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Anthony’s eyes ached. The wheel had almost spun Hanbon. Almost, because he’d been sitting downstairs in the office, editing for hours now. He’d been holding in the urge to pee, swearing to himself mentally that if he got up, he wouldn’t be able to get back into the groove.
He wishes he’d still been trying to beat the eye of Cthulhu and the wall of flesh.
Keys jingle. Silence for a moment, when keys jingle again and hit the door without direction now. They scrape the door, and the silence comes back. It’s Will.
Thump. A bang at the door. Anthony doesn’t wait for Will to break the door down, and jolts up almost immediately before Coy or Bon notice.
He’s stumbling through the office door when Will flings the front door wide open. Anthony stumbles back, in time not to get swung straight in the face, but just late enough to get hit pretty hard in the shoulder.
Wood slams straight into his collarbone, unforgiving, and very, very apparently hitting some sort of nerve. “Fuck-“,
Anthony grunted, eyes shut tight and struggling to keep it together, before Will came crashing down onto him.
They clashed roughly against each other and hit the floor with a thud, way too loud for Anthony’s taste. Will’s neck was all up in his face. He reeked of beer. Badly.
“Mmm…” Will mumbled incoherently, maybe talking to Anthony, maybe to himself. He crawled off Anthony, or, down? Making himself a bed out of Anthony’s knee.
“Dude, are you good?” Anthony’s hands felt around behind him, trying to sit up. Will was slouched against his leg, groaning with his eyes closed.
“Too much.. too.. t-“ Will’s senseless ranting was cut off when he began to gag,
Anthony freaked.
“Okay, Will, get up with me man,” He felt a shiver down his spine, and the hairs on his arms rose. He’s never dealt well with puke. And Will was now dry heaving all up in Anthony’s jeans. Anthony swore he was about to scream.
“Will- Okay, okay, you’re okay, get up-“ He reassured him, before pulling Will up with a grunt. He repeated this to Will, but mostly to himself, looking everywhere else other than the drunk man in his arms, terrified of being projectile-vomitted on.
He held his breath as he helped Will up the stairs, Will’s arm wrapped around Anthony’s shoulder.
Gag after gag, Anthony held it in, dragging him up the stairs and down the hall as quietly as he could. Hanbon and Coy had fallen asleep watching Gilmore Girls after coming back from the club, and they were exhausted enough as is.
“Will, you’re fine, here,” Anthony struggled to open the door, one hand carrying Will, the other holding Will’s arm on his shoulder. He let the arm go and twisted the doorknob quickly, hand back on Will’s arm again and stumbled into the bathroom.
Anthony still needed to pee, but the fear of Will puking all over him zipped his bladder tight. “Anthony-“ He hurled it all into the toilet before he could finish, and Anthony instinctively dropped Will.
“Oh shit, Will, I—“ Will gripped onto the toilet seat weakly, barely lifting his arm enough to give Anthony a thumbs up.
Anthony hesitated, but forced himself to give Will a small pat on the shoulder. “I’ll be right back Will, I’ll get the water, stay here, Okay?”
Anthony flinched at the distant sounds of retching behind him as he walked away, shakily grabbing a glass and filling it up like his life depended on it.
Why me. Why me, why me, I hate this, why me—
When he got back, Will had stopped puking so much, but was almost passed out on the toilet, knees dead and arms hanging to his sides. His forehead rested against the lid. He looked like he’d overdosed.
Anthony grimaced internally. Not out of disgust for his friend, just, the fear. He still felt shaky.
He stood there for a moment, contemplating on what to do next, when Will’s palms weakly felt around the floor.
Anthony shoved the glass onto the sink corner, rushing over, but froze when he’d almost touched him. It’s okay. It’s just puke. It’s human. You puke. Everyone pukes. Puke.. fuck.
He closed his eyes shut and pulled Will back, sitting him up against the bathroom wall.
