Chapter Two

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"No."

He wasn't joking anymore, and Gabriel noticed by the tone of his voice. Theodore didn't like to see Gabriel's smile falter because of him, but he had liked spending time alone with him perhaps a little too much.

Gabriel was nice and charming and leaving  at the end of the summer, so what was the point of becoming more than what they were; little more than strangers who exchanged forced pleasantries and handed each other the salt during dinner.

Theodore was already close to falling, and he didn't want to speed up the process. He wanted to do away with feelings and not be sucked in by Gabriel's beautiful smile.

So what better way than wiping the smile right off his face.

Gabriel retracted his hand and ran it through his hair in an uncharacteristically awkward manner, though still quite smooth for someone who'd been left hanging. "Alright, I'll leave you to it, then. Nice Talking to you, Theodore."

It had been nice. Theodore hadn't felt that lighthearted in a while, and he hated how quickly he'd went back to being avoidant again, he must have given Gabriel a whiplash with how fast his mood had changed.

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Theodore's tactic had been stuffing his face with enough food so that he could skip dinner and not be hungry, but his plan backfired and he now had to sit through dinner while the smell of the food he was expected to eat made him slightly nauseous.

He didn't engage in conversation, not that he could have even gotten a word in in the first place. It had been awhile since the last time the family had met up, and everyone had stories to tell and told them loudly. By the end of dinner, Theodore was sure his ears would be ringing.

What was remarkable, though (and unfortunate for those in close proximity) was that over the loud chatter, he could still hear his grandma chewing with her mouth open, and when he made the mistake of looking up, even see it move around inside her mouth. Theodore lost what little appetite he had.

At least her false teeth hadn't fallen out.

On another positive note, Theodore had managed to get his hands on a bottle of Johnnie Walker and successfully sneaked off to his room where he'd already downed more than half of its content. And while he didn't particularly enjoy the taste, or the way it burned his throat, and even though there was something sad about getting drunk by yourself, after finishing the bottle, his intoxicated mind was too busy wondering who came up with words like tittynope and winklepicker to worry about anything else.

The morning after, all he worried about was his poor decision making skills. His head throbbed, he felt sick to his stomach and last night definitely hadn't been worth it. While he was glad he hadn't left his room and made a fool of himself, falling asleep right after drinking a whole bottle was somewhat anticlimactic.

Getting up was another poor decision. His world spinned and a wave of nausea surged over him, leaving him barely enough time to make it to the bathroom and puke his guts out.

There to witness him in his finest hour, walked in Gabriel. He took in the mess that was Theodore and took pity on him, "Shit, Theodore. Are you alright?" he asked in concern.

Theodore opened his mouth to reply, but all that came out was more vomit.

He definitely wasn't alright.

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Please tell me your thoughts! It feels like I'm jumping from scene to scene and I'm also not sure about the general flow of it all. I'm just happy to be able to post sooner than I'd expected, aha, (hence why I post it now even though I should probably fine tune/ edit it.)

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