Chapter Text
James took a final shot of… whatever cheap booze, and drifted through the crowd of other teens just as irresponsible as he. He squinted trying to see through the roaring music that would make you wonder how the speakers haven't blown yet, and find the table holding the beer. Reggie bumped into him, saying something not quite audible or coherent. James nodded and grabbed another two solo cups.
He bombled around the dozens of other drunk teens and found his way to a back door. Driving all of his weight into the door frame to stable himself as the world spun around him— some kid must have bumped into him. He hurled all over the concrete pathway outside and stumbled to the side wall— sliding down to the grass.
There he sat in the yard, gripping the red cup in hand like hell and the grass in his other harder. He didn’t even know whose house this was anymore or who invited him, how he got there. Tipping himself over his knees, he let out a few violently sharp coughs, nowhere near sober enough to question the blood mixed with whatever rest of his vomit just came out.
The plastic solo cup swirled between his knees, barely holding on with anything but his finger tips. He chugged the whole 12 ounces in one swig— hoping the drink would melt out any of the rank aftertaste from his stomache’s unfortunate rejection of what he’d drank before. Just as he thought his high was finally starting to break down, contortions ached his stomach and mind.
Before he knew it, James had managed to slip down the wall and fallen asleep in the yard. It wasn’t until the 4th raindrop that he’d even realized a single bit of his situation. Managing to stand up without too many failed attempts, James snuck back into the still ever-thriving party, unsure for how long he’d been asleep.
He found himself in seemingly the only unoccupied room, and nearly collapsed making it to the landline on the wall— if gripping the thing wouldn’t have caught his fall at least. The only thing he could think to punch in is Brian’s number; he’d skipped out on going to the party, same as James had promised to… although it was a little too late for that.
The telephone rang for what felt like eons until there was finally a click.
A groggy “Hello?” rang through the speaker.
“Oh my god—Brian, hey,”
The line went silent for a moment. “James?”
“Yea—”
“I was just about to head to bed. Are you okay?”
“Do you know who was having that party this weekend?”
James’ silence let the party’s ambience sneak through the phone line, Brian imminently catching on to what was probably happening. “Yeah, it was Dylan… why? I thought you weren’t going,”
“I… lied. I guess. I think. Do you know how to get to his house?”
An annoyed yet worried scoff was exhaled into the speaker before Brian sighed. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, just… hang tight.”
Probably about 30 minutes had passed before Brian even showed up, the rain had been pouring heavier and heavier as the moments went on— and it was clear that James had not been waiting inside. When James got in the car he brought his knees back up to his chest, resting his chin on top of them as his soaking hair dripped onto his shorts. Not wanting to bother the tired boy, Brian decided to just drive to his house, trying his best to avoid any potholes on the way as he noticed James slowly nod off.
By the time they pulled in front of Brian’s house, James was fast asleep in the passenger seat. Sighing, Brian placed his cold, boney hand on James’ knee and shook him awake. He’d decided it was too late to bring James back home, especially when he knew how much his dog would be barking at the sound of the car— even if it were a mile away. “Munk, you gotta get up,” He said softly, “You can’t sleep in my car all night.” Taking the lack of response as a cue, Brian shook James with a little more vigor. “James, c’mon. I’m not gonna carry you..”
James opened his eyes to a squint and just barely lifted his head, looking in Brian’s direction. Brian patted James’ knee and repeated “C’mon, let’s go inside. I’m not taking you home,”
Outside it couldn’t have been more than about 43º, Brian wrapped his arms around James’ upper arms when they walked inside– half to make sure he kept stable, since who knew how many drinks he’d had. Half to make sure he didn’t freeze to death. They managed to make it upstairs to Brian’s room without waking his parents. James sat down on the bed while Brian shut the door as quietly as he could. He sat next to James and took a deep breath.
James sat seemingly lifeless next to Brian. He was impossible to read, he seemed to have been zoned out ever since Brian picked him up. Lifelessly staring at the carpet, Brian couldn’t even tell if he was blinking or not.
Brian clapped a hand on James’ back. “So.” It startled James enough to break his long-lasted staring contest with the flooring and managed to find eye contact with Brian. “Why’d you go?”
“..What do you mean?”
“The party, I mean.” Brian leaned down to James’ slouched level, and began rubbing circles on James’ back. He moved his long hair from one side to the other so he could peer into James’ eyes.
James’ shook his head and broke eye contact. “No… I—” Even after the broken eye contact Brian kept his light stare into James’ eyes, taking note of the larger than usual dilation and puffiness.
Brian took that as a cue to stop prying. He patted James on the back once more and stood up. “I’ll get you some extra blankets, just. I’ll be back,”
-
Brian shifted half-asleep— off-handedly noticing James was lying on top of him, asleep under his arm, he subconsciously wrapped his arm around him a little tighter, leaving James’ face buried deeper in Brian’s shoulder and lying further on top of his chest.