Recovering - Gold x Silver

Chapter 1

A/N: I'm personally really excited for this story, so I hope you enjoy!  This chapter does contain the misuse of alcohol, so if you're uncomfortable with that kind of thing, please skip to the end of this chapter, where I will post a basic summary of what happened.

     A glass clinks against the shiny polish of a wooden counter.  The hanging lights reflect on the surface of the counter, sparkling like giant stars in the dimly lit room.  "You're sure you're okay?  That's your fifth glass tonight," a bartender asks with concern laced in his light voice, a wet cloth in his hand as he absentmindedly cleans the counter.  It's become a compulsive habit, what with nothing better to do.

     A redhead sits at the bar, and is the only one sitting at the bar, for it is more of a joke made up by his two friends than an actual pub.  It's as if the redhead is the only one granted special access.  He simply huffs in annoyance, though even that becomes a little slurred.  "You forgot my ice," he says, looking at the glowing yellow glass, a thin layer of foam floating atop the beverage in a satisfying way.  

     The bartender rolls his leaf green eyes, irises the color of a peaceful spring.  "You're a total weirdo.  Nobody puts ice in their beer."  He takes an ice shovel out of a petit, silver freezer and dumps a few cubes into the customer's drink.  A few droplets of beer jump out of the glass.  

     The one and only customer groans drunkenly, flopping over with his head landing on another cushioned stool nearby.  "You got it everywhere," he moans, dragging out the last word.

     The laborer rolls his eyes yet again, quickly cleaning up the mess.  "You sure you're okay, Silver...?  Wait.  You know what?  Five is too many.  I'm taking this drink back."  He snatches the beer and places it behind the counter.  Silver flips out, attempting to get up immediately to get his drink back, but ends up crashing to the floor with a desperate wail instead.  The worker rushes over immediately.  "Dear lord, I knew it was unhealthy for you to be drinking so much..."

     "Green," someone says in a sharp, demanding voice, catching the attention of said bartender.  "What happened?"

     Green faces the man, glaring at him with spite.  "Finally, you show up, Red.  I'm kind of busy here, actually."  He hurries around the counter, cursing as he hits his side on the corner.  Silver is lying on the floor, groaning as his cherry red hair falls over his pained face.  Green puts an arm around Silver's shoulder and hoists him up onto his lap.  "C'mon, you're not okay.  Do you need to throw up?"

     "I'm-"  Silver breaks out into a fit of coughing.  "I'm...fine..."  He flops over limply into Green's half bare arms.  

     Green shakes his head worriedly.  Red is suddenly hovering over him, deep red eyes narrowed and lips puckered in thought.  "Lay him down on the couch in the back."

     "Idiot!" Green barks.  "He'll choke on his own throw up!  Christ, what do we do...?  This idiot."

      Silver groans, shaking his head back and forth on the unfamiliarly soft cushion beneath his head.  His head is pounding like a hammer, heartbeat echoing loudly in his mind.  Suddenly, he jerks forward, breaking out into a fit of coughing.  He tries to complain about how it makes his head hurt worse, but his throat is too dry for anything to come out.  A to go cup is forced in his direction.  He wants to snap at whoever's doing this that he doesn't need their help, anyway, but instead, Silver snatches the cup greedily.  He takes a long gulp from the ice water, the coolness stinging the back of his throat as it floats down to his stomach.

     "Now get out!" Someone yells angrily.  Sounds like Green.

     "There's no reason to be so angry," says a softer voice, perhaps Red's.

     Green half ignores him, still directing his anger at Silver.  "Are you kidding me?!  I've been taking care of you for so long!  I'm tired of it!  You can learn how to take care of yourself a bit, and fix that nasty drinking habit of yours!  Until you do that, never come back here again!"  Silver blinks his eyes open, though it's as if all of the sleep had nearly glued his eyelids shut.  All he can see is the blinding light around him.  Silver groans, not understanding what is going on.  Green yanks on Silver's hand, dragging him off of a couch.  Silver yelps, ending with another fit of coughing.  Before Silver has a chance to figure out what's happening, he's out on the streets with a door slammed behind him.

     Silver grumbles to himself.  He's just going to have to find another hotel to stay at for a week or so before Green gives in and lets him come back.

     However, Green never does.  After recovering from his most recent slip up, Silver has been calling him all the time, and not once has Green answered.  Silver sighs, sitting outside of a cute little cafe and sipping at his hot black tea.  He's never been one for coffee.  The weather outside is a bit nippy, enough so that for every heavy sigh that Silver breathes out, a little cloud of breath appears in the air.  He scrolls through the Internet on his little smart phone.  On the screen is an article on recovering from alcoholism.  Silver clicks on a link that leads him to a website on a local recovery group.  With another agitated sigh, Silver pokes a small blue button on the screen.  It reads, "Join Now!"

     The next evening, Silver finds himself at what looks like an old little church building that looks more like a cube made up of walls than anything.  He looks at a text he got on his phone, one from the leader of the alcoholism recovery group he just joined describing where they would be meeting next.  It was sent to Silver not even a second after he signed up, making him assume it was just an automatic message.

     Silver reluctantly enters the building, turning away from the tiny sanctuary room and down the meeting hall.  He finds the room number he had been looking for, lifting his hand towards the handle.  Should he knock?  Maybe he should go ahead and enter.  "Welcome!"  Silver jumps, turning around to face the source of the voice coming from behind him.  A tall, lanky man gives silver a welcoming smile, sandy colored hair hanging in his face.  He's wearing a tacky purple button down and similarly colored pants.  He holds his hand out for Silver to shake.  "You must be our new member!  My name is Eusine, and I'm the leader of this little club here.  We're a completely anonymous group, so don't feel pressured to share your name back, okay?  This is the meeting room here, so why don't we head on in and get started?"

     Silver nods nervously, a little dizzy from all of Eusine's energy.  He turns around, slowly opening the big wooden door and entering the room.  Inside is a small circle of chairs.  It's not a huge group.  There's a man with shoulder length purple hair, a chunkier lady with somewhat lengthy red curls, another younger looking boy with short blond locks and long bangs, and just a couple of others.  Silver takes a seat beside purple guy, and Eusine sits on Silver's other side.

     Eusine glances at Silver with soothing blue eyes.  "Alright, guys!  Let's get this meeting started."

Chapter summary:  Silver is at his friend's fake bar, which belongs to Green and Red.  He ends up drinking too much and wakes up hungover and under Green's care.  Green kicks him out later, saying that he's sick of Silver always getting overly drunk, and says that Silver can't come back until he learns to take better care of himself.  Silver stays at a hotel for the next week, finally giving in and joining a small little alcoholism recovery group run by Eusine.