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Colors spun and melted into each other like an oozing kaleidoscope, dizziness eating away at him from the inside out. The single street in front of him had turned to two, and that all too familiar buzz was starting to kick in all around his body like hives. Kevin had blacked out who knows how long ago and now found himself in some strangers front yard in the middle of the night.
His head ached like hell, as though someone were currently beating a mallet to his brain. A million questions sped through his mind, confusing him even more than he already was.
Lifting his black cap with his free hand, he carefully began to soothe his throbbing skull, brushing his fingers through his short black hair, and attempting to remember where he was and what had happened.
Standing was enough of a challenge on its own. His legs trembled with each step, and his body insisted on swaying back and forth. His hangovers were never this bad, so the severity of it all only fed into the effort to try and recall how much he had to drink. As nausea threatened to claw him by the throat, he knew he had to get somewhere, and fast. But who could possibly be awake at this hour?
“We now return to our regularly scheduled programming…” The voice on the TV spoke, announcing the return of your favorite late night television show.
“Yeahh, that's what I’m talkin’ about.” You murmured lazily, taking a swig of your can of soda as you lightly adjusted your slothful position in bed. That Saturday, you had made it your life’s mission to relax and take a break from all stress that came with school. What better way to wind down than to snack on junk food in front of the TV?
Smiling a smug smile, your hooded eyes observed the events on the television, slowly but surely slipping into a light slumber. That was until a couple of sloppy knocks came echoing from the front door downstairs. Choking on a snore, you squinted your eyes at the only light in the dark room.
“What the…Who’s at the door? It’s like…the ass crack of midnight right now. Is someone tryna kidnap me?” You grumbled, rubbing your pre-crusted eyes before slipping your legs off the bed and heading downstairs. You made sure to peer through the peep hole before anything else, and to your surprise, it was none other than…
“Kevin?” You asked in a tone of confusion, holding the front door open. Kevin stood there in a bit of a hunched over position, swaying side to side as if he’d collapse on you at any second. It was unusual to see him here so drunk. He’d normally come over unannounced in a much more sober state.
Before you had the chance to really mull over the circumstances, Kevin’s unsound mind had begun to fail his body, causing him to stagger forward with a faint groan. His sudden movement caught you off guard, and it took all of your strength to hold him up in your arms. clenching your jaw, you pushed yourself to get him to stand, pulling one of his arms around your shoulder.
“Cmon, Kev, get a grip man!” You grunted, struggling to support his weight as you dragged him inside. Unfortunately, you couldn’t hold on for much longer, and the both of you ended up collapsing on the floor.
Rubbing your head a few times, you forced yourself off the hardwood ground, staring down at the practically unconscious Kevin like a disappointed parent. Sighing heavily, you knew tonight was going to be a long one.
There was nothing but darkness for what felt like an eternity in Kevin’s head. Had he passed out again? His eyelids fluttered open softly, his eyes being met to a pleasantly shaded room as he stirred awake. Not a soul was in sight, from what he could tell anyway. Focusing on objects proved to be a challenge, and the near pitch black of the area hadn’t aided him in identifying where he was in the slightest. All he could feel was the mild comfort of a mattress beneath him, the lingering smell of laundry detergent invading his nostrils in the process.
Promptly after waking, Kevin’s body soon reminded him of his weakened state, his muscles crying out in sore agony. The pulsing in his brain was subtle yet undeniably there, the sly wave of nausea growing in his core plotting to make its comeback. Another mild groan left his throat, his hands coming up to hold his head in place in case it were to suddenly fall off.
It was then that the image of your worried expression flashed in his memories for a moment, managing to take him aback in a prominent way. As his eyesight carefully adjusted to the night that enveloped the room, he quickly realized where he resided. That’s right, he had come to you. How you managed to drag him to your bedroom was a mystery to him, but before he could fry his circuits over the matter completely, the door cracked open softly, lighting the room in a faint manner with help from the hallway light.
You creeped in like some thief in the night, securing a cup of water in your hands. It was clear from your painfully slow and strained movements that you assumed he was asleep and didn’t want to wake him just yet. Thankfully it didn’t take you long to learn that he was wide awake. You flashed him a small smile and a wave, idly walking up to where he lay before taking a seat on the edge of the bed.
“Hey, you feelin’ okay?” You asked in a gentle murmur, giving him a sympathetic sidelong glance. Kevin nodded subtly, still a bit disoriented from his hangover. A huff of amusement escaped your nose as you idly shook your head, a smirk making a swift appearance.
“How much did you have to drink dude? This has got to be the most cranked I've ever seen you.” You laughed lightly, tilting your head to the side with curious eyes. Your face usually didn’t spark much of a reaction to Kevin, but right now, as you sat just before him with that all too familiar look, his heart began to do something that confused him to no ends. It began to pound like crazy against his chest, bringing on that same nervous feeling that made his face red. He wanted to put an end to it, fast, so with some quick thinking he decided that the best way to get it to stop was to start punching his chest. Without a word, he began to forcefully bring his fist to where his heart would be in hopes of getting the rapid-paced beating to come to a halt.
You stared at him with an unimpressed expression, hooded eyes blinking a few times before you allowed a sigh to escape your lips. Shaking your head, you nudged him with your elbow, keeping a careful hold on the cup to avoid spilling it.
