A Light You've Never Seen Before

Chapter 2

This kid irritates me to no end. We've been to the ramen spot for five days, and now wants to go there every day. When Neil is out doing god knows what, I'm stuck at home trying to finish my tasks. I'm not sure how this guy never has to prepare and yet manages to ace all of his tests while retaining a 4.0 GPA; is he gifted or something?

Regardless, I've been working on these assignments for days, and at this moment, if I wasn't in my final year, I would have gladly given up.

Adam repeatedly tried to finish his job but couldn't seem to get any of answers correct, which he thought was due to his worry for Neil.

After a few minutes, he heard the doorbell ring, "seems like Neil's wanted to come home before midnight today." As he stood up from his desk to open the door, he heard strange sounds from the other side and there stood Neil with a huge smile on his face. His glassy eyes begged for entry, and he clung to Adam, hardly able to stand, and whispered, "Hey you—hope you missed me." Neil was obviously inebriated, and Adam couldn't help but notice.

"You stink like piss, why do you still get wasted the night before work?"

"You know it's a tradition," Neil said as he wobbled through the threshold, threw his jacket on the floor, and slumped on the sofa.

"No, get up and go take a bath. Once you're finished, you'll be helping me with all this work I have left. Then we'll have dinner. After that, you need to go to bed because I don't want your boss to come to me for the forty-fifth time and wonder why you slept in-"

"Sheesh, mom, give me a break, you're always so worried about me, it's soo cute if i do say so myself" he says while emphasizing on every single word. Plus, they're simply jealous of me; there's nothing more about it." Neil chuckled as he stepped towards the bathroom entrance. "Hey, there's leftover ramen from that place I always go to, warm it up for me" he said as he slammed the door behind him.

Adam marched into the kitchen, his fist clenched in rage "Ramen 5 days in a row? And on top of that he eats that three times a day? What a dumb bastard". As he warmed up Neil's meal, Adam reflected on his thoughts. "Why does he have to be so drunk all the time? I want to beat his a$$ until he learns how to take care of his health" he said, as he put his food on the table and waited for him to finish up.

Every Sunday, Neil chooses to get drunk and then returns home knowing damn well he has work the next morning; I swear he would've been sacked by now if it weren't for his incredibly sweet boss, Sierra. She still lets him off the hook. If I were her, I'd kick his a$$.

At this point, Adam was furious and wanted nothing more than to lecture Neil.

Neil stepped out of the shower before drying his hair with a towel, then walked over to the table and stood across from Adam, trying to maintain a straight face.

"What the hell is wrong with you, you psychopath?" Adam said as he looked down at his meal and began to feast.

"I just think it's funny ho-"

"God, here we go again," Adam thought to himself, anticipating Neil's next words.

"Okay, shut up, don't even start," he said, shoving cucumbers into Neil's mouth as an attempt to get him to stop talking.

"Are you going to kill me? I could've choked on that," Neil said as he coughed loudly and reached for some water.

No, but I don't mind if you keep irritating me like this," Adam remarked sarcastically as he walked back to his seat.

"Adam, I love how you have the 'I want to kill this guy' face on, I guess you tend to forget that I know you care for me even though you have a shit way of doing it," Neil said as he jumped back in his chair, crossed his legs, and smirked at Adam.

Neil remained seated on the chair as he approached Adam by placing both his palms under his chin and shifting his elbows on to the table to support his face up to directly face Adam.

"I told you to shut up you idiot" Adam said

"Try being more affectionate, you dumb shit, if you keep showing people love by trying to punch them in the face when you're concerned about them, you're going to die alone," Neil said as he backed away from the table and chuckled hysterically.

"Love? What on earth is he on about? Wanting to hit someone in the face does not indicate that you love or care for them. Neil irritates me to no end " no or so he believed.

Adam was irritated all night because he didn't understand what Neil said. He didn't know whether he was worrying about him or mad at him; he couldn't put his thoughts into words and still had a peculiar way of communicating his feelings to others as well. Neil, on the other hand, would understand Adam and what his actions meant regardless of the situation.

Neil's POV

After we finished dinner, Adam led me to my room and supported me in getting ready for bed. Yes, I'm twenty-two years old and I still need someone to help me get into bed because of my own dumb decisions. I know he despises it when I get wasted, particularly because I cause so much trouble when I'm drunk. But what can I do? I find it extremely tedious having to study even after school hours, but Adam doesn't know how hard I have to work my a$$ off to keep the Student Government President position.

While he thinks I'm always getting drunk, I'm actually studying hard at the library, it's quite frustrating getting called "smart" all the time when half of my day is invested into studies and work. I do tend to avoid doing things like that in front of people because they think a person me could never fail at life which is far from the truth. The assumptions people make about me are things I usually tend to ignore, but I'd be lying if I said they never got to me. Regardless, I always try to look at things from a positive perspective.

Adam and I first met in our senior year of high school, when I approached him to invite him to join my group for a project. No one spoke with him because they suspected him; you'd always hear kids complaining about the man with hooded eyes and black hair who doesn't talk to anyone but whenever he did, he spoke in a raspy voice that made people want to bolt. Basically our schools biggest delinquent. People had a way of believing everything they heard, so I'd be lying if I said those stories didn't make me laugh, but I wanted to find out the truth on my own. I won't lie, it was tough for me to get him to join my group since he hardly enjoyed talking with others, and because I was the polar opposite, I know he was annoyed by me since I would never shut up. Yet I had the impression that behind his glum expression was a human who loved and cared for others.

As time passed by, our relationship had actually gotten really strong, I started considering him as an older brother. He'd get into physical fights while defending me from people in school and out of school, he actually ended up getting my bullies suspended and stuck by me ever since. I used to get picked on a lot because my personality was a lot bubblier than others', but ever since Adam became my friend, people viewed me differently. While he had an offensive way of expressing his thoughts, I knew he cared for me, and to be honest, that was all I wanted from him. I think that if I hadn't approached him first, he would've always assumed that being alone would get him somewhere and that he should struggle through everything on his own. From then until now, there isn't a single thing I regret; every day spent with him has made me enjoy my life.

I realize it's tough for him to admit that he loves me, even though he babies me to this very day. He's a moron; he believes that love should only be felt romantically, which is why when I taunt him about caring for or worrying about me, he takes it the wrong way and tells me to shut up. Yet I can't say I blame him. Learning about one another showed me that people who do not get enough affection and respect in their relationships could have great difficulty expressing their feelings to others'. Regardless, he was instrumental in getting me through everything, and I can't thank him enough.

End of POV