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Noah didn’t really drink. He was a lightweight after all. He was also generally the designated driver whenever he went anywhere with alcohol with his friends. Mostly because he was the only person who could drive.
Of course he wasn’t with his friends now. Still normally he wouldn’t have drank anything regardless. After all, who was going to take him home if he was wasted? Yet here he was, sitting in a bar drinking his… third beer?
He knew it was a bad idea but he couldn’t help it. His boyfriend of half a year had broken up with him. Noah didn’t get emotional often. So when he did get emotional it was potent. When he got invested in things he tended to care more about them than most people. In part because of how hard it was to get him invested in the first place.
He’d known it was coming. There was this hot girl named Courtney who had helped Duncan out in court. Duncan had clearly been thristing over her. So Noah wasn’t surprised when he broke up with him. The thing is just because you’re expecting it doesn’t mean you’re prepared for it. Noah wasn’t even sure you could prepare for such a thing. The most he could say was that at least Duncan broke up with him rather than cheated.
Noah just wanted to be numb. Being numb was safe. You can’t be disappointed if you don’t care. Which was actually part of the reason he was that way. Usually it wasn’t hard for Noah to shove his feelings deep inside him. This time they were far too strong to be contained. Duncan had been his first relationship and the heartbreak was insane.
So Noah was using alcohol to numb the pain. He’d heard from other people that it was good for that. He ignored his phone as it went off again. It was probably Owen texting him again. The two of them lived in an apartment together and Noah was usually home long before now. He knew he should tell Owen where he was, but then the blonde would want to know why he was drinking.
Noah hadn’t told anyone about the break up yet. Not Eva. Not Izzy. Not even Owen. Noah didn’t want to bother them with his problems. He didn’t want to hear Izzy talk about stalking Duncan until he went insane. Or Eva telling him about how she would beat him within an inch of his life. Or even Owen trying to convince him everything would be okay.
He knows it would all feel hollow. Everything wasn’t going to be okay, and as mad as he was, Duncan had every right to break up with him. The punk hadn’t really done anything wrong, so having Eva beat him to death or Izzy drive him insane wouldn’t make him feel better. In fact Noah was pretty sure it would make him feel worse.
“Are you okay?” A voice asked, breaking Noah from his sordid thoughts.
Noah turned to see the speaker was a muscular man with black hair in a buzz cut, gray eyes and a unibrow. He was wearing an army green shirt, cargo shorts, boots, and a pair of dog tags around his neck.
The man was a stranger and to be honest that might be what Noah needed right now. He wouldn’t care if this stranger judged him, or if he made him feel bad. He could be completely earnest about things.
“No, I’m not.” Noah managed to slur. “I’m not okay. If I was okay I wouldn’t be here. My boyfriend broke up with me a few hours ago. He was my first. It hurts so much more than the songs tell you. You know? I used to think everyone was just being melodramatic. And you know? They still are, but now I get why.”
The man gave him a concerned look. “How much have you had?”
“This is my third beer? Yeah my third.” Noah nodded.
“You should probably stop.” The cadet said.
“Yeah you’re right, but I still feel bad. This was supposed to make the bad feelings go away and it hasn’t. Maybe I need to be more drunk?” The cynic frowned.
“I don’t think that will help. Maybe you could just talk to me? That might be more helpful. I’m Brick.” Brick said.
“I’m Noah. And yeah maybe. I’m just so upset, you know? Like I know that he liked this other girl, and like maybe it was for the best that he broke up with me before we hit a rut, but it still hurts. Like to know that you’re being ditched because someone likes another person more than you? It makes you wonder if there’s something wrong with you. If you’re the problem. And of course you’re not the problem. You’re fine.”
Noah took a swing of his beer. “And that almost makes it feel worse, because if you know you did something wrong you can fix it. There’s a chance you can change things. Knowing that you’ve done your best, and you still couldn’t keep them? It hurts.”
“I can imagine.” Brick said.
Noah guzzled the rest of his beer down and looked over at the bartender seriously debating whether or not to get another beer.
“I don’t think you should have more.” The cadet said firmly. “You’re already probably going to have a bad hangover.”
“So why does it matter if I have more than? Might as well keep going.” Noah slurred.
“You need to stop.” Brick told him.
Noah sighed. “Whatever.” He tried to get off of his stool, but instead fell to the floor. Brick helped him to his feet.
“You can’t go home by yourself. Do you think you can remember your address enough to write it down?” The cadet asked. Pulling a notebook and pen out of his pocket.
Noah shakily wrote his address. “You driving me home?”
“If you trust me enough.” Brick said.
“Why not?” Noah slurred. “I don’t really care at the moment.”
Brick supported Noah as he guided him out to a green truck and placed him inside, buckling him in. As the car started Noah found himself drifting off to sleep.
/
Brick glanced at the small man in the seat next him. He seemed to have fallen asleep and Brick couldn’t help but think that was a good thing. The break up had clearly hit him hard. He was just happy that he found Noah before he drank so much that he gave himself alcohol poisoning. From the look of him it wouldn’t take much.
Brick couldn’t help but wonder about the man who’d dumped Noah. Noah said it was because he’d found someone he liked more, but Brick had a hard time understanding that. Noah was pretty cute. He was so small, and his fingers were delicate. It made Brick want to protect him. To hold him in his arms and stop anything from hurting him.
He shook his head. That wasn’t a good line of thought. Noah had just broken up with someone. The last thing he needed was another relationship. Still, Brick didn’t like the idea of leaving him to deal with all of this by himself.
He finally made it to Noah’s apartment building. Carefully he took Noah into his arms and carried him through the door and into the elevator. He couldn’t help but look down at Noah. He looked so peaceful now. A far cry from the man in tears he’d been interacting with. If this was how beautiful he was now, he could only imagine now lovely he was when he smiled.
The elevator stopped and Brick carried Noah over to the apartment number he’d written down. He knocked on the door, hoping someone else would be inside so he wouldn’t have to enter. The door opened, and in the frame was a rotund blonde in a white and teal maple leaf shirt and shorts. “Noah! Little buddy I was so worried! What happened to him?!”
“He’s been at the bar drinking. He’s had a lot and wouldn’t have been able to get home. So I drove him. I think you ought to get him in bed. Ask him what happened.” Brick told him. Sure, he could reveal that Noah had just had a break up, but he figured that Noah would want to tell his friend himself.
“Oh my poor little buddy.” The blonde said, taking Noah from Brick. “We’ll get you all snuggled up under the blankets.” He turned to Brick. “Thanks.”
As the blonde turned to enter Brick found himself stopping him. “Wait!.” He wrote his number on the notebook he always had and tore the page out. “That’s my number, could you call me tomorrow? I’d like to know how he’s doing?”
The blonde beamed. “Yeah, of course I can.” The door closed behind him.
Brick smiled. He hoped he saw Noah again.