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“Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!”
The infamous chant careens through the room like the roar of some delirious beast, echoing from across the house. I’d win if I competed in their little drinking competition, but I’m more than content to watch from the side. With this group, it’s far more fun to watch everyone else get drunk than it is to join them. I’ve had about two solo cups, both half full, but nothing more.
The roar of the crowd draws me to the kitchen. Slipping in through the open doorway, I arrive just in time to see Lizzy stumble off the countertop — nearly colliding with the floor. I rush forward, trying to shoulder my way through the crowd. Thankfully, Thad catches her before she can smack her head against the tile floor.
“Woah, Liz, you alright?” She pops upright unfazed and flashes her perfect smile. “I’m fiiine! You worry too much, Thad! Everything’s literally chill.” As she says this, she tries to saunter off, but her foot wobbles in the heels she’s wearing and instead stumbles forward as if possessed. The jock looks like he wants to say something, yet he lets her slip off into the sea of drones.
Before I even get to the place she departed, Thad searches anxiously around the party for me. When I finally make my way forwards, he flags me over and nods in the direction Lizzy disappeared. “She went that way,” he tells me casually, “You might want to take her home. I think she already had a drink or two before Rebecca dared her to down the entire canister of coolant.” I sigh tiredly, “Yes, I’ll go collect her. Thanks.”
Again, I dive into the turmoil. I hate these big house parties; the music is far too loud and everyone is way too close to me. I only came to keep Lizzy company. Every time I slip away just to get a breath of fresh air it’s like she takes my absence as a sign from robogod that she should wander off and get herself into some sort of mess. Tonight is no different. I just hope I can find her before the bad decisions set in.
Last time I lost track of her at a party, I found her with a pack of idiots who’d turned the staircase into a homemade slide. Thankfully I’d dragged her away when I did. It wasn’t long before some guy crashed into a wall and knocked out a couple teeth. Lizzy would’ve cried for weeks if that had happened to her.
The blare of an ancient pop song bursts from the speakers in the living room — microphone feedback screeching its own added tune. I shove my hands over my audio sensors, cursing whoever made things even louder than they already were beneath my breath. However, as a gorgeous, slightly slurred, voice begins to badly sing along to the lyrics, I rescind my curse and rush to get Lizzy offstage.
The crowd is so thick near the karaoke stage that I’m forced to sit through the whole song just to get to Lizzy. The song itself is enjoyable, but it’s so loud the lyrics are lost to the sheer volume of its noise. My head hurts. The drinks I had probably aren’t helping.
It’s horrendously raucous in here, moreso than the rest of the house; I can barely hear myself think. Lizzy told me before that this is the point of blasting music as loud as the speakers will go, but I think it’s more likely you’ll destroy your hearing along with your thoughts.
Once she finally wanders offstage, I take her arm so I’m sure not to lose her again. Lizzy flinches roughly when I grab ahold of her, but relaxes half a second later when she realizes it’s only me. “Doll!” she gasps excitedly, “Did you hear me sing? Wasn’t I amazing?! You should totes go up and do a song!” I would sooner cut off a hand than stand onstage and sing for a bunch of preppy halfwits. I don’t say that, though.
“Maybe another time, Lizzy. It’s time for us to head home.” The gorgeously rosey-eyed worker looks up at me wounded, as if I’d personally offended her. “Awww no! But Doll-!” “No ‘but’s, I’m taking you back.” Lizzy angrily stamps her foot with a grumble. “It’s not fair! I just-” she pauses mid-complaint and starts giggling. “You said ‘butt’!”
I roll my eyes and walk her towards the door. Lizzy digs her heels into the floor, trying to convince me to stay longer. Her dramatics increase with every step closer I manage to take towards the exit. She clings to a passing floor lamp as I drag her along. “Just one more song!” she begs me, “Please! I’ll leave right after, I swear!”
“I don’t believe you,” I grumble, trying to pry her away. She sobs, the bottle of coolant wholly in her system now. “Nooo I don’t wannnaaa!” People are starting to stare. Their whispers are somehow louder than the party itself.
