Zachary stared at her for a long moment, eyes narrowing slightly as he moved for the next best option; he pulled her pillow out from underneath her head. "It's nearly one in the afternoon, Danni. This..." He said, making a vague gesture with his hands. "...this isn't healthy," he finished, knowing deep down she was thinking about how he acted in moments like these. He supposed it was different, no he knew it was. But now he had Elliott on top of him most times so things never got as bad as when he was alone; he'd surely never gone to get blackout drunk the way she had. He sighed, moving to sit on her bed with her and tossing the pillow in his hands aside. "You freaked everyone out. Me especially. I'm not pitying you for drinking until you puke," he told her honestly. Of course he cared about her and what happened, the whole restaurant incident had been traumatic he knew. But he never had been one to baby someone through their hangover; he'd been exposed to it so much as a kid it became kind of numb for him.
The next best option for her once he took her pillow was to bury her face in her arms and hug her head. It wasn't as comfortable as her pillow, but she wasn't ready to give in. He was scolding her and she didn't need that, didn't want to hear it; she was an adult and he wasn't her parent. Last time she had still been living at home and her parents hadn't exactly scolded her but she knee their looks of disappointment well since it had been rare that she saw them. Her father had come home after the news if Connor, knowing his daughter needed all the support she could get at the time. Maybe it would have been best to just stay at home, she could've avoided this whole mess. She felt bad for worrying him sure, but she wasn't going to let him make her feel guilty about it. There were enough emotions and feelings swirling through her head, she didn't need the add-on of guilt. He never felt guilty for making her worry, or maybe he did but she wasn't in his head and she wasn't in the mood to deal with this. What was he going to do? Kick her out? The idea of moving out was already lingering in her head, no one would have to worry about her then. No one would have to care. Her thoughts were pretty dark at the moment, she couldn't control it in her hungover state.
"When you're done ignoring me and being a brat, you know where I am. We can talk about whatever," Zachary finally said, not wanting to overstay in her room. If she wanted to act like this, he'd let her; he just had to make sure she knew he wasn't happy how she handled it. He wasn't looking for a fight even though he knew one was most definitely looming around the corner and in their future. Maybe they could avoid it this time. He sighed, getting up off Danni's bed to head back to his own room. The lack of sleep was settling in, unfortunately mixing with the stress. He could feel himself unraveling, knew how close he was to losing it. Everything was overly sensitive when his sleep was scattered and barely consistent. He nearly slammed the door to his own room behind him, not noticing the way it grabbed Elliott's attention. The words seemed to blur together, he didn't see Elliott even approach him but he knew he was there the moment his knees hit the ground. He saw how bad his hands alone were shaking, his body tensed so much it hurt from the oncoming meltdown. This was it; today was going to be another rough day. Attention seeker. He squeezed his eyes shut, forever grateful for Elliott's strong presence. He'd need it today, and Danni most likely would too.
From the living room, Blake had been waking up on the couch. He'd stayed the night to keep an eye on Zachary, and to make sure Danni got home; he'd been woken up when the other two went to go get her from the bar. The door shutting loudly woke him up again properly, having sleepily watched Zachary head back to his own room; it didn't look good on his end. It looked like it was his turn, and fortunately he'd be much gentler than Zachary. He grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen, shuffling down to Danni's room and letting himself in. "Hey, Danni? Everything alright?" He asked, shutting the door behind him and sitting on her bed. He reached to put the water on her nightstand so she could have something to drink.
Danni knew it was better to say nothing at all sometimes. They were both in a mood and with how she was feeling they would likely only have a huge fight because she would say the wrong thing. It's happened before and she hadn't been completely wasted, just tired and stressed beyond belief. Danni let him leave her room in silence, moving only to grab her blanket and pull it over her head once more. Complete darkness, it was calming in a strange way and right now she needed calm. She heard the clink of a glass being set down somewhere nearby, the dip of her bed as Blake sat down and spoke gently. That was far different from Zachary's tone and she appreciated it more, she couldn't handle anymore scolding at the moment. Her heart hurt and she wasn't completely sure why, knowing she missed Connor but there was something else there. A heartache she couldn't explain, but she waved it away as she shrugged in response to Blake's question. Everything was not alright and she didn't even know where to begin to make sense of it all.
