Hang on to your IQ (On Hold)

I'll ask the sea for answers.

Brian knew for a fact Stefan had been true to his word when he said he loved him, but he wanted that alcohol worse. He was making a plan to get it one way or another. He wanted to get it, even if he resulted in having a reaction to the meds and alcohol mixing. He only wanted one drop of the liquid to hit his teeth, and nothing more.

~~~~~

After the two had calmed down, Brian had lied down in Stefan's bed, unsure of what to do with himself. He looked at one wall, it held Stefan's closet and other belongings, while the other had a window, appearing to the outside world. He was only on the first floor, so he didn't get the greatest view that Brian did. Only the lot outside. It seemed like nothing to him. He wished to be home, to go drink whatever the hell he wanted.

Out in the other room, Stefan was talking to Robert about what they had talked about. It seemed to go somewhat smoothly for the man to talk with Robert about anything he desired. It seemed easy to him to keep a conversation with Robert, for Brian, it was one sided. Brian usually just would talk to himself in certain situations. Being with Robert pissed Brian off, but he was the only good drummer the band could have right now.

"So, is there anything about the show we should all know right now?" Stefan paced the room slowly, noticing every mess-up the carpenter had while putting the floor down. He knew he had to move soon, coz the whole floor might go out from under him. But that would be impossible, since he lived on the first floor. Or was it? Stef shook his head, hopefully he didn't miss what Robert had to say.

Robert answered. "It's live on T.V.. And we have to play three songs to get a certain about of money and a record deal, but that's all." Robert said this like it was nothing.

This put a lot of pressure on Stefan, he worried for Brian's state of mind. "Okay, when do you want to meet up?" If they were to be on T.V., they had to start practicing soon. Or at least before there was only a week left.

Robert muttered something under his breath. Stefan didn't care for it but wanted an answer to his small question instead. "Um...in two days. I am going to visit family tomorrow and they would be pissed off if I didn't show." That worked out for him. In a sense, Brian and Robert's minds thought alike.

"Okay, well I'll see you in two days."

"Yeah, you too. Bye Stef." Robert hung up.

"Bye." The words escaped into the phone, but came back since there was no one on the other side. Stefan got off the phone and set it down on his small table. He sighed and went to go check on Brian. It sounded like the small twenty-three year old had been up and moving around. This was a pretty good sign, the man wasn't dead. And or he was, but Stef had already pushed that from his mind.

Stefan walked down towards his room, feeling odd that he had left Brian alone. He opened the door to his somewhat small room, Brian was smoking beside the windowsill, letting everything go out while he sat in a small chair that he had pulled from the closet. Stefan didn't even remember about the chair until Brian had been sitting in it. The tall man didn't know if smoking would hurt him or not, but it seemed not to for now.

"Hey," Brian said, turning his head and letting his black hair hit his face. He took a drag from his cig. "It's quite boring not seeing anything besides the lot." He took another drag, blowing the smoke towards the window. Brian's idea for his smoking tactic had been working out pretty well for him.

Stef smirked, knowing his friend had been back to a somewhat calm state. "Yeah I know it's rather depressing, but it's what I can afford right at the moment." He sat down on the bed where Brian had laid before. "So, I called Robert."

"What did he say? Something really fucked up I'm guessing." Brian only cared slightly, just for the music part. He just started out the window, wondering how his life would be if he had never saw Stefan at the tube and them never going to school together.

Stefan cleared his throat. "No,Just that the show is going to be premiered live and were going to play on the T.V."

The tall man watched as Brian was in disbelief. His disbelief soon turned to anger. He knew that anger for Brian usually resulted in tears, if he was fine or not.

"Why the fuck didn't he get the information earlier? We're not going to be ready and- and." Brian really felt the weight of this on his shoulders. "I'm not going to play well with only two weeks practice. We're not gonna win and this will fucking suck and go to motherfucking shambles." He felt something fall from his crystal blue eye, wiping it with his sleeve. He was shaking and not even the cigarette could calm him.

He was getting too worried, like Stefan had expected. He took a long drag from his cigarette, shaking harder than before. "Fuck, this always happens to me." He covered his face with his hands and cried, tears going onto Stef's old shirt.

"Why didn't he fucking tell us before?" Brian seemed to go on and on about this, Stefan knew that he was somewhat overreacting, but Brian was Brian. He could do it if he really wanted to, he had just gotten out of the hospital anyways.

Stefan stood up, not wanting to see him shake or cry any longer. He puts his hands on Brian's shoulders, moving them to a hug. He knelt down on the floor and rested his head on Brian's small shoulder. He whispered sweet nothings in his ear to calm him down. He really needed it.

"Fuck." Brian said, just at a low enough voice Stef could only mildly hear him.

"Just calm down. Everything will go smoothly." The tall man gave Brian's cheek a kiss. "You just need to calm down Bri." Stefan's voice stopped Brian's crying, but he still shook. The twenty-one year old wanted just the calm, not the storm Brian probably had intended to come from his chest.

The smaller man turned to Stefan, latching onto him for a genuine hug. Brian cried softly on his shirt, Stefan didn't care much about it. At long as Brian got this out of his system, it would be fine.

Stef picked up Brian and laid him down in his bed, he pushed some black hair out of his face and took the cigarette from him, putting it in the ashtray by the window. Brian now was hugging his knees to his chest, whimpering and rubbing his eyes. At the moment his make-up was a smeared mess.

"Hey Bri, are you going to be okay?" Stef asked, laying beside him. The blue-eyed man, had stopped crying slowly and was looking directly at Stefan. The taller man smiled, to know everything was going to be fine.

Brian looked into his eyes. "I think I will be."

Stef put his hand on Brian's face, leaving it there on his smooth jaw. "I will be here until you are truly okay. It doesn't matter if anything comes between us, I will be here." Once the words fell from his mouth, Brian had cuddled beside Stef smiling. The two fell asleep like that, holding each other in an embrace.