Type walked out of the guest room, rubbing his eyes, having just woken up. He headed to the kitchen for a drink of water. As soon as he entered the living room, he saw Tharn's figure curled up on the couch. He figured Tharn had fallen asleep on the couch again. He walked up to him and gently nudged him to wake him up for class. Tharn slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Type.
"Did you sleep out here again?" Type asked, voice still thick with sleep. Tharn nodded as he slowly pushed himself off the couch. "It's been weeks, Tharn. Why do you sleep out here? You have a perfectly nice bed inside which is a lot more comfortable than this couch," Type said. Tharn furrowed his brows as he stared at the floor.
"I can't sleep in there," he said, a decibel above a whisper. Type was puzzled as he stared at Tharn with a confused scowl. "Why?"
Tharn shifted uncomfortably in his seat at having to voice the reason out loud because he wasn't truly ready to. It was too embarrassing. But, he knew it was time to tell Type because he had been staying with him for weeks now. He had been there for him, quietly taking care of him, helping him perform day to day function. He had taken up the responsibility to drive them to and from university. He made sure that he was fed and showered everyday. Type had kept him alive for the past month. He couldn't just keep the truth from him. He owed him a lot more than that.
"Because that was our bedroom," Tharn said, feeling his eyes start to water at the realisation that Pina was really gone.
Type felt anger pulsing inside him at Tharn's words. He couldn't believe that she had tainted everything in Tharn's life before she abandoned him to a point where he couldn't even be comfortable in his own home. She had taken so much from him and, even after she had left, she was still taking from Tharn. And what felt worse was the realisation that Type couldn't do anything to make it better. He figured burning the house down with all her memories along with it wasn't really a rational idea, but it was the only one he could come up with at the moment. He turned to look back at Tharn who was still staring at the ground.
"We're going out today," Type said. Tharn immediately turned to look at Type. "What?"
"We are going out today," Type said again, more firmly. Tharn started to open his mouth to tell him no but Type, sensing what Tharn was going to say, cut him off. "We've been cooped up in this house for weeks. You've literally become one with the couch and I haven't left the house except to go to classes. This is not up for debate. We are going out and we are getting drunk. It's a right of passage for getting over a break up anyway."
Tharn kept a steady gaze on Type's face and felt a little bad for making him stay locked up in his house for so long just because he couldn't get over a girl who had strung him along and kicked him to the curb when she was done with him. It was his fault for falling in love with her so easily anyway. Type had nothing to do with the situation he found himself in and felt guilty for dragging him down with him. He could do with getting drunk. Anything to stop feeling the constant pain that cut through his soul sounded like a good idea. "Okay."
Type immediately broke into a smile and grabbed Tharn's arm. He dragged him to his bathroom and squeezed some toothpaste on his brush and handed it to Tharn. Tharn stared at it and felt his stomach twist in pain. Type stared at him, confused by the look on Tharn's face. "Aren't you going to brush your teeth?" He asked. "That's Pina's toothbrush," Tharn said, still staring at Type's hand.
Type felt like the toothbrush burnt him when he realised it belonged to that bitch and started to search the bathroom floor for a dustbin. When he couldn't find one, he turned to look at the frosted window next to the shower cubicle. He walked up to it, opened it with one hand, and flung the toothbrush out.
"Done. If you have anything else of hers here, just let me know. I'm good at flinging things out the window, like you just observed," Type said, turning back around to look at him. Tharn just stared at him in bewilderment and finally broke into a smile after weeks. He felt incredibly lucky to have Type by his side.
Type, seeing Tharn smiling after what seemed like forever, felt a warmth spreading in his chest. He had half a mind to tear through Tharn's room for Pina's belongings to toss them out the window one by one to keep that smile on his face.
Tharn finally turned around and squeezed toothpaste onto his brush himself. Type, seeing the slight happiness in his eyes after ages, felt like Tharn was finally healing.
°°°
Tharn and Type entered the pub to find it quite crowded. It was Friday evening so they figured it was nothing out of the ordinary. They headed to the bar and miraculously found two empty stools and sat down. They ordered a beer each and slowly sipped on their drinks, not saying much to each other, slightly swaying to the music coming from the speakers.
"This is not strong enough," Tharn said as he ordered himself a large whiskey. Type stuck to beer because he wasn't a big drinker and he had to take care of Tharn that night. He couldn't do that if he got shit faced.
