EXES AND OH'S

Just Asking

*Audio on please 🔈😉

---

I ring the buzzer, again, probably for the hundredth time already.

Well, someone's gotta be inside because I was buzzed inside the building when I pressed on the intercom. Besides, Jesse told me Levi never leaves his loft nowadays. So what the fuck is taking him so long? 

I don't think he's already asleep, cause it's just a few minutes past eight in the evening. I'm thinking of leaving already, but my gut says I have to do this now. Stopping myself from turning around and walking away, I lift my hand to try for a knock instead.

Knock, knock, knock.

There. A pretty decent, perfectly sane, normal person knock. I stick my ear to the door, and hear no one scrambling towards the entry. I knock again, a little aggressive this time. When no one still answered after a few minutes, I try for one last knock — our should I say, a louder and more violent fist-banging against the door. 

"Hello!? Is anybody h—"

The door opens, and I stand frozen as Levi's green eyes meet mine. My throat closed down, and it feels like I'm breathing thin air.

"Oh, hey... it's... it's you. Come on— come on in, Charlie." He slurs, sounding and looking so fucking wasted as his lips curl into a lopsided grin. Levi opens the door and grabs for my shoulders, pulling me in to his loft and slamming the door shut behind me. 

"I th—thought it was the pizza guy, but I realized... I didn't call for no fucking pizza. Oopsies..." He wobbles and almost trips face down on the floor had I not grabbed for his arms. "Oh my God, wh—why are you spinning? Charlie? Everything's fucking... spinning." Jesus Fucking Christ! How much has he drank already?

He laughs and mumbles to himself, then walks over to the bar counter beside his living room area. I look around his place and check if there's someone with him tonight. Just checking, I suppose. I'll never know if he had hooked-up. I don't want to make things awkward. But there seems to be no one but him. And good God, there's different kinds of bottles of half-finished and empty booze everywhere. The whole place is a whole fucking mess — it looks like one of those hidden object adventure games, Madame Fate, or Where's Waldo.

Levi's loft is almost unrecognizable. Well, Levi... he's unrecognizable. 

I've never seen him like this before. And it's killing me, seeing him in this state. It's my fucking fault. I've done this to him. I need to fix this. He cannot be like this forever.

I take a deep breath, slipping off my crisp black blazer and kicking off my black stiletto pumps, then saunter barefoot towards Levi. "Hey, let me have that. You already had too much," I say in a calm and gentle manner, grabbing the full bottle of Jack he had just opened. 

"Yo, hey! Not cool, man," he drawls, trying to grab back the bottle of whiskey from me, but he's already too dizzy and weak to do so. Christ, it's like dealing with my alcoholic, biological dad all over again. He used to be like this when he'd gotten himself so pissed-drunk — mumbly, annoying, and stupid.

Fuck. There's no way I can talk to Levi when he's like this. I'll probably just go back tomorrow. I'll leave his drunk ass a post-it to tell him to sober up and I'll return in the afternoon for our talk.

Highly frustrated, I reach for Levi's arm and throw it over my shoulders as I start to help him walk upstairs to his bedroom. "Come on, buddy, let's put you to bed now."