There was something about the weekend that perpetually tempted both Meabh and Darragh to go out for a few pints. Specifically in an old man pub with tiny stools, stick wooden floors, older bartenders and pub related memorabilia on the walls. Majority was Guinness memorabilia. They never went out-out together as they preferred sitting in an old man pub, catching up, indulging in pints of Guinness and if they were hungry, they each bought a packet of roasted peanuts and cheese and onion crisps. 

Darragh collected Meabh from the Blackrock stop this time. It was her first time taking the dart all on her own and there were no major hiccups. Although she did accidentally get off at Booterstown instead of Blackrock. She couldn’t see a sign for which stop she was at and the two stops looked very similar. On top of that, the doors closed fast on those darts so she didn’t exactly have time to google where she was. In getting off the dart and realising it was the wrong stop, she did panic briefly but found out there was another coming in two minutes. The transport in Dublin was astounding to her and as much as Darragh holds back on giving it full credit, compared to 424 it was otherworldly. 

Darragh and Meabh were cuddling on the bed deciding what to do with their evening. 

‘Mm, pints?’ Darragh suggested.

‘Yes, always up for a pint.’

‘I know where we could go too. The other day I had pints with some friends from my masters in the village. Good Guinness!’

‘Good Guinnee?’ Meabh asked inquisitively.

‘Good Guinnee!’ 

‘Right, let’s go so.’

They got to the pub and there wasn’t a single person under the age of 20. Ideal! Meabh just turned 20 a few months ago and as young as she was, she was quite mature for her age. Majority of the girls her age would be downing a bottle of vodka right now and kissing strangers. Meabh was always adamant on maintaining her independence whether that was making her own money, paying for her bus tickets to Dublin, her college books and she knew she got it from her Mom. She hated the thought of asking her parents for money, not particularly her Dad cause he makes nothing compared to her. Nora paid for all their tuition fees for three kids and Pat, nothing. This along with other reasons, Meabh found it difficult to bond with her Dad.

‘How is it?’ Darragh asked as Meabh took the first sip of a fresh pint.

‘Lovely.’ she said as her eyes were closed and with a foam moustache on her top lip. 

Meabh and Darragh were Guinness connoisseurs. Not officially, there’s no certificate or medal of honour for such a thing. They sat opposite each other at the dark wooden table and talked about the revealing elements of a good Guinness. Firstly, it was the foam on top. Before they took a sip of the pint, they tilted it very slightly to where the foam line ends and it didn’t spill. The foam loomed over the pint glass but no spillage. Secondly, it was the slow, smooth swirl of the Guinness. It should not swirl like a glass of water, fast paced, it should swirl almost like soup. Thirdly, it was the ladder or pathway of foam that travelled down the glass and stuck to the sides. And finally, it tasted fucking good!

They had about four or five pints each and ended the night with the nuts and the crisps. Darragh liked opening his packing of crips up like a plate and pouring the packet of roasted nuts on top to mix them together. Meabh preferred picking up one or two crisps with one nut and eating them together. They walked or perhaps stumbled their way back to Darragh’s and as soon as the doors shut, they started taking each other’s clothes off. Meabh proceeded to kiss Darragh’s neck and she started drifting her mouth down his stomach. She gave Darragh head before but never got the reaction she was expecting from him. She always felt a little embarrassed doing it because she didn’t quite know what she was doing down there but she wanted to keep going so she could learn what he liked or didn’t like. 

‘Does that feel good?’

‘Yeah.’

Meabh continued when out of nowhere, all the Guinness shot right out of her stomach to her mouth. There was so much her cheeks were filled to the brim like chipmunk cheeks. She had both her hands covering her mouth and no vomit managed to escape onto Darragh and his. She was practically frozen still on top of him naked with her eyes bulging in shock and focused on not letting any vomit out.

‘Bathroom?’ Darragh said as he pointed to the front door. 

Meabh got off him and ran to the bathroom to vomit out those four or five pints. She felt so embarrassed. Darragh followed to the bathroom and rubbed her back.

‘Are you okay?’ 

‘I am now,’ Meabh said as she flushed the toilet, ‘just really fucking embarrassed that just happened.’

‘Don’t be,’ Darragh said as he hugged her, ‘at least it didn’t go on me.’

‘Yeah, very true.’

Meabh and Darragh went back to bed to sleep this time.

‘Am I good at giving head?’ Meabh asked as they cuddled.

‘Um,’ Darragh said hesitatingly, ‘you’re okay.’

Meabh curled her head into the pillow and cried.

‘No, no, no. What’s wrong?’

‘I’m not good.’

‘I didn’t say that,’ Darragh said as he hugged her tightly, ‘listen, I know I’m not the best at head too but that’s why I always ask for your input so I can get better. Maybe look up on porn how to do it.’

‘What? Porn? Why would-’

‘Pornhub does more than just sex videos. They do tutorials as well and sure I know one of my friend’s girlfriends that said she had to google the same stuff because it’s difficult. Just a thought now.’

‘Okay. I’ll look into it.’

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My name is Deirdre McGee and I am 23 years old. I am in my final year of English and Creative Writing at the University of Galway, Ireland. I currently reside in Galway as well.