"I know last night was a long and rough one," Blake went on, despite not getting any kind of verbal or nonverbal response. He figured he would get one if he kept talking. He had plenty of experience with Zachary, and he didn't back down when the two of them refused to answer. "I'm not entirely sure what happened. Zachary didn't say, and I get why. It's not his story to tell," he said, adjusting his position so he could face Danni full on. He'd tried to get something out of him last night, anything to give him an answer but Zachary wouldn't budge. He knew enough that she'd already had a rough day before they went out, but nothing could explain why she crashed so hard in this way. Something happened at the restaurant that only she and Zachary knew, but he couldn't be sure what it was to cause...well, all of this. "We were all really worried. I just wanted to make sure you're okay, at least somewhat. And to take over for Zachary," he said, glancing over at the door for a moment; he knew Elliott was taking care of it, but it didn't stop the worry.
That was an understatement. Last night had been an absolute train wreck. "You wouldn't understand." Her voice was quiet, muffled by the thick blanket over her head. Danni sounded awful, but at least she had said a few words. It was something. She shifted a bit to get more comfortable, falling silent after that short statement. Honestly she wasn't sure that he would understand, and Zachary already thought she was crazy so surely Blake would too. It was embarrassing to even think about talking about what had happened, she didn't want to relive the nightmare. She was at least grateful that Zachary hadn't told anyone else about what went on, but that's how he was. He didn't tell a story that wasn't his to tell. Was Connor even her story to talk about? They had been best friends, or so she thought, but did that give her any permission at all? Now she was just as lost as she had been after learning about his passing, she didn't know what to do anymore.
"Try me. You won't know for sure if you don't," Blake said after a moment. His friends knew him to be the one to go to for advice, no matter the situation. He wasn't a judgmental person, especially when it came to his friends and their personal situations. Who was he to judge them for the way they reacted to things that happened in their lives when he himself hadn't been through it? "I want to be able to understand what's going on. You know I won't treat you different for it." He was glad to hear Danni respond to him, even if it was the bare minimum of a verbal response. It meant he was at least getting through to her in some capacity, likely more than Zachary had managed. Zachary's approach contrasted his, where he was gentle Zachary was not as forgiving. Blake knew he worried about Danni immensely, but tension was high; it made Zachary on edge, more so than usual. "I know you want to stay in here all day, but you should eat something. And drink the water I brought. It'll help your head."
Danni fell still and silent, thinking over it in her head. Blake was probably the most understanding out of the whole group, but that didn't mean he would understand that she was seeing the dead more or less. If that waiter wasn't Connor then it was just some doppelganger situation and she didn't want to accept that reality quite yet; she didn't know if she could. She sighed and looked out from under the edge of the gray blanket at her nightstand where the glass of water was sitting. Her throat was quite dry now that he brought attention to it, all she had the night before was a sip of lemonade and a few glasses of alcohol; she lost count after four. "I saw Connor. Our waiter..." She mumbled, reaching out for the glass and bringing it to her lips. The liquid was cool and refreshing against her parched throat, she needed it but she wasn't sure about food. It could come right back up with how she was feeling at the moment.
Blake frowned a little; Connor? "I'm not sure I follow. What about our waiter?" He'd seen how shaken up Danni was when he went in Zachary's place to go find her, talking to an equally confused waiter. It took a moment of thought before Blake continued, trying to piece things together despite not having much to go on. "Are you saying they looked similar? I can see that," he said, musing over the idea for a bit. Sure, he'd noticed the similarities in their features when he got up close, but his priority was making sure Danni was alright. Zachary had practically begged him to go check, to go get her when he got back to the table through various silent facial expressions; he had little care for the other half of the conversation. He watched her for a moment to make sure she would keep herself hydrated; that would make their already complicated day even more so. "Keep drinking. I'll get you crackers or something to help soak everything else up."
Danni nodded though it took some effort to do so. It had taken him a minute but he had gotten it, and she was grateful he hadn't gone to immediately trying to convince her she was wrong. He had seen it too. She felt relieved and like she wasn't crazy for once since everything happened. Zachary was sure she had been wrong but Blake saw it, at least he saw that the waited had a likeness to that of Connor. Even if it was possible that it wasn't really him. Something told her it was, but she wasn't going to repeat that aloud. No, she would keep it to herself. It's not like she would see him again either, she would do everything she could to avoid running into him. What would she do even if she did? It would be awkward for sure and she didn't want to deal with that. She looked at Blake as he mentioned something about crackers, that would probably help her stomach a bit. Blake would make sure she ate at least a couple of them so she wasn't about to argue either. The last thing she needed was someone shoving food into her face. "Okay."