Will looked awful. Drool and chunks of the food his stomach had rejected spotted his chin, and the corners of his lips. His eyes were glassy, his eyelids shiny and barely open.
“Will..” Anthony sat and stared at him. With pity. Empathy? He wasn’t sure. Something sad, something soft. He felt for Will.
He reached for the toilet paper behind Will’s head, and nervously wiped away the puke running down Will’s chin. He threw it immediately into the pool of puke already in the toilet.
Gross.
He reached up and grabbed the water from the edge of the sink, trembling, but holding it out to him still.
Will.. did not move. Anthony was screaming inside. Tense, he held Will’s head up, “I’m going to help you, Okay? Please don’t choke.”
Will only looked at Anthony, then closed his eyes as Anthony let the water slip down his throat slowly.
The water slid down his throat like it was bringing him back to life, and Anthony watched as Will desperately swallowed the slow stream down.
His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. Anthony swallowed too.
Will looked a mess. But Anthony didn’t feel sorry anymore. Well, he did. But he felt something else. Odd.
“Carol’s not gonna be happy,” Anthony sighed. Will finished the water, and Anthony lowered the glass. Will’s brows furrowed.. “Who?”
“Your girlfriend,” Anthony clarified, clearing his throat. His girlfriend.
“Oh yeah” Will smiled. “I should call her-“
“Not right now buddy,” Anthony helped Will up, holding him by the shoulders. Will rocked back and forth, not completely able to stand up-right.
“C’mon, let’s get you to bed,” Anthony slung Will’s arm over his shoulder once again, exhaling deeply in order to ready himself. Puke and Modelo assaulted his sense of smell.
“Do I smell?” Will asked softly. Anthony strained his arm trying to fix Will’s bed with one hand, “A lot”.
He frowned. Anthony didn’t see this.
He finished setting the bed and Will collapsed onto the mattress immediately. Anthony jumped back, sighed, and began to shove Will’s legs to the side, attempting to tuck him into bed the right way.
“I’m at my bed nowww, just get me water ‘nthony,” Will groaned, bent awkwardly into an ‘L’ shape.
“I’ll do that, we just need to get you into bed first,” He bit his lip, shoving his hands under Will’s back and knees.
“Alright, I’m gonna carry you. On one, two, three—“ Anthony trembled when lifting Will, flipping him over and hissing when Will’s weight crashed back down onto his strained fingers.
“ ‘you ‘kay?” Will mumbled sadly, and Anthony only nodded, stifling a groan. It was dark, and the only light coming in was from the hallway, shining through the door.
“What time is it..” Will croaked, feeling around Anthony. “Why are you— stop touching me,” He protested, audibly yelping when Will’s hand suddenly grabbed his crotch. He scrambled backwards,
“Where’s your phone, what time-“ Anthony swatted Will’s hands away, and scrambled to find his phone before Will could keep playing touchy-feely with him. “Two-fifteen— Two-fifteen, Will—“
Will pulled Anthony roughly into an embrace, hugging him tightly. Anthony froze. Puke. Puke, the puke—
“Thank you, ‘nthony,” Will muttered. So quiet Anthony almost didn’t hear it. Close enough to his ear that he could, close enough that the words landed hot onto his neck.
Something shifted inside Anthony. Something familiar was creeping up on him. Something warm.
Anthony’s eyes widened when he realized what had gotten him so hot, and pushed Will away without hesitation.
A hand covered his mouth, then flew to cover his.. something, instead. “Sorry. Sorry. I— Y’know, emetophobia. Yeah. Puke. Sorry, Will.”
Will only smiled. “Yeah, sorry. Thank you though.”
“Yeah,” Anthony swallowed hard, “Yeah.”
Anthony never bothered to sleep that night.
“Anthony?” He jolted awake, groaning. He squinted his eyes, grumbling.
“Anthony, you fell asleep editing again”, Bon frowned.
“Oh.”
“Sorry.”
Anthony’s bladder was still full.