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It's a little past midnight and Gabriel should probably be sleeping or getting ready to because he has to get up early for work tomorrow, but he's very much awake watching the finale reunion of a questionable reality TV show. Once the ad break rolls in he gets up and finally clears the table, grimacing at how dry the stains in his plate are. He’s debating whether he should do the dishes or leave them soaking overnight and deal with that mess tomorrow when his phone starts ringing.
He looks around and finds it on the couch, stuck between the seats, and manages to fish it out after a few failed attempts answering the second he gets hold of it.
“Hello?”
“Pick me up?” Or something along those lines is said because the words are so slurred that it’s kind of hard to understand them.
“Excuse me?” Gabriel manages to say back. He wonders if he might’ve forgotten to add his ex to his blacklist because he cannot understand who else would be piss drunk at 12 and asking him to pick him up.
There’s a long silence and when Gabriel is starting to consider hanging up, his thoughts get interrupted.
"Can you please pick me up?" The voice repeats, and this time he recognizes it.
His little brother sounds miserable in a way that makes his skin crawl. After a few more minutes of conversation with more unnatural silences in between, he’s slightly less concerned but just as confused. Antonio sends him his location and promises to either stay there until he arrives or give him a call if he moves.
Gabriel gets there so quickly that Antonio suspects he might’ve sped, but he can’t bring himself to care. He gets into the passenger seat and puts his head between his knees. He stays like that for a little and then straightens his back, throwing his head back and sighing. He opens his eyes feeling a hand grip his arm, and finds Gabriel looking back at him sympathetically.
“Buckle up, okay? There are some plastic bags and a water bottle in the glove box in case you need them.”
The rest of the trip is silent which Antonio thanks endlessly because his head feels like it’s going to explode and he really can’t focus on having a conversation. He also fears he might throw up if he dares to open his mouth.
Gabriel opens the door of his apartment and lets him in. Antonio tries to remember where the bathroom is and suddenly realizes that he’s never been in his brother’s house before. Then he proceeds to vomit all over himself.
The next minutes are hazy and he cannot recall details, but he spends entirely more time than he should with his head on the toilet bowl, and when he’s done, he just rests his head on the seat. At some point, he closes his eyes, and even though it doesn’t help the dizziness, he feels too powerless to open them again. He's almost fallen asleep when his brother talks to him again.
“How about a shower? It’ll help you sober up”
“I don’t think I can” Antonio slurs with his eyes still closed, wiping the drool off his mouth with his sleeve after he’s done talking.
“I’m pretty sure you can. I’ve brought you a towel and some clothes. You’ll feel way better after you’ve showered.”
Antonio groans but gets up slowly leaning onto the toilet for some support.
“The apartment isn’t very big so I’ll be getting some stuff ready, alright? Scream if you crack your head open”
His little brother snorts and nods. While he showers, Gabriel tries to make his sofa nice and cozy to sleep on it for the night and tragically realizes that he only has a duvet. He spends the rest of Antonio’s shower doing the dishes and wishing a thick blanket will suffice because turning on the heating is expensive as hell.
When Antonio finally gets out of the bathroom his brother is waiting for him in the kitchen, sipping a cup of something hot. Before he has time to ask, Gabriel gestures him to sit down at the kitchen table.
“It’s camomile tea. You need to drink something either way and this will calm your stomach down.” He puts down his cup. “I’ll do toss your clothes in the washing machine first thing in the morning so you have them back before leaving, okay?”
“Hmm” Antonio seems too focused on warming his hands with the cup of tea to properly answer or even nod.
Gabriel leaves the room for a brief moment and comes back after turning on the heater, with a dirty ashtray in one hand and a lighter in another. He sets them down on the kitchen counter and starts rolling a cigarette. He’s about to light it on when he notices his brother’s eyes on him.
“Does the smoke bother you?”
“No, no, I don’t mind. Uh, most of my friends smoke too”
Antonio is not a very good liar. Gabriel considers pushing him a little bit until he confesses because his clothes reek of tobacco (amongst other things) in a way they only can if he smoked himself, but he lets it pass. He doesn’t know how to properly navigate those conversations, and it’s not like he’s setting a good example either, so he just silently lights the cigarette up and takes a few puffs.
“Too much drinking at the party, huh?”
Antonio laughs but doesn’t seem too eager to talk, and Gabriel seats down in front of him.
“Don’t be embarrassed, I’ve had my fair share of bad nights too. Once I went to a town fair, and I drank so much I spent most of the night laying on a bench in front of the church or vomiting next to it. That morning, while I was waiting for the first bus that could take me home, I had the brilliant idea of attending the morning mass.”
Antonio laughs and this time it sounds a lot more honest, so Gabriel joins him.
“That being said, you should take care and not go overboard, alright? It ruins the fun part about alcohol, and your liver.”
“I knooow!” Antonio rolls his eyes but keeps smiling. Then he yawns.
“Oh! I’m sorry I’m boring you so much with my old man talk.” Gabriel starts teasing, making his brother laugh again. “I’ll show you your room”
“Oh no, I’m sleeping on the couch. Your back cannot deal with the damage of sleeping on the sofa, old man”
Gabriel gasps dramatically and they spend the next minutes bickering jokingly about who gets to sleep on the bed until Antonio gives up. He’s already lying in bed when something comes over him, and as Gabriel is closing the door, he thanks him, and his voice breaks. His brother comes in again and the second they make eye contact he feels his eyes getting ridiculously watery.
“It’s alright, I’m here for you always, okay?”
Then the tears start falling and he doesn’t remember when was the last time he’d cried this much, but he’s hugging his brother and staining his shirt with tears and snot and crying. Gabriel strokes his head and rubs his back patiently until he starts to calm down.
“Do you want to talk right now?” Antonio shakes his head vigorously “Okay.” Gabriel gives him that reassuring smile of his again and walks to the doorframe. “Goodnight”
He leaves the door ajar, just in case. But Antonio doesn’t come out, and when he hears him crying again, Gabriel doesn’t move either.