CW: alcohol, vomiting, weed
18+
NICHOLAS
Morning light shocks me from my sleep and I instantly shield my eyes with my forearm. "Fuck." I mumble, rubbing my eyes with my rough palms. My body goes rigid once I realize that I'm not home, and when I feel another person resting on me, I'm completely frozen.
I blink as my eyes adjust to the light while I look around not recognizing where I am. For a brief moment, I try to remember if we had gone out last night and if I went home with someone. My suspicions are confirmed when I precariously peer down at the brunette nestled into my side with an arm around me.
My memory is a fuzzy blur of rain, snacks and fear. It comes back to me in flashes: running inside from the storm, soaked clothes, cheese doodles and... Vallie. Then it all pours in at once. The first thing I remember clearly is talking on her couch for what seemed like hours before the movie. It feels like it's the first real conversation I've had with anyone in so long. It's refreshing. I never really talk much, mainly because people don't tend to listen. But Vallie didn't make me feel like that, she was fully present and engaged in anything I said. It's not much but letting me finish my sentences or asking genuine questions is more space that most allow me to take.
My eyes go wide when I process the reality of what happened – or at least what the guys would think happened.
Both relief and terror flood my chest – I'm relieved I hadn't gone home with anyone else, but there's an alarm that comes with that exact relief. Yesterday didn't go at all how I imagined. My body felt like lightning bolts were shooting through my bones – it was a freezing, paralyzing heat. Last night I could've sworn my fingertips burned any time I was near her. I shake the paranoia from my head; it must've just been the stormy ambiance that fueled the buzzing across my skin any time she looked at me.
With extreme stealth, I slide out from under her, even rolling the extra blanket into a makeshift replica of my body. "Fuck." I mutter under my breath again as I sleepily searched for my phone, I haven't checked it at all since we escaped the rain. When I find it face down on the glass coffee table, I hesitate to pick it up, already knowing what I would find. The fear feels oddly similar to when you miss a call from a parent. Anxiety courses through me as I briefly scroll through my stacked messages.
Group chat:
Jolly: Are you stuck in traffic?
Jolly: Did you drop her off yet ?
Folio: Dude where the fuck are you
Jolly: Are you okay? It's pouring
Folio: Are you alive lol
Folio: No seriously where are you
Jolly: Why does your location say you're at some house in Beverly Hills?
Jolly: Are you still with her?
Folio: We're gonna come get you if you don't answer lmao
Folio: jk
Folio: Nick for real
Jolly – Separate:
Tell me you're not dead
But more importantly
Please tell me you did not sleep with our new manager
Not a single one from Noah
I glance over at Vallie to check if she's still asleep. She lets out small sleeping noises with long brunette strands shading over her face and nuzzles further onto the blanket. She looks so peaceful, and it makes me maybe it had been a while since she's slept next to someone too. Truthfully last night was the best sleep I'd gotten in a long time, especially between touring and traveling. I barely sleep and the only time I do sleep is in the rarities of getting hotels with plush beds. The best sleep I ever get is always next to someone else. When we were younger, Noah and I would sleep next to each other often. Especially after Noah's difficult breakup, he'd always ask me to sleep next to him, even just to ward off night terrors. Since we've been friends for so long, that sort of intimacy feels normal. We only had each other for so long. You really let yourself be vulnerable with someone when they're all you got.
I already know the situation with Vallie is going to be an uphill battle with the band, but Noah is the one I'm dreading the most. I understand his frustration but my god he's acting like a goddamn child. I hope this party will be a way to show them that she's not the overly corporate monster they think she is.
Quickly but quietly, I tip-toe to the kitchen to read the messages and formulate cohesive responses.
Group chat – Me:
"Yeah, I'm good."
I look at the time, it's later than I thought.
"See you at rehearsal."
When I go to reply to Jolly, I pause,
"No, it's fine. I'll explain later. See you at rehearsal."
I scramble around her kitchen til I find a notepad and a pen,
"Off to rehearsal
Thanks for the safety from the rain
Will talk to the guys about this weekend!
-N :)"
-
When I step into our rehearsal studio, the energy immediately shifts. I heard them joking and laughing before I came in but now, they were dead silent. "Hey guys." I say timidly as I make my way over to my guitar. They track me and I can tell they were dissecting me – my demeanor, my disheveled appearance, the day-old outfit. All which doesn't exactly reinforce my innocence. "What's up?" I ask as if nothing happened. Noah burns holes into me with his glare but uttered nothing. To say he was unhappy would be an understatement, he seems furious.
