𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘃𝗲, 𝘀𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄 | 𝗶𝘇𝘇𝘆/𝗮𝘅𝗹

꧁ ᴛᴡᴏ ; ᴊᴜsᴛ ʙʀᴇᴀᴛʜᴇ ꧂

•  — august 2023

❝ HE'S FINE, DUFF. ❞ Slash says, eyeing his best friend who stood outside of Izzy's bedroom door. "Let him sleep."

Duff sighs in frustration, walking over to Slash and beginning to pace. "I...I can't." He says distractedly. "You ever heard of dry drowning? Drowning out of water? It's possible, Slash."

Slash raised an unfazed brow at the man from his seat atop the counter as he took a slow sip from his cup of coffee.

As he's pulling the mug away from his lips, he says, "Duff, honey, I love you, but you cannot beat yourself up about this. It happens to people all the time."

"And some don't survive it, so how is that supposed to make me feel better?!" Duff snapped, finally looking at Slash.

Slash sighed, features softening as he sat his coffee down beside his thigh.

"Duff, I know you're .... scared. I know you're angry and you're blaming this whole thing on yourself." Slash slid off of the counter.

He approached Duff and grabbed his shoulder, stopping him in his pace. "But it's already happened and you can't take it back. And it's not your fault.

"It should have never happened, Slash." Duff says quietly, leaning back against the fridge and sliding down to the floor.

"Now he can add 'Almost Died at the Hands of my So-Called Best Friend' to his list of people and reasons to never trust them again."

Slash stared down at the man for a bit before kneeling beside him.

"Duff...." Slash begins softly. The blonde tenses up, but doesn't look at Slash. "Duff, is there something you wanna tell me?"

"No." Duff says too quickly.

He mentally smacked himself in the face because Slash obviously caught it too.

"Duff, do you .... like Izzy more than a friend?" Slash asks.

Duff felt his face heat up, so he turned his face away, keeping his head down. "No."

Slash could tell there was something more the blonde wanted to say but was holding back.

Slash eyes him. "Doesn't seem like it."

"Well, I don't." Duff shot Slash a mean look as he pulled his knees up and rested his arms atop them. "So just forget about it. Let it go."

Slash parts his lips to say something more, but stops himself.

It's Duff's life, not his.

He just gently pats Duff's shoulder.

"I gotta go pick Ma up from the airport." Slash stands. Duff looks up at him. "You'll be alright?"

Duff shrugs dismissively, not saying a word. He doesn't let the tension in his shoulders roll away until he hears his front door shut, signaling Slash's departure.

•

HE COULD HEAR A HEARTBEAT.

Somehow he had been far below the surface of a large body of water.