DC Headcanon's 6: Sparkle Sparkle!

Finding Hope at the Bottom of the Bottle

alcohol and alcoholism tw

Alabama stepped out onto the back porch and looked out at the vast backyard. His eyes fell on the driveway where Kentucky was busy trying to fix a project car he had just bought. Alabama sighed and made his way towards Kentucky, just as the southern man popped his head out of the hood.

"Damn it. It's the fan." Kentucky muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"Afternoon Tuck." Alabama greeted making Kentucky turn around. Kentucky nodded in greeting and leaned against the bumper of the car.

"How's the car?" Alabama asked as Kentucky dug in his back pocket for his cigarettes.

"A piece of shit, I should've listened to Georgia and not bought it." Kentucky mumbled pulling out a cigarette and then holding out his carton to Alabama, who took it and grabbed a cigarette. Kentucky lit up and gave the lighter to Alabama, who lit up as well, and blew out smoke while looking up at the sky.

"What's going on with you?" Kentucky asked. Alabama shrugged and kept his eyes firmly on the gravel in the driveway.

"Tuck....when did you know it was a problem?" Alabama asked. Kentucky raised an eyebrow at his fellow southern state as he blew out more smoke.

"The....car? I knew it when I bought the damn thing." Kentucky pointed out.

"No I meant..." Alabama sighed. "The drinking." Kentucky let out a silent 'oh' as Alabama kept his eyes firmly on the driveway.

"Why'd you ask?"

"Just wanted to know." Alabama said with a shrug.

"Right. You ask the well-known former alcoholic casually when he knew he had a problem." Kentucky pointed out rolling his eyes. Alabama ran a hand down his face.

"I'm worried....about Ohio....I think he drinks far too much." Alabama explained.

"So does Florida and yet my son still dates him." Kentucky mumbled rolling his eyes.

"This morning I found him passed out in the yard with several bottles of wine around him." Alabama announced. Kentucky turned slowly to Alabama, his eyes wide.

"Oh. That's....that's not good...."

"But he refuses to get help! And Indiana doesn't think he has a problem! Tuck how did you do it? How did you get sober?" Alabama begged, becoming desperate. Kentucky sighed and smashed his cigarette.

"Alabama it's not that easy." Kentucky began.

"But you did it, you did and you've been sober for decades. What made you stop? What made you finally put down the bottle? When did you realize you had a problem?" Alabama begged.

"That's just it though!" Kentucky yelled. "I didn't think I had a problem! So what if I passed out every night drunk, woke up in a random guy's bed, then went out and did it all over again, I was young! I was living my life! I thought it was normal not to be able to function without it!"

"So what....Georgia made you change?" Alabama asked.

"Yeah! Because suddenly he wasn't talking to me unless I was sober! Suddenly I was getting sick in-between drinks because I was visiting him all the time! I wanted Georgia, he didn't treat me like the others." Kentucky explained. Alabama sighed and snuffed his own cigarette.

"Well that's good that worked for you, but we need something different." Alabama announced.

"You need to talk to him." Kentucky announced.

"What like an intervention?"

"You don't have to call it that if you don't want to, but it might help some. Talk to him about how much his drinking is affecting everyone, and how much it hurts to watch him suffer. If someone did that with me....well...I might've gotten sober earlier." Kentucky said with a shrug.

"And that'd be it? That'll get him off the sauce?" Alabama asked, fearful at Kentucky's sigh.

"It might not be that easy." Kentucky muttered. "And the recovery is going to be pure hell. I'm sure it'll be easier for him than me, I did that back in the 18th century and I don't wish it on no one, but it's awful."

"If it's going to be hell then what's the worth?" Alabama sighed before feeling a heavy arm on his shoulder.

"It'll be worth it to get your boyfriend back." Kentucky whispered, squeezing his shoulder. Alabama looked at his fellow southern state before leaning in and hugging him, feeling Kentucky wrap his arms around his torso. For a moment, a brief moment, he felt safe, like someone understood what he was going through, and he felt weightless.

"Thanks Tucky." Alabama said with a smile, breaking the hug. "How'd the wild child of the south get so smart?"

"Turns out, marriage and kids does a number on ya." Kentucky said with a laugh. He playfully shoved Alabama and turned back to his car.

"You get our midwestern boy clean, ya hear? I don't want Indiana to get distressed now." Kentucky ordered with a smile. Alabama sighed and looked back at the house, already dreading this conversation.

"Something tells me it won't be that easy." Alabama muttered.