Getting Tyler out of Bianca’s party was easier said than done. Hauling the drunk boy up from the ground was already proving to be a difficult task; Tyler’s muscles weren’t doing anything to make Sebastian’s job easier. It took some coaxing and cajoling before the two of them finally found a dark corner of Bianca’s backyard to hide in, and once he was certain that Tyler wasn’t going to stumble back out, he went back to the poolside to gather their things. His phone, which he’d flung haphazardly before diving into the pool, was ringing. It was a call from his mom.
“I’m still at the party,” he said into the phone before his mother could say hello. There was nervous laughter from the other end, followed by his mom asking when he’d be home. “I honestly don’t know. I might stay at a friend’s house. Is that okay?”
“With one of the Luna East kids? In their house?” For a moment, Sebastian was worried that his mom would say no, and he hoped that Tyler would be kind enough — and sober enough — to have his driver drop him off at home. “Sure! Take pictures!”
For once in his life, Sebastian was grateful that his mother was a bit of a social climber.
—
It took another half hour before Tyler’s driver arrived and led them out through the back gate, but Sebastian was grateful nonetheless. He hadn’t even expected the driver to arrive at all; Tyler had mostly slurred into his phone, half of the words unintelligible to Sebastian. From the quick and practiced way he deposited Tyler in the back seat, Sebastian guessed this was at least a semi-regular occurrence. The man said as much when all three of them were inside the car.
“You better get used to this if you’re going to be his friend,” the man said as they pulled away from Bianca’s house. “If you want to be a better friend, help him stop making a habit out of this.”
Tyler groaned from the back seat, followed by slurred declarations of like for Sebastian and his apparently perky ass. The driver gave him a look; Sebastian cleared his throat and looked out the window.
“Has he always been like this?” Sebastian looked at Tyler in the back seat and quickly looked away when Tyler pulled his shirt up and started scratching his belly. “Don’t his parents get mad?”
He shouldn’t have been surprised by the snort he got in reply.
---
This wasn’t what he expected Tyler’s house to be look like.
First off, it wasn’t even a house but a condominium unit in a development tucked away from any major thoroughfare. He could see Roxas Boulevard from the main bedroom’s floor to ceiling windows, but that was mostly because of the floor they were on rather than the proximity.
The building itself was older than most of the big rises that had spring all over the city in the past couple of years, its exterior covered by a thin but noticeable layer of grime. The elevators were in a similar rundown state, the light from its fluorescents dimmed by dirt. It didn’t get any better once they were inside Tyler’s condominium unit — unwashed dishes filled the sink, and what might have been tasteful interior design was overshadowed by the amount of litter that was all over the place.
Tyler’s bedroom — the one that Sebastian was in right now — was only marginally cleaner than the rest of the two-bedroom unit. The room didn’t have much in the way of furniture: a modest-sized bed and an armchair were the only things in the room that weren’t discarded clothes.
“He’s in bed now.” Tyler’s driver was right beside Sebastian, looking out of the window at the city. “I cleaned up the other bedroom for you.”
There was more groaning from the bed; Tyler had turned to lie on his stomach, his arms reaching towards Sebastian’s general direction. Sebastian wasn’t sure, but it seemed like Tyler was shirtless under the blanket. Tyler was waving him over, and Sebastian approached the bed with more than a little trepidation.
“Sebbyyy,” Tyler’s hand was reaching for him, grasping at air before finding his wrist and clamping tightly on it. He wondered if Tyler could feel his pulse quickening, because Sebastian could definitely feel the warmth of Tyler’s hand, could feel its warmth crawl up the length of his arm.
Sebastian looked to Tyler’s driver; the man just shrugged. “I’d rather sleep on a bed rather than on the sofa.”
“See?” Tyler was sitting on the bed now, thee blanket falling off his body and revealing that, yes, he was shirtless. “It’s better for everybody.”
Sebastian meant to plead his case, meant to ask the driver to reassure Tyler that he wasn’t going anywhere, but the man was already out of the room. The traitor.
“Fine,” he huffed. “Move over.”
“Aren’t you going to change into some dry clothes? You’ve been in those wet clothes since Bianca’s house.”
“You’re pretty observant for a drunk guy.”
Tyler laughed. “So are you going to change out of them or what?”
“I don’t have anything to change into. And I’m not sleeping nak—“
“You can wear my clothes.” Tyler had on the most shit-eating grin of all shit-eating grins. “Although you should really consider that sleeping nak— “
“Your clothes! Fine! I’m getting them!” Sebastian interrupted, more than a little hysterical. “Do I just pick them up off the floor or….”
“Clean clothes are in those closets.” Tyler was pointed at a corner of the room that Sebastian had overlooked. “That door over there’s a bathroom you can change in.”
Sebastian pulled out the first few items he could get his hands on, eager to get away from Tyler’s presence because he didn’t know how he’d react if Tyler insisted on talking to him the way he did. He was already in Tyler’s bathroom before he thought of checking what he had pulled out from Tyler’s wardrobe, and he felt his stomach plummet to his feet when he saw that he had an oversized singlet and two pairs of boxer briefs. He wondered briefly if he had done something terrible in a past life to deserve this.
“Why is this a bad thing anyway?” he asked himself as he stripped off his wet clothes. “You like him. You might even like him like him. It seems like he likes you. You couldn’t have planned this better yourself.”
After making sure that the oversized singlet extended far enough to cover his crotch — the boxer briefs were comfortable, but a lot tighter than the boxer shorts that he preferred — he took a deep breath and pushed the bathroom door open, fully expecting Tyler to greet him with whistles and catcalls. Which was why it was more than a little anti-climactic — and disappointing — to find Tyler asleep on the bed, his chest exposed and the blanket bunched around his waist.
“Oh thanks a lot,” Sebastian murmured under his breath. “I’m on the edge of a meltdown and you’re sleeping off a hangover. This is all going according to plan.”
He took a few moments standing beside the bed, trying to figure out the best way to sidle into it — he was definitely not ogling Tyler — before gingerly lifting the blanket and getting into the bed as quietly as he could. He pulled up the blanket over both of the before laying on his side, facing away from Tyler and making sure that their bodies didn’t touch. He didn’t want to wake up in the morning being accused of taking advantage of a drunk person.
But then Tyler’s side of the bed shifted, and Tyler put his arm around Sebastian. It was warm against his chest, and he let out a high-pitched meep when he felt Tyler pull him flush against his body. From the pit of his stomach he felt a small ebb of joy spread, and he didn’t know if it was still from his spiked drink or if it was a genuine emotion.
—
He didn’t know when he fell asleep last night, but he could feel the sun on his face when he opened his eyes. He didn’t know what time it was, but he felt like he didn’t get enough sleep. The tiredness he felt seemed to reach all the way into his bones, and he had never been so grateful for a soft bed before.
“Hey.”
He sat up on the bed with a wince; it seemed to take so much effort to just get up today. What was in that drink?
Tyler was standing in front of the window, his back to Sebastian. He still wasn’t wearing a shirt, and the sight of him framed by the morning sunlight was so much more devastating than it was last night. The muscles of his lean body came together in a geometry that made Sebastian wish he had listened better in class. A lone bead of sweat was making its way down Tyler’s back, and not for the first time Sebastian felt like he was in some sort of contemporary romance novella.
His eyes quickly shot back up when Tyler turned around to face him. Tyler’s face was serious, and Sebastian tried not to grimace at Tyler’s next words.
“We need to talk about last night.”