As I was leaving the bar I had attended earlier, I realized that driving home with the amount of alcohol I had consumed was not a fair idea. I know that Laila would get angry at me for drinking this late at night, but I know that she would get mad at me for driving home after drinking as much as I did. So either way, when I made it home, Laila would be mad at me. I took the absolute longest way into the situation. I just hope she doesn’t do something stupid to me.

My vision was blurred, and I was a little on the edge about driving, but I needed to get home. I sure as hell wasn’t going to call Laila and tell her to pick me up. My ass wouldn’t even make it into my house if I made her come pick me up.

When I turned down the familiar road, I let out a breath of relief. I’ve only driven off the side and almost into the ditch a few times, but I know that I’m not drunk enough to wreck. I hope I’m not drunk enough to wreck. I have too much going on to have that happen anyways.

I pulled into my driveway, my heartbeat rapidly increasing as I thought of the various reactions that Laila was going to have when I walked into the house. This is why I don’t drink anywhere besides the comfort of my own home. I would drink through the neck of a crisp bottle of beer on the couch in the living room, and have Laila cuddle up to my side.

She’s not going to be cuddling up to me after she finds out that I drove home by myself tonight. There’s a high chance that I will be sleeping on the couch.

“Laila, baby, I’m home,” I called out, peeking through the door and into my vicinity of a home. I looked around as I pulled off my coat and my scarf and suddenly saw Laila standing at the kitchen counter, eating slowly from a jar of cherries. “Oh, hey.”

She slowly walked up to me and put her hands on my cheeks, her skin becoming cold to the touch as she pressed her palms to my jaw. “I knew it,” she snapped, shaking her head and taking a step back from me. “You’ve been drinking!”

“It was just a small glass of bourbon baby, nothing big,” I said, leaning forward to try and kiss her. She shoved me away with force and shook her head again, “Come on, Laila.”

“No… no! I have told you time after time not to go drinking after nine―” she stopped and I ran my hand over my mouth, “How did you get home?” She widened her eyes after I pointed my finger to my chest and she growled in anger, “You drove home?! By yourself?”

“Yes, I did. And I’m sorry, but I wasn’t going to call you to tell you to come pick me up!” I began to holler back at her and angry tears ran down her cheeks, ultimately making me feel like the biggest dick in the world, “Babe…"

“Don’t babe me, you, like this, is not suitable around the girls,” she suddenly said and I furrowed my brows. “I don’t want you to see them until you’re sober.”

“Wait, you’re going to restrict me from seeing my kids? You can’t do that! They’re my girls! Not yours!” I yelled, and I immediately regretted it when her face fell and her eyes locked onto the hardwood floor.

“When you asked me to marry you, they became in some sense, mine,” she spat. She grabbed my car keys out of my hand and opened the front door, “I want you to go out, for a little longer. Think about what you’ve done.”

“No, Laila! This is bullshit!” I yelled angrily and she chewed on her lip.

“What’s bullshit, is that you chose to come home drunk when I know for a fact that you knew what my reaction was going to be,” she said, voice hoarse, “I’ll see you in the morning, that is, if you’re fucking sober. Goodnight, Harry.”

“No,” I said as she slammed the door in my face, and I rested my forehead on the door. It was cold outside, and I already took my coat off. You’re an idiot, Harry.

~

When I made it back to the bar I was at before with Louis, I decided to go the blues cafe right beside it. If I was going to sober up, I couldn’t keep drinking alcohol. I would have to drink something else, and I decided with coffee.

“Black coffee with two sugars,” I told the waiter and she nodded her head before walking away from me, but then quickly coming back with an empty mug and a pot of coffee. “Thank you.”

After I had the coffee poured into the mug and ready for me to drink, I was too amazed at the burning heat it was forming around my hands and I cooed at the warm feeling. I pressed it to my freezing forehead, and I furrowed my brows when the lights at the front of the cafe shut off, and spotlights turned on.

Someone was performing?

I looked up and smiled, ready to see who it was; to see if I could somehow find a new interest in a musical artist. When the small blonde walked onto the stage with a polished guitar in her hand, I sat up and took a large sip of my coffee, the heat of it burning my tongue.

Then that coffee and the rest of the beverages I had drank tonight began to rise in the back of my throat when I told myself, I know that blonde.

Realization hit me harder than a bag of bricks as her thick lips pouted at the microphone in front of her, her high voice cascading into the mic, and then quickly filling the cafe. I was too speechless to say anything; she looked so comfortable as I sat down below her, feeling completely uncomfortable.

Suddenly, her frosty green eyes met with my own as her name flooded out from the back of my mouth, “Cassia…”

Notes

OMG I updated! Okay this chapter is really short and kinda sucks but at the same time I'm happy with it and feel super accomplished for some reason idk. Please tell me what you think for my first update on this story? Your thoughts are very much appreciated! :))

Kal xx