Jolly clears his throat to break up the silence. "Let's just start, shall we?"
-
There's tension throughout the entire session. We were fucking up on the same songs, Jolly and I were missing cords, Nick was missing beats and Noah was forgetting lyrics. We haven't had rehearsals like this in a long time.
Finally, we were wrapping up and they were all busy organizing their areas.
"So, um," I clear my throat nervously, "I suggested to Vallie that we should have a get together or...something, to kinda get to know each other?" I practically wince and prepare for impact.
"Are you fucking serious?" Snaps Noah while the other two fade into the background. "You fuck our manager and now you're all buddy buddy?"
I sigh at the accusation I've anticipated all day, "I didn't sleep with her."
"Then what did you do? Since you never fucking came home." He questions and steps towards me. The space between us feels enclosed, foreign and unnecessarily extreme.
I furrow my brows in offense, "Not that it's any of your fucking business," I shoot back, "It was raining too hard for me to drive, so I just crashed on her couch. That's it. Calm down."
He gets even closer to me, practically in my face. "You're sleeping with the enemy and you want me to calm down?"
"Whoa, first of all, back the fuck up." I step forward matching his intensity. "Second of all, stop being so fucking dramatic. She's not our 'enemy', she's just a fucking manager. She wants to help us." I narrow my eyes at him, "And for the 700th time, I didn't fucking sleep with her."
"Okay so you want to sleep with her." He stated like a fact.
My jaw nearly drops that he would , "No, I don't Noah." I close the gap between us as aggravation flowed through my veins. "Do you?"
I swear I can see fire behind his eyes and steam seep out of his ears. He balls up his fists at his sides, clearly trying to restrain himself. I'm not sure I've ever seen him that angry before, at least not over something so trivial. He says nothing then he turns and storms off, which seems to be becoming a new hobby of his.
The room is silent for a bit before Nick perks up with an over-enthusiastic smile, "I think a party would be great!"
The four of us, alcohol, and our manager? What could possibly go wrong,
-
Saturday finally comes after an excruciatingly long week of going back and forth with the other three. I at least got Nick and Jolly here. Noah barely spoke to me the rest of the week and made no promises of coming tonight, in fact it was quite the opposite, he promised not to come. He vowed to stay out all night – doing god knows what – just so he didn't have to be here for any of the party.
It hadn't occurred to me just how awkward a four-person party would be, especially when half the party hates the guest of honor. And so, the "party" consisted of Folio and Jolly across the kitchen from me and Vallie. They're keeping each other company and cracking jokes while smoking a dwindling blunt. I don't mind the separation much as Vallie and I stand next to each other talking about anything. The more I learn about her, the more I want the guys to know her too. I want to believe what she says is true, that she really does see potential in us.
I know the others don't exactly feel the same, but we worked so hard for so long to only now start to gain any real traction, I mean... isn't this what we've been working towards this whole time?
The awkward tension is beginning to gnaw at me, so I clear my throat gaining the attention of the small kitchen, "How about we play some sort of game?" I suggest and by the positive reactions in everyone's faces, it's evident that they too think it would be a good distraction.
I glance over at Vallie, who has a slightly nervous look to her; her smile is restrained, and her hand is fidgeting around her red solo cup. Her maroon-painted fingertip tracing the rim of her cup and her eyes are locked on some drawer across the kitchen.
"Hey," I whisper after the guys leave the room and gently reach out to grab her arm. "It's gonna be fine. They're gonna like you, I promise."
She gazes up at me with deep forest green eyes. At first, they are sweet and shy, but they soon flip to defensive. She softly pulls her arm from my grasp and straightens up, "I don't need your reassurance."
She makes a sharp pivot on her heels and exits the kitchen on her own then sits at the head of the table with the other two across from her. It occurs to me that every time I've been in a room with her, she was different. I have no idea who she really is at all – but she doesn't know us either. With a deep inhale, I reach for the liquor and pour extra into my plastic cup and I take it with me through the doorway to the dining room.
-
Halfway through a game of Cards Against Humanity, Vallie was winning. And every time she won, we all took a shot. We were on our 7th and final round. We're shooting tequila, which I can mostly handle, while the other two... not so much.
"Fuck," Mumbles Folio behind a scrunched face of disgust at his last shot, "Jesus Val." He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, "Didn't expect you to be so fucking funny, what the fuck."
