Only love her when you let her go - Summer 2007

I was at the bar after Pansy told me the horrible news of what she was planning on doing if I did not change.  The glass of scotch sat untouched in front of me.  I heard someone sit next to me and I saw that it was Lincoln.  I returned my gaze to the amber liquid on the rocks that was sitting in front of me.  "What do you want?" I asked, my voice hoarse from unshed emotion.

I sat down next to Draco.  I had gone over to their house to check on things -- I knew they were getting bad.  And I hated when Juniper was overly worried about things.  "Draco, you need to stop this," I said, wondering what number he was on.

I looked over at Lincoln and sighed.  I pushed the untouched drink away from me.  "I am done..." I said, hoping that he believed me.

I raised my eyebrows at him, not entirely sure if I believed him.  "Really?" I asked skeptically.  I knew that Draco was quite good at lying -- he had been a good liar the entire time he was in school.

I swallowed and stared at him.  "You can ask the bartender," I said quietly.  "You can ask him to see if I even touched that drink."  I had no idea why I felt like I had to justify any of this to Lincoln.

I sighed and shook my head.  "No... I'll believe you.  You need someone to," I said to him, knowing that Juniper would, but she may be hesitant just due to what happened the last time when he started drinking this badly.  "Want to talk about what happened/" I asked.

I looked over at him.  "Why are you here?  What were you told?" I questioned, figuring that would be the best way to start as to know where to begin to even talk about what was going on.

"I'm here because I went over to check on you and your family," I explained to him simply.  "But what I saw... I knew something had happened.  And after Pansy telling me what she had said to you, I knew that it would be best to find you."  I looked at Draco.  "And I figured you would apprecitae me rather than your sister."

I was surprised that Lincoln cared that much.  I took a deep breath and nodded.  "Thank you for keeping June away... we tend to just work each other up into something that we both end up regret," I said, trying to keep things not as heavy as they were.

I smiled weakly at him.  "Trust me, I know," I assured him.  "Why don't you give me your side," I suggested.  I highly doubted anyone would let him speak his side wiwth what was going on.

I looked over at Lincoln and sighed.  "I don't even know," I said to him honestly.  "it started a couple years ago and I just haven't been able to stop... it wasn't that bad... but apparently it was worse than I thought."

I nodded at him.  "It is pretty bad, Draco," I said, understating it by a lot.  "It is worse than what it was when Juniper pushed you when the twins were born."  Which was why I was the one speaking to Draco and not Juniper.  I was not sure if June would be able to keep a clear head in this situation.

Of course I knew that.  I sighed, shaking my head.  "I don't know what to do," I admitted, and I hated admitting that to Lincoln.  I only showed weakness to Juniper... and even then, it took a lot for me to do that.

I looked at Draco.  "Well, you're going to start by leaving here and we're going to sober you up," I said to him simply.  I stood up and waited for him to do the same.  "We're getting you a coffee and you are going to talk."

I could not believe that Lincoln was going to help me like this.  I nodded and stood up, following him out of the bar.  "I don't even know what to say or where to begin," I said as we walked to find a coffee place that would be open this late/early, depending on how you looked at it.