Old Friends and New Territores

Part 9

After getting Y/n to their hotel room, Benny let her stumble her way to the couch. Tiredly, he trudged to the sofa and sat there watching as his sister, once again tipped back the bottle. When she lowered it, she stared into space with her glassy bloodshot eyes. It killed him to watch her slowly kill herself. Which is exactly what she was doing. He didn't know if she knew it, but either way, it had to stop.

"Okay, that's enough," he said, loudly snatching the bottle from her hand. "I'm done watching you drink yourself to death."

"Pffttt, don't be soooo dramatic, my god! Now, give it here," she slurred, reaching for her bottle.

"Not gonna happen, Y/n. In fact..." he walked over to the sink and started to pour the rest of the vodka down the drain.

Y/n shot up clumsily, and tried to rush at her brother, but in her drunken state she tripped over her feet and fell flat on the ground. Sitting up one her knees, she witnessed the last drops of liquor go down the drain.

Benny watched as her shoulders sagged and began to shake as she started to sob. She then curled in on herself and laid on the floor. He walked over to Y/n, sitting next her, running his fingers through her hair, and murmured comforting words until her crying stopped. When he heard her even breathing, he quietly called her name. When she did not respond, he realized she had cried herself to sleep. Sighing, he stood and gently scooped his sister off the floor, carrying her to her room and placing her on the bed. He removed her shoes, and when he went to cover her with the comforter, he noticed that she was watching him with sad eyes.

Pulling the blankets up to her chin, he bent down and placed a kiss on the clammy skin of her forehead.

"I'm sorry, Ben Ben," Y/n said weakly, in a hollow voice.

"Shhh, get some sleep. I'm going to put the trash can right next to your bed." He then brushed her hair out of her face, and watched as she closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.

Walking out of her room, he left the door open a crack so he could hear her if she needed him. Sitting on the couch, he heard ringing coming from Y/n's bag. Looking back at her room, Benny reached for it, but by the time he located her phone, it had stopped ringing. The screen flashed '1 missed call' from Matthew. Did he really think she would talk to him right now? Benny put her phone on silent in case Matthew called back, and he did. As soon as a voicemail alert popped up, another incoming call from Matthew displayed on the phone's screen. After a moment, Benny hit the reject button, but it didn't take long for another voicemail alert, and another call to appear. As soon as Matthew's name flashed across the screen, he hit 'reject' and a third voice voicemail was left. Benny waited with his finger on the reject button. About a minute had passed, and Benny assumed Matthew had finally gotten the hint.

Benny was about to toss Y/n's phone back in her purse, when his curiosity got the better of him. Looking back at the room she slept in, Benny grabbed her phone and played the first voicemail. As he listened to Matthew's pathetic excuses and explanation, the anger inside him came back. It was almost as if Matthew was trying to blame her for what happened. That if she hadn't gone out with this Rick guy, he wouldn't have moved the date up, and if she hadn't told him to go on the date, there would have been nothing to walk into. What an ass. Without thinking, he angrily deleted Matthew's first voicemail.

Benny then played the next one, and it was even more pathetic than the first. Did he really think she was dumb enough to fall for the whole 'I was thinking of you' shit? The 'I was so high, I didn't know' story? Yeah, whatever! Message deleted.

Benny hit play on the final message. This time, despite himself, there was a tiny part of him that felt bad for Matthew. He was clearly crying, and sounded like he was giving up. But then, Benny remembered Matthew was an actor; one who was paid to cry on command. So, Benny's anger returned. How dare he say he loves her or even beg for her not to drink too much? She was done with drinking before she walked into that apartment tonight. Benny couldn't hit the delete option fast enough.