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The door to the moldy hotel room slammed open, the sound of the thud ricocheting throughout the empty room, probably loud enough to awaken the other drunk residents. Who most likely thought spending their money on booze was better than getting a better motel.
Dave awkwardly leaned halfway against the doorframe-half against the door to keep his balance, smoke from his lit cigarette flowing through his crooked nose. Lightly heaving from the trip he just made from the bar back to their “humble abode”
Jack, whom Dave left to stand on his own for all of two minutes had already sunk to the ground while Dave was trying to unlock the door, leaning against the motel wall and most likely sitting on some sort of lethal mold.
He was staring off absent-mindedly with his head tilted back slightly, most likely still dazed due to the crack he took to his head just half an hour prior. Dave took the cigarette out of his mouth to flick the ash off, placing the butt back between his lips before leaning down to grab Jack's hand to help him stand back up, muttering a quiet “C'mon Sportsy.” Barely registering the guttural groan that came out of him as he was forced onto his feet.
Dave wrapped an arm around Jack's waist and dragged the orange hand to rest on his shoulder. Taking a moment to make sure they were both balanced, then slowly trudging his way into the room, kicking the door shut behind them.
The room was dark -thankfully- and dead silent shockingly enough, clearly the two made it back after everyone had their after party’s. The only source of sound was the earth-shatteringly loud creek of the bed as Dave let Jack collapse on the cockroach and cum infected mattress.
Dave turned around and closed his index and middle finger around the fag to keep it steady before he flopped onto his back, landing on the bed next to Jack. Landing with a loud huff.
Dave rolled his eyes up to look at the opening to the balcony that was on the other side of the room, a sliver of neon lights filtering through the crack of the curtains, and fuck was he thankful for Jack being smart enough to close them before they left for the night.
He looked over at his companion, who hadn't moved from where he was face-planted into the bed, and for a second Dave thought about asking if he had died but zoned out to think about if it was even possible for Jack to die again.
Technically it shouldn’t be.
How does someone who’s dead die again?
Zombies.
Zombies do.
They were zombies.
That’s what they were right?
“M’ mmff fkcicn hhrts”
With Dave’s thoughts cut off, he turned his head to Jack with his eyebrows furrowed, putting every brain cell he had to work, trying to figure out what the fuck he was even trying to say.
“The fuck ar’ ya sayin’?” He kept his lips pursed together to keep the cig from falling out as he spoke.
Jack lifted his head to meet Dave's gaze. “My. Face. fucking. hurts.” He repeated himself. Deep cuts where the glass was previously lodged into, blue and purple forming on the orange skin around his eye. Yeah wasn’t too hard to figure out why he was in pain
he looked better than before
Better than when Dave had hurriedly told Jack to wait outside the bar they had just been kicked out of as he ran to the liquor store to buy a bottle of vodka to disinfect his wounds.
Better than when Dave had leaned down next to him and tore off his jacket, poured the alcohol on his sleeve, and tried his best to clean up Jack's bloody face after he did what he could to pull the shards of a broken beer bottle out of his wounds.
That's a scenario no amount of alcohol could ever make him forget.
“n’ your constan’ly on m’ ass for getting into fights” Dave huffed out the smoke in his mouth and stubbed out the cigarette on his jacket, the thing was already ruined from tonight.
So he should probably take it off again.
Jack let out a quiet snicker in response.
Then it went quiet again, and Dave returned his gaze up to the ceiling.
He heard Jack start laughing again, it was just small giggles, not a sound Dave really hard often. But those giggles quickly turned from him laughing to himself to full-on fucking hollering.
Dave turned his head back and just looking at him almost made all of his worries disappear at that very moment. Seeing Jack with the widest most genuine smile on his face as he laughed harder than he'd ever seen him laugh before.
If he still had his heart, it would've skipped a beat.
Jack had tears forming in his eyes by the time he started to calm down, turning to lay on his back and stare up at the ceiling, wiping the tears that filled up in the corners of his eyes.
“Dude-...” Jack forced through giggles. “Dude, you’re fuckin’ insane-”
Dave sat up instantly, placing a hand over his chest as he leaned over Jack. “Me??? I'm the insane one??” Dave placed his hand on the bed to balance himself better. “Last I checked, you started a bar fight by pissin’ in some lady's purse!”
Jack shoved his finger into Dave's chest. “Las’ I checked!” He mocked Dave's New York accent.
Terribly.
“You jumped on her boyfriend's back.”
“He cracked ya’ in the face with a beer bottle!”
“He was twice your size!”
Despite their rising voices, both broke out into a fit of giggles halfway through their bickering. Jack laid his hand back onto his chest.
“Was doing her a favor, that bag was ugly as fuck.”
