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It wasn’t a big deal. Just a houseparty. The friends and families of the bandmembers had organised it in a rush to celebrate a new record coming up. It was supposed to be a surprise party but everyone knew they were organising it as they were asking about which house to use for the party. In the end, it was at the house of one of Charlie’s friends.
He knew the guy through Randi but he was a trusted friend and his house was large enough for all of them. Johnny was impressed by the amount of food, snacks and drinks. What’s the difference between food and snacks? Well… Whichever you eat the most of, he guessed. There were alcoholic drinks, non-alcoholic drinks. The alcoholic beverages seemed to be Halloween-themed, appearing dark red with an ominous black swirl inside.
Johnny had asked Randi about the black inside and she’d waved it off as black berries and possibly poison. Johnny knew the latter was meant as a Halloween joke. There were people at the party Johnny didn’t even know so he assumed they must’ve been friends with one of the other guys. Though he wondered how many strangers were able to infiltrate the house by making him think that. Maybe those people didn’t even know them. Maybe they just saw a party and wanted to join in.
The party didn’t even start late. It was still somewhat light outside at 6pm, though the darkness was lurking as a hint that winter was just around the corner. The music wasn’t prominently present but it was enough to provide some background noise to the talking. It felt a bit like a family Christmas party or a reception-like thing. Except for the people downing Halloween cocktails like it was a sport.
Johnny was ashamed to say Funny Man was a part of that sport right now. Who could blame him? He was working through a nasty break-up. Then again, he’d been working through that same nasty break-up for a year already. Sometimes Johnny wondered if Funny would ever get over her.
He spotted Danny by the bar, about to order his first drink. He’d only just arrived and appeared somewhat awkward. Danny was the new guy. He had only agreed to join their band a while ago and didn’t know many people at the party. He hadn’t made friends with the guys’ partners or their friends and family members. He hadn’t been a part of their group so Johnny admired him for showing up anyway and approached him.
“Hey.”
Danny spun around, offering a small smile. “What’s up?”
Danny was a bit shy, still unsure in his skin and trying to find his place in the group. He kept his head low. Johnny wasn’t sure what he thought of him like this but he felt a sense of responsibility over him at this point. “Wasn’t sure if you were coming.”
“I helped organise it”, Danny mused.
Johnny did not expect that and stared down at his drink. Danny finally received his Halloween cocktail and slowly began to sip it. “Charlie said it would be good to get to know some of them.”
“And?”
“I got to know some”, Danny shrugged. “The Halloween cocktail was my idea.”
“It’s delicious”, Johnny lied. He didn’t like cocktails very much so upon receiving his, he’d given it to Charlie and ran off. Danny gave him a nod and didn’t seem too sure if it were a compliment or not. With that Johnny excused himself away from Danny and came across Charlie. “Hey man.”
“Hey, you seem to enjoy the drinks”, Johnny joked, pointing at Charlie’s empty cup. He only ever seemed to walk around with the empty cup. Charlie shrugged. “I’m crashing at J-Dog’s so I don’t have to drive home. I might as well drown my problems while I’m at it. Why aren’t you drinking?”
“Gotta drive.”
“J-Dog’s got another couch.”
“No thanks”, Johnny laughed and shrugged it off.
It had been dark for a while when they ran out of Halloween cocktail. The organising party had been slightly annoyed because they thought they had plenty of it but then again, they didn’t take into account that some of them were professional alcoholics at this point; and he tried his hardest to keep Funny Man off his mind when thinking of it.
He’d seen Danny walk around but still with the same drink as before. Johnny knew because Funny had complained about ‘the new guy drinking so slowly while Funny only wanted him to get the fuck drunk and loosen up already’. Johnny shook his head at the thought.
Which is why he was surprised to hear Charlie tell him Danny was so drunk he couldn’t stand on his feet anymore. Johnny searched the mass for the man and eventually found him stumbling over to the couch. It wasn’t possible for him to be this drunk if Funny had been telling the truth.
Though maybe Funny had no clue what he’d been talking about. Dude was wasted after all.
“Danny?”
“Johnny.”
“Are you drunk?”
“No.”
It’s typical for a drunk man to deny it but the fear beneath Danny’s voice set off alarms in Johnny’s head. He steadied Danny to help him to the couch and lay him down. “What happened?”
Johnny had to ask again four times and got a bad mix of words every time but finally he understood what Danny had said; “There’s something in my drink”.
