Chapter Text
Her legs slowly rubbed against the crisp cotton sheets as she stirred in the morning air. It was early; too early. It didn’t take very long at all to notice the massive pounding in her head. She opened her eyes and then squeezed them shut just as quickly. The light was entirely too bright, and it only added to the nausea she had been feeling. Yep, she’d had way too much to drink. Entirely too much. She was surprised she had even made it back to her bed the night prior, and thus began the mental disaster that was a hangover. Why the hell hadn’t she drank more water? It was a blessing, for once, that her kids were out of the house. She must have been in quite the drunk state to feel as hungover as she did now.
She had just decided that she needed to get up to get some water and maybe stomach some dry toast when she noticed it. Or, him , she should say. There was a very naked man in her bed lying next to her very naked self. Shit. And, that man just so happened to have peppery grey and brown curls, now a mess on top of his head, and a tattoo of deer tracks with barbed wire around his arm. SHIT .
Here she was, hungover, the morning after, with Blake fucking Shelton.
Shit.
Her mind began to race along with her now rapid heartbeat as she wondered what she should do now. Her past, drunk, idiotic self had put her in an extremely uncomfortable situation, apparently! Memories from the night before were accessible, but blurry. But, now, they all started flashing through her mind. She could remember them hanging out after filming in his trailer, him offering to drive her home after she had a bit much to drink, them sitting on the couch watching a movie until she grabbed his face and kissed the life out of him. And, she could remember hands after he carried her up the stairs. Just, hands, everywhere at once it seemed. And she could remember how good he felt inside her. Even the alcohol numbing her mind couldn’t subdue that feeling. She could still hear herself begging him for more. As she sat up and winced around the room (it was still really fucking light), the evidence was all there. Clothes strewn across every surface, a cap that somehow landed on the corner of her TV, and four used condoms that had apparently been chucked across the room. Jesus, four!? She supposed that she was lucky that their drunk selves had even thought of using them because, man, wouldn’t that just have been perfect. But, here she was. Separated from her husband, and in bed with her coworker. What the fuck was she going to do next? Of course it had to be at her house so she couldn’t just sneak out and leave, of course she was going to have to deal with this…
She didn’t really understand how this happened, even if she could remember it. Sure, they’d been hanging out a lot more. After what both of them had been through, he was the only one who actually understood her pain. It was useless to try to talk to anyone else. They just pitied her, and she couldn’t deal with that, because, then, she pitied herself. But Blake, Blake had understood that, had understood her. He was the first person to ever show her the true meaning of empathy. He cried with her when she was dying inside, and yet also knew exactly when she needed him to just hold her and be the strong one. He always knew what to say, what not to say, and, most of all, he could recognize the emotions on her face similar to the way that she could read her children. She couldn’t hide anything from him, it felt like, and, honestly, that was what she needed in her life. When nothing could be hidden, everything was honest and truthful, because there was absolutely no way around it. And, wasn’t that the perfect cure from coming out of a life of lies and half truths? It seemed like she was absolutely transparent to him. He could see right through her, see everything she wanted to see and the things she didn’t. She’d never had a friend like that before, one who seemed to know her better and be able to help her better than she could herself. But, she thought that that’s all it was. That they were just that, just...friends. But, the thing was, you didn’t wake up in a bed, naked, with friends.
She needed some air, and now. She slowly scooted toward the edge of the bed and tried her best to quietly hop off, but apparently the universe wasn’t in agreement as she heard him begin to groan from his position on his stomach and she turned to see him lift his head towards the other wall. She immediately moved to snatch the covers to conceal her still very naked body (did it actually matter at this point? She didn’t know) and the noise must have startled him as he immediately flipped over toward her. And, didn’t the look on his face just say it all? He did a double take as his eyes widened and his mouth actually opened and she could almost see the wheels turning in his head. It seemed like eternity as they both just stared at each other, horrified, before either of them would open their mouths.
“...Gwen?”
“Uh, hi Blake…”
“Did we…” he began, disbelief in his eyes.
“Well, it certainly appears that way…”
She was actually slightly mortified as he started to look around the room, taking in all that she had just moments ago.
“Oh my...three times?” he half laughed.
“Actually, you missed the one over there by the bathroom door, so…”
“Four times. Wow. Okay,” he said, absolutely incredulous. Neither of them knew what to say, neither of them knew what to do.
“Well, it appears as though our drunk selves had a pretty good time last night,” she smiled, uneasily, almost as if he was unsure if he was up for humor at the moment.
“From what I can remember, they did,” Blake replied, unable to make eye contact as he continued to glance around the room.
“Well, uh, I think I’m going to go shower, before work,” she said, because, shit, she was going to have to spend the entire day with him now. He turned his head out of politeness as she walked toward the bathroom.
“I’m gonna go home and do the same...I’ll see you at work, Gwen,” he said, and she heard him get up off the bed. She shut the door behind her and stood with her back to it, her head in her hands, trying to take in the awkwardness that had encompassed that entire interaction. It was strange how that worked...they fucked in the dark, but in the light, they could hardly look each other in the eye. Fucking alcohol. This was why she avoided drinking so much... What the fuck had she done last night? This was her fault, she initiated it. Her life was already complicated enough, and he had been her rock, her one constant that she could count on. She guessed she counted her blessings a little bit too soon. This was about to get really, really messy.