Under the Influence (Benchtrio Troublemakers AU)

Chapter 2

Thank you for reading this. It means a lot <3. I hope you guys enjoy this one :)

TW for this chapter: Overdosing, minor using drugs, slight mentions of trauma, underage drinking, swearing, and eating disorders. 

Numb. Everything was numb. Numbness isn't the greatest feeling in the world, but it beats feeling like shit. It's not happiness. If you feel that all the time it eventually means nothing to you. In a way, numbness feels as if you're drowning but it doesn't hurt. The water feels nice as it steals your oxygen and floods into your lungs, but there is no water. Only air. I make this revelation as I'm shaken out of my dream. My senses quickly return to me after I open my eyes and am met with a frantic Toby and the cold concrete of the abandoned warehouse we like to hang out in.

"Ranboo Ranboo!?"

Toby's frantic voice filled my ears.

"Toby...?" My sore throat croaked out.

"Oh thank goodness. Ranboo you dick!! I thought you were dead!"

"Toby?"

The ringing in my ears stops and distant police sirens replace it.

"Ranboo, now that you're awake we have to get moving."

"What happened?" I ask while grabbing my throbbing head.

"Well after you passed out Tommy said he was going to steal us something to eat. Then 20 minutes later I get a text saying he's being chased and that he can't go home until he loses them, but he apparently is coming here and giving us some of the stuff, so we can split up. So up on your feet ya gotta be ready to move mate."

"Alright, Toby. Sorry for worrying you. Just some shitty things from my past that I remembered recently. I really needed it to go away and I guess I took too much."

"No apologizing mate, you can always just talk about it with me."

"I know it's just I don't want to put all that baggage on you."

Toby scoffs.

"Hey, I got my own trauma, dickhead. We could trauma swap so we each share the 'baggage.'"

Loud footsteps startle us as Tommy runs in, hands filled with food, supplies, cigarettes, and alcohol.

"Hurry up, you twats and grab something!"

Toby and I race to Tommy. Toby immediately swipes the alcohol, so I opt for the supplies and cigarettes. Tommy gets stuck with the food as more loud footsteps come from behind him. We don't wait and start bolting in different directions. I head the way home that goes by the pier.

After a while of running, with no footsteps following me, I arrived at the pier. I stopped to catch my breath and stared out into the ocean. The water is still and menacing. Like it could easily swallow you whole. I remember what I'm supposed to be doing and head home.

When I get up the stairs to our shitty apartment, I find one of Phil's care packages in front of our door. I pick it up and head into the apartment. I unpack the several meals Phil left for us and put them in the fridge. I took the money and put it on the table. It was no use hiding it; Toby always found it. I picked up the things I carried home from the warehouse and looked at them. Tommy had stolen chapstick, bandaids, bandage wraps, several packs of cigarettes, alcohol pads, and gauze. I put the medical things in the first aid kit with the rest of them. I put the cigarettes by money on the table.

My stomach growls so I take out the sandwich Toby stole the other day. I put it on the table and sat down. I stare at it. I can't bring myself to pick it up and put it in my mouth, so I just stare. A solid two minutes pass and I can't face the sandwich anymore. So I leave it there on the table and walk over to my drug stash. I pick up a few pills from the box and swallow them. I sigh and go lie down on our couch. I close my eyes and let my mind drift.

The door slams open. My eyes shoot open and I quickly sit up from the couch. Tommy and Toby are both hunched over and breathing very heavily.

"What happened to you guys?"

"Lots...of.......running..." Toby wheezes.

"I bet." I say while taking the stuff out of their hands and putting them in their respective places.

I let them have five minutes to steady their breathing before asking, "What happened?"

Tommy answers, "well I went to a nearby gas station and first planned on only stealing us a few snacks and just pocketing them, but they had my favorite crisps and cigarettes and one of Toby's favorite beers, so I pretended like I was going to pay so I could ask for the cigarettes and after getting them I just ran. Before you two make fun of me, I know it was really fucking stupid. And I'm sorry for almost getting caught like that."

"Ok I'm glad you'll never do something like that again, but what exactly happened to you two? What took so long?"

"It turned out that there was more than one person chasing Tommy. The clerk at the gas station and someone else in the store. We both had to lose someone before we could sprint home. The guy following me was so fucking fast mate; I need to eat something stat."

Toby started to walk over to the fridge (past Tommy who had moved to smoke a cigarette in the bathroom and me who was still sat on the couch), but stopped when he spotted the sandwich that had been sitting out of the fridge for who knows how long.

"I'm going to eat this sandwich."

"Alright, suit yourself, but it's been out of the fridge for like an hour."

"Mate, that's like a prime sandwich eating temperature. Especially with a beer," he says while turning around and opening the fridge again.

I smiled at his stupid logic and decided to lay back down on the couch. I closed my eyes and tried to relax but a question bubbled up to the surface of my mind.

"Hey Toby,"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you go up to me that day?"

"Why?"

"Yeah why?"

"Do you want me to be honest?"

"Yes."

"It's because in that moment you reminded me of myself in a dark part of my life and I didn't want anyone else to have to experience something like that."

I didn't reply for a minute, so I could process his statement. In the end I only managed to say: "Thank you."