FRIENDS ➳ jean kirstein

018. SOMETHING NICE

Charlie — November 21, 2020
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Charlie was beyond embarrassed by how easily her bad trip was triggered. She flipped out and lost it because her intoxicated brain couldn't handle the stress of trying to find a way home. She wanted nothing more than to roll over and lie, face-down, in her bed for the rest of the day. But a knock on her bedroom door kept her grounded in the moment.

"Come in," she grunted out. She wasn't sure why she was so surprised to see Jean enter her room. Her mother wouldn't have the decency to knock, and Armin would rather be on the opposite side of the world than in his sister's company, so he wouldn't come into her room at all.

Jean held two things in his hands. The first was a glass of water, and the second was a mug of what Charlie assumed was tea or coffee, the spoon still in it. His damp hair told her that he had only recently gotten out of the shower. Nudging the door closed with his heel, he offered her a small smile.

"I'm not sure if the—uh—after-high is like a hangover," he said as he crossed the room, setting the glass of water down on the upside-down bin that acted as a bedside table. "But I brought some aspirin. And last night you kept going on about being hungry, so . . ."

He handed Charlie the mug, which she now saw was full of cereal. Quirking an eyebrow, she gave Jean a quizzical look.

"There were no bowls," he told her, putting the painkillers next to the water on the bedside table. "They're all in the dishwasher."

Charlie snorted, rolled her eyes, and began to spoon the cookie cereal into her mouth. Her stomach gave an obnoxious growl, letting both her and her company know just how hungry she was. Chuckling, Jean sat himself down on the edge of the bed. Charlie could tell by his slightly tense jaw and the way he was chewing at the inside of his cheek that he was battling with words. Clearly, he wanted to say something but wasn't sure if he should or not.

At long last, he seemed to decide to bite the bullet.

"So," he started, refusing to meet Charlie's eyes, "how long have you been—y'know—?"

"Doing drugs?" Charlie put in. The barest hint of a pink tinge rose to Jean's cheeks, but he gave one stiff nod, and Charlie went on. "Took my first pull of a joint at a party at the start of sophomore year, a little bit before I turned sixteen. Then I started doing it every now and then, at parties and whatnot. But I always took pulls from other people's joints. I only started buying for myself a year ago or so."

Jean nodded along as Charlie spoke, and once she had finished, he was silent for many moments before speaking.

"Armin doesn't know?" It was supposed to be a question, but it sounded more like a statement. Charlie shook her head and said, "No, but he knows Eren smokes. Wasn't happy about it."

"Yeah, I can imagine," Jean said, raising his eyebrows. He did a good job masking his disapproval in Charlie doing drugs (probably because he knew very well she'd tell him where to go if he tried to tell her what to do with her own life), but Charlie could still tell that Jean wasn't thrilled about it. Judging by this, it was safe to assume that he didn't know Connie had taken edibles, and more than likely smoked weed at some point too. Charlie opted not to mention where she had gotten the edibles from. Connie's secret was safe with her.

"Just—just be safe, alright?" Jean said. Charlie could tell by the sudden dip in the volume of his voice and his reluctance to meet her gaze that it had taken a lot out of him to say that. "Don't do anything stupid."

Charlie shook her head. "I'm usually fine," she said. "I'd only ever had one bad trip before yesterday."

"Really?"