer. She then smiled and began to whisper. "Do you mind if I kiss you again?"
"U-um..." I began to lean towards her. I couldn't help it. Our lips were barely centimeters apart. "I think I would like that." suddenly, she slammed her lips on mine and kissed me. I immediately cupped her cheeks and kissed her back with all the passion I had. While her mouth tasted of candy and cherry alcohol, it felt better than I expected it to. I held onto her as if she was all I knew before she slowly pulled away. She smiled a little and pecked my lips again as I chuckled. Then, I slowly began to realize it.
Again, her mouth tasted of not only candy but alcohol. Alcohol. My first and second kiss with her wasn't a kiss of love and passion, Well, at least not from her end. It didn't matter that it was me she had kissed. I was simply a object to her in this state of mind. She didn't kiss me because she loved me or because she had cared about me...But because she was drunk. If she wasn't drunk she would've never touched me, I thought. I was suddenly heartbroken as she giggled and began to kiss me again. I pulled away and shook my head.
"Dory, no." she frowned.
"Why?" I chuckled a little and shook my head. I was so upset with myself already that I had kissed her back. Who was I kidding? Hell, technically kissing her was taking advantage of her. How could I? I felt like a idiot to think she could love me. Yet for some reason I still wanted to believe that maybe she felt the same way.
"B-because Dory you're drunk."
"But I wanna kiss you. Do you not wanna kiss me?" as she leaned in again I forced myself to squeeze my eyes shut and pushed her away. I still wanted to kiss her despite how disappointed I was with myself and with her. I shook my head.
"D-Dory, I'm not going to take advantage of you."
"But Jesse!"
"Dory, please." I smiled and cupped her cheeks again. I began to rub circles in her skin before smiling a little more and licked my lips. "Dory, please. If tomorrow...Tomorrow if you're sober and you still want to kiss me, I-I'll kiss you. I promise. But I don't want to while you're drunk." Dory sighed and nodded.
"O-okay. Whatever you say Jesse." I smiled a little again. I leaned over slowly and gave her a small kiss on the cheek. I laughed as she began to blush wildly.
.... twenty minutes later
|| "Weren't we supposed to go to my place?" I chuckled and laid back onto the bed, wearing nothing but my gray shirt, my boxers and my black socks. I felt comfortable being this exposed around Dory, there wasn't a lot I thought she could really do to make me very uncomfortable. I watched her from afar as she brushed her teeth. She spat out the gooey, white liquid out of her mouth and began to rise her mouth out. I raised a eyebrow as she then smiled and walked towards the bed. She was still intoxicated yet she was starting to sober up.
"Did you just use my toothbrush?"
"No, that's my toothbrush."
"Dory, we're at my place."
"Oh." she laid down next to me on the bed and rested her head on my chest. I felt comfortable with this of course, as Dory was a big fan of cuddling whenever we'd spend the night together. In her defense I was too. Dory gave big and warm hugs so I always liked it when she would wrap her arms around me and hold me close. I looked down at her and smiled as she continued to speak again. "Well then, I think I just used your toothbrush."
I chuckled and shook my head slowly, putting my arm around her. I began to play with her hair, my fingertips touching her roots then caressing strands of her hair slowly. I then rested my chin on the top of her head as I spoke. "That's disgusting Dory." I laughed with my eyes closed.
"Well I'm sorry! You didn't have any extra!"
"Am I supposed to?" I looked down at her and she looked up at me.
"Well kinda. You didn't expect me to go to bed without brushing my teeth, did you?"
"Well...Yeah." Dory gasped and leaned up. She looked at me and put a hand on her chest.
"Are you serious right now?" I began to slowly laugh again.
"Mhm."
"You're being fully serious?"
"Yes."
"As in full on, honest to god, truthfully serious?" I nodded.
"Yes Dory, I am." her jaw dropped.
"Who do you think I am? Why would I?" I shrugged as she laid down on me again. I returned to playing with her hair and keeping my eyes closed.
"Well Dory, a lot of the time when people go out drinking and then come home drunk, they don't usually end up brushing their teeth. Most of the time they forget and just go to sleep."
"Why?"
"Well, sometimes people who are intoxicated go home with people who are also intoxicated. They...engage in personal activities and when they're done they go to sleep. They don't have any time to brush their teeth." she leaned up
again and looked at me.
"Really? With random strangers? Why?"
"Well, sometimes when you're intoxicated people you previously didn't think were very pretty are suddenly very very pretty, and sometimes when two intoxicated people find each other pretty they go home together."
"What do they do? Do they cuddle?" I laughed again and shook my head.
"No Dory, most of the time they don't."
"Then what do they do? What's the point of it?" I kept laughing and shaking my head.
"Dory I'm really tired..."
"Aw you gotta tell me now! What do they do Jesse, what do they do?" I smiled a little at her and began to caress her back slowly.
"Dory, most of the time they have sex." her eyes widened a little. She tilted her head.