She grins proudly, straightening up in her seat with a subtle victorious dance as she organizes her cards into neat little stacks, using the wooden table to flatten the edges.
They didn't hold back or put on a show for her, they acted exactly the same as if it was the 4 of us, if anything, they were amping it up to spook her away. She handled it all like a pro; the crude jokes, the sexual innuendos, the unnecessary overly graphic description of what a bukkake is, even though she said she already knew what it was.
I don't know if it was the fact that they were acting out or if maybe I'm outgrowing the behavior, but every fucked-up comment they said made me uncomfortable.
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a wasted Nick elbowing Jolly and discretely gesturing to Vallie. When I follow their focus, I find what they were drunkenly gawking at. It was exactly what I had been avoiding all night. I quickly stack the other game boxes in front of her chest to obscure their eye-line. "So, what should we play next!"
Folio snaps me a furrowed look that reminds me of toddler getting his candy taken away. Jolly too gives me a funny look as if he just figured something out then leans into Nick and whispering something that caused them to giggle like schoolgirls. I narrow my eyes at them, telepathically scolding them to cut it out.
Vallie peeks up from her organized cards, "What's so funny?" She asks innocently with wide emerald eyes lined with dark lashes.
"Nothing they're just drunk." I answer for them.
"Oh c'mon, you can't tell me that you're drunk off just a couple shots?" She teases with a sly smile.
"Easy for you to say winner! You've been sippin' the same drink this whole game!" Jolly's laugh fills the cramped dining room while he leans back in his chair.
"This is my third drink for your information." She clarifies with sass while stuffing the playing cards into their box.
"You should take a shot!" Jolly suggests, over-enthusiastically.
Before she could even answer, Folio interjects, "Without your hands."
I feel like lasers are shooting from my eyes when I look over at his smug intoxicated expression. "You don't have to do that V-"
"No, I'm fine." She says contently before taking an empty shot glass and pouring it full of clear liquid.
"No really, you don't have to." I assure her quietly.
"Oh Nicholas," Her own voice is tangled with alcohol, "I was in a sorority, I think I can handle a couple of men being men." She stands up and smooths out the ribbed buttoned top that hugs her full chest and lands above her small waist. She hasn't even bent down yet and they're whooping and hollering like... well like college boys.
Before I could stop myself, I shoot up from my chair, "Enough!" My voice booms through the tiny dining room, more than I had ever intended. All three of them look at me, their faces mixed with shock and slight apprehension.
Unexpectedly, the front door swings wide open and slams into the wall behind it, probably leaving a dent behind. A visibly wasted Noah stumbles into the living room, leaving the door wide open behind him.
I sigh, already knowing the direction this night is about to take.
"Oh Jesus." Groans out an already annoyed Folio, rubbing his temples, "I'm gonna need a fucking joint to deal with this."
"Ditto." Agrees Jolly.
"Well look who it is!" Noah slurs and flails a long-sleeved arm to gesture to the whole group. "My so-called band, who fucking left me!"
I pinch the bridge of my nose and close my eyes with a heavy exhale. "Noah, we didn't fucking leave you."
In the background, Jolly brings a metal tray of green over to Folio who quickly but precariously begins rolling green flower into a brown paper. Within seconds the roll is plucked between his index and thumb with the end sizzling red.
Between Noah stumbling around like a town drunk, the two in the corner getting stoned and Vallie witnessing everything, I suddenly feel like a single parent trying to police 4 rambunctious children.
"Yeah, you fucking did!" Noah mumbles from the kitchen facing the dining room. "You gave up on everything we fucking wanted," He hiccups, "For money," He says the word with utter disgust, and lazily points a hand at Vallie. "Because of her."
I quickly glance over to her, to see if she was alright and she didn't even hear him, she was busy leaning across the table to take the lit blunt from Folio's hand. For some reason, the sight of them frustrates me.
Noah leans against the granite counter looking utterly depleted; dark purple circles beneath heavy bloodshot eyes, his long hair a mess from having walked through whipping wind, and his clothes covered in dirt.
"Noah, stop being so fucking dramatic." Jolly gets up and walks past me over to him, probably knowing that I'm not good at playing the parent. "We're just..." He looks back at Folio and Vallie who were now sitting next to each other watching the scene intently and passing the joint back and forth like it's popcorn. "We're just doing some... team building."
