Jesse passed an empty beer bottle from hand to hand across the bar counter. Lorelei could barely drink as her stomach was in a knot. Jesse had barely said a word since they left the hospital. Surprisingly to her, Jesse did not bring her to the hotel but to a bar. She thought he would never want to drink again after watching Christina; however, he had finished his third beer in an hour.

"Jesse," Lorelei said.

He chewed on his bottom lip as he watched the bottle in his hands.

"Jesse," she said again.

He did not look at her, so she pulled the bottle out of his hands. She put it on the counter beside her and put her hand on his shoulder. He sighed before glancing at Lorelei.

"We should use this time that she is in the hospital to purge everything from that apartment," he said. "She'll have a nice clean place to come back to if she doesn't die."

"I'm sure she'll be okay," Lorelei said. "She's in the hospital now. People are taking care of her."

"I told her that she had to stay sober," he said. "I did this to her."

Lorelei shook her head. Jesse pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. Was he pushing away tears?

"Christina has been drinking for years," she said. "You didn't do that to her."

"You don't understand," he said. "I told her she couldn't drink. I said if she drank, I wouldn't help her. I even made us leave when I saw her with a beer. Without alcohol, she could have died. I could have killed her."

"She is not sick because of you."

"Well, she is in the hospital now."

Lorelei put her arm around Jesse's shoulders. He leaned his head against her. It was odd to Lorelei to see Jesse so vulnerable. He rarely exposed this side of himself, especially in a public space. Lorelei leaned her cheek against the top of his head.

"There you are, Lovebirds!"

Jesse pulled away from Lorelei and looked over his shoulder. Jody was weaving her way through the tables of people toward them. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head. She had on a little black dress with a jean jacket over it. Sneakers were on her feet. Lorelei was always amazed at how effortlessly Jody could look gorgeous. Lorelei was not confident that she would be able to wear that outfit and not get strange looks.

Jody pulled the stool next to Jesse. Lorelei's chest tightened when she watched Jesse smile at Jody. She had not seen Jesse smile since Christina's seizure. She swallowed hard to try and push the panic away. She could not have a panic attack in this bar.

"I saw your texts as soon as my plane landed," Jody said. "I wanted to come right away."

Lorelei grabbed the neckline of her T-shirt. Was Jody the first person he talked to? When did he even text her? Lorelei could not recall seeing Jesse on his phone. She was also amazed that Jody had just come off an across-country plane ride and was looking that beautiful.

"How is your Mom doing?" Jody asked.

"She looked rough," Jesse said. "She was so angry at us."

"People with Delirium Tremens are often irritable and agitated," Lorelei said. "I'm sure she did not mean what she was saying."

Jesse let out a deep breath. Jody ordered herself a drink. Jesse got another beer. Was Lorelei going to see Jesse drunk? He had seen her inebriated on multiple occasions. She checked her phone to make sure she had enough battery. Jesse may not be reliable to get them home, and Lorelei did not know her way around the city.

"Can you visit her?" Jody asked.

"I don't think she wants any visitors," Jesse said. "Marlowe said she would call the ICU tomorrow and see how she is doing."

"The ICU?" Jody asked. "Wow, it is serious."

"Want to come with us tomorrow to her apartment? We'll get rid of everything while she is in the hospital."

"I'm there."

Lorelei sipped at her drink. Would Jody be around for the rest of their trip? She liked Jody, but she had been worried about their relationship ever since her panic attack. The thought of potentially losing Jesse devastated her.

"How long are you in Vancouver?" Jesse asked Jody.

"Until Mateo either comes back to Toronto or invites me to Paris," she said. "My parents want me to stay for a couple of weeks. I'm crashing with them."

The thought that Jody would spend a lot of time visiting family eased some of the tension in Lorelei's muscles. Jesse put his hand on Lorelei's knee. She loved the feeling of his rough hands through the tears in her jeans. He glanced at Lorelei with a hint of a smile.

"Lorelei and I are going to get married," he said.

His words were starting to slur together from all of the beers he had drank. Jody's eyes went wide. Lorelei furrowed her brows and shook her head.

"Since when?" Lorelei asked. "I feel like I should have been informed about this."

"If I proposed to you, would you say no?" he asked.

Lorelei bit on the inside of her cheeks as she hesitated. Of course, she would say yes. She wanted to spend her life with Jesse; however, telling him that in his current state may result in him wanting to elope.

"I haven't seen a ring yet," Lorelei said.

Jody tipped her head back and laughed.

"Make sure he gets you a big rock," Jody said. "Don't let him cheap out on this."

"I'm not going to get her something ugly," Jesse said.

"You better not," she said. "Bring me with you when you go shopping."

"Deal."

The heat rushed to Lorelei's cheeks. There had been so much talk about a proposal during this trip. Was he going to propose in Vancouver? Jody smiled when she saw Lorelei blush.

"I say we celebrate," Jody said.

"Are you forgetting my Mom is dying?" Jesse asked.

"She's not dying," she said. "She's sick. Christina is a fighter. She'll get through this."

Jesse let out a deep breath before taking a swig of beer. His fingers curled into Lorelei's knee. She placed her hand over his, and he turned his palm over so that their fingers laced together.

"The day is still early," Jody said. "I just got to Vancouver, and I say we go to my favourite place."

Jesse scoffed and shook his head.

"We are not going to The Black Crow," he said.

"What is it?" Lorelei asked.

"It's a club," Jody said.

"A strip club?" Lorelei asked.

Jody giggled and shook her head.

"No," she said. "Although, that would make the place even better."

"It's a club," Jesse said. "Aren't we too old for clubs?"

"Never."

Lorelei shifted her weight on the stool. She went to plenty of clubs in university but rarely since then. Going to The Alibi with Jesse and Jody was her last time in a club setting. She was glad to hear that this one would not have naked people in it.

"I did not bring anything to wear to a club," Lorelei said, trying to think of an excuse.

"Well, we could buy something," Jody said. "The mall is down the street."

Lorelei swallowed past the lump that was forming in her throat. She tightened her grip on Jesse's hand. Sweat was building on her palm. Jesse gave her hand a quick squeeze as he could feel her uneasiness.

"We'll go another night," Jesse said.

Jody stuck her bottom lip out in a pout.

"You're only here for a few more nights," she said. "You probably filled your time with Daniel and Ken. Invite them out."

"Their wedding is on Saturday," he said. "They're going to be busy."

Jody smiled and clasped her hands together.

"They are?" she asked. "That's so sweet. Okay, they are too busy for you so you can go to The Crow with me."

Jesse let out a deep breath. He rolled his head to the side to look at Lorelei.

"You want to go?" he asked.

"It's just a club?" Lorelei asked, and then she hesitated. "No naked people?"

"It is," Jody said. "And it is not like what you think it is. It's quite classy. It's not a place with electro remixes and people grinding on each other."

Lorelei nodded. "Okay."

Jody clapped her hands. Her smile grew even wider. Jesse shook his head before he drank the rest of his beer.

Did Lorelei make a mistake?