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It was only yesterday that he and the gang were trying to settle a dispute over a lottery ticket. He's still not convinced on the outcome.
He wasn't actually too bothered about the ticket, it wasn't the biggest thing to happen that day. It was his best friend, roommate and business partner Mac.
"I'm gay"
Those words kept ringing through dennis' ears, almost deafening.
Why now? What's changed?
He wasn't homophobic at least he didn't think he was. He and the gang have known Mac was gay for decades, they didn't care one bit but the boy has just always been oblivious to it or in denial for that matter. It was annoying.
2:30am. Dennis is tossing around in bed, unable to get comfortable. It was a usual occurrence for him but tonight was even worse. The bleak street lights shone through the blinds, hitting the wall like lasers. Within that dark room, it was at least something to focus on. Hearing the faint sound of footsteps, he knew Mac was awake, probably going through his stuff again but he didn't care, he couldn't face him right now. He couldn't, and he didn't know why.
It wasn't long until the reflection of the street lights turned into daylight. Dennis turned over to look at his phone with a reluctant groan. 5:45am. He rolled his eyes, he had to be at the bar at 8am. They had a delivery coming in and Dennis drew the short straw.
He sighed exhaustly, feeling as if his bladder was going to burst. He'd drunk quite a bit at the bar last night. He swung his legs out of bed and rubbed the dark faded circles under his eyes. He glanced down towards the bottom of his bedroom door, the light was on. He's still awake, he thought.
"Shit."
He walked slowly towards the door, hesitantly grabbing the door knob. He let out a sigh, whispering to himself "Get it together, you bitch." before opening it. He stuck his head around the door frame until his eyes met Mac. He was asleep.
He slowly made his way past the couch before stopping just In front of the bathroom, looking back over his shoulder. Mac was screwed up into a ball on the sofa, shivering so much it almost made Dennis' hairs stand on end. He was cold.
Dennis wandered over to him. He dragged the blanket off of the back of the couch, he often covered over the puddle of His best friend that he found on the sofa at stupid hours of the morning. He may be annoying but he's no use to Dennis if he's sick.
While tucking in a small part of the blanket under Mac's chin, his eyes scanned over his face; Distressed hair, Crimson cheeks and puffy eyes. Dennis frowned slightly. Has he been crying? He thought to himself.
He thought back to all the other times Mac had been emotional, prodding Dennis awake at stupid hours just to sit in silence or annoy him with his foolish feelings. But he could help but wonder
'Why didn't he get me?'
He shook the thought away, it didn't really matter anyway, he wouldn't have been much help tonight.
Not in his state of mind.
Dennis decided not to shower as it would most likely wake Mac up and he wanted to make it out of the apartment unnoticed. Instead he cleaned himself up in the sink and quickly dressed. He made coffee and sat down at the kitchen table, his phone lit up.
Dipshit Dee:
"Hey boner, don't forget about the delivery this morning."
He rolled his eyes at the message before replying.
"Yeah, fuck off Dee."
Dennis noticed it was now 7:25am and took one last sip of his coffee before grabbing his jacket. "Dennis, what time is it?" He stopped in his tracks when he heard Mac's voice, closing his eyes before turning to face him.
"Hey, it's nearly 7:30, why don't you get in bed?" Mac frowned in a sleepy confused state. "Where are you going?" Dennis internally rolled his eyes this time. "There's a delivery at the bar remember? I gotta get going." With that, he left.
It wasn't long until he reached the bar. He checked his watch, 7:55am. He looked up at the ancient 'PADDY'S' sign, if he was being forced to be at the bar this early then he was going to drink. He swanned into the bar leaning over and grabbing himself a cold one before sitting promptly onto the deflated bar stool. He looked around the bar, it was silent. No schemes, no arguing and he especially couldn't hear Dee's aggravating voice. It was nice. His thoughts were ripped away from him by the sound of a patchy and irregular knock on the bar door. Dennis rolled his eyes until he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and placed his beer on the bar.
"Delivery for Paddy's? Have I got the right place?"
A short man stood before him and Dennis took a moment to look him up and down before gesturing towards the sign above him.
"Did you miss third grade?" He didn't care how passive aggressive that sounded.
The small man looked up to where Dennis had gestured, wide eyed. "I'm sorry sir, I have two more cases In the truck." He settled the sack barrow down and turned on his heels to retrieve the others.
Dennis couldn't help but roll his eyes again. He didn't even get a ride out of the tiny man.
He began lifting one of the cases and placing it inside, before coming back for the second. By the time he made his way back outside, the delivery man have returned with the other two cases. Dennis clenched his jaw before repeating the same action he had just completed. After signing for them, the man had returned to his truck and Dennis returned to his beer.
10:57am. Dennis was 4 beers down by this point, slouched into one of the sticky booths. He'd almost forgotten that he hadn't slept. The reality of it weighing down on him with every second.
The door swung open as Dee came waltzing in.
"What's up dick? Drinking already?" She looked smug like she always did, like she was better than him.
"Dee, for once in your life will you just shut the fuck up?" He was already agitated and she knew it.
"Who pissed in your coffee this morning?" She chuckled lightly. Dennis looked up at her with malice. "I'm not in the mood for this bullshit alright." He took another swing of his beer before slamming it on the table. "Just please. Please shut the fuck up." Dee stifled a laugh while holding her hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright. Calm down."
Dennis turned to her to retaliate but was brought to a halt by Frank, Charlie and Mac turning up.
Oh shit. Mac. He thought to himself as he began fiddling with the label on his beer.
He had to speak to him. He couldn't avoid it forever.
Mac flumped down in the seat in front of Dennis, giving him a small smile. The gang were already passionately discussing something but it was way too early to even give it any attention. Dennis fiddled with his hands underneath the table, unsure what to say to Mac.
Smile. Just smile you idiot. With that, he did.
Mac began to speak with the softest morning voice possible. “How was the delivery this morning bro? You left in kinda a hurry.” Dennis’ hands froze over like ice, he wasn’t expecting a conversation right now. “I uh.. yeah it was fine. Just wanted to beat the morning traffic, you know how it is.” Good save.
Mac nodded in agreement. “Yeah man I forgot about that.. everything okay though? You seem a little off.”
Dennis shot him a glare. He couldn’t believe he had the audacity to ask him that. He should know better than to hack into his so called ‘feelings’. He immediately took a stand from the adhesive booth he was once slumped in. Through gritted teeth, he delivered a whisper. “I’m fine.”
He needed to escape. He needed to escape Mac’s proximity. Bathroom. He thought in a frenzy. Perfect.
As quickly as he could take another breath, he was gone.
“Damn it Mac, what did you do to piss him off this time?”