Explosive

25 || Idiots and Water Bottles

~Dedicated to kerrbooklover for taking the time to read Explosive. Please check her out, she's awesome.

The rancid smell envelops us and I have to cover my nose with my sleeve. Josh is sobbing to himself, which breaks my heart and I quietly go to him. "It's okay, Josh. You're okay," I whisper soothingly while I rub his back.

He tries to look at me with tear filled eyes. His look says it all; he is deeply remorseful for tonight. Behind me, Todd and Cynthia come out from the car.

"What is on your pants?" Cynthia asks before she sits on the curb, not caring that there is vomit behind her. Her shoulders are bare but the cold doesn't seem to be bothering her.

"It's Josh's dinner," Blake says, handing me a bottle of water. Todd takes my place without saying a word to me while I use the water to rinse off my shorts.

I resist the urge to vomit as the chunks slide down my legs. Blake hands Cynthia a water bottle and then gives one to Todd. "It's for Josh," he says quietly.

I look at my cousin's friends. They would fight and get mad at each other. But in the end, they would always fall back onto each other when it mattered the most. Despite the cold night and my wet shorts, there is a warmness spreading across my body, starting from my heart and ending at the tips of my fingers.

Blake sits at the back of his truck, his jacket gone and a bottle of water in his hands. He's wearing a navy-blue sweater with a tiny white treble clef stitched near his heart. Hesitantly I sit beside him, half thinking that he is going to tell me to get lost because my shorts reek of vomit.

"Sorry about your shorts," he says, handing me a bottle. The water brings me to life and dribbles down my chin as I toss my head back to drink it hungrily.

"They were old anyway," I say to him while I study Josh and his friends.

"I hate what alcohol does to people. It fogs up the mind and stops them from thinking straight," Blake states before he also tips his head back to gulp down his water.

Cynthia is still sitting at the curb, Blake's jacket wrapped around her shoulders and her head in her hands. The exhaustion has caught up to her and she is now quiet. Behind her, Todd his helping my cousin bring the water bottle to his lips. Puke is dripping down the front of his shirt and he attempts to wipe at it with his arm.

"Your friends are-"

"Idiots, I know," Blake finishes for me, smiling at Todd who unsuccessfully tries to light his cigarette before flicking it onto the grass. "Aditi says that she could write a book about us, called Blake and the Three Idiots."

I smile at this. "I'm sure it would be a best-seller."

"Of course, you would buy it," he replies before tossing his now empty bottle behind him. It makes a soft thump when it lands which makes me jump and Blake chuckle. "But they are my friends. They were able to handle me during my worst and I should be able to do the same for them."

"That's really sweet, Blake." Todd is smoking his second cigarette of the night.

"Don't be so hard on him," Blake says to me while tipping his head in Todd's direction. "Sometimes it's the things that kill you that you can't live without."

He runs a hand through his dark hair before turning towards me. Something passes across his eyes, almost like a flame but it disappears seconds later, so quick that I think I imagined it.

There is a buzzing noise from my pocket which makes my whole body go numb. "Oh no." For a split second, I think it is my aunt calling. If she found out that Josh and I snuck out, we would be in so much trouble. Seeing that it's only Emily, my heart rate slows and I let out a sigh of relief before sitting beside Blake again.

"Was that your aunt?"

I shake head. "I thought it was. We would have been in so much trouble if it was."

"I knew you were a badass, Moore but today was crazy," he says looking up at the stars. Maybe he is looking for the Ursa Major past the city lights and pollution.

"Today was crazy," I agree and get up to help Josh back into the truck. I'm about to help Cynthia into the truck when Todd stops me.

"Don't worry, I will get her home safely," Todd says, draping an arm over her shoulders and giving me a regretful look. Blake and I don't stop him. "I know I don't say it enough but I do care about you guys." With that, he guides Cynthia into his car and drives away.