Ernie was typically one who had difficulties minding his own business with friends but often knew better than to stick his nose into business of strangers outside of work. But lately he felt somewhat undone--something he didn't let his friends in on. Not now while their worlds were falling apart, he wasn't going to let them know the extent of his guilt.
He felt that the need to escape, and felt completely selfish for thinking and acting in such a way. He knew that he should be visiting Dean right now, or should've done so yesterday. But he knew that he needed to be numb for a short while, and he did feel himself move towards that after a gin and tonic or two. It had been a stressful few days so he legitimized that he needed deserved it. He wasn't drunk, per se, but at least somewhat more distant and less inhibited than his usual stick-in-the-mud self.
"At that rate, that's not going to last very long," he pointed out the obvious to the bar patron sitting next to him. She looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place her at all. "And that's not the way to solve problems," he added, perhaps looking the part of a hypocrite right then with his drink at hand.