All Along

Raw Emotion

Pain, pain, pain. That's the first thing Bad's mind thought of when he woke up that afternoon. He could feel his insides churning, twisting, and untwisting with the familiar sting of alcohol sickness. The grumbling deep in his stomach simmered in as he opened his eyes gradually. His whole face felt weighted and stuffy, his nose runny, his head pounding with an unwelcome rhythm. He was overly warm, sweat from the night sticking to every limb on his body, causing him to feel damp. His comforter was clinging all over him.

He reached his hand for his phone that lay on his bed stand next to him and took a glance at the time. 5 P.M. He rubbed the crust from his eyes and let out a disgruntled groan. Not only had he already missed Skeppy's stream, which he was supposed to have been on, but he had also woken up far too late in the day. He sat up, his eyes catching his reflection in the mirror that sat above his dresser. His chestnut hair was messy, sticking up awkwardly in different places, his eyes were dark with eyebags and his face glistening with sweat. The blue T-shirt he had thrown on yesterday hung loosely from his body - since it was at least a size too big - and it was also crumpled from him sleeping throughout the night. He looked like how he felt, a wreck that no one bothered to clean up.

Bad looked at the notification feed on his phone, seeing that the first notification was a missed call from Skeppy. His nose scrunched up in regret as his finger swiped left, dismissing the reminder. Bad noted to himself that he would apologize to him later, but Skeppy was the last person he wanted to talk about. His finger continued to swipe down through the feed, past all the Twitter notifications and the alarms he had slept through. He glanced over each Discord message until his thumb stopped swiping on one that caught his attention. A Discord message from Quackity.

Suddenly all of last night's events instantaneously flashed before his eyes. Oh yeah, Bad grimaced. His mind played back each excruciating detail the night. He had a total breakdown. Quackity just had to think of him as some pathetic excuse of a person, right? Rarely was he vulnerable with anyone, let alone Quackity, a man who he had only known for half a year. Bad was sure Quackity was going to laugh at him, spit it in his face and call him a loser. Bad couldn't blame him though. After that mess, who wouldn't?

Bad took one sole finger and tapped the message. Hesitantly, he watched the Discord app launch. hey bad just checking in on u. I really hope ur doing ok man. also, if you want to u can join my jackbox stream later today but obviously u don't have to. Bad rubbed his eyes, feeling a bite of emotions stack up behind them. Bad was stunned, he hadn't expected him to be so. . . caring? Not that Bad didn't think Quackity could be caring, he just didn't think it would be toward him, especially after last night.

Bad wasn't really a fan of Jackbox streams - most of the jokes in them were usually at his expense - but he felt so obligated now. But there was also something else enticing him to join. Was it loneliness? Fear of being left out? Bad didn't know. All he did know is that he definitely needed some sort of distraction.

Bad began typing out a reply, Yeah I'll join. Who's all playing?

A few moments later, Bad got an answer. Me dream george sapnap karl and you if youre still in. again dont force urself if you honestly dont want to, even tho we'll miss you there you dont have to play.

Bad sat there, baffled. Was there something wrong with Quackity? Although Bad appreciates the nice words, it was just so unusual for him to be this direct about something like this. Bad knew Quackity wasn't the type of guy to fake this sort of thing, he had been around him long enough to know that, but why all the sudden? Bad had known him for months and this is the first time he had seen Quackity do anything like this toward him. Bad cautiously typed, Seriously, when did you get so nice to me?