After Tharn had downed 4 large whiskeys and Type was still sipping on his fourth beer, Tharn turned to look at Type, a little inebriated. "Do you think I'm a dumbass?"
Type smiled at how Tharn was slurring his words a little. "Constantly," he replied with a smirk. Tharn widened his eyes and then relaxed his face as he started nodding his head. "Yeah, I guess so. I wouldn't have found myself in this situation if I wasn't a dumbass," he said as he turned to the bartender to order another whiskey.
Type felt his stomach drop. He was supposed to help Tharn get over his slump and instead he had just insulted him. He felt like he needed to rectify his mistake. He grabbed Tharn's shoulder and turned him towards himself.
"No, Tharn. You're not a dumbass. She was a goddamn viper. Even I didn't see it coming. This is all on her. Don't you fucking start blaming yourself or, I swear to god, I'm going to beat some sense into you," Type said threateningly. Tharn started chuckling at his friend's speech. "You don't have your weapon with you so I don't feel too scared right now," Tharn said, still chuckling. Type furrowed his brows in confusion. "What the fuck does that mean?" He asked.
Tharn, recalling the memory of Type threatening to beat him with a small bone at the food-court a long time ago, laughed to himself. "Remember when you threatened to beat me up with that chicken bone?" He asked, grinning at Type. Type tried to think of what Tharn meant by that, when that specific memory suddenly came back to him, making him laugh too.
"Yeah, imagine how much worse it will be with this…." Type said, gesturing at his beer bottle. He saw Tharn widen his eyes, looking a little scared, and burst out laughing again. Tharn, seeing Type laughing, realised he was only kidding and smiled in relief as he took a worried sip of his drink.
"But seriously, don't blame yourself. She's the bitch here. You did nothing wrong. She manipulated you. You can't blame yourself for her actions," Type said leaning in with sincere eyes. Tharn felt his words resonate with him in his current tipsy state. With his inhibitions lowered, the part of his brain that felt the constant need to put the blame on himself seemed to have gone to sleep as he finally admitted to himself that he really was not at fault. His lips turned up into a lopsided smile at Type who had helped him come to that realisation.
"Yeah, I really wasn't at fault. It was her fault," Tharn said. Type hearing those words coming out of Tharn's lips, felt pure joy wash over him as he broke into a grin, realising that Tharn was actually getting better, after seeing him waste away on his couch for a month. It had been a trying and painful month for him too. He was relieved to hear that he had stopped blaming himself and that was a big step for Tharn.
"Yes! Exactly!" Type exclaimed excitedly. "She's a bitch!" Tharn said, chuckling. Type couldn't believe his ears realising Tharn actually cursed at her. He never cursed at anybody. He felt giddy. "A whore!" Type said, smiling at Tharn.
"A snake!" Tharn said.
"A tramp!" Type said, louder.
"A wench!" Tharn said, even louder
"A harlot!" Type said, almost screaming at that point.
"A bitch!" Tharn screamed. "You already said that," Type said and Tharn turned to look at him. "I did, didn't I?" Tharn smiled at the realisation. "But that's how much of a bitch she is. Saying it once is not enough," Tharn said with a chuckle. Type broke into a big grin at seeing his friend blaming the right person.
"Okay, it's time for some shots," Type said, abandoning his previous idea to stay sober because Tharn had made incredible progress. It was something to celebrate. "Yes! Shots!" Tharn said excitedly, a little over tipsy at that point. They both downed 2 shots of tequila and Type started feeling the alcohol.
"When is that bitch getting married?" Type asked, turning to look at Tharn. Tharn shrugged his shoulders and turned to look at Type. "She didn't mention it," he said.
"We should find out and then go ruin the wedding," Type said, starting to form ideas in his head. "How do you plan on doing that?" Tharn asked, a little amused at the prospect.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe I'll print out a giant banner with 'Cheating Bitch' superimposed on her forehead and unfurl it when the ceremony is starting," Type suggested which made Tharn start laughing. "That's genius. What else could you do?" Tharn asked.
"Sleep with her mom on the bed set up for her and her groom for their first night?" Type said which made Tharn slap the bar as he started laughing louder. "That's even better!" Tharn said.
