The Morning After

My eyes were open for approximately three seconds before my stomach rolled. I launched myself out of bed, just barely making it to the toilet of the ensuite bathroom. As if saying ensuite made the fact that we had an adjoining bathroom sound fancy.

I heaved until I had successfully emptied the little remaining contents of my stomach before peeling myself off of the floor. I had definitely drunk too much, but unfortunately not enough to forget what happened last night. I hung my head in my hands. I danced with Chase Andrews. In front of my ex. Repulsively. I acted exactly the way Will had accused me of acting the night we broke up. In public. I let Chase take me home. Where I kissed him. And insulted him. Several times.

Fuuuuuuck," The word came out hoarse.

The night before

"Do you always go back to the girl's house?"

"When she asks me to," he said, sending me a cocky look from the front seat.

"I didn't ask you to,"

"No, but I wasn't about to let you take a cab home by yourself in the state you're in. Don't worry, I don't plan on 'defiling' you,"

I snorted. "Nothing to defile here,"

He barked out a laugh.

The ride home was quick considering we had to stop twice so I didn't throw up in the car. In no time Chase and I were standing in the doorway of my bedroom. He'd tossed my heels on the mat and grabbed me a glass of water, making an obvious effort not to look at me while I stripped my dress off, walking off to my bedroom in my matching black bra and panty set. I brushed my teeth quickly and slid on an oversized T-shirt and athletic shorts, turning around to see Chase staring at the ceiling in my door way.

I laughed "Since when are you a gentleman?"

"Since you got too drunk to care," he said, setting the glass on my desk beside him.

"Right, I'm sure you've never hooked up with a drunk girl,"

"Not this drunk, and not while I'm sober,". He replied.

"Oh sure," the words were condescending. "Like you have standards. You don't even have feelings. You made your way through half the women on this campus. AND your campus. Maybe I should call you fido,"

"Right," He put his hands on my shoulders, walking me backwards to my bed. "Bed time,"

I reached up, caressing the side of his clenched jaw "What? Did I hurt your feelings?" I laughed

"No. Bed."

"I did,"

"No, I don't have any,"

We hit the edge of my bed and he let go, but I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down with me.

"Willow, what- "

I pulled harder, bringing his lips to mine, ignoring the roaring in my ears and my blurred vision. It's not blurry if your eyes are closed, is it?

With a sound of protest, he pulled back, going up on his knees and pulling my shirt out of his grip. "Willow I can't," He sighed.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Isn't that why you danced with me? Why you bought me drinks? Took me home?"

He was silent for a moment, holding my wrists in his hands, an irritated expression on his face. "I danced with you because you were seconds away from a mental breakdown due to that douchebag Saunders. I bought you drinks because you were there to drink. And I brought you home because you friends don't give a fuck about you,"

"So, you just felt bad for me. Oh, that's great," I didn't know why I was so angry but I was zero to a hundred real fast. "I'm sure pissing off Will was just a bonus for you. That's why you danced with me. To make him feel like shit over me moving on! Best friends my ass,"

"What are you angry about? I-"

" You used me to get back at Will. Just like he said. You really are an asshole. You were just looking to hook up, like the first time you talked to me. You're just as bad as they say. Fuck you Andrews," He released my wrists, letting me fall back against the pillows

"I'm not going to sit here and argue while you're drunk. Have a good night."

And with that, he left.

I huffed, throwing myself down onto my bed and picking up my phone. Dead. Nice.

"Morning sunshine!" My bathroom door swung open and Olivia came prancing into my room in her own oversized pajamas and morning hair. "Done puking?"

"Did I wake you up? I'm sorry,".

She laughed, "It's fine. So, Chase took you home, huh?" She wiggled her eyebrows and I gave a half-hearted laugh, moving over so she could flop down beside me.

"Yeah, about that. . . "

After filling her in, and then Cass who joined us halfway through the first re-telling and they both sat there, contemplating.

"Damn, you're mean," Oliva stated pushing out a puff of air "But, it is Chase. And he said we don't give a fuck about you which is bullshit. He just happened to be with you when you tipped over the edge, and you told us you were fine to leave without us. I offered to come back with you but the twins- "

"Ugh, they were ridiculous last night," Cass interrupted. "They got pissed off that you were leaving early and 'ruining' the night for everyone. Which you didn't by the way. You seemed fine with him. I know he's supposed to be enemy number one, but he didn't seem too bad last night,".

