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She couldn't believe it. Her roommate was still drunk as fuck.
This shouldn't have been surprising. But it was upsetting. Even after spending an entire day working out and ignoring his bullshit excuses, all of which were because he was a stoner and an idiot and had barely kept up with his college work in a month, he would drink himself into oblivion in the worst possible places and then mope around like he had no clue how pathetic he was. This asshole.
It made her blood boil when he wouldn't take responsibility for anything. He never did. There were probably reasons she should feel sorry for him but she couldn't even remember any of them. She didn't give a shit if he felt bad about it or not.
In fact, the more often she had to bail him out of whatever trouble he found himself in, the more irritated she got. She was better than that. At least she could handle herself.
"Fine," she said flatly. "Get dressed."
His head snapped towards her. His eyes widened.
"What?" he asked.
"I'm getting you ready for school. You're going to do your part by showing up tomorrow morning with at least one clean shirt and some shoes on your feet. We don't need you to go through this again."
"But…I can't…"
"Yeah? Then tell me why I shouldn't make you walk yourself there?"
He stared at her. He blinked once, twice. His face shifted back into his normal expression of stupidity and embarrassment. His arms hung limply by his sides.
"Fine," he said again. "If you insist. But I want a reason. Something valid."
She rolled her eyes. "You are so hard to deal with."
And then he did what she expected him to do.
He began crying.
"Oh, fuck," she muttered under her breath, rubbing at her temples. "Is this my fault too?"
Well, okay, maybe not entirely. But she wasn't very good at this. Being nice and compassionate when someone else's mistake was ruining your life? That wasn't her strong suit. Still, it bothered her to think that maybe he had done it just to piss her off.
She decided to ignore him for now. When he was properly sober he'd start being a nuisance again. Maybe then she'd finally be able to keep track of where his problems ended and hers started. For now, though, she really needed to figure out what she was supposed to do with this huge mess of a man sitting next to her on their couch. And, more importantly, how the hell she was going to explain it to one particular person.
"We'll talk later," she said calmly, holding out her hand. "Let me help you clean up."
He reached out tentatively and took it. She helped him stand, and pulled him along until they reached the bathroom. It was pointless to attempt to force him to shower first, and frankly, he wouldn't have listened anyway. She could see the dark circles under his eyes from where she stood, and her heart twisted a little bit.
Her own sleep-deprived brain told her to go straight to class, but something made her pause. They had been roommates for three years, and despite their differences and different personalities, he knew she wouldn't leave without him. They were friends — as much as she didn’t want to admit it. They shared a bond throughout the years. A strong one. One where it seemed he would only willingly admit his wrongs, and one she wished he would extend to her as well.
So, she dragged him behind her. Into the shower stall. Where the first thing he did was throw up into the toilet. Twice. Which meant he hadn't slept much either.
She sat on the floor, letting him lean against her shoulder while she washed his hair and rinsed the sticky mess away. In her defense, she wasn't sure if he would listen to her explanation if she spoke right now. Not that she wanted to explain. Just. Stay. Here. In the moment. So she stayed silent and let him cry.
At some point, he started calming down enough to listen to her. So she continued to comfort him. Throughout the entire process, washing away the bile, and scrubbing the sweat and grime from his skin. Until he finally turned over and rested his cheek against her stomach.
"You're warm," he murmured.
The sensation was weird. Disconcerting. Like nothing she was used to feeling, and all too familiar. A protective instinct that surged inside her made her wrap an arm around his waist, pressing her cheek further against his. And when she looked down, she saw a tear rolling slowly down his cheek.
He sighed. It sounded heavy, like every bit of air in his lungs was trying to push itself out of his body. He kept staring at her, not saying anything. She didn't say anything either. She wondered if she should leave. If he was embarrassed about this. Or he thought she was mad. She really couldn't decide which answer she hoped for. Either way, she knew it was probably better to wait until they were both ready.
So she waited.
A long time passed before he pulled himself up to stand. With a single step forward into his bedroom, he collapsed onto his bed beside her. She put a blanket over him and tucked him in. There was no denying that the temperature dropped slightly, but he let out another weary sigh before drifting off to sleep.
The longer he was asleep, the more difficult it became for her to wake him up. It was probably best that she stayed in the living room. Eventually, the light coming through the windows was enough to disturb him. His eyelids opened halfway, blinking dazedly before focusing completely.
"Uh…why am I sleeping here?" he mumbled.
Lumine sighed inwardly. This was not a good sign.
"Because you can't make it back to your own bed," she replied gently.
"Oh," he replied vaguely. Before sliding off the bed and stumbling toward the bathroom. And throwing up once again. But this time he didn't sit down. And by the look on his face, he actually had trouble making it past the doorway.
Lumine waited outside his door.
“What’s wrong?” She asked softly.
Dainsleif looked up at her as if he saw his world collapse. Then returned to the blank stare he’s kept on for the past week. He stood up and walked passed from where she was standing and back into his room.
“Could you just hold me?” He murmured throwing himself back into the sheets.
Lumine sighed dropping her crossed fingers as she trudged towards him with open arms.
“Dain.. you idiot.”