I stood up and started clearing empty bottles and coffee cups while Sarah wandered off to do what she had to. The boys wandered into the lounge room, presumably to sort out sleeping arrangements. I think the evening’s passion had been pretty well smothered for all, unfortunately. That was such a shame considering the fire of passion that had been fanned earlier for all of us.

Neil came back in to the kitchen where I was standing, contemplating the day’s events. He looked really tired but in some ways he looked lighter. A weight had clearly been lifted for him.

“I want to thank you for being so cool about this Danny. I was genuinely concerned about how you were going to take this. I also want to say thank you for being there for Sarah tonight too. She’s right, we are great friends and I don’t want to see her hurt. Having you there has been good for her.”

“Well it certainly hasn’t been the day I envisioned when I woke up this morning. I have discovered though that Sarah and I have a lot more in common than I thought and you will always be my brother, Neil. I don’t care about the other stuff. I’m here for both of you. I do have a question for you though.”

Neil looked nervous and I realised that he was still raw and was going to take some time to lose the defenses he’d spent a lifetime building.

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Where am I sleeping tonight? I’m too drunk to drive and I was going to stay in the spare room but Sarah has moved in there.”

“Oh right. Shit. Sorry about that. Umm. Look I’m fairly certain you don’t want to bunk in with Max and I.”

“Now there’s the understatement of the year.”

“Ha! I’m pretty sure Sarah won’t mind if you jump in with her. If she does I guess you’ll have to hit the carpet.”

I felt more nervous climbing those stairs to potentially spend the night with Sarah than I did masturbating in public with her. Before I could think too much about what that meant I bit the bullet and walked in to the room. Sarah had changed into a long t-shirt that I assumed she wore as a night gown and was busy making the bed.

“Umm. Is it still okay if I stay here the night? I can’t drive home and all the other beds are taken.”

Sarah looked at me, almost embarrassed. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t even think.

Of course you can.”

Sarah blushed and there were a few moments of awkwardness as we both prepared for bed. Considering all we had seen and done over the course of the day it seemed absurd for us to be so weird about spending a night in the same bed but to be honest the whole dynamic of our relationships had all changed so drastically that it was hard not to feel a little awkward about it all.

It was with a ridiculous amount of courtesy and politeness that we both climbed into the bed, her in her t-shirt and me in my underwear. There was a clear demarcation line down the middle of the bed as we both lay stiff; in silence as we each contemplated the day’s events.

Somehow between the alcohol, the mental exhaustion and the continuous sexual tension all day; it surprisingly wasn’t long before sleep crept up on us both.

I don’t know how much later it was but I’m assuming it was a couple of hours before my bladder betrayed me and I simply had to go to the toilet. I very carefully got out of bed and crept out, trying very hard not to wake Sarah. The house was very quiet now compared to earlier although there was a bit of drunken snoring coming from the other room.

My eyes had adjusted quite well to the dark and as I walked back into the bedroom I noticed there was light coming through the window from the neighbours’ security light. It was just a thin strip of sodium light that fell across the floor, up one side of the bed and across Sarah.

She was lying on her back with one arm raised above her head and the blankets had been pulled down to her waist. Clearly she had gotten warm. I stood there looking at her as though I was seeing her for the first time in a whole new way. I knew she was a strong and independent woman who needed no protection but I had an overwhelming desire to protect her all the same. I had never had this sensation before and to be honest it was a little overwhelming. It was exciting and more than just a little frightening.

I carefully climbed into bed again and fell into a very peaceful sleep.