The elevator doors rolled shut slowly and the tiny brunette slinked her arms around Austin’s waist. The mechanical whirring of the elevator was the only sound that filled the tiny space as they ascended the floors of the building. Drunkenly, Austin looked down at her marveled in her good looks; an overwhelming sense of good luck washed over him as he smirked and placed his lips to hers.

A shrill ding, followed by the rolling of the doors, filled the air allowing him to surface enough to take her hand and pull her towards his hotel room. He had missed this: the intimacy, the fun, the companionship. It felt as though it had been years since he had experienced these emotions and yet it had only been a few short weeks.

He slid his key into the door and pushed it open hard, pulling her inside and up against the wall. Stumbling, they made their way towards the bed. She fell back with a giggle; her brown hair spilling out around her head. Austin reached down and pulled his shirt over his head. With blurry vision he watched as she reached up toying with the button of his jeans, a sultry smile played upon her lips.

He sent her a toothy grin as he climbed on top of her, pressing his lips to hers and helping to remove her clothing. He knew this was going to be a night that he would never forget.

But he did in fact forget...and when he slowly opened his eyes the next morning, reaching up to block his eyes from the little light that was finding its way into the room. With a groan he sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He blinked seeing his discarded clothes on the ground and wondered why in his drunken stupor he had thought it would be a good idea to sleep naked, deciding to play detective in a moment after he had used the bathroom.

He padded his way back into the main area of the hotel room, wrapping a plushy robe around his tattooed body. His foot got tangled in something, causing him to almost trip. He looked down, shaking the annoying string loose from his toes, he stopped. His eye brows came together in confusion as he bent down and grabbed the garment off the floor. His mouth went dry as he held it up in the darkness: a bra. His eyes shot towards the bed where sure enough there was a sleeping form that he hadn’t even noticed before, was delicately placed in the sheets.

Swallowing hard and shaking slightly, he wracked his brain. He had no recollection of Raegan coming to visit last night nor were there any signs of Everly around the room. Hatred for himself washed over his entire body.

The sound of a phone ringing suddenly filled the tiny room and he glanced over at the night table to see his iPhone lit up and vibrating against the nightstand. He padded over towards it to see Raegan’s name flashing across the screen, a picture of her and Everly at the park paired with it. Panicking, as if Raegan could see through the phone and into the room, he grabbed his room key off the table and ran out of the room.

He had no idea where he was going until he skidded to a stop in front of Alan’s door and began incessantly banging.

“Yo, what the--?” Alan opened the door and was cut off short as Austin’s tall form barged into the room and frantically paced the floor. “Aust….what’s up?”

Austin couldn’t bring himself to admit it. He looked wildly around the room for some sign that maybe this was all in fact a dream.

“Austin….” Alan said slowly. “You okay, dude?”

“How’d I get back here last night?” The question fell out of Austin’s mouth so fast; Alan had to think for a moment to realize what he had even been asked.

“Oh, I honestly have no clue.” Alan admitted sitting on the bed and looking up with his friend.

“You left the bar before everyone else, something about being really tired.”

“Fuck!” Austin screamed grabbing his head as he resumed pacing the floor.

“Dude, what is going on?” Alan asked growing more concerned for his friend.

Austin sat on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands, his fingers pulling at his hair. “There’s some girl in my bed…” He mumbled.

“What?!” Alan said jumping up hoping he had heard him incorrectly. “What girl?”

“I have no fucking idea, dude.”

“Dude, how the fuck could you do that to Rae and your kid?” Alan asked yelling now. He was angry that Austin would even consider doing something that would once again destroy the best thing that had ever happened to him.

“I…I…don’t know…” Austin said looking up at Alan, tears brimming from his eyes. “I don’t know what happened last night, Alan. The last thing I remember was being at the bar and taking shots with you and Tino. I don’t even remember talking to a girl let alone bringing one here.”

“She’s in your room now?” Alan asked.

“Y-yeah,” Austin stuttered, “she’s in there now.

“Well we have to get her the fuck out.” Alan said as though this was a common occurrence.

Austin watched as Alan yanked open the hotel door and stormed off down the hall. Quickly, he jumped up following. Alan was outside the door waiting for Austin to hand him the key, which he did. Opening the door, Alan flipped on the lights.

“Hey there, sweetheart, hate to break it to ya, but you have to get the fuck out.” He said gesturing to the door over his shoulder with his thumb.

The girl sat up, blinking slowly, and looking around the room, “…what?” she asked slowly.

“You. Out. Now.” Alan explained practically tapping his foot.

“Dude…” Austin tried to interject, but the girl was already collecting her clothes from the ground and dressing.

“I’m sorry…” She mumbled looking at both of them. “I have no idea who either of you are or how I got here or what happened last night.”

“Just go…” Alan said with a roll of his eyes.

Looking a bit frightened, the girl made her way out of the room, the door shutting closely behind her.

Silence filled the room as the two friends were lost in their thoughts for a moment.

“Please don’t tell Rae?” Austin asked running his hands through his hair.

“Don’t tell Rae?” Alan was shocked that Austin would even imply such a thing. “Are you fucked? You have to tell her!”

“Dude, if I tell Raegan, she’s going to fucking lose it again. I can’t do that.” Austin reasoned.

“Austin, man, give her some more credit. I get that she’s got her problems but she’s come a long way and she’s done more than enough to prove that.”

“I know, Alan. But this is huge. This is big enough to throw her over the edge and I can’t risk that.”

“Well you should have thought of that last night!”

“I know!” Austin yelled.

“Look, I’m not going to tell Rae, simply because this is your mistake and you need to own up for it. But I will say this, if Raegan finds out on her own, she’s going to fucking kill you.”

And with that, Alan left the room leaving Austin in a shattered mess of emotion, confusion, and discarded clothing.