Dave snorted, which unfortunately shot a couple of drops of residual blood from his bloody nose and flew onto Jack's clothes, getting an instant reaction from the drunk man.
“Urrggh- That's fuckin’ sick dude.” As if Dave wasn't covered in Jack's blood.
“Oh, whoops.” Dave wiped off his nose with his sleeve, sniffing, and then decided it was time for the jacket to come off. He tossed it off and threw it across the room. Leaving him only in a white T-shirt.
“Why would you even put that thing back on after I lost like…”
Jack trailed off and counted on his fingers to four.
“...Seven percent of my blood on it.”
“Oh gee, I don’ know.” Dave itched where his facial hair covered his jaw with his index finger. “Maybe I couldn’ carry it since I had a sack o’ potatoes to drag here.”
Dave chortled when Jack punched his arm.
“Hey! You asked!” Dave sat up straight to put his hands up defensively, a grin forming on his features when Jack rolled his eyes. He laid back down, propping his head up on his palm with his elbow digging into the bed.
Jack tried to give Dave an annoyed glare, but his face softened after he got a good look at him. Dave's grin slowly twitched away, opening his mouth to ask Jack why he was looking at him with such pity but quickly snapped it shut when Jack reached out to cup Dave's face.
Okay, yup, Dave's gonna short circuit.
Jack wasn't an affectionate person, in the slightest. He never reciprocated any of Dave’s -platonic- affection, either moving away the second he could at worst or side-eyeing him at best.
So even though this was small, even though it was just a hand on his cheek. It made Dave's face heat up exponentially and his brain completely gave up on him.
“He fucked up your nose like… really bad.” Jack rubbed his thumb over Dave's cheekbone. “That thing's definitely broken.”
If Dave died right now he's not sure if he could handle repossessing his body again.
He blinked, he knew he must've looked like a deer in headlights at that moment, so he tried to save face and force a grin.
“Eh, so what? I could probably crack it back right now!” Dave grabbed his nose with his thumb and index finger but the hand on his cheek practically flew to grab his hand.
It was gonna be a miracle if Dave made it out of Vegas alive.
“Dude you're gonna fuck it up even more-”
“You don’ think this is my first time doin’ this right?” Dave raised an eyebrow, trying his best to keep the smirk up. “Aww, are you worried about your Davey?”
Jack's face dropped to pure disappointment for a second before resuming to how it was as he pulled Dave's hand down onto the bed, with his thumb pressed against Dave's palm.
“Don't ever call yourself that again” Jack paused for a beat. “I just don't want you fucking up your nose any more than it already is.”
“So you are worried.”
“Dave.”
Dave snickered, Jack was always too easy to bother, especially in his tipsy state.
“FINE… Fineee… Keep those feelin's repressed, of how deeply upset you ar’ at seeing me hurt.” Dave would've put his hand on his chest but he is not giving up this chance of having Jack hold his hand and the other one was too busy holding his head up.
But no because whatever luck Dave had ran out and Jack took his hand back, scooting up onto the bed with an eye roll, sitting on it fully, instead of being half off of the mattress and turning himself to face forward on it.
Dave followed suit, pulling himself next to Jack on his side of the bed, flopping back on the pillows but keeping his gaze on Jack, heartwarming at the expression on his face.
It was one he saw often, usually when Dave made a really bad joke that Jack refused to admit he found funny.
But he saw the way the corners of his lips twitched up as he tried to desperately suppress a grin.
He saw the way his eyes softened when he thought Dave couldn't see him.
“Oh, just shhhutup dude.” It came out almost breathlessly as he tried to hold back a laugh, a quiet whistling sound coming from between his gapped teeth as he slurred out the H.
Dave didn't even try to hide the lovesick smirk on his face. He just laid there and watched as Jack reached over the bed to grab the remote, pointing it at the TV and turning it on. The shining light illuminated his face to let Dave get a better look.
This was a good night.
Even if he and Jack got into a bar fight because of Jack being an idiot.
Even if he had to run to a liquor store to buy vodka, using it to disinfect his wounds very poorly.
Even if Dave had to stumble back to the room with a broken nose and a half-dazed Jack leaning on him the entire time.
Dave turned onto his side, grabbing onto Jack's hand and intertwining their fingers, earning a very confused Jack looking down at him with a raised eyebrow.
Because no matter what they did together, Dave would always enjoy it. Whatever schemes he and the tangerine commit will always be fun for him no matter how badly they go.
Because everything they went through earlier became worth it the moment he felt Jack squeeze his hand back.
Jack returned the softest smile Dave had ever seen on his face before laying back flat on the mattress and returning his gaze to the TV.
So Dave lay there, hand and hand with his best friend, high on adrenaline and drunk on about five different alcohols. The only sound in the room was the TV and it was gonna stay like that for tonight, cause God knows they won’t be talking about whatever this is between them.