Accidentally on Purpose

Chapter Fifty

"Alright, I'll be there," I told him. "Just tell me where you are. The name of the street, or whatever. If you don't know where you are, I don't know where to go to get you."

"Mmm-kay," he replied. "Well the house is very huuuge and there's this pool. No one has a pool this big in their house. It's fucking sick!"

"Who's party is it?" I asked as I slipped into my hoodie.

"Dunno. Something like... San, Sav... Sebastian? No, not Sebastian. Sam? I don't know. The guy's fucking rich, that's all I know."

"Xavier Smith?" I offered.

"Yeah! Yeah, I think that's the name."

Because of course only that guy would throw a party on the night of Thanksgiving. That was good enough, though, because my best friend Gina actually lived just a few blocks away from the Smith's huge mansion. We always passed by that house whenever Mom would drop me off at Gina's. "Okay. I know where it is. Give me fifteen minutes, okay? Don't go anywhere."

I hung up the call and snuck downstairs, stealing my dad's car keys from the counter where he always left it. My heartbeat thumped with guilt when I started the car, hoping that everyone in the house was too deep in the dreamland to hear the noise.

I was doing this for Tony, and after everything he had always done for me, sneaking out of the house to help him felt like a small price to pay. Maybe I'd get yelled at, a little. But then I'd just have to grovel and my parents would forgive me. I hoped.

I drove through the darkness, very carefully, trying not to wimp out and turn around to get back home. I kept reminding myself that he needed me right now, and I didn't know what was wrong, but I knew I had to be there for him, even if he was stupid enough to get drunk. I loved him, but I always hated this habit he had. In the past few months, he had been partying and drinking harder than before, and I wished he would stop because I was afraid that something bad would happen because of it someday.

He was always my best friend, the closest family that I had. He understood me in ways that I didn't even understand myself, yet I never quite got him. Sometimes I wished he would tell me what was wrong, because I felt like it was unfair that he got to hear my sob stories about the guys who broke my heart while I didn't even get to know the slightest thing that went wrong in his life. He would say I was too young to understand his problems, even though we weren't that much far apart in age.

The blaring sound of the music could be heard from yards away, and I knew that I was at the right place. I immediately spotted Tony's familiar brown hair at the front porch of the house. He was slumped down against the wall, his head slightly bobbing up and down to the music, and I rushed out of the car to get him.

He looked up when he noticed me coming, and his eyes glazed drunkenly. "Han-nnnah!" he said, emphasizing on the "n" in my name. "You're heeere!"

I nodded and took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm here." I bit my lip as I realized that he was completely wasted, and a part of me broke to know that he had to drown into alcohol to get away from whatever it was that was bugging his mind. "Let's go home."

He nodded obediently and tried to stand up, but failed as his legs wobbled. I crouched down to support half of his weight, grunting as I basically dragged him out of the party. "I'm so—" he sighed, "—tired." He immediately snuggled into the passenger's seat after throwing up on the ground, and I buckled the seatbelt for him after wiping his mouth with a tissue. "Thank you for being here."

"Anytime, Tony," I whispered to him, kissing him on the cheek. "Go to sleep. I'll drive carefully."

He nodded sleepily. "Okay." He opened his eyes again before I could close his door. "You're the bestest sister I ever have, Hannah. I love you"