32Jeremy woke up with a pounding headache. He looked around at his surroundings. He was home, on the living room couch. How had he gotten home? Thinking about the previous night, he remembered. nothing.
"Oh good, you are finally awake," he heard a voice say. Groggily, he sat up to see his girlfriend Courtney standing in the doorway between the kitchen and living room. "I thought you'd drunk yourself into a coma or something."
"How'd I get here?" Jeremy asked, standing up.
"One of your friends, who were still able to drive, brought you home."
"Oh. listen Court, I'm sorry-"
"You always say that Jeremy but you still go out and get slap ass drunk. This needs to stop."
"It will baby, don't worry."
"But I do worry, not just for your wellbeing, but for everyone else's," she said with a sigh.
"I'll stop, I promise."
That was probably 5 years ago. Had the drinking stopped? No, if anything it'd gotten more frequent. Jeremy had lost his job months ago because his boss was sick of him being late or not showing up because of a hangover. Yet Courtney stayed on, her love for him slowly dwindling from a once roaring flame to a now glowing charcoal, which at any given moment could be permanently extinguished.
It was a Friday night and Courtney was watching TV in the living room. She glanced at the clock, 2 AM. Sighing, she reached for the remote. Just as the TV shut off, the front door opened. In stumbled Jeremy.
"Hey baby," he slurred and sat down next to her.
"Jeremy, where the hell have you been?" she asked, not hiding her disgust.
" a .my buddies."
"Jeremy, you can't do this anymore. I'm so sick of you coming home slap-ass drunk all of the time."
"Well maybe you should just leave if you don't like the way I live my life."
His words hit her like a slap to the face. She stood there, stunned. "You didn't mean that," she whispered.
"I'm going to bed," Jeremy said and went to the bedroom.