Mary, Mary .02

"Newspaper covered walls.
And Mary rising up above it all.
Oh... Oh... Oh...
Take a bottle drink it down. Pass it around.
Take a bottle drink it down. Pass it... Pass it around."

-"Crazy Mary", Pearl Jam

**

By some small miracle, Tom's old car made it to the party in one piece. He parked it on the sidewalk and walked around the car in time to open the door for Mary, managing to get it open with no struggling whatsoever.

"Jerk" Mary mumbled under her breath as he held the door open with a dorky smile on his face.

"Don't hate the player, hate the game" He said with a chuckle and slammed the door closed behind her. together they walked up the walk and into the already bustling house. Mary made a beeline for the "bar" while Tom went off to find Collin.

She pushed her way through the bustling crowd and approached the table that held several bottles of hard liquor and several thirty racks of beer. She grabbed a red solo out of the bag and promptly poured herself a rum and coke (heavy on the rum) and grabbed a beer out of the case before turning back to the party and pushing her way back through in search for Tom.

She found him standing in the back yard with a red solo clenched in his hand as he laughed with the party's host. Despite the fact that Tom had an enormous backyard, hardly anyone was outside, many opting to stay in the cramped, and hot house just to remain in the proximity to the alcohol. She took a deep breath of the crisp, clean air before drinking down almost all of her rum and coke in a single sip. Feeling the warm rush of the alcohol run down her throat and throughout her body, she walked over to where Tom and Collin were standing.

"Mare Bear! There you are!" Tom called out, alcohol already present in his voice. She laughed at his slight slur and took another sip before bounding over to him, almost knocking the cup out of his hand. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders loosely as she finished her drink and threw the solo on the ground and popped open the beer without missing a beat.

"Hey! That's my yard!" Collin said with a drunken laugh, obviously onto his fifth or sixth beer of the night.

"Shut up!" She slurred back, all of the rum finally getting to her. "I'll clean it up...later."

"Yeah...yeah that's right you will!" Collin slurred, quickly followed by hysterical laughter as if he had just said the funniest thing he had ever heard. Mary and Tom both just watched on as he drunkenly laughed, only to realize moments after that he was probably making a fool of himself.

He stood up straight and brushed past the pair and walked back in the house without so much as another word to either of them. They stood in silence, neither of them really knowing what to say, only to erupt in a fit of giggles seconds later.

"That...was....so FUNNY!" Tom gasped out and turned to Mary to see if she agreed. They locked eyes for a moment as they both finished their drinks and threw the empty containers on the ground. They stood there, locked in an awkward gaze, for a few seconds before Mary leaned towards him and placed her lips gently against his. Tom jumped back from her in surprise, staring at his best friend with wide eyes.

"Mary...what was that?"

She stumbled towards him and kissed him again, "Shh. Just go with it." She whispered in his ear and went in to kiss him again, only to have Tom push her back and hold her an arms length away by the shoulders.

"Stop Mare, you're drunk and you don't know what you're doing."

"Don't you like me?" She asked with puppy dog eyes.

"Mare..."

"You don't like me."

"Mare, it's not that. I like you. As more than a friend, for a while now. But not now, not when you're like this."

"Shhhhhh." She slurred out, "No. I'm fine. I know exactly what I'm doing Tommy boy. Now...just kiss me again."

"No."

"Tom!"

"Stop it!"

"Just kiss me and if you don't like it, then I'll stop. Okay?"

He stood in stunned silence for a moment, weighing the options in his head. For something that he had wanted for such a long time, it took him a while to decide what to do. But just looking at his best friend reminded him of how much he liked her and how long he had wanted this.

He pulled her close to him and placed his lips on hers. She responded instantly, removing all doubt from Tom's mind, even though he had the little nagging thought in the back of his head that told him it was wrong. He quickly silenced that voice as he pulled away from her and whispered in her ear,

"Let's go upstairs"