Smile for the Camera (Harry Styles x OC)

Caring for Kaden

     I made it to Kaden's apartment in record time. We've been to each other's houses a million times before, so the route from work to his building is etched into my brain and practicaly reflex to drive there. We have keys to each other's apartments as well, so I can let myself in as soon as I find a parking spot along the street.

     I don't see anyone on my way up given that it's the beginning of the week on a workday. Everyone is at work, like Kaden should have been. But turns out, he's too drunk to do anything but wallow around at home. I wonder what he's wallowing about anyway. He said he started drinking last night because he was sad, but I wonder what it was about. I hope nothings wrong with his parents! They aren't together anymore, but they're both lovely people. I can't think of anything else that would send Kaden into such a spiral. He does have mates outside of me, but they aren't as close as he and I are. He does have a big heart though, if something happened to one of them, he would feel it.

    Whatever sent him into this downspin, I'm here to pull him out of it. I unlock his door and let myself in.

     "Kaden?" I call softly. Believe it or not, I've been on the wrong end of a hangover twice before, and both times it was loud sounds that absolutely sent me over the edge.

     I shut the door behind me and set my handbag and keys on the kitchen counter.

    "Kaden?" I repeat, a bit louder.

     "Hello," he mumbles, stumbling into the common area from his bedroom, nearly tripping through the doorway and falling flat on his face.

     His blond hair is sticking up in all directions and his brown eyes are glassy and rimmed with puffy red lids. Has he been crying too? He's wearing a dirty white t-shirt, complete with a hole near the bottom and several mysterious stains on both the front and back. The most prominent being a very obvious alcohol spill all down the front from unsteady hands. He's wearing grey sweatpants that are only slightly less dirty than the shirt. He's barefoot, and his footsteps sound sticky as he walks across the hardwood floor to me. Gross.

     "What did you do to yourself?" I whisper as he runs a hand through his messy hair and then drags it down over his face.

     He groans and sways a bit on his feet. "I didn't do this to myself, you did."

     I furrow my brow. I did? What does he mean? Before I get a chance to ask him, he continues.

     "Is the room spinning around you too, or is it just me?"

     He takes another step, crossing his legs so far past one another that he keens forward. I barely make it in time to catch him and hold him upright. "It's just you, mate, let's sit you down."

     I walk him into his room, and, once we get close enough to his bed, I unceremoniously give him a little shove so he falls onto the soft blankets. Then, I go to his closet and rifle through the clean clothes to find him something better to wear. He smells something awful and no one likes to be dirty and sad. It's ok to be sad, as long as you look fabulous while doing it.

     I glance back at Kaden's sprawled form on his bed, almost asleep with his mouth open. Ok, maybe not fabulous. Maybe we'll just have to settle for comfortable and clean.

     Again, I have to wonder what made him so upset that he drank this much. He's never been this way, so it must have been something big for him to react so dramatically. That can wait though. The worst thing I could do is bring up the stressor, that just might make him want more. We can deal with it after he's in his right mind again.

    Just as I've found another pair of sweatpants, clean ones, and a black t-shirt, stainless, I hear a wretching sound behind me. I whirl to see Kaden bolting upright and staggering for the bathroom. He just makes it in time to avoid making a mess everywhere.