SOBER FEELINGS - Joonas Porko

10 - titanic

The past few hours had been a true blast. Most of the time I had found myself mesmerized, watching the six men rehearse song after song for their upcoming live shows. Who would have thought that meeting a drunk man who suffered from memory loss would lead to such an unforgettable experience.

Now Niko, Joonas and I were heading, or more like runnig, back to Niko's apartment. It was raining and neither Niko, nor me or Joonas had anything on us that was waterproof enough to keep the rain from drenching our clothes. Luckily Niko's place was not that far away from the band's rehearsal place and after an exhausting sprint we finally arrived, all of us wet and shivering.

"Oh my god finally." A relieved sigh left my lips once the three of us stepped inside the brown-haired one's apartment. I was taking off my shoes when Niko's cat suddenly appeared. The little guy with the soft white fur meowed loudly.

"I know Rommi, I know. I missed you too buddy." Watching how the vocalist interacted with his cat, bending down to gently pat Rommi's head, was so heart-warming to watch.

"Do you remeber her? That's Lyra, my friend." Niko said and pointed right in my direction. Rommi slowly came closer to me, gracefully his little paws were levitating over the parquet floor. "Hi Rommi." I kneeled down, carefully reaching for the cat's soft fur. A quiet purr came from the little guy as I started to stroke his fur slowly.

"Are you guys hungry? There's an Itialian restaurant right down the street. Should I get us some food?" Niko suggested and Joonas and I nodded approvingly. "That sounds amazing. God, I'm so hungry." I confessed while proceeding to stroke the cat's soft fur. Right in this moment my stomach decided to growl loudly.  "Oh I believe you." Niko laughed while he was grabbing an umbrella that was laying somewhere between all those pairs of shoes he owned.

"I'll be back in a bit. Make yourselves at home. Just don't break anything while I'm gone, yeah?" He winked at Joonas who just rolled his eyes at Niko's remark. Apparently there was a backstory to the vocalist's comment that Joonas didn't like to be reminded of. "Just go get the food man." was Joonas answer before Niko disappeared, closing the door behind him.

"I need a drink." I heard Joonas mumble and for that reason stopped giving all my attention to Rommi, although the cat probably deserved it more than the man with the clurly blonde hair.

"You really think this is a good idea? Do I have to remind you what happened the last time you said that while we were together?" I asked in a mocking tone of voice and followed him into the kitchen. "Oh come on don't be so prim. There's nothing wrong with drinking a cold beer after rehearsal." Joonas answered and opened the fridge, scanning the contents in only a matter of seconds before a short laughter escaped his mouth.

"Well, well, well, would you look at that." Joonas pulled out a bottle and held it up in the air triumphantly. It was a big glass bottle filled with a clear liquid. "Please don't tell me it is what I think it is." I squinted my eyes, trying to decipher the small letters printed on the label. "Oh yes, tequila baby." Joonas cheered and opened one of the cupboards where he found three shot glasses and slammed them onto the kitchen counter.

"Just please don't drink so much that you forget me again." I said jokingly while Joonas was filling up the shot glasses with alcohol. Still there was a little hint of worry hiding somewhere behind this joke. "Noted." Joonas handed one tequila shot over to me. I hesitantly lifted the glass up to my lips and took a whiff. The alcohol smelled disgusting.

"Niko doesn't have any salt or lemons to go with this, does he?" I asked and frowned at the unpleasent smell. "No, I don't think so." Joonas threw back his head and I proceeded to do the same. The liquor tasted even worse than I remembered and I started to cough. My throat was burning but the warm feeling spreading from the back of my mouth to my stomach was quite pleasent.