"I'm-" He begins before covering his mouth and quickly makes his way to the sink to release the contents of his stomach into it.
A grossed out, "Ooh." Comes from the two still sitting behind me at the table.
I glare at them then sigh and hold out my hand for the little bit that was left of the roll. Vallie stretches over the table to hand me the burning stub, I put it to my lips and inhale deeply, letting the thick smoke fill my lungs completely. I lean my head back against the door frame and exhale an opaque white cloud above me. A visceral relief spreads through my chest like spilled ink. I cough a bit as I hand it back over to the peanut gallery.
Jolly holds Noah's long hair back while he gathers himself over the sink. "I think maybe we should get you into the bathroom." Jolly advises sternly. I can tell that Noah doesn't want to listen by the way he grips the counter hard until his knuckles are white, then releases in defeat. We've been here too many times for him for him to defy us.
"Fine." Noah grumbles and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.
Jolly gives me a look that means it was time for me to hook Noah's left arm around my shoulders. We make it not even 2 steps forward before Noah coughs up vomit all over himself and Jolly.
"Fuck!" Yells Jolly, practically dropping him to go wash off his shirt.
"Oh god." Folio immediately covers his mouth after seeing the throw up and ran off to the nearest bathroom.
I decide the best course of action is to set Noah down on the tiled kitchen floor before he had the chance to ruin anything else. He's so gone that he doesn't even seem to notice that he was set on the floor. I run off to grab some towels from the laundry room and when I return, I stop in my tracks.
Vallie is there on the floor with him, kneeled next to him and gently wiping the vomit off his face. Noah held a giant empty neon green salad bowl in his lap to catch any future accidents.
"Oh," She notices me in her peripheral, "Uh, I found that bowl in a cupboard," Using her pinky to point to the navy-blue cabinets above her, "It's the only thing I could find."
Noah's brown eyes are nearly black and completely glossed over, his cheeks flushed with alcohol – and thank god, because he wouldn't let her anywhere near him if he was fully coherent.
"Do you have a water bottle?" She asks in a sickeningly sweet tone. "And maybe bread?"
"Uh- Yeah, yeah, of course." I strategically step over his lanky legs to the fridge to get a water and pull a loaf from the counter, handing them to her. She cracks the bottle open for him and when he doesn't take it, she softly grabs his jaw and slowly pours a thin stream of water into his mouth.
"You're pretty good at this." I comment quietly as to not make too much noise.
She glimpses up at me with a small kind smile, "I told you, I was in a sorority. You learn how to take care of drunk people really quick."
I nod and cross my arms, "Right." then rest the length of my body against the door frame as I watch them in front of me.
She takes out a slice of bread, splits it in half and holds it up to his mouth. His heavy-lidded eyes lift to meet hers, "I just don't want to lose them." He croaks out, melodramatically.
"You won't." Vallie reassures curtly.
"They're all I have." He states clearly, probably the most coherent thing he'd said all night. His brown eyes watch her closely, but his focus was waning as sleep is begging to pull him under. "Don't take them from me."
She presses her lips together seemingly processing his request. "I won't let it happen." She says as if she's trying to convince him that there are no monsters beneath his bed. Her voice is lucid, but I can still hear the tequila she's hiding under her words. She carefully places her hand on top of his, "I promise."
He blinks up at her surprised and raises his brows, "Pinky?" Then weakly lifts his arm to poke out a shaky pinky.
She chuckles at his drunken innocence, "Sure." And hooks her pinky with his, which resulted in a giant cheesy grin plastered across his face before slumping further.
There's an odd heavy swirl in the pit of my stomach of something vile; for a moment, I think I might need to vomit too. But the more I watch them, the more the feeling spreads. Then, I realize this pit has been growing since the card game earlier. Her winning over Folio and Jolly annoyed me. Even Noah getting along with her, at least to an extent, made me sick.
I wanted them to get along, I thought it would make things better, less complicated. Yet, somehow made everything murkier or why it's bringing this churn to my intestines. Something about it all makes me wonder if Noah was right all along. Maybe we are in danger and maybe she is the threat.
-
A/N: Thank you so much if you took the time to read this. I didn't see many that Bad Omens fics and wanted to contribute, lmk if you liked it 🖤
if you noticed anything different about this chapter, no you didn't 🩶
Crossposted on my Bad Omens tumblr -> @/concreteburialplot, if anyone is interested 🖤