For you| Pedro Pascal

6. The Morning After

My fingers trace my thigh, remembering where his had traced it hours ago. The slight sensation still lingering in the same spot. I lay still in bed, a sheet thrown across my chest. The clock read 4:46 on my nightstand. His breathing his slow and quiet. I almost feel the need to check every now and then to see if he is still alive. He moves though, giving me some relief.

I slowly throw the sheet off and stand up, tiptoeing myself to the closet, pulling a t-shirt and slipping it over my head. I walk out the door frame and head to the kitchen. The light burns my eyes immediately after I flip them on. I head straight for the cups and pull one from the drying rack. Immediately after filling it, I raised the cup to my mouth and chug its contents. Before I know it, my head is aching and a wave of nausea comes over me. Oh god. What the hell were you thinking Andy. I refill my cup and try to suppress the sickening feeling.

I lean on the counter, trying to wait it out. Instead, I run straight to the bathroom knowing that it was a "now or the floor" situation. Throwing myself to my knees and hovering myself over the toilet, I realize I made it just in time. It happened and instantly regretted agreeing to drinks instead of something else. You could have told him snow cones or ice cream Andy. Jesus you know you can't hold your drinks.

I hold onto the toilet, maintaining my balance. A second wave comes and I feel everything go. "Fuck," I say. As I continue, I feel Pedro's hands lift my hair up and out of my face. "You don't need to be here. I'm cool. Just give me like five minutes," I say, waving him off with my hand, my head still facing the bowl. He chuckles and waits. "I couldn't sleep with all the noise you were making. Also, wouldn't want your hair to get dirty. I wouldn't allow you back into bed." His hand remains holding my hair back, his other on my lower back.

"Okay I think I'm good." I say, pushing myself up from the ground and shutting the lid. I flush it and walk to the sink to wash my hands. I splashed water onto my face and then spread some toothpaste onto my toothbrush, shoving it into my mouth. "I thought I was going to have to ask you to brush," Pedro said, laughing hard. He still looked like he was half asleep. Still cute, even when he's being mouthy. I spit and rinse, throwing my toothbrush into the drawer.

"My goodness, you are something else in the morning." I say. We both walk out of the bathroom and straight back into the bed. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay and lighten up your spirits," he says, scratching the back of his neck. "Feeling better?" Pedro asks. I pull the sheet up to my chest, curling into a ball in his direction. "Much. I didn't realize how bad I had gotten last night. My apologies if I embarrassed you or myself." He puts a hand on my head, playing with my hair.

"Don't be. Last night was fantastic," he says, smiling and looking down at me. I push myself up on my elbows and look at him. "What did we even do last night?" I say, trying my best to look shocked. He gives me a panicked look. "You uh... don't remember?" He says. I shake my head. "We ho... hooked up? After the bar?" He says, his voice a little shaky. I start laughing and lay back down. "I'm kidding. I wasn't that gone." He smiles big again and relaxed like before. "You think you're funny?" He asks. I grab his hand before responding. "Oh I know I'm funny."
***

He fell back asleep. I did too, until the pouring rain woke me up again at seven. Great. I lay still, avoiding any sudden movements for the sake of my head. That is until my phone started going off. I lifted it into my hand and tapped the screen, scrolling through the texts.

20 messages from Sam.
7 missed calls from Sam.

"It's me Andy. I'm outside of your door. Please open up. I miss you." These were only a few minutes old. There was no way he was outside of that door right now. I quickly jumped from the bed and jogged to the door. I peeped through the look hole and saw him standing there. He was pacing back and forth. He jiggled the door handle, causing me to jump back. "Open the door Andy, please." He pleaded. He had a bottle in his hand. I place my hand on the door handle, hesitating slightly before pulling it open just a bit.

"Go away Sam. It's not even eight yet. Go home," I say. He placed a hand on the door. "This was my home. Andy please let me in," he says, pushing the door. I don't give into the weight of his hand though. "It was not your home. And you made sure it would stay that way. I will call the cops, you need to leave,"I say, trying to pull the door shut. Instead he pushes harder, throwing me to the ground as the door swung open.

"No! You don't get to threaten me. I love you Andrea." He says. I crawl back, pushing myself away from him as he walked towards me. "Baby, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push you..." he says, pausing as something else catches his attention. "Whose stuff is that Andrea?" He asks, anger in his voice. His eyes are locked onto Pedro's keys and wallet. "You need to leave Sam, now." My voice is firm enough to hide the quivering that would have slipped out. He grabs the wallet and throws it at me. "You're seeing other people? Why? I love you! Dammit I love you Andrea! Cant you see?"

He walks to me and lifts my arm, dragging my body up. His breath smells of a long night of drinking. "Sam, you're hurting my..." I say, trying to pull away from his grip. He doesn't budge though. "Sam, you had a little too much to drink, I can call you a car," I say, whimpering from the aching pain in my arm. His grip was cut off though, when he was shoved towards the door came. "Hey man, you need to go," Pedro says. Sam held onto the door frame. Pedro's arms grabbed mine as he lowered himself down to my height.

"Hey, are you alright?" He said. I nod and move my head over to look passed him to Sam. "Sam you need to go. Now. Please, don't make things worse," I say. Pedro turns to him. "No. You don't get to stay here. Who even is this?" Pedro just looks at him and responds calmly again. "Leave. Now." He says. Sam stumbles backwards out the door and walks away. "Whatever. I don't need you. Seeing that you moved on already or whatever you're doing, I don't feel as bad for the other ones," he slurs. I think for a moment before opening my mouth again.

"The other ones?" I question. He just turns his head slightly my way, shoving his hands into his pockets. "All of the other women," is all he says before walking off down the sidewalk. Pedro shuts the door and turns to me again as I take a few steps back. "Hey, who was that? Was that the ex?" He asks. I nod and turn away, quickly wiping the warm tears that were falling down my cheek. I walk to the kitchen and sit on a stool. "I'm sorry about Sam. I didn't realize he'd come back," I explain, not looking at him. Pedro walks to over to me, his fingers tracing over the red marks on my arm. "Don't be sorry. You don't control what he does," he says, taking a seat next to me.

We sit in silence for a while. He just sits there, which I wasn't mad at. His presence offered me enough comfort. A few moments later, he finally spoke up. "What if I go pick us up some breakfast?" He says. I turn to face him. "That sounds amazing. Yeah. You can take my car, the keys are hanging," I say, biting back the tears that clung to my waterline. He nods and walks into my bedroom, returning clothes and ready to head out. "I'll be right back," he says, kissing the top of my head.
***

After the door shut behind him, I walked to the bathroom. I stared at myself as I stood in front of the mirror. My eyes red and puffy. I looked at my arm, bruising taking the place of the red marks already. I start crying and walk over to the edge of the tub. There were more. There were fucking more. "As if my sister wasn't enough," I whispered under my breath. I held my phone in my hand, debating whether or not to text him. Give him hell Andy. Give him hell and go off. No it will only make things worse, plus he's drunk. What will he care? "Ugh." I lock my phone  put it back down and simply rest my elbows on my knees. "I really know how to pick them," I say to myself.