Ways Of Reality - The Untouched Scenes

Situational Eviction

"I'll be right back inside, okay Rich?" Stephen asked more than told his younger brother. And when Rich didn't answer, he took another step towards where he was in the kitchen. "Is that okay Rich? If I step outside and part with Charles?"

Richard, who was intensely reading the long chemical names on the back of a box he pulled from the pantry, looked up when he heard his name a second time. "Okay." He said.  He didn't mind.

With a smile, Steph nodded his head and assured he'd be right back again before grabbing Charles' beer off the ground and leading his friend out the front door of their apartment.

"What? You're kicking me out?" Charles didn't so much ask as he picked at or mocked his friend, reaching for the dark colored bottle he was carrying.

Steph held it away; a dangerous game he's come to know very well. Charles hadn't been his only opponent at this.

This was his friend, as surprising as it may sound to anyone who had just met him. Charles was kind and funny, and Stephen knew all of those things, but dealing with him while he was drunk was a problem he could not afford anymore. Stephen hadn't even minded all that much before he saw how much it worried his little brother, the thing that immediately changed and made up his mind.

"Charles, you can't do this anymore. You can't come here when you're under the influence." He said gently. 

"Why not? You've never been like this before!"

Charles was loud. Stephen put his free hand on the other boy's chest and made a soft shushing noise to try and quiet him. He pulled him down one flight of stairs, cautious that Richard might have been able to hear them before.

"It makes my brother nervous, Charles. You know how he's been through it all. I couldn't always keep him safe, that's why all this happened- so I could do just that. You coming here like this violates that- my promise to him."

"You promised me that-"

"I know." Stephen swallowed. Of course he knew what he promised. And he wasn't going to break it. Right? This was just a… modification. "My door is always open to you. It still is, just- keeping Rich safe is my first priority. You can come around, you can stay the night, just not intoxicated."

"You don't think I'd hurt him, do you?" Charles' voice expressed more emotion now, concerned for what his friend must have thought of him. Surely he didn't think that he was violent! Had he done something to prove that way of thinking of him?

Stephen shook his head, stealing a glance back up the stairs to see if Rich was looking for them yet. "No. I don't think you'd hurt him. You're a good guy, Charles."

Charles clicked his tongue. "So what's the problem then?"

"That he doesn't know that. He doesn't know if you'll turn on him or not. And that's not a thing I can fix. I've told him how good a friend you are, it won't fix the fact that he's terrified of alcoholics. He can't guess how someone under the influence would act, they're always unpredictable, he doesn't like the way that words sound being spoken like that- slurred. And he doesn't like the smell either." Stephen explained as calmly as he could, now raising the bottle he took from Charles a while ago for emphasis.

Reaching out, Charles tried to take the bottle back from his friend. His reach was almost drowsy, and Stephen, who was wide awake, easily held it back and away from him. When Charles reached a second time for it, he realized that this wasn't going to end til he got it back in his hand. He didn't want Charles to have it! He wanted him to quit and get better! Wasn't this sad? Would this be a memory in his friend's brain? And would he be depicted as bad for trying to keep something away from him? Or good for doing so because he was trying to help him? Would it be easier to just hand his drink back to him?