"We could pull a Carrie on her, but instead of a bucket of blood, it will be a bucket of poisonous snakes because she's a poisonous snake," Type said and Tharn stared at him in disbelief. "Maybe not that one. That sounds a little dangerous. What if you get bitten when trying to set that up? That would be extremely counter-productive," Tharn said, smiling at the ridiculous idea that Type had come up with.
Type nodded his head and agreed that the last one wasn't his finest idea, so he decided he needed more alcohol. He ordered them 2 more shots each and they downed it quickly.
The DJ's voice suddenly came through the speakers as the music stopped and he announced that they were starting karaoke. Tharn turned to look at Type excitedly because he thought up the most perfect song. Type stared at Tharn's eyes twinkling in excitement and felt lighter than he had in ages. "I'm going to put in my name," Tharn said as he got up to walk to the DJ booth. Type, very tipsy at that point, just stared at Tharn's retreating figure with a smile on his face.
"So, what song are you going to sing?" Type asked him as Tharn came back and started settling down on his stool. "You'll see. It's a surprise," Tharn said, smiling playfully at Type.
They had downed a drink each by the time Tharn's name was called by the DJ and he walked up to the stage. Type stood up from his seat to look at Tharn better. An unfamiliar tune started to play and Tharn started singing. His singing voice was beautiful. Type couldn't believe that he was good at singing too. The girls around started murmuring about how handsome he was and Type beamed with pride. Type listened to the words that Tharn was singing and started laughing like a madman when he realised why he wanted to keep it a secret from Type because it was a song about how Tharn would ruin the wedding. He beamed at how happy Tharn looked after weeks of seeing him curling up into a ball on the couch. Type felt truly happy.
Tharn walked back to him and Type saw how many girls tried to talk to him as he was trying to make his way back to the bar. Tharn just smiled at them politely and didn't stop to talk to anyone as he made a bee line for Type, who was smiling like an idiot at him.
Tharn finally made his way to Type and grinned at him. "Speak Now- Taylor Swift," Tharn said, letting Type know what song he was singing. Type broke into a wider grin at the realisation that Tharn not only listened to Taylor Swift, but also knew the entire lyrics to the song, because he never even looked at the screen once throughout his performance.
"So, according to the song, are you trying to take Pina away from the guy?" Type asked quizzically, that part really made no sense to him. Tharn started chuckling at the conclusion that Type had come up with and shook his head. "No, exactly like the song states: I'm going to take the groom away from her. We'd run away, get married, and live happily ever after. She wronged the both of us. Wouldn't that be the best way to get back at her?" Tharn asked with a playful grin. Type couldn't hold himself back as he started giggling at Tharn's explanation, nodding in agreement.
"More shots!" Type said and Tharn agreed immediately, still high on his performance.
°°°
Type opened his eyes to feel a pounding sensation in his brain from the amount of alcohol they had drank the night before. He rubbed his forehead and felt pain surging through his arms. He set his arms down again on top of the sheets. He slowly opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling and immediately felt unfamiliar with the sight in front of him. He looked to his right to see a desk with Tharn's family picture on it. He realised he was in Tharn's bedroom and wondered how he got there. The last thing he remembered was Tharn and him talking after Tharn's performance and the rest of it was a chasm.
He slowly turned his head to the left side to see the back of Tharn's head sticking out from under the blanket. He realised Tharn had probably carried him back home given how drunk he was. He couldn't even remember how he got back.
He decided to bite the bullet and get up because he could tell that the pounding in his head would not let him fall back asleep. He put his hands to his sides to push his aching body off the bed. As soon as he pushed his torso up to a sitting position, he felt a searing pain in his back.
The familiarity of that sensation made his breath start to shorten and panic rise up his chest. He hurriedly pulled the covers off him to see that he was completely naked. He prayed to every god he could think of to let his current state be because of the alcohol and not what he was thinking as he covered himself back up. He figured the only one who could answer that question was lying next to him so he raised a shaky hand towards the sleeping figure and shook him a little.
Tharn started squirming under his touch but didn't wake up so he shook him harder. Tharn finally turned on his back as he slowly opened his eyes and grabbed his forehead. The cover slipped from Tharn's body at his movement and Type's throat went dry when he realised that Tharn was not wearing a shirt.
Tharn furrowed his brows and turned to look at Type, confused at the face he was pulling. "What? What happened?" He asked groggily.
"Tharn, did we…. did we…." Type started to say, but the words were caught in his throat. He couldn't form the sentence without feeling the horror of it dawn on him.