I sighed, hanging my head for at least the third time this morning. "No that would have been me. I used him to try and get back at Will, who was trying to get back at me. And then I assaulted him, and then insulted him. A lot,".

Olivia snorted "I'm sure he's fine. What else were you supposed to think? He sleeps with everything. Maybe he was planning on it until he realized how bad off you were by the time you got home,"

"You're right. After that train wreck he should leave me alone. I hope so anyway. The boy- I mean Wyatt has a game Wednesday," The boys used to be Will and Wyatt. But I guess it was just Wyatt I was going to be cheering for from now on.

After we showered and ate, we all retired to our rooms to nurse our hangovers. I turned my phone back on and it immediately started blowing up. I had to give it a minute to load anything without glitching. Messenger, Facebook, Texts from Wyatt, Kirsten, Robin, and . . . Will?

My heart racing, I started with Wyatt.

"You cheated on Will? Are you fucked?

Who was it?

He said it was with Chase Andrews.

Are you really that stupid? The guy is a piece of shit and you know that. Have fun with the chlamydia.

Chase? Seriously??? He only attacked Will last game because you're fucking him didn't he? I can't even believe you

Now you're not even going to answer me? Don't bother coming to games from now on. You've probably fucked up Will's goal streak. And I don't want you scoping out the biggest piece of shit to sleep with every game.'"

Tears sprang to my eyes at his words. He was taking his side without even talking to me about it? I didn't even cheat on him. I wiped my eyes and started typing

Excuse me? First of all, I have never cheated on Will. He cheated on ME. What did he tell you? Because he picked me up from the bar with LIPSTICK on his NECK. I broke up with him last week over it and he's only telling you now because he's pissed off I danced with somebody else LIKE HE WAS DOING. Don't worry about me showing up. I don't need to go watch my brother be all buddy buddy with a lying, cheating sack of shit. Thanks for asking if I was okay by the way. #1 brother right there.

Next target: Will

Are you kidding me? You go out and act like THAT a week after we're done? Over a stain on my shirt? You were practically fucking him in the middle of the club. You've probably BEEN fucking him. That's why you've been such a bitch lately. You're pathetic. You think he actually wants you? He's told half the school by now how he took my girlfriend and Wyatt's sister in one shot. He starts shit. that's what he does. You are nothing compared to the girls he has every day of the week. The only thing you were good for to him was pissing off his top competitors and a cheap lay. How does it feel to be a whore, Willow?

I had intended to tear him a new one, but the reality of his words punched me right in the stomach. Everyone is going to think I cheated on him. The whole team is going to hate me just as much if not more than Wyatt does. It was my fault too. I let chase use me. Did he really say no because I was too drunk, or because I wasn't like the girls he goes after? Is he telling everyone I slept with him? Will was trying to humiliate me by lying about me, but I was already humiliated enough on my own. I wasn't good enough for Will or Chase, even when I was practically begging him. I blocked him immediately instead of replying

"Uh Willow, you need to see this," Cass knocked once before walking into my room, phone in hand and a wide-eyed look on her face.

"What now? Couldn't be any worse than this," I said miserably, wiping at the steady stream of tears running down my face. She rushed over to me, sitting beside me before shoving her phone into my hand.

It was a twitter thread posted by 'Iceoff daily' the college newspaper segment dedicated to college hockey news. I didn't even bother reading the article title, as the photo alone had my blood boiling. It was pixeled, as if it was cropped after zooming in, but it was still clear enough. it was Will sitting at a bar table, with a girl on his lap. A pretty blonde. Wearing the exact same outfit Robin was wearing last night. I zoomed in on the photo as if the girl would somehow morph into someone else.

"It's her,". Cass said softly.

I set her phone down, full on sobbing now. In five minutes, I found out Will is lying about me to everyone, my brother hates me and thinks it's okay to call me a whore, I'm pretty much banned from their games, chased used me, I threw myself at him, and my best friend Chased down and made out with my ex after I left the bar we went to together to help me get over my cheating ex. Probably went home with him too.

That just about summed up the rest of my day.

When my alarm went off the next morning, I had to untangle myself from the tangle of limbs in my bed. Olivia had joined the pity party, and apparently passed out alongside Cass and I at some point during our Grey's anatomy marathon. Mondays just so happened to be my early day, and I was seriously regretting deciding an early Monday lecture was worth being done early on Wednesdays. I grabbed my phone and made my way to the bathroom. Once I washed my face the bloodshot eyes, splotchy skin and under eye bags were less noticeable, but not quite gone. I opted to wear makeup to cover it the best I can since even if they weren't, I wouldn't feel like people were staring me down all day.

