Oh My...

48.) Dirty People

"You should comes to Alicia's party with me," I said as I popped a french fry in my mouth. "It's next week, and I don't wanna go alone."

We were sitting in a booth together at a McDonald's. The place was nearly twenty minutes from Marshall's house, and it had started drizzling a few minutes before we made it in. I could hear the rain pounding against the roof as I ate my chicken nuggets.

Marshall thought about it. "Alicia? Jeez, I dunno..."

"Why?" I whined, reaching over the table and cupping his hands. "It'll be fun."

"Fun?" Marshall perked up an eyebrow. "Yeah, right. I wasn't even invited."

"I'm inviting you," I replied, offering him a crooked smile.

He still looked unconvinced. "I don't know, Alex."

"What's up with you and Alicia?" I asked, pulling my eyebrows together in confusion. "You always seem so uncomfortable when we talk to her."

"I sorta did her dirty," Marshall admitted, looking down at his breakfast sandwich. "And she's still pretty pissed off."

"What did you do?" I wondered, cocking my head to the side.

Marshall didn't look up to meet my eyes.

I tossed a fry at him. "C'mon! It can't be that bad." I paused for a moment after I said that, backtracking my words. With Marshall, it actually could very well be that bad. I gave a small smile. "I mean, she never said anything to me."

"She probably doesn't even know we're together," he brushed off, stealing a nugget from my tray.

"I never told you that I once left her to hang out with you?"

Marshall stared at me with wide eyes, lowering the nugget from his lips. "Are you serious?"

I blushed, but nodded nonetheless. "It was our first night chillin', too. I don't know why she's still my friend." I shook my head in bafflement.

Marshall hesitated. "That is pretty bad. Alright, I'll tell you what I did."

I sat up and leaned towards him in anticipation. His shoulders shifted down and he glanced around to make sure no one was listening. "Her and Kim were best friends before we started dating."

I couldn't help but gasp, cupping my hands over my mouth as I stared at him with wide eyes. He looked down, ashamed.

A moment after it all sunk in, I lowered my hands and started to giggle. It was an off kind of laugh that Marshall quickly caught onto. He smirked in reply. "You're horrible." I smiled at him wide, exposing all my teeth.

He chucked. "You are, too. But you see why I don't wanna go to the party?"

I slumped down in the red leather booth I was sitting in, childishly frowning. "I understand...but I still want you to go."

"We'll have a real Christmas party," he promised, reaching over to kiss my forehead.

I was wearing a stupid grin by the time he sat back down. "I want an actually party," I decided. "I wanna get fucked up with you."

Marshall smiled, but his eyes were holding something back. He looked down and gathered all the trash into a pile. "You done?"

"What's wrong?" I asked flatly, rising an eyebrow.

He hesitated, staring at the wadded up cheeseburger wrappers. "Are you sure you can handle a party?"

I glared at him. "I've been partying since I was thirteen-"

"No, I get that. But can you handle it?" He looked me in the eye. "Last time we were at a party, you went off and met a drug dealer-"

"That's why I won't leave you side." I purred, reaching my hand out to hold his. "I'll be okay, alright? It'll be fun and you know it."

He reluctantly took his hand back. "I'll think about it." He finalized, grabbing all the trash and walking to the closest trashcan.

I glanced around the McDonald's we were in. It was just about empty except from the few that rushed in after the rain really started to pour. I peered out the tinted yellow window and saw a blur of raindrops splatting against the glass.

I turned to get Marshall's attention. "It's awful out." I complained.

"I know." He groaned, propping his face against the palm of his hand. "Where do you wanna go?"

"Somewhere dry." I took a glimpse towards the door. The sky was moving with rolling dark grey clouds and wind driving passed us. A few unfortunate pedestrians were stuck under the the bus stop, but otherwise no one was out. Close to five cars sped down the street every minute, that's it.

Marshall grunted. "I'm gonna see if they have a phone in the back so I could call Doody. You stay here."