Well yeah, vodka amongst other liquors. It was truly a cocktail of death with cranberry syrup, Johnny thought. But that was not what Danny meant and the fear made so much sense. Someone had tried to drug him.
Johnny looked around, knowing that whoever did this, had to be near to plan the attack. Or maybe someone thought it would be funny to do so. Johnny knew he couldn’t leave Danny’s side now. He sat down on the couch and rested Danny’s head in his lap. The man went limp pretty soon after. Someone might mistake him for a passed-out drunk but Johnny knew better. He delicately stroked down Danny’s side in a comforting manner, not sure how much of it got through him but there were a million ideas going through his head of what to do next.
All of them were ways to get Danny home safely.
Charlie appeared in front of Johnny. “He’s really out, huh?”
“Yeah, but not drunk.”
Charlie cocked his head in a question and Johnny looked down at the peaceful sleeping face in his lap. “Someone drugged him, he said. He didn’t drink that much.”
Charlie was quiet for a second before seemingly sobering up “Jesus, dude. Now what?”
“I’d like to get him home. Do you know if he came by car?”
“He did.”
“Do you know his address?”
Charlie shook his head, stumbling when the alcohol attacked his brain for it. He looked over his shoulder. “J-Dog knows, I think. They go way back.”
“Can you ask him?”
“Sure”, Charlie said before walking off. Charlie had been looking to get drunk as Hell but turned serious as soon as he had to.
Johnny chewed the inside of his lip while caressing through Danny’s hair now. He wondered how he got himself into this position but shook it off when Charlie returned. He handed Johnny a piece of paper. “This is the address. Now what?”
“I’m driving him home.”
“Do you need help?”
Johnny considered it. He looked down at Danny and squinted his eyes. “Nah, I can carry him just fine by myself.”
“Are you gonna carry him?”
“Yeah.”
Charlie shrugged. “Take care, man. Be safe out on the road. Are you coming back after?”
“Probably, yeah”, Johnny said. He slid from underneath Danny’s head and looked between him and the door before targeting Charlie again. “I have to go get my keys. Can you watch over him?”
“Of course.”
Johnny fetched his car keys and got his jacket. He returned to the couch to find Charlie looking like a mean security guard.
“How will you carry him?”
“Bridal style?” Johnny wondered. He hooked one arm under Danny’s knees and another under his armpit. He almost fell over trying to lift him but eventually steadied his feet and lifted him up. He wasn’t as heavy as Johnny had expected. He nodded to Charlie and walked his way through the crowd and out of the house. He carefully lay Danny down in the backseat of his car.
For a second, he realised it may have seemed like he were the one drugging Danny and taking him away from everyone for- no. No. No, not going there. Johnny was helping out the man.
He got in the driver’s seat and set the coordinates for Danny’s apartment before driving off. It wasn’t really that far from the party site but it would’ve been a damn exhausting walk, carrying him all the way there.
By the time Johnny parked his car, he realised he’d need Danny’s keys to get him inside. He delicately searched Danny’s pockets but couldn’t find them. He groaned and let his head fall back.
Now what?, he thought.
He sifted through the options and finally settled for the easiest one. He got back on the road and drove a couple of blocks further until he reached his own home. This is definitely taking advantage of the situation, a voice in his head nagged but Johnny silenced it. He got out of the car and opened the backseat, giving Danny’s form a look. He lied peacefully and it was near impossible for Johnny to carry him bridal style again. Danny’s slowly stirred. Johnny leaned his head inside the car and supported himself against the car’s floor. “Hey Danny. Can you walk?”
He earned an exhausted moan. Johnny sighed. “Can you hold onto me?”
The response seemed somewhat affirmative so Johnny swung Danny’s arms around his neck and supported him by his lower back to drag him out. Danny wrapped his legs around Johnny’s waist, arms firmly around his neck and rested his chin onto Johnny’s shoulder. He muttered something inaudible but Johnny decided to be quick. You never know when his moment of clarity would be over and he’d just let go.
He found his keys in the pocket of his jacket and walked inside his familiar house. His dog was on the couch so he carried Danny upstairs, still smothering the voice in his head nagging about how weird this was. He barely knew the guy! Shut the fuck up.
Johnny tried to lay Danny down on the bed as gently as he could and struggled to get the blanket from beneath him to cover the poor man with it. He gave him a final stroke to his cheek. He had appeared to wake up earlier but it was gone now.
“Call me if you need anything”, Johnny whispered. He closed the curtains and left the room, closing the door behind him.
