The next morning I woke up with a raging headache that hammered in my head more with each step I took. The fact that I remembered every stupid thing I did last night didn't help the situation.
"Why did I..." I mumbled, mad at myself for being such a massive dick, "fuck."
I'd almost cheated on Tylor, hadn't I?
If Kian didn't stop me in time, I might have. I could feel the bile quickly rise up to my throat, but this time, it wasn't the alcohol.
I quickly ran into the bathroom attached to the room, and puked most of the alcohol and last night's dinner out. Even the disgusting aftertaste in my mouth wasn't enough to distract me from what I'd done.
Now what do I do?
I knew I had to apologize to Tylor, and to Kian. But after that? What then?
I wouldn't blame Tylor if he wanted to break up with me, and I couldn't just jump back into Kian's arms like it was nothing. We weren't kids anymore.
A series of knocks on the door interrupted my thoughts. "Hey, are you up?"
I recognised the voice to be Park's.
"Yeah, give me a minute!" I yelled from the bathroom, quickly washing up and tidying myself. I looked like a wreck, to put it simply, with my matted brown hair and red, sleepy eyes. I didn't even have any makeup to help the situation.
I walked out of the bathroom, feeling a little less greasy than before, to find a pair of clothes lying neatly on Kian's bedside table. They were a pair of women's yoga pants and a teal shirt, probably from Noah's girlfriend, Catherine. I didn't speak to her much last night, but she seemed like a really nice girl. I'd have to thank her for the clothes later.
I quickly changed, managing to stuff my clothes into my bag. A total of fifteen minutes later, I opened the door and walked into their dining room/kitchen, where Park was making himself some breakfast.
"Where's everyone else?" I asked, at the lack of noise in the house. It was barely 9 am.
"Noah and Kian had an early class, and Aidan's playing video games in my room," he answered, holding up his halfway prepared sandwich, "you want one?"
"That'd be nice, thanks," I smiled, although I wasn't sure eating would do me any good. I didn't have to face Kian immediately, but I still felt sick to my stomach.
I watched him make the sandwiches in silence for a moment, finally feeling some sense of peace, until he spoke, "I know this isn't my place to say, but I've known Kian for a while and I care about him like a little brother. I saw the two of you last night and..."
I raised my head at that, but he wasn't looking at me. His eyes were focused downwards as he continued, "I don't know what exactly happened between you two, but I know it really hurt him, so just be careful with your actions. I don't think either of us want to see him hurt again, right?"
At that, he looked up and I could tell there was no malice in his words. He just wanted to protect his friend, but I still felt like I'd been punched in the gut. Everything he said was right, that's why.
"I know..." my voice was barely above a whisper. I thought I'd grown up in the past three years, but why was I being just as stupid? "I think I'll just stay away from Kian."
He seemed to be doing better without me around, I wanted to add.
Park sighed, "if that's what you think is best." He passed me a plate, carefully placing a sandwich on it, "here, eat something first."
As appetizing as it looked, I really couldn't bring myself to eat. "...I'm sorry." He seemed to notice my train of thought, and sighed again.
"Hey, listen," Park met my gaze, forcing me to look at him. "Everyone makes mistakes, but they don't define you. It's how you deal with the aftermath that matters, okay?"
I managed a smile, thankful that he tried to make me feel better even though I was in the wrong here. "Thank you."
He grinned at me, an attempt to life my spirits as he said, "you wanna go mess with Aiden instead?"
My smile only got wider at his enthusiasm, "sure."
Park's plan was pretty simple, and quite unoriginal if I was being honest, but it worked. He quietly went up behind Aiden, and unplugged the gaming console right when Aiden had secured another kill in his battle royale styled game. I didn't expect his reaction to be as funny as it was, and admittedly, I felt a bit better talking to them.
It was 10 am when I finally left the house, and as soon as I got into the cab, I called him, but it went straight to voicemail.
I spoke into the phone, my voice shaking, "Tylor... I need to talk."