"That seems unsafe..." I nodded.
"It is unsafe. Sometimes strangers have diseases that can be passed on through sex, therefore you shouldn't do it."
"Why do other people do that?"
"Because they want to...And, because they want to feel good."
"Then why do people--"
"Dory..." I caressed her cheek with my other hand and sighed. "C'mon, please. Let's just go to sleep okay? I'm sure you understand what I'm talking about. Please I'm exhausted."
"Oh okay... Goodnight Jesse." I smiled as she snuggled up to me, pulling her legs up and burying her face in my t-shirt. Yet I was shocked yet again as she leaned up and pecked my lips. I pulled away and sat up, now frustrated.
"Dory!"
"What?"
"Y-You can't just do that, you know? I-I'm sorry but I'm not okay with you kissing me while you're intoxicated. It's not right and I shouldn't let you get away with that." she frowned and leaned closer towards me.
"Why not?"
"Because. B-because not only is kissing you while you're drunk taking advantage of you, but because we're just friends." she then leaned towards me some more, our noses now touching.
"I don't wanna be friends. It took me a while to say it, but, I'm saying it." I blushed wildly, my eyes widening. I felt as if I was being teased at this point. I didn't believe her when she told me that, I knew what she wanted and I refused to give her what she wanted. She wanted to have a one night stand with me. I refused to ruin our friendship with that despite the fact that I loved her. I gulped before responding.
"Dory, that's fine. If you want to be more than friends, that's fine. I'd love to be more than just friends. But--" as she slammed her lips on mine, I couldn't help myself. I grabbed her cheeks and pulled her close. She pulled away and gasped.
"S-so you do like it! Hah!" she slurred as I quickly shook my head.
"W-well Dory I...I..."
"You kissed me back. That means you like me. Therefor, kiss me back please." as she kissed me, I kissed her back against. God, what was I doing? I was encouraging her behavior when I shouldn't have been. I was telling her yes when I should've been saying no. Suddenly, I pushed her away.
"Dory no." she kissed me again. I pushed her away. "N-no." she kissed me again. I kissed her back this time yet I then pushed her away once more. "Dory--"
"Jesse c'mon--"
"Dory you're teasing me right now and I'm not okay with that!" I suddenly snapped, staring at her. She leaned away, now sitting on her knees and starting to think. I panted a little and sat up. "Dory, I don't know if you were never taught this or if you forgot, but I already know how this goes. Okay? I-It's not that I don't like you, it's that if we start kissing, we're gonna start touching each other. Then, we're gonna have sex and I refuse to make love to you while you are intoxicated." my bottom lip began to quiver as my eyes began to tear up. I had said this before. I had said this to that someone before her I hoped Dory would not react the same way she did. "O-okay? Dory, I love you. I-I love you a lot. You're my best friend and I would never, ever take advantage of you like this okay? Okay? I've been in this position before and it was one of the worst things thus has ever happened to me--" I sniffled as she leaned closer towards me.
"J-Jesse, are you okay?"
"Dory I wanna go to sleep. I want to go to sleep and I don't want to talk about this anymore."
"J-Jesse did...Did someone...did someone make love to you...While you were drunk?" I was silent. I looked away and kept shaking my head.
"Dory I wanna go to sleep." she shook her head and made me face her.
"J-Jesse...Jesse who?" I gulped and kept shaking my head.
"D-Dory please..."
"Jesse who did this to you?" I bit my lip. The salty tears began to come down my cheeks now, staining my skin and rolling down my throat. "No..." she mumbled, shaking her head. "No...No Jesse please tell me it wasn't--"
"It was Ariel."
"Jesse what the hell? Jesse...What the hell, why did you stay with her! W-when was this?"
"I-it was...It was...Oh god Dory..." I began to sob as I buried my face into her shoulder. She quickly hugged me and held me close as I went on. "A-all I remember was that she had gotten on top of me a-and she covered my mouth and a-and she made me drink more..."
"Shh...Jesse it's okay..." she began to pet my hair. I pulled away and looked at her.
"It was the night right before I met you." Dory's eyes widened. This really changed everything.
"Jesse...I'm so, so sorry..." she ran her fingers through my hair. I put my hand on her wrist and closed my eyes.
"I-It's fine just please, lay down and wrap your arms around me, and rest your head on my chest and say something really cute. Like like.." I stopped to think for a moment. "Like please just say something so fucking and s-so...so fucking cute that I can look past this and just be happy again..." I sniffled again. Dory bit her lip.
"The next time I see Ariel, I'm going to punch her in the nose. Okay?" I nodded quickly.
"O-okay." she then laid down and rested her head right where I asked her to. I smiled and began to caress her hair again. "Goodnight Jesse..."
"Goodnight Dory..." I exhaled shakily and stared down at her, biting my lip. Never had I felt more bruised yet never had I felt more of a urge to tell her that I loved her. I almost said it yet, I said nothing.
She wasn't going to remember this anyways.