Anxiously, I summon my solver for a split second to force Lizzy’s fingers off the lamp pole. She begs and pouts the whole way out the door. “The things I do for you…”
My voice echoes dully through the empty hallway outside. At last, I finally manage to get her through the door, and the party cuts off with a metallic bang as it slams closed behind us.
The moment we’re out of sight, I hoist Lizzy up with a solver grip on her waist. She goes limp and lets me take her away, knowing I’ve won this time. It’s deathly silent in the bunker tonight. Everyone is fast asleep. Even the WDF, who are supposed to be watching the doors, have gone home for the night. There are a couple more guards behind the first door who constantly rotate, but still.. there should be more.
“I’m gonna throw up,” Lizzy whines. “Do it away from me,” I respond dryly. “I’m serious!” “So am I; don’t vomit on me.” Gently, I set her down so her stomach isn’t squished by my solver. I always keep a lighter grip on her. I don’t want Lizzy to get injured by anything I do, even if that sometimes seems like her goal.
“Better?” I ask, taking her hand in mine and kissing the back of it. Her already flushed face flushes deeper. “Yeah, thanks Dolly, you’re the best. Even if you also suck sometimes.” My visor flickers — eye returning to normal. “You suck more,” I tell her gently. Offering her a soft smile, I let her lean on me as we walk the rest of the way back to her place.
“Was drinking that much coolant really necessary?" I ask her after basking in calm silence for a bit. “Yes!” she answers immediately, “I was dared to, I had to! Me and the other girls on the squad were playing truth-or-dare and Rebecca-” “Of course it was her.” “Yeah, I know, right? Can you believe her?! That bitch got me like.. ssssoo drunk.”
Her words start to slur together the longer she talks. I don’t try to understand her and simply nod every so often. When we come up to her door, Lizzy stumbles to a halt. “Shit, Dad’s gonna kill me…” Her first coherent thought in a while. “I’m not supposed to be out this late.. or be this drunk! Doll you have to help me sneak back in!”
I give her a deadpan look — knowing very well what her father will say if he caught her. “Perhaps there’s a good reason he’s told you not to do this,” I suggest, gesturing to her leaning against me, half upright. Lizzy grumbles, “I can handle it! He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” “Mhm. Because you handled it so well tonight.” Her arms cross with an angry pout. She turns from me and reaches to open the door, but I pull her away — glancing anxiously up and down the hall.
“I’ll use my solver to get you in.” She blinks dumbly, “The huh?” “My-” “Ohh riiight, your magic thingy!” Lizzy knows plenty about my solver abilities. She’s witnessed most of them firsthand. Apparently she needs to be sober to remember them, though.
With a single thought, the air around us hums and glitches with red static. I hold her close to me as we zap away and reappear in the center of her room, with her father none the wiser. “Woah!” “Quiet,” I warn her. “How’d we get in here? I.. Why don’t I remember like.. sneaking in through the living room? Robogod, I’m so drunk.”
I chuckle softly at her and guide her to bed. “I made sure we were stealthy, don’t worry,” I say. It’s technically true. Lizzy only shakes me off and wobbles away towards her walk-in closet. “Ew! I’m not sleeping in party clothes! Are you insane?!” Again, I try to shush her, and she thankfully quiets down. Knowing better than to get between Lizzy and an outfit change, I sit myself on the edge of her bed and wait.
Completely unprompted, she pulls her top over her head in one swift movement, revealing her bare metal shell and the small pink worker drone symbol on her chest. Blush flickers to my face and I politely avert my gaze. Lizzy notices with a snicker only moments later. Donning nothing but an oversized t-shirt, she steps wryly into view, bending down to put her hands on my knees. “You’re so silly, Dolly~ You've seen me with nothing on before.”
My face glows redder as I glance down the wide gap in the neck of her shirt. Through it, I can see all the way down her body. “Y-You’re drunk, Lizzy. You should get some sleep.” Her brows crunch up a little in disappointment as I decline her drunken advances. With a soft sigh, I rest a hand on the side of her face and kiss her forehead lightly. She erupts into giggles that make my core wriggle in my chest.