“That’s enough of that, alright? I don’t need you any more beat up than you already are.” You scolded with a hint of displeasure for his reckless behavior, finger pointed right at him. Kevin merely blinked in silence, caught off guard by your mannerisms, which was ironic coming from him. He didn’t like being babied much, but any sudden movements made his head want to explode. He was ultimately at a loss. A large portion of his psyche insisted that he stubbornly fight against it anyway, but a small voice inside figured that since it was you, it wasn’t all inherently bad.
Quietly basking in the stillness of the dimly lit room, You studied Kevin’s body language, noting his lack of eye contact and flared face. Was he running a fever? Your brows furrowed into a deep knot of concern, sparking you to lean forward to inspect. Kevin began to panic internally as he noticed your proximity growing closer and closer by the second. Was this going where he thought this was going? His chest rose and fell exponentially faster than ever before, his nerves holding him captive as he braced himself for what he expected was to come.
To his surprise —and disappointment—, he didn’t feel any lips against his, but rather your forehead against his own. Strands of your own hair fell forward, delicately brushing past his skin like the most tender of butterfly kisses, causing his eyelids to flicker open with mild hesitation. Your expression held a certain focus about it, as if trying to determine crucial information just by feeling his skin.
“No…Doesn’t feel like a fever. You okay? Here, have some water. I heard it’s important to stay hydrated after drinking your ass off.” You insisted, holding the glass of water up to him. Kevin eyed the water, squinting a moment before managing to grab it with a shaken hand. He was able to take a few sips, a grunt signifying the limits of his intake ability. Sighing heavily, the disoriented boy sunk into bed, slumping down further and further until he was staring straight at the ceiling. This sucked. It sucked big time. Any more sudden surprises from you and he might die of a heart attack. With how worked up you were getting his heart, a smoke was beginning to drive a hard bargain. Whipping out a box, he held a cigarette to his lips, wasting no time in lighting it up. Taking a deep inhale, he blew out the leftover smoke, temporary relief filling his corrupted system.
You simply gazed down at him, catching a whiff of the second hand fume. It was nothing new to you at this point, wafting around the room like the worlds newest air freshener. The more you looked down at him, the more you felt yourself give into the aching in your heart. Like second nature, your hand came down to comb over his dark, unkempt hair in a delicate motion.
“Kevin…” You found your voice whispering, a tinge of longing interwoven in your tone as gentle eyes observed his state of being. Kevin was barely in the present moment, having spaced out like usual, but the sound of his name leaving your lips was like a call to action he couldn’t ignore. Stealing a glance at you, he curiously waited for you to continue, weary eyes holding your own.
“You worry me sometimes…” You admitted in a low mumble, your head slowly panning downwards before continuing. “You’re always getting into something, and I…I just don’t want to wake up one day and find out you’re not here anymore. You mean a lot to me, Kev. A lot…” You managed, a glimmer of genuine warmth and sorrow prominent in your eyes as you held his focus.
Kevin was once again dumbfounded by your sudden confession. He found himself unable to answer for quite some time, mostly because he mentally didn’t know how. He was used to people spewing out their concerns for him, and he usually stuck to ignoring them or giving them the finger, but hearing it from you was an entirely different story. You were one of his only friends. You expressing your worry for him shouldn’t have come off as such a shock, but here he was, trying to rack his brain for something to say. Not even he was all that worried about his own wellbeing. In the end, after carefully weighing his options, he settled for bluntly telling you not to worry about him. He had been to the joint plenty of times before, and was used to doing things he wasn’t supposed to, so there was technically nothing to fret about.
“Well, just think about it, okay?” You smiled weakly, preparing to get up and leave him be. Kevin felt your weight lift from the bed, leaving behind an empty feeling devoid of any life and warmth. It felt…strange, and it gave him an odd sense of loneliness he often drowned out with an immense amount of drinking. Without much thought, his hand reached out for your arm, holding onto your sleeve with a firm grip. You stopped in your tracks, looking over your shoulder with haste and confusion.
“What’s up?” You inquired calmly, turning to face him in full with an arched brow. Kevin simply tugged, refusing to say a word as he avoided your stare. He didn’t want you to go. It didn’t take long for your heart to melt, a vulnerable smile etching itself over your expression as you patiently hovered your face just before his. Brushing back a few stands of his raven hair, you placed a loving kiss over his forehead, resulting in his eyes shutting as he relished in the feeling as much as he could.
“You’re something else…” You shook your head, deciding to slip into bed with him. It wasn’t uncommon for the both of you to sleep in the same space. Neither one of you had commented on it, and it soon grew to become a silent and unspoken form of shared affection.
Twisting his body to put out his cigarette in the discarded cup of water, he returned to meet you face to face, his forehead resting against yours. Your hands laid intertwined in the space left between your bodies, legs mindlessly tangled under the sheets. Not many words needed to be shared when it came to you and Kevin. There was a mutual understanding that came with your friendship, and you knew that better than anything.
As you both drowsily mumbled about the random thoughts that occurred in your minds, you couldn’t help but feel a wave of tension ease from your shoulders. The more you listened to his voice, committed his face to memory, the more things felt like they were gonna be okay, and that was a feeling you could bask in for a while.