He sent Charlie a quick text he wasn’t coming back to the party.
***
Danny’s memory felt clogged. He knew he’d only had one drink in hand all evening. He’d spoken to Johnny – which had been fairly awkward, but that’s just how they were really. Johnny was a bit of an authority figure at times and Danny never knew whether to crack a joke with him or apologise for breathing the same air as him.
Usually it would go both ways in a horrible mismatch and Danny would feel his cheeks heat at the idea of messing up like that again.
So he’d been more than relieved to see Johnny walk off. He remembered not feeling well. The room was too hot, his skin was too tight and he was sweating profusely. He could see the room spin and tried to figure out when to jump forward as the couch spun into his vision. Johnny had been there and then his mind went dark.
Nothing.
Nothing but a featherlight touch on his skin. He felt it on his cheek and temples. Not long. Just a few caresses going into his hair. He’d felt his hoodie shift around his abdomen as if someone were stroking his side. It felt comforting but vague. As if it were happening in another world and he couldn’t do much about it. He remembered hearing muddied voices and then the support beneath him vanished. Like he hung in the air.
He remembered the stench of gasoline or a rumbling noise. Maybe even a woosh of the wind. Danny wasn’t sure but he’d been fighting his damn hardest to regain consciousness.
Though his body wouldn’t quite listen.
He found himself jumping awake, startled and grabbing the duvet for protection. He didn’t know where he was or how he got there but he remembered thinking he’d been drugged so it was a relief to find himself clothed. Though the sense of panic kept his brain spinning. He looked around the room for hints but couldn’t figure out where he was. He’d never been there before. He checked the time; 4:23am.
He pushed the duvet off him, suddenly feeling too hot and got on his feet. His legs were wobbly and he didn’t quite trust himself but he made his way to the door. He was on the first floor, it seemed. He took the stairs down and heard something shift.
Someone was downstairs.
Danny cautiously stepped towards – what he assumed was – the living room and peeked inside. He instantly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Johnny on the couch. He was just watching some tv with his dog close. Danny must’ve made a sound cause Johnny looked up. “Oh hey. How are you feeling?”
“Like something died in my throat”, Danny rasped. Johnny got up right away, sticking out his hands like he was about to help an elderly woman cross the road but he only supported Danny to the kitchen. Danny felt warm inside to receive so much care from him. “What happened?”
“Someone drugged you, we thought, remember?”
“Yeah. But after that?”
“You passed out and I took you home.”
“Home?”
“My home.”
“Oh.”
“Couldn’t find your keys to get into your apartment, sorry”, Johnny apologised nervously. He probably knew it seemed a bit sketchy, really. How well did he really know Johnny? And why had he been so relieved to see it was his house? Maybe Johnny was the bad guy here!
“They’re in my jacket.”
“You had a jacket at the party? Shit, gotta text Charlie for it then.”
“It’s fine”, Danny shrugged. Johnny poured him a glass of water and sat him down at the dining table. He soothingly rubbed Danny’s back. “I have no idea who would try to drug you but I promise I didn’t leave your side. Nothing could’ve happened to you.”
Danny let the thought of Johnny as a bad guy go. It wasn’t his thing. Johnny was the righteous guy he knew. He wasn’t some asshole.
Danny drank the water and felt the sore throat ease. “Thanks.”
“Of course”, Johnny dismissed it.
After the interaction, Danny went back to sleep some more and Johnny finally went to bed, knowing Danny was safe and healthy again. In the morning, Johnny bought them breakfast and tried his hardest to ease Danny’s mind. And you know what? Danny found himself relaxed, way more than anyone going through that, would’ve been.
Johnny offered to drive Danny back to the house of the party but Danny didn’t feel like it and said he’d just go for a walk back to his apartment. His neighbour had a spare key so he’d just use it until he got his jacket back instead. Johnny hadn’t insisted and Danny appreciated it.
Johnny walked him to the front door and Danny embraced him with a million thanks for looking after him. He pressed his nose in Johnny’s neck and he could feel Johnny’s hands on his hips, careful and gentle. Danny took a deep breath and pressed a kiss to Johnny’s cheek. “Thanks, really. I wouldn’t know what my evening would’ve looked like without you.”
“It’s fine”, Johnny dismissed it. “Just wanna look out for you. Take care.”
“You too”, Danny smiled before he left. He felt a little too giddy for his own good and wondered if maybe Johnny caused it. Maybe it was the first moment of many that sparked this little thing he had for Johnny.