Drunk Without Cause

Forty.

The picnic table was warm through their clothes as they sat at it. The sun had been heating it up for most of the day, leaving the color-stripped wood to be extra colorless on that particular late afternoon. But to Nessa and his constantly enamored eyes, it was absolutely perfect just the way it was.

A lot of things seemed perfect right then. The chirping of merry birds, the din of children playing carelessly on the nearby playground, the cheering of the girls playing basketball. But most of all it was the expressionless boy sat across from him.

They spent too much time indoors according to his parents, so Nessa reluctantly walked with Venice to the close by park that they had sat at weeks ago with the rest of their friends. Nessa couldn't help but occasionally glance over his shoulder, or pay close attention to the passing cars. He wondered if there was ever going to come a day where he wasn't scared to be alive, and that thought always made him realize that if that day did come, it was going to be a long time from then.

But he had Venice to help keep him on the right track. All he could do was dream that Venice wasn't going to grow tired of it, though he was never going to force him to keep such a close eye on him. If he found someone else that he wished to protect, then Nessa would let him go.

"I can't believe that Ilya and Kiwi are finally together." Venice suddenly said, picking at a splinter sticking out of the table.

Nessa grinned, his heart easing a bit since there was a conversation to keep him focused. "How long have they liked each other?"

Venice lifted his gaze, thinking about it for a moment. Then he attempted a half-hearted, awkward shrug. "Since they met. Which was years ago. I thought that they would never make a move."

"I'm happy for them. They've always been such a good pair." He agreed, feeling as though the sun was starting to shine upon his friends as well. Or at the very least, Kiwi and Ilya.

He was still pretty worried about Emi, Keely, and Ian, though. Things seemed to be complicated for all three of them. Emi and Keely were on talking terms again, but they no longer touched each other or talked about their dates. Whatever they spoke about was usually something simple and non-flirtatious. Nessa was glad that they were still friends despite whatever happened between them, but he also wished them the best with healing themselves and hopefully their love one day. Because if there was anything he was certain of, it was their love for each other.

However, Nessa unfortunately didn't know much about what was going on with Ian. Ever since that day in the library where he kissed him on the cheek, they hadn't spoke. Occasionally they passed by each other in the halls at school, and he could see him sat in their shared classes. But Ian had begun keeping a lower profile than usual.

It could have been for a lot of reasons, and Nessa selfishly hoped that it wasn't entirely his fault. Despite some of that anger Ian had bottled up within himself, he was a good person at heart. He just didn't have the easiest time expressing it over his outward confidence and narcissism.

But honestly, Nessa admired that about him.

Confidence and narcissism wasn't inherently a bad thing. Few people in the world seemed to care about themselves or know their own capabilities. Unfortunately, not even Ian was perfect at that. He didn't love himself either. That left Nessa wondering if anyone in the world truly did. He hoped so.

And outside of his friends and their problems, Nessa was still dealing with plenty of his own.

There was a lot of legal trouble going on when it came to ensuring that Kris would end up rotting in a prison cell like he desperately deserved. Thankfully, he had plenty of proof as to what Kris had done to Nessa, but the struggle was making sure that every charge stuck and landed Kris more and more years of captivity, and less chance for a glimmer of freedom within the next eternity.