I slid on a pair of ripped jeans and a long-sleeved blue top, threw my jacket on and left. Thankfully, I'd left my car on the street and didn't need to wake the girls to let me out. I spent the entire drive to work trying to tell myself that I was fine, it wasn't a big deal. I had my phone set to do not disturb since my blow out with Wyatt last night and was going out of my way to avoid anything sports related on social media just in case. I didn't need to talk to anyone trying to get ahold of me right now. I never even bothered to open Robin's messages

Twenty minutes later I was in my seat in the lecture hall, intentionally picking the worst seat in the room in the far right hand corner where you almost have to squint to see the board. Kirsten and Robin were both in this class and I couldn't talk with one and not the other. I saw them walk in and take their usual seats before doing a very obvious once over of the room, looking to see if I'd show up. I turned my attention to the board, refusing to acknowledge them beyond that point.

When the lecture was over I was the first one out of the room and never bothered to look back. The rest of my classes dragged on, and I could feel myself getting more emotional by the minute. I just wanted to be back in my bed with Netflix and a big tub of ice cream. When my final class was done, I practically sprinted to my car. My mind was made up. I was going to stop at the grocery store on the way home, buy a nice container of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and whatever else my crushed heart may desire, and stay in my room all night.

Since it was a day of giving in, once I parked my car I pulled out my previously forgotten cigarette pack and lit one. I leaned back as I exhaled, closing my eyes for a minute.

Tap tap tap

I jumped, nearly dropping my cigarette. Looking out my passenger window, I saw the cause of at least 50 percent of my emotions today. Serving him a death glare, I rolled down my window.

" What do you want Chase?" I snapped

" I see quitting is going well," He raised one eyebrow while he smiled at me smugly

I dropped my cigarette out my own window while I rolled up the other side and stepped out of the car, hell bent on ignoring him. Easier said than done. He walked around the car, stopping me before I could even get past the hood.

" Whoa, why are you in such a hurry today?" An easy grin pulled at the corners of his mouth, one that I'm sure had me blushing Saturday night, but did noting but anger me today

"Move," I snapped, trying to push past him.

Hands grabbed my shoulders this time, keeping me in place. "is this about Saturday?" he asked, ducking his head to look at me "I don't know what you remember, but we didn't-"

"I know. Thank God for that,"

"Excuse me. If I remember correctly, you were the one who kissed me. If I didn't know any better I'd think you were using me,"

He was trying to make jokes about it now! Heat rushed into my face, my hands balling into fists beside me. "Using you? You found out who I was, then immediately told me my boyfriend was cheating on me, THEN when I see you again, you're using me to piss him off to get under his skin, telling me my friends don't care about me, then leaving me to deal with the fall out!" Tears welled up in my eyes for the umpteenth time today and a angrily tried to force them back

He blinked for a moment, taken aback. I wiped my eyes and stepped back, trying to get back in my car, wiping at my tears.

" Willow, that's not what happened. Hey, don't cry," he stepped in front of me again blocking me from getting into the car, clearly not knowing what to do about the tears. "I wasn't using you, I was having fun. I wasn't trying to be your friend to piss him off. Look. Stop it,".

I looked up at him, glaring him down. "I don't want to talk about it,".

"I can do that," He said, mirroring our conversation from Saturday. "But you do need to find something better to do with your time than smoking cigarettes at the grocery store. Guys should ruin your makeup, not your lungs,".

"Yeah well he did that too,".

"Come on,". He grabbed my hand, leading me around my car to the truck parked beside it. "I would be happy to explain to you all the reasons why you are wrong and he's a dick, but not in the grocery store parking lot. So we are going somewhere else,".

"I'm not going anywhere with you,"

"Then why did you let me lead you over here?". He quipped

"Why are you even talking to me?" I shot back

"Because we're best friends. You said so yourself,". He smiled at me. "Look, I know I'm an asshole. I'm not trying to sleep with you to get at Will or your brother. We can just hang out. As friends. And I get to tell you why you're wrong. That's something I enjoy".

I eyed him, biting my lip while I thought about it. Against my better judgement, I sighed and nodded. He grinned at me, nodding his heads towards the truck, signaling me to get in.