Reap What You Sow 🌈

Chapter 34

"My legs feel heavy," Adam muttered. "And my head." He sat on Rory's lap, his head leaning against Rory"s shoulder.

Rory had put his arms loosely around him. A few moments ago he thought his friend would fall asleep. "Shall we go home then?"

Adam didn't answer but pressed his cheek more firmly against Rory's shoulder.

"Adam? Shall we go home?"

"Mmm yes," he murmured. He turned his head to look at him, dazed, as if he could barely keep his eyes open. "You don't mind?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm tired."

"Okay." Adam showed him a weak smile. "Then we'll go home. To my house?"

Yes – that was the closest. Adam couldn't ride a bicycle and he didn't dare take him on the luggage carrier. He gently squeezed Adam's sides so that he stood up. Almost immediately, the boy's knees collapsed and Rory quickly put an arm around him. "You can lean on me."

"I'm tired Rory," he said as they went down the stairs, stumbling a few times. His voice sounded panicked. "Really really tired. What if I don't wake up!"

Rory squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. His temples were throbbing. He wanted to sleep so badly, but if Adam went on like this all night he expected little sleep.

"I'll get our coats." Rory carefully lowered Adam onto the lowest step, convinced that he was in no condition to run away now. Swiftly, he entered the room, grabbed their coats and looked around. Emilio was standing at the back talking to a girl. Rory walked over to him.

"I'm going home," he said. "Adam's so tired he can't stand on his feet."

Emilio cast a worried glance at the door. "Should I walk with him? I can carry him if he really collapses. Or do you think that would upset him?"

Rory didn't know. He didn't know this version of Adam. Occasionally, he had made comments about Emilio, but it hadn't sounded hostile. But what if the boy really collapsed? He might have some arm muscles, but it wasn't easy to carry someone who was taller than you.

"Okay," he said softly. "If you don't mind."

If he was completely honest, he did like having Emilio around, who seemed to know how to handle a situation like this better than he did.

"No, of course not. This party is boring anyway."

Rory gave him a small smile. "I'm going to go say goodbye to Maddie." He walked away from Emilio and looked around until he found his friend. He had barely seen her tonight, it was like he had been Adam's babysitter all night.

"I'm going home with Adam," he told her. "Sorry. He's dead drunk."

"Adam drunk?" Maddie asked in surprise. "That seems like... an interesting situation. She looked at him for a moment with slight pity. "It sucks that you have to leave early because of that. Did you have a good time tonight?" She glanced briefly at Emilio, who was now standing with Adam.

"Not really," he murmured honestly. "He was very... exhausting." He felt guilty for saying that, but it was the truth. "I felt more like a nanny than a boyfriend."

She sighed. "I'm sorry to heart hat. Shall I go with you?"

"Emilio already offered to walk with me." He bit the inside of his cheek; he could imagine what Maddie would think of that. "He can hardly stand on his legs anymore and I don't think I can carry him."