Junkhead

Temptation

A seizure.

She died from a seizure. She took too much adderall. 150 milligrams. And she seized out & died on the couch at her grandmothers house.

That's what he heard from the grapevine, anyways. Briana tried her best to calm him the past few days before the funeral. She ended up having to barricade the doors of her house. She even had to drop Layne's motorcycle off over at Jerry's. He was too triggered by the death of Nicky, too disturbed. He constantly was blaming himself. He constantly was begging Briana to take him over to Jordan's to buy a gram. Just one gram. She knew just a bag of H would send him back into the cycle. She couldn't allow him to do that. He wouldn't eat, either. He spent most of his time chain-smoking. Briana tried to force him to eat but he'd always break down in hysterics, going on about how he didn't deserve to eat. About how he's "selfish". He "should've taken her to the hospital the last time he saw her".

The drive on the way to the funeral was mortifying. Briana felt horrible for him. No matter how much she tried, he still broke down and beat himself up over it.

Walking into the Catholic cathedral, the air seemed thin. It was disturbingly quiet aside from an out-of-tune organ playing. Not many people were there for Nicky's funeral.

Layne saw Nicky's poor grandmother. She was up at the front, sobbing on top of Nicky's closed casket. Nicky's corpse must've looked too graphic to keep the coffin open for the service. He felt horrible for her. For what she had to put up with, being Nicky's relative. Constantly being lied to. Abused. Stolen from.

"Hey, Layne," deep voice called from the pew behind him & Briana.

He turned around, his puffy tear-stained eyes wide. It was Mike & Erica. They both looked tired. But not the kind of sleep-deprived tired. Their eyes were glazed over, eyelids lazily drooping over them. Their cheeks were flushed as though they were burning up.

Briana gave Layne a pointed look, signaling him that it would be a bad idea to talk to them. Still, Layne pressed on, his eyes falling on Erica.

She lost a lot of weight since the last time he had seen her. Her once beautiful face was hollowed out, her blue eyes now dim & grey & lifeless. Her usually shiny perfectly straight dark hair was now dull & matted.

"How've you been, Erica...?" Layne asked, tears still streaming down his face.

She sighed, scratching at her neck. "Not too good."

His brow raised, concern filling him up as he continued to analyze her. "What do you mean...?"

"I got fired from the hospital," she muttered, those glassy eyes slanting back over to Mike.

Mike sniffed, itching his nose. "Bastards fucked her over..."

Briana's eyes got wide. She knew exactly why Erica had lost her job. She leaned over to Layne, about to whisper something into his ear, but got interrupted.

"I need a smoke, you guys wanna go outside with me?" Layne asked, his eyes glued to his old friends.

Briana had to bite her tongue when they all agreed to head outside. She clenched Layne's hand tight, worry overcoming her as she continued to study how worn out & horrible Mike & Erica looked.

"Someone messed with my drug test," Erica went on about her lost job, sucking on her cigarette. She kept having to hike her jeans back up her waist.

"You sure about that?" Briana asked. She had to. She knew exactly what was going on.

Erica gave her a look of distaste, leaning over to whisper something in Mike's ear. Mike immediately perked up, a devilish grin on his face.

"You wanna check out what we got in our car...?" Mike asked Layne, raising his eyebrows up and down at him.

Layne nodded, grunting when he felt Briana pull him back.

"Layne, I don't like this," she whispered. "This doesn't feel right..."

He sighed. "Bre, come on, let's just check it out? It's been a bad week..."

She rolled her eyes, squeezing his hand even tighter. "I'm not leaving your side, you hear me?"

He nodded, forcing a smirk, though he was obviously irritated. All four of them walked over to a big black SUV. The windows were tinted. They all got into the car.

It smelled like dope.

Briana's eyes grew wide when she noticed the charred tin foil & piles of tiny multi-colored balloons. She gasped when she saw Erica roll up her sleeve, revealing dim track marks.

Layne looked like what a starving dog would at a buffet, watching Erica as she stuck herself without even having to tie a tourniquet. She was so thin now that her veins were easily visible. She smiled lazily back up at Layne after she shot up.

"It's some good shit," she muttered, those grey eyes falling shut.

Mike laughed, turning around in the passenger seat of the vehicle so he could lightly tap her against her cheek to wake her up. "Don't want you nodding off, sweetie... Last time your heart stopped."

She grinned, her eyes back on Layne. "We could share some...you'd have to smoke it though, we're outta needles..."

Mike smirked at Layne. "Just for old-time's sake? Wouldn't be bad for you to do it just once, I mean you're obviously going through a rough time." He watched Layne's hesitation, making him roll his eyes. "Come on. I miss getting twisted with you--"

"LAYNE! We're getting the HECK out of here!" Briana shouted, swinging the car door open. She tried to tug him out, her eyes watering when she saw him sitting there, giving her a pleading look.

"I mean, he's right, Bre..." Layne muttered, licking his lips. "Just one time wouldn't hurt..."

She violently tugged him out of the car, dragging him over to her jeep.

"GODDAMN YOU ALWAYS DATE SOME REAL BITCHES YOU KNOW THAT?!" Mike shouted from the SUV.

Before Briana could stick up for herself, he slammed the SUV door shut. Her face burnt with rage, forcing Layne into the passenger seat of her jeep. She jumped into her's.

"That was MESSED UP, Layne!" Briana shrieked. Her eyes softened when she looked down at him, seeing him breaking out in sobs again.

"Goddamnit," Layne whimpered. He covered his face with his hands. "Goddamnit, why can't I just get the fuck away from it, it's like it's following me..."

Briana wrapped her arms around him, sighing. "It's your friends, Layne..."

"The only fucking friend I have is Jerry," Layne spat, giving her a look. He sniffled back more tears, curling up. A grimace creased his face. "It smelled so fucking good in there, Bre... I want it so bad now... Oh my god I fucking need it... I miss it so much, WHY DO I MISS IT?! Why?!" He broke down sobbing. He glared down at his scarred arm, running his fingers across the bumps of his old track marks. "Why do I feel I need something that's going to kill me?"

Briana held him close to her, allowing him to sob into her shoulder. She rubbed his back, telling him quietly over and over that it'll be okay.

He glared back up at her, determination set in his eyes. "We need to get the fuck outta here."

She looked confused. "What...what do you mean?"

"We need to move out of Washington... We can't stay here... At least I can't. I'll fucking relapse if I stay here," he bit his lip, eyeing her down. "I really don't want to relapse, Bre, if I go back to it I'll die..." More tears bursted from him, his arms wrapped tightly around his abdomen. "I don't want to die, Bre, I finally know what happiness is... I don't want to die..."

Briana nodded, wiping the tears away from his face. "I'll talk to my boss about it, okay?"

He held her tight, sniffling back more tears. "Please, Briana... I can't stay here... I'll die..."

She sighed, glaring out the window. It had started to rain. Four men came out of the cathedral, carrying Nicky's casket into the hearse. She nodded her head, her eyes tearing up, imagining Layne's lifeless body in a casket.

"I'm not going to allow you to slip, babe," she whispered into Layne's ear. Tears streamed down her face as she glared into his scared, tired eyes. "I won't ever quit on you. I love you."