Tharn blinked at him, confused about what Type was trying to say to him. He could barely function with the killer hangover he was having, so he pushed himself up and leaned on the headboard. He turned to look at Type with one eyelid closed because the room was blinding. "Did we, what?" He asked.
Type could not form the words. He looked around the bed to see if he could find something that would give him the answer because he couldn't ask Tharn. The words refused to fall out of his mouth for the fear of him speaking it into reality.
Tharn, realising that Type was just spewing nonsense because of how hungover he was, pushed the covers off him because his bladder was about to burst. As soon as he did, he came face to face with his very naked dick. He quickly covered himself up and searched the bed for his boxers. He looked up at Type to see he was frozen in place, staring at his now covered crotch with eyes the size of saucers.
He quickly averted his gaze and looked down on the floor and the sight of it, made him freeze, much like Type.
Next to his boxers, he saw two condoms that were unrolled and looked to be used. He realised why he was naked and turned to look at Type in horror. Type was still burning a hole in the sheets with his stare. He bent down to grab his boxers and uncovered another used condom hidden underneath it. Fear gripped his soul as he quickly put his boxers on under the sheets. He tried to slap himself to see if he was still dreaming, but all he came back to was Type's unflinching stare and a slight burn on the side of his face on account of the slap. It was real. He was really there. He turned to look at Type and saw that he was shirtless too. His eyes travelled down his torso to see the slight curve of his naked ass on the bed that was not covered by the sheet.
"Type, did we…." Tharn started to say, when he realised that that was exactly what Type was trying to ask him.
Type snapped his head up to look into Tharn's eyes. "I don't know! That's why I'm asking you! Did we?" Type asked, sounding close to crazed.
Tharn looked back down at the condoms on the floor and back up at Type. He pushed himself off the bed and bent down to pick them up one by one. He bunched them in one hand and brought it up to show Type.
As soon as Type saw the condom, no, condoms in Tharn's hands that looked like they were used, he realised that the worse had come true as he started gasping for air that refused to fill his lungs.
___
(Extra note)
For the people who don't know the Taylor Swift song, I'm going to post the lyrics. In the story, Tharn sings it as is. He doesn't change the pronouns or anything.
I am not the kind of girl
Who should be rudely bargin' in on a white veil occasion
But you are not the kind of boy
Who should be marryin' the wrong girl
I sneak in and see your friends
And her snotty little family, all dressed in pastel
And she is yelling at a bridesmaid
Somewhere back inside a room
Wearing a gown shaped like a pastry
This is surely not what you thought it would be
I lose myself in a daydream
Where I stand and say
"Don't say yes, run away now
I'll meet you when you're out
Of the church at the back door
Don't wait or say a single vow
You need to hear me out"
And they said, "speak now"
Fond gestures are exchanged
And the organ starts to play
A song that sounds like a death march
And I am hiding in the curtains
It seems I was uninvited by your lovely bride-to-be
She floats down the aisle like a pageant queen
But I know you wish it was me
You wish it was me, don't you?
Don't say yes, run away now
I'll meet you when you're out
Of the church at the back door
Don't wait or say a single vow
You need to hear me out
And they said, "speak now"
Don't say yes, run away now
I'll meet you when you're out
Of the church at the back door
Don't wait or say a single vow
Your time is running out
And they said, "speak now"
I hear the preacher say
"Speak now or forever hold your peace"
There's a silence, there's my last chance
I stand up with shaking hands
All eyes on me
Horrified looks from everyone in the room
But I'm only lookin' at you
I am not the kind of girl
Who should be rudely bargin' in on a white veil occasion
But you are not the kind of boy,
Who should be marryin' the wrong girl
So don't say yes, run away now
I'll meet you when you're out
Of the church at the back door
Don't wait or say a single vow
You need to hear me out
And they said, "speak now"
And you say, "let's run away now
I'll meet you when I'm out of my tux at the back door
Oh baby, I didn't say my vow
So glad you were around when they said, "speak now"
A/n
So, did anyone see that coming? I tried really hard to hide that reveal in the previous chapters while still peppering in the hints here and there.
That's another thing I had to say, things that'll happen ahead will subtly be hinted at in the chapters that precede it. Keep that in mind as you read ahead.
Thanks beta. I wouldn't have thought so hard about the placement of a dustbin if it weren't for you.
Thank you all for reading!