UNWORTHY || driam

𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 // 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳

The night was awkward to say the least. I couldn't sleep well with all the thoughts about what had happened to Drew spinning around my head and how he was just lying there next to me on the floor, uncomfortable, as if nothing and everything had just happened.

Thanks to that, I found myself fully awake by half six, with nothing to do since Drew was still passed out from last night. I didn't want to wake him. He'd been through enough.

I left Drew a note, and headed downstairs to see if my mom was awake yet. There was no point wasting time and procastinating on it.

Luckily, I found her in the kitchen placing stained pans and dirty plates into the wash, probably preparing for breakfast.

Weirdly enough though, it was this that reminded me I had a shift at Stacy's Mamamia's Pizza this afternoon. Should I phone up and say I can't make it? Should I try to find someone desperate enough to cover my shift?

Then I look at my mom again and realise I can't do that. I know she says we're doing alright with money but I can still remember the fear in her eyes when she couldn't pay the bills one month when I was thirteen. Least I could do is just make sure I have some extra cash stored somewhere, just incase.

Besides, I could and morally should help Drew save up for an appartment. I know he'll deny help at first, given how stubborn he is, but he won't have enough for an appartment without some minor help.

"Oh Liam, you're awake!" my mom explains, snapping me back into the reality. What was I going to tell her again? Oh yeah, Drew's situation.

"Hey mom," I begin, grabbing some dishes from the side to help her put them away. I go to explain everything to her but the words disappear.

"What Liam?" she asks, probably sensing how severe whatever I need to tell her is from my tone.

I take a deep breath and begin stuttering everything out.

Everything about how Drew's actually queer and that Henry and I encouraged him to come out to his dad because he wanted to but then it all went horribly wrong came tumbling out, uncontrollably.

She looked at me. It was a sympathetic expression.

"Thanks for telling me Liam," she said. "I'll help your friend as much as I possibly can. Can you wake up your siblings please?"

Confused, I walked back up the stairs towards my siblings room. I thought my mom would've flipped out about the whole situation, whether that be for bad or for good, but the normality of her reaction concerned me.

I allowed my mind to drift off to whether I should go to my shift tonight, when an idea popped into my head.

I knew they needed new workers due to the recently gained popularity of the place. They had asked me if I had wanted to work extra hours on a few occasions over the last few weeks while they sorted out employing new people.

If I brought Drew along to my shift later, I could get him into an interview, and maybe bring home a pizza if the tips were good enough tonight.

Quietly, I crept passed the door to my room, where Drew was still passed out on the floor, and tiptoed to my siblings' room, waking them up and went back to mine.

I figured I would send an email asking my boss if they still needed more work, and maybe finish off a bit of homework.

A couple hours later, after just lying unconscious next to me as I stressed over my maths work, Drew woke up, his charcoal eyes staring at mr confused as if he had forgotten the reason he was here.

"Morning Drew," I said, my voice cracking randomly mid sentence.

"Morning," Drew responded.

Despite the fact he had been asleep for the last eleven and a half hours, his voice sounded even worse than it had yesterday.

"You alright?"

"uh yeah."

He lifted himself up into a sitting position and started biting on the end of the steings of the hoodie he had passed out in the night before.

The silence that followed was awkward. It was clear that both of us had something to say lying on the tip of our tongues that we just weren't.

"So um.." I began, trying to break the silence. "I messaged my boss about whether their hiring, if you'd consider working at a pizzeria."

"Honestly, I'd do anything," he said, rubbing his eyes.

"Alright.." I replying.

Then the silence came creeping back in. The breeze drifted in from the single window I had open in my room.

Still, neither of us said anything.

"Thanks Liam," Drew said, locking us in eye contact so strong it was as if our eyes could stay staring at the others forever,"

"For getting you the job?" I asked, overthinking. "You're welcome. Honestly, it's nothing."

"If I'm being honest, I meant for everything. Thanks for allowing me to stay here when I needed it the most. You're a good friend."

I sat there, stunned and speechless for a multitude of reasons.

Meanwhile Drew just remained silent.

But this silence wasn't awkward; it was peaceful, beautiful even.

And so was he.