Chapter One

A slight chill swept into room with brief opening and swinging close of the door.  It had been warmer then a normal set of February nights for the past week, the freshness of the air meshed with the sounds of the people passing outside.  The smell and sounds of Nineteenth Street.  A car horn blaring, but the soft change in the atmosphere was what caused Xavier and Melissa to take notice from their table positioned towards the rear and some feet from the booths to their right.  Occasionally, their attention would drift to the small stage where someone was attempting to play a role on a series of American Idol Wannabes with the aide of the karaoke machine.  For the most part, however, they concentrated more on each other.

Together they sat, elbows resting upon the round wooden table, angled from each other at ninety degrees.  Melissa, halfway leaning her shoulder on Xavier's, slid a large mug of the golden, frothy beer across the table to his his palms flat on the surface.  "Drink up, stud," she said with a slight laugh.  Xavier's eyes drifted over the table, seeing the mug before looking away and looking back before nodded his head down to look away again.  His right hand fumbled with the glass shell, finally getting a grip on the handle and lifted it shoulder high.  He smiled, the slight scent filling his nose to intoxicate him even further with its aroma alone.

He gaze wandered to Melissa who looked at him with an expecting smile, waiting for him to down the beverage.  Whatever number it was in the line of the many that night, he had lost count.  "Fucking, bitch," he bumbled out in a slur of speech, "Just trying to get me drunk.  Big match and you want to tire me out after taking advantage of me, only to wake up with one hell of a hangover."  "It's Monday, honey.  Your match isn't until Sunday.  Besides, it's about time a guy was on the receiving end of a date rape," she told him blatantly, know he was too trashed to even care.  She reach out with her left hand, holding the bottom of the glass and pushing it up to his mouth and said, "Now finish this and you can get started on the next one."

The glass rip set on his bottom lip and with Melissa's help, Xavier titled it to start tuning the bottom up.  Eventually, all of the creamy contents rushed down his throat in a cascade in a series of gulps, one in quick succession after the other.  Finished, and allowed by Melissa, Xavier set the empty vessel back on the table with a slight slam as his coordination had been slipping to say the least.

Stumbling up to his feet, Melissa had to get up and catch him, staying close and under his arm.  Taking the brunt of his weight and making sure he did not fall flat on his face, she righted him to stand up fully.  He grabbed onto her waist in a flurry of motion she had thought him incapable of in his state, pulling her body tightly crushing against his.  Bending down to fill her mouth with a heavily alcohol scented, but passionate nonetheless, kiss.

They were beginning to get some stares from everyone else around them, but neither of them cared about the awkward looks.  Finally, after what had felt like an eternity of drunken ecstasy, he pulled away.  His alcohol filled breath heavy against her face, but she did not show any sign of agitation from it.  His lips parted, the soft rushing of his breath blowing along the hair at the side of her head, "You're so getting fucked tonight."  "Promises, promises," she said with a laugh, "At least you're feeling better down there now."

Xavier released his touch from her, stumbling past her to the side and walking towards where the bar counter was to get a refill.  Melissa remained at the table to sit down, crossing her legs, one thigh over the other.  Reaching over the table, she took up the mug he had left there and held it up to her nose.  Taking in the smell, her nose scrunched up, thin eyebrows moving closer together as she squinted.  She would be damned if she could figure out how he actually drank the crap, but it sure had a way of getting him in the mood.

A quick but short spurt of static from behind her.  Someone had kicked on the karaoke machine on the stage and was well intent on making the night all the more amusing for her.  Xavier always found humor in tearing down people who had no ability but still tried only to humiliate themselves.  She wondered where he was as the soft beat of drums started playing, hoping she would not miss out on what he thought.  "She's a good girl, loves her mama.  Loves Jesus and America too," sang the slurring voice amplified with the aid of the microphone, "She's a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis.  Loves horses and her boyfriend too."

