Work Text:
It was their second to last night in Texas, and they’d had an incredibly long day, but Garrett couldn’t sleep.
He had been downplaying his guilt about what had happened in the store. He kept his smile plastered on his face after getting yelled at by Shane and had to stay somewhat playful and entertaining as he apologized and let the others drag the accident out. Garrett was nauseous and was fighting back tears. However, the camera was still rolling, which meant that he had to maintain his designated character in the group: the weird friend who was always the subject of teasing because he was always unaffected.
Because that’s how Garrett is, most of the time: unaffected. But not tonight.
Garrett sighed as he shifted in his bed for what felt like the hundredth time that night. Andrew is asleep on his bed, his soft snores muffled because his face was smushed down to the pillow. He recalled the brief moment Andrew’s eyes met his when it happened, looking worried as if he were trying to comfort him as they stood a few feet away from each other. It was a simple gesture, but at the time, it gave Garrett enough comfort to help him keep his composure.
And oh, how desperately he wanted to shake Andrew awake and ask him to talk him down. Andrew is his best friend, and he always knows what to say. But Garrett couldn’t do that; he’d done enough to ruin the others’ day.
So, he did the next best thing he could think of. He got out of his bed, grabbed his noise-canceling headphones, headed to the bathroom, sat in the bath with his head between his knees, and listened to James Blake with his eyes closed. He didn’t know when he started, but three songs in, Garrett realized he was crying. He felt exhausted after suppressing his overwhelming feelings, and now that it’s finally out, he let them flow out of him quietly.
Garrett didn’t know when he fell asleep, but the next thing he knew, he was waking up to Andrew shaking his shoulder. When he finally gained enough consciousness, he realized how much his body was hurting, and the tension on the back of his neck gave him a terrible headache. But he slowly turned his head up, and his gaze met with Andrew’s worried eyes.
His friend’s hair was messy, and he was still squinting. So, Andrew must’ve just woken up. Garrett noticed Andrew’s mouth moving, so he slid his headphones off.
“Sorry, what did you say?” Garrett mumbled, still not fully awake himself.
“I asked what you were doing here,” Andrew repeated himself.
Garrett shrugged, “I couldn’t sleep.”
“So, you went to sleep in the bathtub?” Andrew asked, confused, his head tilted to one side.
Garrett sighed as he rubbed his face, “I don’t know, Andrew,” He said as he buried his face in his palms.
He heard his friend sigh, followed by a ruffling of movement. The next time Andrew talked, his voice sounded closer to Garrett, “Is this about what happened in the store?”
The wave of guilt was back, even with the slightest mention of what had happened. Garrett refused to look at his friend, afraid of what he would see on Andrew’s face, so he kept his face buried in his palms. He nods his answer.
“Hey, Garrett, look at me,” Andrew said gently, slowly peeling Garrett’s palms away from his face, forcing him to stare at the redhead, “Listen to me,” Andrew said, voice more stern but still gentle.
Andrew then stayed quiet, waiting for a response. So Garrett said, “Okay,” softly under his breath.
“You did nothing wrong,” Andrew said firmly as if those words were a fact, “Shane asked you to pull a prank on her, and you did what you thought would be funny, and it was. Of course, Bunny was entitled to her own reaction, but you apologized. Countless. Times.”
Garrett was starting to tear up again.
“Everyone in the room knew that you didn't mean it to scare her the way it did, and we all know that you felt awful,” Andrew continued, “They dragged out the reactions just for the sake of the drama, and that was unfair to you, Garrett.”
And that had caused Garrett to combust into tears. He felt his body lose most of his energy and fell forward. Thankfully, Andrew caught him just before he hit his head in the tub.
“It was horrible, Andrew,” Garrett said in between broken sobs as Andrew pulled him in a loose hug, his head nestled in his friend’s shoulder, “The guilt felt like it was suffocating me, but the camera was still rolling, and I just- I don’t-”
“I know, I know,” Andrew shushed him, “And I’m so sorry that I didn’t do anything to stop it-”
“No, don’t apologize, Andrew,” He said, forcing himself to stop sobbing so he could look up at his friend, “You were working, and we both know that he wouldn’t listen to you, anyway.”
Andrew sighed and nodded. Garrett could visibly see Andrew’s thought process as he accepted that neither of them had any control or power in the so-called friend group. It was an awful thing to think about, but it was the truth.
“I’m still sorry that it happened to you,” Andrew said quietly.
“Me too,” Garrett said with a quiet, sad chuckle, “But hey, that’s my role in the squad: always the butt of the joke.”
“That’s awful, Garret. You don’t deserve that,” Andrew insisted, his eyes blown wide, and in them, Garrett could see a mixture of anger and sadness.
“Eh, I’m used to it,” Garrett mumbled.
“You shouldn’t be.”
Garrett sighed, “I don’t know, Andrew. I just want to go to bed.”
“Let’s go, then,” Andrew said before he stood up and held out a hand for Garrett to hold on to.
He gratefully accepted it and let Andrew help him out of the bathtub. They shuffled clumsily back to their beds, and it was then that Garrett noticed that the sun was already out.
“Fuck,” Garrett cursed tiredly.
“It’s okay. Just go to bed, Garrett,” Andrew reassured.
“Weren’t we supposed to shoot with Bunny again today?”
“I’ll talk to Shane,” Andrew said, his hand on Garrett’s lower back, ushering him to lay on his bed, “You rest up.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’ll take care of it,” Andrew said as he watched Garrett wrap himself in the blanket.
“Andrew,” Garrett called out, sounding so timid and small that it caused Andrew’s chest to ache. Andrew hummed his reply, and Garrett continued, “Can you stay for a bit? Just until I fall asleep.”
And, of course, his ever-so-endearing best friend would agree. Andrew then proceeds to lie next to Garrett on top of the blanket. The mere presence and the subtle radiation of heat from Andrew were enough to ease Garrett into sleep. And Andrew watched his friend slowly lulled to sleep right next to him.
Despite the stressful social predicament, they know they will be okay if they’ve got each other’s back.