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“Shush, shut up, Al!”
Barry could barely get his words out over his own muffled laughter. Alan was in an even worse state, giggling nonstop as he clung onto his best friend’s arm.
Ok, maybe Barry shouldn’t have let Al go off by himself at that last party, and maybe he shouldn’t have let the recently successful writer convince him to also partake in the handful of pills Alan had managed to acquire.
Barry didn’t know how he did it, no matter if they knew anyone, if they had been here before, how drunk they were; Alan could get his hands on something illicit within minutes of being let off his metaphorical leash. Maybe he should get Al an actual leash, stop him from running off.
Barry pencilled that thought to be considered some other time, when he wasn’t trying to get into the Wake apartment without getting the police called on them both. He wrestled the door key out of Alan’s back pocket, batting away Al’s wandering hands.
He managed to get the door unlocked but stumbled through it as Alan slammed into his side, wrapping his arms around Barry’s waist.
“Love you, Barry.” Alan muttered into where he had tucked his head into Barry’s shoulder.
“Love you too, you big sap. Now get off me, come on, get your shoes off. Alice is gonna kill me as it is, last thing I need is you tracking dirt in through the place.”
Alan slumped against the wall and tried to pry his boots off. He failed to take his shoes off and succeeded in falling over and crashing into the bookcase next to him.
“ Jesus Al, wake the whole neighbourhood up, why don’t you? Sit down before you hurt yourself.”
Alan looked like he might try and argue—not exactly a surprise there—but sat down on the floor in a way reminiscent of a giraffe collapsing or perhaps a controlled demolition of an old building. Barry sighed and, a little more gracefully but only just, sat down in front of Alan to help him.
Alan’s eyes were glazed over as he watched Barry struggle with his boots before pulling them off and removing his own shoes significantly swifter.
“Come on Al, up you get. There we go bud—Oh shit!”
While Alan had managed to haul himself back up to his feet under Barry’s guidance, he almost immediately crumpled back down, legs too weak and unsteady to hold his weight.
“Barry~” Alan whined, too drunk and too high to care about how pathetic he sounded. Barry just snorted, having seen this kind of behaviour from his friend too many times before.
“Alright you big baby, I’ll help. What would you do without me?”
Barry dragged Alan up onto his feet and wrapped an arm around his waist, guiding him to the living room sofa. This time when Alan fell, he dragged Barry down with him. The writer’s long legs hung over the side of the sofa, and he huffed as Barry couldn’t keep his balance and fell down on top of him.
“Realistically Al, this would be more comfortable for the both of us if I was the one actually lying on the couch.”
Alan, head buried in his best friend’s shoulder, said something unintelligible as he wrapped his arms tightly around Barry’s chest, one of his legs trapping Barry’s. He always had been clingy when he was drunk, not to strangers, but to Barry or Alice. The people he trusted, the people he loved.
Despite the uncomfortable position, half falling off, Alan with one of the tall bastard’s elbows dug painfully into his side, Barry found himself dragged into unconsciousness.
Barry woke to the scent of coffee and the gentle chirp of birds outside. He pried his eyes open and was immediately confronted with the sight of his best friend’s wife staring at him in an incredibly unimpressed manner.
“I can explain.”
“Shut it, Wheeler. Get your coffee and get out.”
“Alice, it was just a party; you know how they get.”
Alice looked at him like he was the cause of all of her problems. Which was unfair, because Alan was the cause of at least 70% of those issues. He opened his mouth to continue to make excuses, but Alice interrupted him.
“Stop making him go to parties, Wheeler, or the next time the two of you go out I’m changing the locks and he can spend his morning after at your place.”
A sudden groan from below him.
“Alice?” Wake sounded like a particularly sad puppy, and Barry watched Alice melt instantaneously. She was all talk, she was just as helpless as he was to Alan’s charms. Alan suddenly realised the position they were in, his long limbs wrapped around Barry, “It isn’t- we weren’t- Barry was just…”
“Alan, honey , I would prefer it if you two idiots were having an affair.”