SOBER FEELINGS - Joonas Porko

17 - guess I have to play along then

"Okay but before all of you get in could you please-" No one besides Aleksi and me seemed to care about what Joel initially had to say. The large group of men trampled past Joel, their voices echoing through the hallways of the building.

"You know what, nevermind." The vocalist sighed as he watched his band mates and the crew members rush towards the bathroom, their shoes producing shrill, squeaking noises at the contact with the slick parquet floor.

Aleksi and I decided to be polite guests and took off our shoes before we entered Joel's flat. To be honest now that about ten guys had stepped inside without removing their shoes from their feet, the dark-haired one and I really couldn't make a difference anymore but still the gesture seemed to be highly appreaciated by the blonde vocalist.

"I think I need to wash my hands." Aleksi clapped his hands together a few times just to show off how sticky they were from the remains of dried beer on his skin. Then he headed in the direction of Joel's bathroom, where all the other guys were forming a line and pushing each other around impatiently.

I was just watching how Tommi shoved Niko into the bathroom when I felt the weight of Joel's hand on my shoulder.

"Since you are the only one who is not fighting over getting into that bathroom, could you help me out with the drinks?" I felt a little bad for the blonde vocalist. Joel looked already quite exhausted from his energetic performance and now he also had to put up with a bunch of chaotic drunks in his home. Joel's naturally tired looking eyes now looked even more tired due to the smudged eyeliner that framed them.

"Yes, of course." I answered and smiled at Joel. It was hard to hold his gaze sometimes because he was so much taller than me. I had to look up and bend my neck the whole time while we were talking.

"Perfect. Off to the balcony, follow me." The vocalist made a quite akward looking movement with his right hand while he started to lead the way past the yelling men, looking back at me every few meters to make sure that I was still following him until we reached the balcony.

"You think you can carry one of these?" Joel picked up one of the beer crates that were piled up on the balcony with ease. His face didn't show the slightest sign of effort. With a clean motion he lifted the beer crate up to his chest, the muscles in his arms now visibly tensed but not overworked.

"Of course I can. Nothing easier than that." I bragged after observing how easy it had been for Joel to pick up the weight and eagerly attempted to lift one of the remaining beer crates. I managed to lift the weight up to my chest but it was a lot harder than I expected it to be after seeing Joel's almost casual performance. It was a miracle to me how the blonde one's slender arms were able to carry such a heavy weight while he showed not the slightest sign of a struggle.

I grunted heavily as Joel and I were carrying the heavy weight into his open kitchen that was directly across from his living room. Some of the boys were already taking their seats on the couches, letting out cheering noises once they saw Joel and me arrive with a bunch of beer bottles in our hands. In a matter of seconds the guys were surrounding us like a swarm of flies and Joel and I blindly handed out one beer after another.

"To us guys and another amazing show." Niko yelled and everyone clinked bottles with each other. A loud "Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!" filled the room before all of us collectively started to throw our heads back.

I already felt a little light-headed from the cans of beer and the wine as the sparkling liquid ran down my throat but I thought that a few sips of beer in good company really couldn't hurt. Everyone was chatting lively, almost a little too lively because I could barely hear my own words.

"So, Joonas." Olli said and slightly rammed his elbow into the guitarist's side to which Joonas responded with a surprised snort as he almost choked on his beer.