𝐕𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 || 𝐁𝐀𝐃 𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐒

09 - Lavender Haze**

TW; smut, weed/alcohol, unprotected sex, mentions of std testing/birth control, etc
18+ MDNI
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VALLIE

When we get to their house, I'm grateful for the empty driveway, which means no Jolly and no Folio. Nobody else to know about this.

I round Nicholas' car to open the passenger door for Noah.

"Hey, hey." I pat his cheek to wake him up.

The singer looks up at me with glazed over, sleepy eyes. His drinks finally caught up to him, especially the last ones before we left which he claimed, "helped with the pain".

The whole bar fight was quite sobering for me, but a small bit of alcohol is still running through me, and that tiny bit is not helping me with this 6'3 drunken baby. His slim face is so beat up and while my patience is waning, I still feel guilty. While he's paper thin, when I pull on his skinny arm, he feels so heavy.

"C'mon Sebastian let's go." Nicholas finally makes his way around, snapping at Noah to get up. I'm glad Nick is here but he wasn't much fun on the way home either. He kind of reminded me of a father having to pick up his drunken teenager. It makes me wonder how many times he's done this song and dance with Noah.

Nicholas dips into the car and pulls the long-haired boy out easily. He comes to just a bit, enough to notice who's holding him and seems to relax. I notice how sleepy Noah leans into Nick and nudges his head into the crook of his neck. I can tell Nicholas isn't happy with the situation but even still, he wraps an arm tight around Noah's waist. The scene is so delicate considering the circumstances of how we got here.

Nick gestures to me to sling his right arm around my shoulders to help carry a mumbling and incoherent Noah inside. We hobble him through the front door of the empty house and by a miracle we got him upstairs to his room in one piece.

The actions of babying a drunk Noah and throwing him into bed felt all too much like déjà vu. His room was the same, if not worse, than from that night of the party. There are so many clothes and so much trash on the ground that I can barely see the floor. Nicholas and I basically used our feet to push a path through to his bed. There was only a tiny sliver of mattress even visible, the rest was piled up with just... garbage. At least, it looks like garbage. We plop him on the bit of mattress just like last time and try to navigate our way out. Just as we reach the door, there's a stir behind us followed by a sleepy groan.

"Nicky?" Noah's voice cracks.

Nicky

Nicky?

Nicholas tenses up immediately, I can't tell if it's because he doesn't like the name or if he doesn't like me hearing it.

"Nicky." He whines again, calling him over.

Nick sighs and looks at me gesturing me to go on without him. I make my way to the door and watch from behind the doorframe while he makes his way back over to the boy.

When Nicholas reaches the bed, Noah's tattooed arms swing around his waist, pressing the side of his face into Nick's tummy while he's still laying down. I squint my eyes to see what Nicholas is doing to find that he's brushing Noah's hair out of his face.

"Thank you." Noah mumbles against his shirt.

"I know." Nick replies softly.

I step out of the doorway before Nicholas turns to leave to make it seem like I hadn't just witnessed that.

Once I'm alone with Nicholas, I sense that he's fuming which is a much different vibe that the one that was just stroking Noah's hair.

"Why the fuck would you take him out drinking in the middle of the day?" He asks through grinding teeth. The way he poses the question implies that it was my idea, like it was my fault. Which I guess it half was.