the balcony ••• awsten knight

five

november 2016

When Awsten eventually heads back inside, he looks for Sadie. He doesn't have to search for very long, since she trips and stumbles into his arms.

"There you are!" She cheers, gripping him tightly. "I was thinking," Sadie begins, walking her fingers up his forearm, as Awsten steadies her on her feet, "you could take me back to my place...You can stay with me tonight, and we—"

"Come on, Sades," Awsten sighs, "let's just get you home."

He gets her out of the party and into the car as soon as possible, making sure that she's comfortable and that her seatbelt is clipped in securely before he gets in the driver's seat.

"D'you want me to call Claire?" Awsten asks, as he drives to Sadie's complex. "Maybe she could come over and help take care of you."

"Oh, yeah! God, I love Claire...She's so great," Sadie hums. "What about Will?" She suggests, causing Awsten to tense up.

"No, not Will," he scoffs.

"Aw, why not?" Sadie whines.

"Because I don't think it'd be a good idea to ask Will to come and help look after you," Awsten's grip on the steering wheel tightens. "Especially while you're drunk."

"Boring," she huffs. "Maybe I don't need anyone to help look after me."

Awsten lets out a breath, feeling the conversation going around in circles already. He knows he can't stay with Sadie tonight and he doesn't want to leave her by herself while she's like this. So, when they arrive at her complex, he calls Claire as they walk up to her apartment.

Claire is one of the few of Sadie's friends that Awsten finds tolerable. She doesn't like him all that much, but that's mostly based on false information that Sadie feeds her; Claire still knows that Awsten is a decent enough guy that she can trust him to look after one of her closest friends, which is why she answers his call and begins to make her way over.

Sadie tries fumbling with Awsten's belt as soon as they're through the door. He gently moves her hands away, trying to keep calm.

Awsten hates it when she's like this. It's as if she has no control over what she's doing and he hates it. If anything, it reminds him of almost every reason he avoids drinking alcohol.

She gets even moodier with him each time he turns her down, until he finally manages to coax her into going to bed and getting some sleep.

Awsten gets her some water and places a bucket next to her side of the bed.

Sadie whines likes a stroppy teenager when Awsten won't let her pull him into bed with her.

"I need to go get the guys," he tells her, gently, his hand still holding her's. "I'm their ride. I only left without them because I needed to get you home."

"Whatever," Sadie rolls her eyes, throwing his hand back at him and turning over.

"I'm not leaving until Claire gets here," he says, perching one the edge of her bed.

"I don't care," Sadie spits back, harshly.

Thankfully, Claire arrives within a few minutes.

"I appreciate you coming over," Awsten thanks her, quietly.

"It's not problem," Claire dismisses. "What happened? I thought it was your release party tonight."

"Yeah, she just had a few too many drinks," he shrugs, letting out a sigh. "I can't stay because I need to pick up my friends. We're all staying together."