boxer ⋆ luke hemmings ✔️

11. Corey Hemmings.

Warning: References to sexual and domestic abuse in this chapter.

Eddie Blaire was completely and utterly miserable when he was sober.

It was like taking candy away from a child at the funfair. First they cry, throw a tantrum, and then try to get it back. All Eddie did was cry; he'd save the tantrum for later once Luke was in enough of a good mood to actually get him a new bottle of Whiskey.

Maybe this was his punishment, Eddie thought. Ever since he accidentally grabbed onto the young girl back at Luke's match a while ago, the boxer had been a little wary of him. But Luke needed Eddie all the same, so there was nothing much he can do.

They were sitting in Luke's car, the shittiest mode of transportation Eddie had ever been in, and the temporarily sober man was left to do nothing but listen as his alcohol provider chattered on.

"...Then when you get there, tell her you'll have him home by six, seven at the latest. And then say goodbye smiling, because she won't be curious then."

Eddie had to hold his eye roll back. He had heard this numerous times before- some from a stressed Luke, some from an angry Luke, some from an excited Luke. Fortunately, Luke was giddy this time; a sign that there would be a definite bottle of Jack Daniels for Eddie later on.

"I think you're forgetting who I am," Eddie noted, rubbing his eyes with the pads of his fingers, "This isn't exactly news to me. I could literally sneak the kid out of the window and Jane wouldn't give a shit,"

"Don't say that." Luke's eyebrows furrowed. He didn't like thinking of the possibility that Corey wasn't being well looked after. He didn't try to hide the fact that he despised his child's foster mother, but he'd rather her take care of him than nothing at all.

"A'right, I'm sorry. Look, long story short, I'm doing this. And you're getting me a drink when I take him back home tonight,"

"Don't I always?"

"You do," Eddie slammed the car door shut, stretching a little before combing his ginger hair back, "I'm just reminding you."

"No need for a reminder," Luke shook his head, before rolling the windows back up and blasting some loud music on the radio, "Now get in there, and get me my son."

Eddie didn't have to be told twice. This was a common occurence for the both of them; made even more frequent ever since his older sister, Jane Blaire, told Luke that he couldn't see his son anymore.

He was practically the little messenger between Luke and Corey. He liked to think that he was basically the little kid's foster uncle, seeing as he took him out whenever Jane was too busy to and brought him to his actual father.

He'd spend the day with Luke, and at the end of it, Eddie would take him back to Jane and it was as if nothing sneaky had happened. He wanted to ask Luke if that's why he even bothered to keep him around: to use him. Then again, Eddie used Luke just as much as he was being treated like a doormat himself, only in the sense of alcohol. It didn't really matter to him.

Nevertheless, Luke liked Eddie. Sure, he was a scumbag at times, and a little bit of an idiot, and he was loopy to the point where he was convinced everyone was out to kill him with a loaf of cyanide-injected bread, but that didn't necessarily mean that he didn't make a good friend.

Eddie didn't have to go through the trouble of sobering up every weekend- which was a very difficult task for him to do, seeing as he spent a good portion of his life drunk- but he did, and it was all because he wanted to help Luke see his son.