in love for the night // nate jacobs \\

40

lei looked at rue, noticing her pupils were dilated and had a different demeanor to herself. but lei didn't know much about rue's sobriety. she only knew what rue wanted her to know which wasn't much. well she heard whispers about the overdose here and there, but she never heard it from the horses mouth. "hey rue."

rue noticed how lei's eyes were slightly puffy, she was wearing jogging pants and a hoodie and her hair was messily put into a pony tail. she could tell she had been crying and she knew as her friend she should comfort her, but right now she was too high to do anything. "lei, come in." rue stepped aside, welcoming her in as if it was her own home.

lei stepped in and waited for rue to close the door before the brunette lead the girl up the steps of the home. it wasn't long till the smell of marijuana hit her nose and she came face to face with a boy she didn't know or had never seen. taking in his demeanor and the way he looked. not particularly her cup of tea but his rough exterior made him slightly attractive. she wondered if rue and him had something. that's something she wouldn't dare to ask.

"elliot this is lei. lei, elliot," rue says curtly before taking the joint from the boys fingers and taking the longest hit, before offering it to lei as he eyed her down. he could tell she wasn't exactly comfortable, but she was a rich kid who most likely had a very sheltered life.

she smiles slightly at the boy before taking the joint into her finger tips and takes a drag of it. taking his offering. she wasn't much of a smoker but she didn't want to seem even more rude. after all she was a stranger in his home. "i didn't want to," she blows out the smoke. "intrude." she coughed slightly, using her free hand to cover her mouth.

elliot shrugs his shoulders, "no big deal. any friend of rue's is a friend of mine." he smiled at her before he takes the blunt away from her. "welcome to my home. make yourself comfortable."

she was way too comfortable. too quick. unsure of what the surroundings had in store for her. but nonetheless, lei had a weird trust in rue. if that made sense. she wasn't sure why, but she had a slight attachment to her.

"you're not sober rue." lei whispers knowing that it was a tough thing to bring out, especially in an environment where there was a new person who may or may not know the situation.

"not exactly." rue states hesitantly as she looks around the room shrugging her shoulder, avoiding eye contact. "just weed." she lied. like she did to so many but knew it was best in that situation. especially for lei, who didn't know about her addiction to the full extent.

elliot stayed silent as he watched the girl look to from rue to him. "nothing wrong with a little weed." he responds knowing that rue had just done some lines in the bathroom, but he had to cover for his friend. that's what drug addicts do, protect each other. that is until they turn on each other, for the sake of drugs.

the girl nods, "uhm do you have something else?" she asks hesitantly. he looked like the type of guy who'd have something just more than weed, but she didn't want to assume he did.

"like what?" elliot casually says as he goes to lay on his bed propping himself up on his shoulders to look at the girl.

"i had a really rough night and i just want to forget." she mutters sitting at the edge of the bed not saying much about the situation.

"boy trouble?" elliot asks hitting the nail right on the hammer. was lei really that transparent. rue shoots him a look knowing that most of lei's troubles were because of the shitty men she kept in her life. "erm sorry."

"it's ok." lei states not saying if the boy troubles were indeed the issue.

rue looks past lei and at elliot who is motioning his head towards the drawer where he kept his drugs. he caught the glimpse rue gave him and nodded his head. "yeah i got a couple of things actually. do you want to feel good or what kind of high are you looking for? what are you in the mood for feeling?"

"numb." she responds.

"what?" he cocks up his eyebrow.

"numb. i want to feel numb."

——————

nate couldn't get a hold of her. he didn't know where lei was and when he passed by her house she wasn't there. well her car wasn't there and every time he tried to contact her she was just missing. two weeks had passed and he didn't know what happened to her. he had given up after a while. deciding 2 girls were much easier to juggle than the three.

his face was still a little fucked up but he decided to go back to school. he didn't expect to see her there but he recalled the moment so abruptly. she looked beautiful, dressed in just the simplest of outfits with just an knit crop top and some jeans. he hair was pulled back into a tight bun as she laughed at something lexi told her.

he took a moment to watch her noticing she had looked way better than he had seen her. she looked happier.

lei waved bye to lexi as she walked over to elliot and wrapped an arm around him, "good morning sunshine." she teases him and smiles at rue. "you too gumdrop."

"you give her something?" elliot asks rue. "cause whatever she's on i want."

"no i thought you did."

lei smiles as she shakes her head, "no, just woke up in a good mood."

"ah so you got fucked?" elliot says.

lei side eyed him, "no."

"have you seen gray?" rue asks leaning again the wall.

"he isn't happy about picking me up fucked up out of my mind that night."

"yeah lei he's a former addict that had to take care of you after your binge. i can see where he's coming from."

lei looked down, that night was a blur. who knew when she said she wanted to feel numb would actually get to the point where she was completely incoherent. rue got scared never seeing her like this but was too scared to call the stone's and too ashamed to call kat or lexi. so she called gray. even though she didn't trust him that much especially from that situation she herself had saved lei from. she knew he'd come for her.

although lei hadn't spoken to him since the trip to mexico. he took her back to his place. he bathed her, fed her, and took care of her, those 24 brutal hours that lei wasn't herself. just a shell of a body. she was truly numb.

that was until she broke down into hysterics and gray just held her. he was upset with her when he found out she was like this because of nate but he couldn't say anything when he too was one of the major reasons she was like this. so he stood silent and ran his fingers through her hair trying to soothe her the best he could. he loved her and that's what you do for the people you love no matter how upset he was with her. you show them you love them.

lei sighs, "we're having dinner tonight, to talk about things." she responds looking up and seen nate pass by she quickly averts her gaze looking back to elliot and rue. "

"your mom still mad at you?" rue asks watching the way lei's eyes shifted her gaze.

she shakes her head, "i mean yeah i disappeared for like 2 days. but gray called the next morning and told them i was there and safe and he'd bring me over when i felt better. he made up a bullshit lie about me being sick." she hears the bell and shakes her head, "i'll see you guys later." she says before making her way towards her class. that was until she seen kat and maddy pass by her.

kat and lei's friendship wasn't the same since new years. they both had drifted apart and kat's relationship with maddy seemed to get stronger.

maddy smiled pathetically at lei before rolling her eyes laughing as she walked past. kat just seemed to ignored her presence.

lei couldn't expect much from the situation. it was high school.