Finally, after waiting several long minutes for her to take off her pink worker’s helmet and untie her ponytail, I manage to get Lizzy in bed. She tumbles onto the mattress and her golden locs flow down her back. Gently, I pull the sheets over her.
“Love you Dolly,” she tells me with a half-asleep softness laced through her voice. “I love you too, Lizzy.” A lump forms in my throat as static begins to form around me to warp me away.
“Wait! Where are you going?!” I blink as Lizzy bolts upright. She sounds so upset I startle from teleporting off to my own room. “You’re leaving me? After everything? What the heck?!” “You.. want me to stay the night?” An almost pitying expression falls across Lizzy’s face. She pats the bed in front of her and I sit down.
“If I could have you here every night, I would,” she confesses, resting a hand atop mine. “Stay with me? Please?” I can feel a smile tug at my lips. Nodding, I move to get under the covers. “Ah! Hey! What did I say about party clothes in bed?” "Lizzy, these are my everyday clothes." She forcefully shakes her head and gestures to her closet. "Nope, they were at the party; go change into something else. Take whatever you want, pretty much all of it-" she stifles a yawn, "will look good on you anyway."
Reluctantly, I do as she says. I slip on a large t-shirt similar to hers — though it sits like a normal shirt on me — and grab a pair of lounge shorts. Lizzy watches me from her bed the whole time. When I turn back to her, she nods satisfactorily. I step over and sit on the bed in the space beside her.
Suddenly, Lizzy gasps, seemingly remembering something. “Oh no! We should call your parents though! They’re gonna be worried if you don’t come back home tonight!”
She kissed me, then put a bullet through my chest. It feels like my heart just short-circuited. I love her, but.. why? Why did she have to say that?
I know it’s only the coolant talking. She’s already barely awake as it is. Still, my core sinks at the thought of my parents waiting for me at home. Their bodies are — sitting at the table like in Papa’s pictures. They aren’t there, though. They haven’t been home in a long time.
If only I could go back. I’ve thought about it a hundred times. In school I’ll daydream exactly what I’d do: teleport in, summon a knife or a stake or a cleaver, and drive it straight through the awful murder drone’s core before she ever so much as laid a hand on my family. Then, after pulverizing what's left of the monster, I’d go to the cabinet and gently let my younger self out.
I would give anything to go back, to have them safely back home — I’d give anything.. except, well, maybe Lizzy.
My blank stare finally tears itself from her wall plastered with posters of music artists, sitcoms, and horror movie killers. I take a long look at the drone beside me. She lays there, face smushed partially into her ruffled pink pillows, watching me with wide glowing eyes and a small concerned frown. Yes, I was right. I care far too much about her to ever give her up.
“I don’t think they’d mind.”
“Then come in here alreadyyyy,” Lizzy whines, grabbing at me through the air as if she could tug me closer by a thought. I lift up her covers and she squeals in excitement. The moment I lay down she rushes to snuggle up against my chest, tugging me closer to herself like a giant stuffed animal.
Gently, I brush a hand over her blonde hair — its tips still pink from when she dyed it. I remember the day she decided she didn’t like having her entire head that color. She claimed it took away attention from her rose-colored eyes. I told her it would take a miracle to divert my attention from them, and she’d turned and kissed me.
I’m still proud of that moment. Ever since we got together, Lizzy has to kiss me at least a couple times a day, but back then it felt like I’d said just the right thing and won some incredible prize.
Lizzy wiggles in bed, tucking her head against my chest, just beneath my chin. “I’m tired. And really drunk,” she laughs softly, “But.. I think you might’ve saved me from total social ruin tonight, so thanks, you know? The other girls could care less. They wouldn’t have stopped me.”
I’m fairly sure I saw at least one of them recording her horrible karaoke performance, but I decide not to worry her about it. With loving care I run a hand over her arm, then softly rest it at the back of her head. “I’ll always be here to protect you, Lizzy.” She grins, eyes falling shut as she settles in for the night. “I know. It’s why I love you so much.”
Again, my chest stings, and in that instant the bullet hole through my heart heals.