"You wanna come to my place tonight?" Ta asked as he reached into his friend's plate to steal some fries. "My brother isn't home so I wanna invite a couple friends over." "Mmm, I'm not sure." Build shrugged before pushing his fries to Ta's plate instead and stabbing his chicken nuggets on a pen. "I wanted to stop by Code's. He's kind of a mess right now." He sighed as he stuffed his cheeks with nuggets and squeezed a ketchup packet straight into his mouth. "That architecture guy cheated on him so he's just been a crying mess. I'll probably find him sobbing on the bathroom floor again." "Why don't you bring him?" Ta suggested, a little grossed out by the sight of Build's ketchup smeared chin. "Change of scenery for the broken hearted. Maybe I could comfort him." "I know what your comforting looks like." Build snorted, wiping his mouth. "Booze and bad decisions." "Just ask him to come. I kinda like him."
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They were at the party for less than an hour and Build has already felt annoyed with his friend. Change of scenery wasn't working the way he hoped. Instead of weeping on Build's shoulder with a bottle of cheap wine in the privacy of his own room, Barcode now had bigger audience to annoy with his whining, and even though everyone was already drunk and didn't care much, it wouldn't escape Build's ears and he quickly disappeared in the kitchen. "The cookies are in the top cabinet." Ta chuckled when he noticed his best friend raiding his kitchen and sneaking into the lower drawers. "Thanks." Build replied nonchalantly before climbing the kitchen counter and reaching for the jar.
"I've seen you run away from Code." Ta said, grabbing one cookie for himself too. "I thought you wanted to make him feel better." "Man..." Build sighed. "I want to help him, I really do, but he's an idiot, and we go through this like every other month. He starts dating a guy he swears is sweet and kind, but they always hurt him in the end. He ignores all the red flags very early on until they accumulate and it's too hard to bear. They always turn out to be jerks very quickly, I can tell early on and warn him, but do you think he listens to me? No. He just keeps being with these dirtbags and then act all huffy when I'm proven right. I have to listen to this over and over and over. It sucks that he's hurt, but I'm exhausted, because he never takes my advice."
"Maybe your advice is just shit." Ta shrugged, stuffing the entire cookie into his mouth and chasing it with a shot of vodka. "Maybe he needs to be someone who's a dirtbag from the get go. Saves himself some disappointment." "What sort of stupid logic is that?" Build sat on the kitchen counter, his legs dangling over the edge. There was a devilish smirk playing on Ta's lips as he grabbed something from a fake peanut butter tin and disappeared back into the living room.
He found Barcode laying over the edge of the sofa, lazily picking at his nails with a pouty expression. "Here you go." Ta smiled, shoving a drink into his friend's hand. "Something to make you feel better." "Thanks." Barcode sighed as he took a few sips, the bitter flavour made his nose scrunch. Ta thought it was fucking cute. "Wanna tell me about your troubles?" He asked, leisurely placing an arm on the backrest of the sofa. "You sure you wanna hear it? Build run away from me. He thinks I don't realise, but I do." Barcode pursed his lips, taking another sip. He then turned his attention towards Ta properly, chuckling at the sight of his necklace and flashy jacket. "Tell me something. Why are all the guys I date secretly douchebags? Are they just bored of me? Or is it me who takes nice guys and turns them into douchebags? I'm tired of getting played. I just..." He hiccuped. "...don't know what to do Ta. I wanna know what the fuck is my problem? Am I just that dumb? Waiting to see how red the flag can get?"
"Come here...don't be sad." Ta put his arm around Barcode's shoulders and ruffled his hair a little. Those big doe eyes looked at him with tears glistening in them, and the way the boy's lips trembled as he was trying not to cry, Ta felt it to be just irresistible. As the boy broke down again, Ta let him sob onto his shoulder until he finally calmed down and gripped the cup. "Let me comfort you, hm?" He nudged the cup in Barcode's hand up until the boy put it back to his lips, swallowing quickly as Ta tipped the cup even more and all the liquid entered his mouth. He swallowed with a groan, slamming the cup onto the table. "Just forget that guy, yeah?" Ta wiped a drop off of Barcode's chin and then licked his thumb slowly. That gesture didn't escape Barcode's curious eyes and he tilted his head, looking at Ta a little confused. The arm on his shoulders squeezed him a little tighter and Ta's face was suddenly got closer, he could feel his breath on his lips. Barcode was just drunk enough not to care about his surroundings when Ta kissed him slowly, his warm lips tasting of vodka and something sweet.
