The Whale - 22. Part III, chapter 6

- VI -

LUKE

Jesus freaking Christ!! I couldn't believe this. The whale drugged me?! Oh my God... Now I understood why she gave me that beer. I sat down on the curb and lit a cigarette. I knew that if I drove right now, I'd probably end up in a wreck, so I decided to sit there until all that crap got out of my system. It felt somewhat familiar, except it never hit me so hard. I guess it's because I never mixed this shit with alcohol before. I closed my eyes. Unbelievable. Simply fucking unbelievable. I started thinking about what happened and realized that I could not remember anything after she walked with me. I remembered talking to Faith right before the whale showed up. I remembered her giving me a beer. I also remembered that I felt really funny and decided to go home, and then everything started to spin. Then I remembered how the whale said she'd walk with me, and that's it. Then there was a black gap in my memory. The next thing I remember was kissing Faith. At least I thought it was Faith. I remember muttering, "I love you, Faith," and then suddenly, she was gone. And then something hit my face so hard that I immediately sobered up.

I was beyond confused when I saw the whale. And then it hit me. Faith was nowhere close; it was the whale I was kissing. I groaned and took a deep drag on my cigarette. Jesus... Then I saw that my pants were unzipped, and I immediately broke into cold sweat. Oh my God, did I have sex with her?! Thankfully, the answer was no. I shook my head. Then the whale started blabbering some nonsense about her being fat and shit. Like I care about the way she looks! So I told her to put a sock in it and just forget the whole damn thing. And then I called her Annie and she lost it.

God damn... The whale had a thing for me?! What the hell is wrong with her? After all the shit that I did to her? Ugh, I don't get people sometimes, I really don't. And then I realized something and I dropped my cigarette. Oh dear God... I called the whale Faith... That means she knows about us... I closed my eyes. This could not get any worse.

*****

On Saturday morning, I woke up at 9:30 and just lay there, staring at my ceiling. Finally, I got up and drove to the airport. Faith's plane wouldn't arrive for the next five hours or so, but I didn't care. I sat there, walked outside, smoked almost two packs of cigarettes, and finally, it was the time for the plane to arrive. I walked to the right gate and just stood there, waiting. Finally, I saw Faith and my hands started to shake. She saw me almost immediately and smiled brightly.

I hugged her tight when she got closer and buried my face in her hair. God, it felt so good to just hold her like this.

"What's wrong?" she asked finally, and I sighed.

"I need to tell you something," I muttered. "Let's go get coffee, okay?"

She frowned.

"Okay..."

Forty-five minutes later, we were sitting at Starbucks, and she looked at me silently. I took a deep breath. Here goes.

"Faith," I said and closed my eyes. "I made out with the whale..."

She was so silent that I didn't dare opening my eyes.

"In my defense," I muttered. "She freaking drugged me... I seriously thought I was kissing you... And then I said, 'I love you Faith,' and she smacked me on the face..."

She hasn't made a single sound.

"Faith..." I muttered, my eyes still closed. "Please, don't dump me..."

Suddenly, she started to laugh, and I carefully opened one eye and looked at her. She was laughing so hard, she had tears in her eyes. Hmmm, wonder if she is really laughing or if she is hysterical...

"What's funny?" I asked carefully, and she managed to stop herself from more laughter. Okay, I thought, not hysterical.

"Luke," she breathed. "You don't see what's funny?"

"Not really, no..."

She took a breath.

"Oh, God... You finally say those words... And I am not even there!!"

I blinked. Huh?

"Wha..." I shook my head. "Hold on... First of all... You are not mad?"

"No," she shook her head. "Well, I guess I am mad at the whale..."

I snorted when she actually said, 'the whale.'

"Right," I said. "Okay, second thing then... What the hell are you talking about? You weren't even there... I've said it to you before!"

"You never have," she smiled.

"Yeah...! Wait..." I frowned. Hold on. I never said, 'I love you' to her? Sure, I said it! Several times...! Wait... Did I say it in my head...? Oh, God...

I dropped my face into my elbow. Faith started laughing again. I finally was able to look at her. She was still laughing her head off. Yup, I am known for my awesome sense of humor. Luke Russell, your personal clown. I need to get business cards or something... I sighed and got up. I walked around the table to her chair and grabbed her wrists. I pulled her up so suddenly that she finally stopped laughing and just looked at me.

"I love you, Faith," I said seriously and kissed her.

She kissed me back and grinned.

"That's just mean," I said when she didn't say anything. "Plain mean."

"Uh huh," she nodded. "I have commitment issues..."

I growled at her and she kissed me.

"I love you too, Russell," she muttered, and I knew she wasn't lying.

So we went back home -- Faith's place, of course -- and everything was great. I pushed every single thought of the whale out of my head, and actually forgot about the whole thing until almost a week later, when I got a phone call from Roxy Weiss.