The Sound of Silence: A Dream Daddy story

Chapter Nine

You woke to a killer headache and the idea that you'd managed to humiliate yourself not once, but twice in the span of about twelve hours.

Jesus. Nice going, guy. Way to make a good first impression.

You sat in bed for a long minute, pressing the heels of your hands into your eyes. The pressure helped to relieve some of the ache in your head, but not a lot. Only water, painkiller, and rest would help that.

Or booze.

The treacherous thought was what prompted you to get up.

You forced yourself to take a shower, only pausing to vomit once.

Way to go! You're only a little bit pathetic and hung over.

After the shower, you went to the kitchen and drank about three glasses of water, using one of them to force down a handful of painkiller. You found some leftover pizza and managed to keep down half a slice.

That wasn't even the hard part of your day, either.

You needed to go apologize for ditching Joseph's barbecue and pay Robert back for the vodka. Hell, you'd just give it to him if you didn't think he'd turn around and drink the whole thing just like he'd tried to keep you from doing.

First things first: Coffee.

Your trip to the coffee shop went mostly well. Mat didn't comment on how rough you must've looked, just served you a black coffee with a grin. He even apologized to you, seeming to show regret for ditching you in a crowd of strangers.

You told him, truthfully, that his presence probably wouldn't have helped. And you made sure to apologize for making things uncomfortable. He waved your apology away, and you left the shop feeling as though these people were nearly too understanding and forgiving.

And much less sick to your stomach after the coffee.

Your next stop, after a slow walk back to the cul-de-sac, was Joseph's place. It was his barbecue you'd ditched out on, after all.

When you rang the doorbell, you were surprised to find Mary at the door. She looked you up and down while you stammared.

"What?"

"You live here?"

The woman rolled her eyes. "You must've missed that part of the introductions. Joseph is my darling husband." A pair of blonde children peered under her arm at you. "And these are two of our lovely children."

That made things . . . weird. Hadn't this woman just propositioned you the other night?

Shaking yourself, you pulled yourself together with difficulty. "I guess half my apology should go to you, then." She watched impartially as you shifted your weight. "I'm sorry I left so early. Something, uh . . . something came up."

The woman waved a hand. "It didn't make a difference to me."

"Oh." You paused for a moment, wondering if that was it. When she didn't seem inclined to say more, you half-shrugged. "Is Joseph home?"

Mary didn't even bother responding, just stepped away from the door and yelled for her husband. She left you standing awkwardly on the doorstep, her two children (twins?) still standing and watching you silently. They had the Creepy Twin Schtick down pat.

"Hey, guys." You waved slightly. They said nothing. Now that was commitment.

Joseph appeared only a few moments later, finding you engaged in talking to his twins. They didn't say much, but you'd discovered that if you asked them to say something in unison, they did. Joseph appeared behind them just as you'd gotten them to say the classic "Come play with us,"