One Night of Liquid Courage

Chapter 11

Picture above is Victoria 'Tori'

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Its been a week since James has been in the hospital and Im finally signing the release paperwork. "Mom?" Without looking up from the paperwork, "Yes James?" "Are we still going to go see grandpa in Portland?" I look at him and sigh, "bud your just getting you out of the hospital. Im not sure we should do that right away. Give you a few days" I say then go back to the papers. Once finished I hand it to the nurse who is removing the iv from James's arm. "Its another doctors office, isnt it? Im fine. Ive been fine for a few days."I roll my eyes at his exaggeration of a few days. He has only been a hundred percent since yesterday. "Kalen, convince her. Please" James says then sticks his bottom lip out. At the sound of his name I pause. Every time he has come around, my nerves get the best of you. I was hoping his vow of love the first night of James being in the hospital wouldnt of affect me, but it most defiantly has.

"Convince her of what?" I look up to see Kalen leaning his shoulder on the door frame. "He wants to go see my dad in Portland" I say as I pack James's belongings in his backpack. "James you gotta listen to your mom" Kalen says supporting my decision. James huffs grabs his backpack and leaves the room. With a sigh, I grab my purse and keys off the couch and go to follow James, but Kalen grabs my hand. "Can i talk to you for a second" he says while still holding my hand. "Sure, what about. Lets talk and walk" I say and start walking leaving kalen. Kalen catches up, "So I told my parents." I stop for a second and look at him. I open my mouth to say something but decide not to and start walking again. "They want to meet James. Also said they would love to see you again." Once we make it out of the hospital I see James sitting on a bench waiting for us. "Tori, please dont ignore me" I hear him say behind me. With a sigh i turn around to face him, "im not ignoring you. I just-." "I told them what happened between us before you left" he says as he rubs the back of his neck. "You what?" "They were pretty upset when you left without saying goodbye and how i took it. I wanted them to understand your reasons and the whole situation. They arent mad. Will you please let them meet James?" Im trying to wrap my head around his parents knowing everything. I was always closer to his mom then my own but its just hard to believe she wouldnt be mad. "When?" "The sooner the better so she will stop hounding me" he chuckles. I smile at the picture of his mom nagging him like he use to in high school about the small stuff. Though this defiantly was not part of the small stuff. "How about tonight for dinner? We will get it over it, but you need to let her know that it needs to as clean as possible. I dont-." He hugs me, "I explained it to her and she got right to cleaning. Thank you Tori." "Same place?" "Same place." 

*

We have about an hour before we have to be at Kalen's parent's house. Victor and Bethany. "So they are my father Kalen's parents?" "Yes. Your grandparents." "So how come I can go there but cant go see grandpa" he huffs and stomps his foot down. "James, enough! We will go see grandpa in two days! Now please quit. I need you on your best behavior, now stop with the attitude. "Im going to go change and then we will go. Please have your shoes on by the time i come back down" i say as i head into my room. Yes, we are still at the hotel. My mother found out about James and has been throwing the ultimate sh*t fit, so we still staying here. I put on dark skinny jeans, a flowy tank top blouse and then nude heels. After brushing my hair and straighten the random waves in my hair, I add mascara,  and nude lipstick. I look in the mirror and approve that this is at good as it is going to get.

 When I was younger, my mother always complained how tom boyish i was. Never wanted to wear the makeup or get dressed up. Living in Italy and going to art events and fundraisers I learned to dress up more and after a while it became almost daily thing. I head back to James, "Lets go." After grabbing my purse and keys we head to the car.