Snow in August

Chapter Seven

   Simon stumbled into the club, the flashing lights giving him more nausea.
"Hey, baby," a woman walked up to him. An image of Penny in the bathtub flashed across his eyes. "You wanna have some more fun?" She pulled out a little bag of white dust from her bra.
"Fuck it, lady." Simon slurred. She looked past him and summoned someone over.
"Mind if I join?" A young man smirked. It reminded him of Baz.
  Simon grabbed the bag and poured a line on his shaking arm, inhaling it quickly. Everything got louder and brighter and faster. He was kissing the woman, and then he was kissing the man. He whispered Baz's name for some reason. He took another hit off the man's chest. Louder, brighter, faster. It was harder to see through the dark tunnel around his eyes. It was easier not to feel. Everything started getting spotty.
   Simon fucked someone. He wasn't sure who, but it was good. It was really good, but it wasn't Baz.
   He wasn't in the club anymore. He was in a car and then somewhere else.
"Give me anything. I'll take anything," Simon choked out to the bartender.
   The bar was quiet. Simon could hear every creak in the floor, the whistle in the AC, his drink sliding across the bar. He saw it too, and the guy standing next to him.
"Four peach margaritas," the guy ordered.
"Pussy," Simon mumbled.
"Excuse me?"
"Pussy." Simon spat at the guy.
"You looking for a fight?"
"Who orders that? Pussies."
"What's your problem, man?"
   Simon's shirt was grabbed. He spat at the man again. Something touched his face and it hurt and he fell on the floor. Feeling came back. Everything came back. He was hit again and the bartender was yelling.
"Coward." Another one. "Fuck you!" His head was slammed against the ground. "Worthless piece of-" Then there was nothing.

"Snow. Godamnit, Simon." He opened his eyes and looked up at Baz. "Why the fuck did you do this to yourself? One thing goes wrong, one thing, and you fuck yourself up."
"Go away."
"You're on the floor of a bar, Simon, everyone is staring at us, get up!" Baz shouted. He took Simon's arm and pulled him up. Everything was spinning, and he could hear the people whispering so clearly. Simon had never felt this awful in his entire life.
"I'm sorry," he muttered. Baz wiped Simon's face with his sleeve. 
"Shut up, Simon." Baz led him out into the front seat of his car. "Try not to bleed everywhere."
"Baz, I'm in love with you." Simon whispered. His eyes stopped opening. He rolled his head over towards Baz.
"Don't say that," he said quietly, glaring at the steering wheel.
"I love you so much."
   Baz sighed loudly and reached over to wipe the tears off Simon's face.
"I'm so fucking sorry."
"Shut up, Snow." He ran his thumb over the newly forming bruise on Simon's cheek. "I... need to get you to the hospital." He pulled away and drove fast.
"You have a smoke?"
"No, no don't smoke cigarettes."
"Alright then, I'm going to pass out."
"Snow-Simon, no. Stay awake for me, ok?"
   He really did not want to though. There was a squirrel out the window following them. Simon blinked and the squirrel disappeared. Where'd it go?
"Baz, where did the squirrel go?"
"What squirrel?" Simon twisted around to look out the back window. The seatbelt pressed into him. The world was going backwards and there was a loud pounding sound coming from somewhere.
"Do you hear that?"
"What did you take?"
   He pressed a hand into his chest. It was bumping up and down really fast. The side of his head was too. He then did the same thing to Baz to compare. He wasn't as bumpy, but he looked very upset.
"Are you ok, Baz?"
"I'll be ok in a second. Get out of the car, come on." But the car was still moving. Baz opened the door and stepped out and he didn't fall. Simon peeked out to look at the spinning ground. Then Baz's feet took up his vision. He fell through the door and into Baz's arms. Simon gripped Baz's arms and started pulling him around.
"Stop, Snow! What the fuck!?"
"You're not as good at dancing as I remember."
"Please stop. Just-fuck-just..."
"Why don't I call you Basil? Basil, Basil, that's so cute. Basil Basil-"
   Basil looked worried and gave him a hug. The world stopped spinning for a couple seconds until he pulled away. Simon followed Basil into a big bright building. It was much too bright, but Basil would never lead him into a bad place. Basil held Simon's hand as he talked to a lady. Then Basil pulled him towards a whole bunch of uncomfortable chairs and made him sit in one.
"Basil." Basil closed his eyes and squeezed Simon's hand really tightly. "What a pretty name."

   Baz stood suddenly and Simon's head fell off his shoulder. He opened his eyes and the room seemed even brighter than before. He blindly held onto Baz as they went into another smaller room. Some guy asked him questions but the ringing and pounding was too loud. Baz answered for him.

"No, Simon, for the last time I'm not taking a shower with you. Get in, I'll hold your towel. Do you want the lights off? It will help with your headache."
   Simon frowned, nodded, and stepped into the tub. The water was loud and hot, it turned dark when it hit his feet.
"Done." He felt like a kid. (When Simon was much younger, he couldn't do anything for himself, so he hid under the sheets in the boy's home he lived in for a while.) The towel was wrapped around him. It swiped across his cheeks and forehead. "Ow."
"I'm sorry, there were just a couple spots of blood still there. Come, let's get you dressed."
   Simon was guided to a room with a bed in it. It was sort of familiar. He instinctively went to a drawer and opened it to find underwear. He looked up from this victory and smiled at Baz.

"Fine, but only for a couple minutes, ok?" He climbed into the bed next to Simon, sitting up so he could lay on him. He brushed his fingers through Simon's hair as the pounding receded a bit. "I love you, Simon Snow, you absolute idiot."
"Baz." Simon smiled and closed his eyes.