Drugs or love?

Chapter one - Relapse

How long had it been again? A few months? Fuck, Jason didnt know for sure. It had been way too long for his liking. Kori, Roy and himself split ways a while ago and since then he hadnt heard from Roy much. At first Jason would ring his phone once a week. But there was never an answer. All he heard was Roys voice mail.

'Hey! I don't actually listen to these messages. But leave one anyways!'

So, he began to call every few days, hoping that Roy would notice the missed calls and maybe call him back. But he had no such luck. It was past a joke. Jason hadnt heard from the archer in ages and he couldnt help but worry.

'What if he was dead somewhere? What if he had completely lost it and went off the grid? What if he relapsed?'

Jason knew how much trouble the ginger had with drinking and drugs. Heroin was his major problem. He would shoot up on the daily. Well he used to. He got help and stopped that shit... Okay okay. Jason was no angel either. He was an alcoholic and he smoked cigarettes and on occasion, cannabis. But he would never do anything else. Besides considering what happened with Joker and dying and whatnot, he's doing alright. Other people who experienced what he did probably would have turned out ten times as fucked up than Jason.

His mother Catherine Todd died of a drug overdose when he was younger. He saw what drugs can do to someone. What someone will do when theyre desperate. Jason tried to help her. But he didnt succeed. From that day on, he promised himself he wouldnt end up like that. Instead he just ended up being a vigilante and orphan. No big deal.

Anyways, currently Jason had arrived at Roys apartment building in Star City. It was shitty and run down to say the least. But Jason's hideout wasnt too great either. The sun outside the building blazed brightly, warming the citizens skin with its heat. There was not one cloud in the sky to block the sunlight. But unfortunately, the hallway Jason was walking down didnt have any windows so he couldnt experience the same warmth or see with natural lighting. In fact, the lighting emitted from the bulbs on the ceiling in the hall were pretty dim. The ex-robin had to slightly strain his eyes to see the numbers on the doors. He adjusted his brown leather jacket as he walked. It wasn't zipped up, so you could see the dark red shirt underneath. It seemed to cling to his body, contouring his muscles.

When Jason saw the number 23 he stopped and turned to face it. One of the metallic letters had half fallen off, so it was actually hanging upside down. This was Roys place. For what Roy could build, Jason would have thought he would had fixed this simple thing ages ago. He guessed his friend had better things to do.

Jason had been here a few times. Usually they would have a few drinks after a mission went well. It was a small celebratory thing. Well honestly, even if missions went to shit, they would still drink together. "Roy!" Jason shouted as he formed his hand into a fist and hit the wooden door a few times. There was a doorbell, but Jason didnt know if it worked on not. "I know youre in there! Open up!".

He sounded pissed. And he was. He planned on having a stern talking to with his friend. Jason had to drag his ass all the way here, from Gotham, all because Roy couldnt answer his fucking phone. How inconsiderate. Well he would yell at him after he made sure Roy was okay. That was the reason for the whole visit. To make sure the ginger was alright.

Jason stood on the other side of the door impatiently, tapping his foot slightly on the ground. Roy hadn't answered the door, and probably wasn't going to. So, Jason decided to grip the doorknob and wriggled it. But the door didn't open.

"Locked" he muttered as he shook his head in irritation. This was probably the first time Roy had ever locked his door, from what Jason knew of anyways. But lucky for the male, he knew where Roy kept a spare key. Roy would usually need his spare key in case he got drunk somewhere and locked himself out, which happened more often than not. Surprised?

After kicking the doormat a bit with his combat boots, Jason leaned over and grabbed the silver key. He slid it into the doorknob easily and turned it to the left. You could hear a slight 'click' as the key worked the lock. The door was now unlocked. So this time when Jason turned the handle, the door swung open slowly. A stale smell wafted out of the apartment and immediately travelled into Jason nose. He almost gagged. This smell wasn't a good sign. And neither was the sight he saw next.

The door opened up into a dark living room. The curtains were pull closed, so Jason had to strain his eyes furthermore. The furniture consisted of a three seater-sofa, a coffee table, a small-ish tv and a few other simple things like lamps and a shelf. The shelf was usually full of alcohol. But the amount had dwindled. And it was obvious by the bottles on the ground that that's how the bottles came off the shelf. The coffee table was messy. And there was alarming things on top of it. There were thick elastic bands on it, a collection of new and used needles, a bag of white powder and a credit card half coated in the powder. There was also formed lines next to the card, of the powder. They were drugs. And Jason knew exactly what ones too. Cocaine and... heroin.

"You stupid fuck" Jason growled through gritted teeth. That was when he noticed Roy laying long ways across the couch. There were light stains on the grey fabric blanket thrown over his body. Roy looked like shit. And that's me putting it in nice terms too. The gingers hair looked oily and mattered. Her certainly hadn't showered or brushed it for x amount of days. Roy's body also looked lankier. He wasn't as muscular as Jason, but he looked significantly skinnier then when Jason last laid his eyes on him. And his skin had also lost colour, making him look sickly pale. His eyes were closed, but Jason already knew what they were going to look like. Bloodshot and his pupils would probably be dilated from the drugs in his system.

The archer was sleeping. But you would have thought he was dead if he wasn't snoring quietly. The drugs probably put him to sleep after having his high. Somehow, he looked peaceful. But he wasn't going to be for much longer.

Jason was beyond furious. Though part of him was also saddened and disappointed in his friend. Seeing him in this kind of state really fucking sucked. Thoughts were racing through his mind.

'What made Roy relapse? Why didn't he reach out for help? How long had he been like this? Why didn't I come sooner? I should have known...'

Jason approached the couch and didn't hesitate to pull the blankets off Roy's body. Underneath he was wearing a pair of red boxers and a slightly torn black tank top. Jason reached down to the shirt he was wearing and grabbed a fist full of it in his grip. He then pulled Roy up, so he was in a sitting position. Though the older male didn't really respond. All that Jason got from him was a disgruntled groan. "Wake up Harper" he barked.

Hearing Jason's voice made Roy slightly open his eyes. But it took a few moments for him to focus on his somber surroundings and on Jason's face. But when he saw his friend standing over him, his eyes broadened. He now realised what was going on and who he was. "Jaybird?" he mumbled groggily.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Jason wasn't supposed to find out.

Fuck