The familiar ringing of the voice though is what made her twirl around in wonder.  That voice, but was impossible.  He would not dare do something like this to embarrass her and himself.  Yet, to her amazed eyes, she saw him standing on the stage, looking down at from the distant elevation.  Xavier extended a hand, wanting her to come closer.  Melissa shook her head, but stood up anyway as Xavier continued, "It's a long day living in Reseda.  There's a freeway running through the yard.  And I'm a bad boy, cause I don't even miss her.  I'm a bad boy for breaking her heart."

Melissa looked around, shaking her head and acting like she had no idea who he was.  Yet, she still walked closer.  It was as if she was hypnotized from his serenading her.  As strange as it was, not withstanding he was completely drunk, it had to be the most romantic thing he had ever done for her.  She only wished it was not so public and making a spectacle of things.

Reaching the stage now finally, Xavier reached out for her hand and "helped" her up the couples steps and stood there with her at his side.  She, meanwhile, was trying to hide behind him and turning around with a hand over her face.  "And I'm freeeeeeeeeeeeee!," he sung loudly with an elongated voice, "I'm free falling."

Grabbing onto her waist, Xavier tried to turn her and spin her around while she fought him and pushed his hands away.  "Melissa Michaels everyone.  The love of my life," he said to the quiet and staring people in the bar.  "Thank you all, you're beautiful," he slurred and raised the microphone in the air while looking down.  Standing there in a rock star like pose for a moment, expecting a round of applause for his drunken showing but getting none.  After holding the pose for a few seconds, his stance started to get shaky.  His knees buckled from underneath him, letting him fall to his side and leaving everyone to let out an exclaimed gasp.  Everyone looking on stunned at what they were seeing while Melissa called his name.  She struggled to get him up and off the stage.

Chapter Two

Xavier's head was a muddled pool of hazy thoughts.  Eyes closed shut, blocking at the slight light filling the room.  Earlier before, he had felt the bed's mattress move and shift, reacting to the loss of weight from Melissa's body next to him.  He had drifted off back to sleep, however.  He was no where near ready to greet the day still.  Not after last night.  What the hell happened and why did the side of his head feel so sore.

Suddenly, the room filled out with a brilliant spray of white light.  The sound of the metal rings  scraping against the metal rod as Melissa through open the curtains.  He tried to hide under the covers, pulling the heavy blanket over his head, but she was having none of it.  In flurry of strength, the cotton that had shielded him was yanked free from his grip, leaving him laying there half naked.

"Rise and shine, hot shot," said Melissa with a slap against his leg.  He barely got a glimpse of her before involuntarily turning away from the light.  She was wearing some kind of costume with white pajamas, but it just did not look right.  "No, it's too early.  Just another hour." he whined.

He felt her soft hands grab him around the ankles, swinging his legs to hang over the side of the bed.  "It's already three in the afternoon," she told him sternly, refusing to let him get away with the whining, pulling him up by the arms to sitting straight up, "Hangover or not, you're getting up and doing this."

Xavier squinted, rubbing his eyes and looking down.  "God, what the fuck happened last night?  It feels like I got hit in the head with a Rosie O'Donnell thigh."  She only laughed, stroking her fingers through his hair before answering his query, "You got drunk and sang karaoke to me in the bar.  It would've been pretty romantic if I weren’t so embarrassed.  Passed out so I pretty much had to drag you into a cab and take you home.  Even that drunk and out of it, you were a real animal though."

"Fucking bitch.  Raping me when I'm drunk," said Xavier, finally opening his eyes and taking a good look at her as she walked to his closet in the corner of his room, trying to figure out what the hell it was she was wearing, "And what's with the get up?  Halloween's been past."

"Don't think you're so innocent," she said while digging around in the closet, "You were the one that took charge in the whole scenario."  She turned around and threw some kind of outfit at his side on the bed.  He looked at it shakily then up to here, finally figuring out she was wearing some kind of white karate outfit.  "What the hell?," he asked confused, "I thought I was supposed to be the one into the weird sex games."

Melissa shook her head, laughing at the thought of doing something with it but sex was the furthest thing from her mind right then.  "Sorry to disappoint, hon," she said, "But since you don't know anything about what Carla's going to come at you with, we're both going to take a karate class tonight.  Now get your ass in the shower before get a hose."