Beautiful Boy

angel & the devil

amara haven

I observed the posters on Nic's walls through my blurry eyes, wondering if I could find alcohol.

David was responsible for having alcohol in the house, making it difficult to judge whether or not there would be an odd bottle around.

I racked my brain for an idea.

Then it hit me harder than a freight train.

The basement.

Years ago, when Nic and I would hang out, we would sneak alcohol from the basement, where it was kept, and we decided to hide a bottle in the crawlspace once.

I wondered if it would still be there.

Worth a shot.

I crept down the stairs and sneaked to the basement door, noticing that there was a half-empty bottle of wine next to it. I grabbed the bottle quickly before opening the door as quietly as I could.

It was odd to see a bottle of alcohol so openly in the house, David was normally careful of leaving it around.

Perhaps the pressure he was feeling caused him to forget to dispose of it.

I couldn't blame him.

I had tried my hardest to ignore the craving, but it became too much with all of my emotions. I just needed to numb it.

At least a parent being flawed was working to my benefit for once.

I silently prayed that Nic and David wouldn't see or hear anything.

I was cautious of creaky stairs, sighing in relief when I reached the bottom with no noise being made.

I turned on the light and opened the crawlspace.

Sure enough, the bottle sat proudly behind the tiny door.

I quickly finished the half bottle and grabbed the other one, closing the crawlspace door and hurrying back upstairs to Nic's room.

I shut the door and sat down on the bed again, as I went to open the bottle, I heard him coming up the stairs.

I panicked and slipped the bottle underneath the pillow.

"You can sleep in here tonight," Nic said as he entered the room.

"Mhm," I nodded, starting to feel the buzz from the wine.

"Let's get ready for bed and talk in the morning, okay?"

"Okay," I agreed, standing up.

We both got ready for bed, him wearing a tank-top and joggers and me wearing one of his shirts and shorts.

"You know, I wore your shirts to bed every night after we stopped talking," I admitted when I was brushing my hair.

"Really?" He asked, putting toothpaste on his toothbrush.

"Mhm," I nodded, "It was comforting."

He didn't say anything, just brushed his teeth.

I tied my hair into a loose ponytail at the back of my neck.

"It was a really fucked up thing you did, you know," I said.

"Believe me, Mara, I know," he sighed, "And I don't think any apology makes up for it."

"No," I assured, "But I love you and I'm just happy we're friends again."

I couldn't control the words that were making their way into the air, but Nic nodded.