a screwed up mess

Shan hurried as soon as he got the call from Henry, all breathless. Something was wrong.

"I might have hit, something." He sounded quite tragic.

"Well, where are you?" He knew he drove to Aidan's on his own.

"I might be lost." Henry told him.

"How could, you, be lost?" Aidan only lived three blocks away. Shan bundled up in his parka. He didn't feel the need to drive.

"I dunno." Henry sounded sad, maybe mad at himself. "I started toward home."

"What did you do?" Shan walked into the icy cold. He couldn't find his gloves, and his fingers were losing warmth as he held on to the cell like a lifeline of some sort. Henry could be anywhere.

"I drank a little something." Henry finally admitted.

"They gave you, wine?" Shan squinted hard, thinking Henry's brother would know better, but Audrey might.

"Shhh.."

Shan was sure of it now. Henry was drunk. He could see Henry's car stopped in the road, hardly a block from home. It wasn't even close to a car nor a snowbank. He clicked off his phone and ran to the car that was sitting idle in the middle of the street.

He opened the driver's door. Henry almost fell out.

"Move over." He pushed him to the passenger side and buckled him in. Shan looked around. It was amazing no one was coming. "I'm glad, you called." He knew if he said anything negative it would make things worse. He drove Henry's car down the street and parked it in Henry's driveway.

It was frightening to think Henry could get this drunk on a wine cooler, but then again, he was skinny and new to alcohol.

How could he keep him out of trouble?

Shan started his car back up.

"Where are we going?" Henry looked at him then as if he just got here.

"We gotta sober you up." Shan shrugged as he drove to the nearest diner. "Maybe you need something to eat." He wondered if Henry actually ate any dinner.

"I need to sober up?" Henry looked at him as if that was the funniest thing he'd ever heard.

"How much did you have to drink?" Shan asked as he parked in Delia's Diner parking lot.

Henry shook his head.

"You, can't tell anyone about this." Henry looked at him wide eyed.

"Of course, not." Shan lied, but he was definitely going to let Henry's mother know what was up. He helped him get out of the car and walked in with him. He slid Henry into the orange booth while he took the other side. Soon enough, Shan took liberty to order for both of them. Coffee and chili cheese fries.

Henry made a face of disgust. Shan stared at him, thinking if Henry threw up, it might help.

"You, were never like this when your dad was gone." Shan made an observation.

"Mom, doesn't need me anymore." Henry played around with the ice cubes in the little glass of water that the waitress set in front of him.

Shan let out a sigh. This was crazy, he thought.

"Of course, she needs you. You, just need to spend some quality time with your Dad." Shan shrugged. This didn't mean Shan was going to take his own advice. It was like he was doing time at his father's house until it was time for college.

Henry made a face of disgust, but it might not have been about Henry's Dad.

"Want to go to the bathroom?" Shan asked. Henry didn't like the smell of the coffee.

Then the chili cheese fries arrived and Henry scowled even more.

"We'll be right back." Shan told the waitress as he practically carried Henry to the bathroom. Hopefully, Henry would hate wine after this, and maybe chili cheese fries too.