"I'll be back. I'm sure Zachary has some stashed somewhere, it's a good chunk of his diet," Blake said, shaking his head as he got up off Danni's bed. That was something that had concerned him about Zachary since they were little; it only got worse as they got older. He knew Elliott made sure he was eating something, but he couldn't help but be worried about him still. He headed out to go to the kitchen, catching a brief moment of whatever conversation Zachary and Elliott were having when he passed Zachary's room. It still didn't sound good, but he wouldn't dare interfere; Zachary was very particular when he was like this, and he knew that his presence would throw him. Not that he wasn't trusted, he was, but often more than one person around when he was having any sort of breakdown or panic attack overwhelmed him even more. He frowned, taking a look around the kitchen and in the cabinets for a moment before he found the box he was looking for. Satisfied, he headed back to Danni's room and ignored what was going on in Zachary's for the time being. "You just have to eat a couple. Unless you want more and think you're okay to have it," he told her, taking his seat back next to her on her bed.
Danni didn't move an inch when he left the room other than to set the glass of water back on her nightstand. It was still half full but she didn't want to drink too much too fast or she would likely vomit it back up. Her stomach churned at the mention of food but she knew it would be good for her, she didn't really have much dinner once the whole Connor mix up situation happened and so she had taken in a lot of alcohol on an empty stomach. That wasn't good. She could still feel the burning of it in her throat, but her stomach felt the worst. Normally on a good day she would maybe have a glass of wine when she went out, she didn't usually go so hard like this! Now she was being so hard on herself which she knew she shouldnt be, she had more control than this but this was just how it went on these binges. Danni was lucky to have only done this twice in a lifetime, but that still didn't make it all okay. Zachary was upset with her though she didn't know why, she felt terrible, and now she could feel the depression leeching back in. She tried to ignore it, looking at Blake when he returned and taking the pack of crackers from his hand. This wasn't how she wanted to end up but there was no turning back now, she just had to make do with what she currently had.
"What happened between you and Zachary?" Blake finally asked, opting to take the situation off of Connor and their waiter. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious about all of it, but he would let Danni talk at her own pace. He figured he could help her more with the current situation in front of them, and that was whatever had gone down between them within the past day or two. He'd gotten minimal information from Zachary, but this had already been a tense week for the both of them. He knew that they had gotten into something earlier in the week, and now whatever happened this morning. "Kind of a rude awakening today, huh?" He reached over to nudge the pack of crackers that she took, gently encouraging her to eat a few of them. She knew all too well he wouldn't let her go without eating something.
"I don't know." They had their good moments and their bad moments, but she couldn't say that anything significant happened between yesterday and right now. Earlier this week yes but not more recent than that, not that she could recall. She hadn't talked to him when he woke her up, refused to even look at him but that had more to do with her pounding headache than her not wanting to see him. Was that it though? It had been hard to want to talk to him with the mood he had been in, maybe if he had been a little gentler like Blake but...that's how Zachary was. Not all the time, but he got into these moods sometimes and there wasn't much she could really do. Danni nibbled at one of the crackers as she really thought about it, her head hurt but this of course was an important matter. If she didn't want to have another fight then she needed to push aside her own feelings, as she did a lot, and figure this out. If only the room would stop spinning.
"I brought you pain meds too, next to the water," Blake said as he nodded towards her bedside table. "It'll help the headache. I know Zachary didn't help, but you know how he gets when he's like this. He's just worried about you." All three of them were and so were Elliott's friends. Elliott had told him how the other three had blown up his phone to ask if she was feeling alright; even if Danni wanted to think they weren't her friends, it was so clear they cared about her too. He knew Zachary's way this morning wasn't out of malice, he was just not as gentle as Blake himself was. He knew why, from the years of mistreatment; his concern and worry didn't always come out the right way, coming off harsh if someone wasn't used to him. "We all have been. But drinking yourself stupid is...new. I haven't seen you do that in nearly two years." Of course, he'd known and understood why, but he thought that they had gotten past it to have her realize it wasn't the healthiest coping mechanism.