There was nothing but darkness. An all-consuming, deep, black void. Natalie was inside of it, and it was inside of Natalie. They were one and the same.
Suddenly, an awareness manifested itself. An awareness of flesh and bone, pain and aches. Eyelids. Natalie's eyelids were crusted shut. That's why everything was black! She remembered, that she had a body. It ached, covered by something soft. Pain. A new pain, concentrated around her center of awareness. It grew. It was familiar. Natalie knew that she had to escape it.
She drifted off to sleep, haunted by chaotic dreams.
------
The darkness was more of a dull grey this time. Natalie remembered, that it was because here eyes were closed. With much effort, she willed herself to pry them open. Flash. The dim morning light of the room burned her eyes, and she quickly shut them again. She tried to analyze the brief image of the room that she had managed to see. It was completely unfamiliar to her.
There was that pain again. A dull ache throughout her body, and a pounding one in her head. A vile taste coated the inside of her dry mouth. Her tongue felt like a sponge that had been left out in the sun. The blanket covering her was soft and warm, as was the pillow under her head... Natalie quickly decided against being awake. She drifted off once more.
------
"Hey."
The voice was familiar. A woman's voice. "H... Hey..." Natalie responded with a raspy voice. She kept her eyes closed. She wasn't ready yet.
"How are you feeling?"
"Is that you, Lynn?" Natalie said, recognizing the voice. "I feel like I want to die."
Lynn laughed. "I'll bet you do," she said.
"I guess this is your place, right?"
"Yep," Lynn said. She sounded remarkably fresh. "You're on the couch in my living room. I managed to get you to sleep there, after a long struggle."
"Oh god," Natalie said. "Please don't tell me that I was a violent drunk last night."
"No, no, nothing like that," Lynn said, laughing again. "It's all fine, don't worry about it."
That tiny feeling of relief was the encouragement that Natalie needed to open her eyes. A plain white sheet covered her body, like ones used on corpses in the morgue. How appropriate, Natalie thought. The couch she lay on was not very wide. The pillow under her head was propped up against one armrest, making her neck feel stiff. The other armrest was positioned under her ankles, cutting off the blood flow to her bare feet with their red painted toenails, which were sticking out from beneath the sheet. Natalie suddenly felt a crawling pain in her numb feet, and curled her legs completely beneath the sheet as she turned over on her right side.
"Shit," Natalie said. "I fell asleep with my bra on." Her breasts were sore, and the frame of the bra was digging into the flesh below them. She started fumbling with one hand on her back, trying desperately to get it off. Besides the bra, she appeared to be completely naked. There was a pile of clothes on the rug next to the couch, underneath the coffee table. Probably hers. She decided to add her bra to it.
"Yikes," Lynn said. "That sounds painful. I don't really have any tits, so I can't say that's ever happened to me."
Natalie looked at her friend, who was standing in the doorway to the modestly furnished living room. She was almost Natalie's mirror image, at least when it came to her sweet face with its big, dark brown eyes. Her dark hair was much shorter than Natalie's, cut in an almost boyish way as it framed her face. Lynn was barely an inch shorter than Natalie, standing at about 5'6". Where Natalie was curvy, with thick thighs and a full pair of breasts, Lynn was thin and lanky.
For the first time, Natalie noticed that, despite her thinness, Lynn was quite muscular. Ripped, even. Her legs were long, clad in black socks with a white stripe at the top that went up to just above her knees. She wore a very plain pair of grey panties, and a white tank-top through which a pair of hard, puffy nipples were clearly visible against her otherwise flat chest. Her underarms were long and slim, but her forearms had clearly visible muscles.
Flashes of last night went through Natalie's aching head. She had made a pass at her friend, probably more than once. Shit. She liked dark haired, skinny men. Lynn was a dark haired, skinny woman, and the sight of her standing there, with a concerned face, her tight, skinny body barely concealed... It tickled Natalie in a familiar way. Her body started squirming, as excited butterflies filled her belly, and a warmth enveloped her nether regions. She decided to close her eyes.
"Sleep as long as you like," Lynn said. "I'll be... around."
The sound of soft footsteps filled Natalie's ears, as she drifted off again. The pain gave no indication that it was going to decrease. No need to be awake for it.
------
A clinking sound from behind woke Natalie up. She opened her eyes, and remembered where she was. She was still lying on her side, staring at the grey panties covering Lynn's crotch. A couple of black pubic hairs were visible just above the hem, a stark contrast against the white skin of her flat stomach. The sight excited Natalie. Had she drunk so much she had turned herself gay, or was her girl friend from work simply sexy in all the ways she usually preferred?
"I made a drink for you," Lynn said. "It's a big glass of water, with a tablet of healthy stuff dissolved into it. You know, electrolytes, magnesium, that kinda stuff. I suggest you drink it at your earliest convenience."
Natalie rolled over on her back, and folded her legs to avoid putting her sore feet on the armrest one more time. "You want me out of here, huh? Alright, just give me a few minutes."
"What? Oh, no, no! Absolutely not! I mean..." Lynn started to squirm. "You've had a rough day. Week even, I guess. You're welcome to rest here as long as you want. I just... Want you to feel better, you know? So I made you a refresher drink."
"Are you sure?" Natalie said. She started to sit up, and her aching joints creaked. Getting black out drunk in your 30s came with a painful price. The room spun a little, and Natalie tried to keep down a sudden wave of nausea as she sat upright. She held the white sheet up against her chest with her left hand. Not that she thought Lynn cared about seeing her naked. She just wanted some... sense of modesty, to weigh up for the intense shame that came with any serious hangover.
"Definitely. I was planning on a lazy Saturday at home, anyway. Uh, those are better when you have company."
On an end table to Natalie's right was a big glass of water with something cloudy mixed into it. She took a sip. The taste was not as bad as she had feared, but still pretty awful. Like licking a salty rock. "Blech," she said. "Sorry. I should probably drink it all, huh. Anyway, thanks for letting me crash here. I completely blacked out last night. Sorry if I was a bitch."
Lynn sat down next to Natalie on the couch to her left. From there, she would be able to see Natalie's naked ass and waist from the side, as she only bothered to cover up her front with the sheet. Not that Lynn would mind, or even care, she thought, trying to gulp down as much as possible of the allegedly rejuvenating brew, in order to get it over with.
"Oh, I've seen worse," Lynn said. "You weren't that bad. I was mostly just worried about you, the way you were slurring your words and stumbling around. So, we got a cab to my place, and eventually... You fell asleep right here."
"Uh-huh," Natalie said. "Is that all?"
"What do you mean?" Lynn asked.
Natalie hesitated. "I... Don't remember a whole lot. But I think I was hitting on you. Sorry."
Lynn laughed. "Yeah, you were, you slut. At the bar, in the cab, and a few times here in my flat before you finally fell asleep. I even thought you might have been serious, for a while."