CARNIVORE [MxM+]

Chapter 6

Alexei Abbots.

The ceiling is blurry.

All around me, muffled laughter and music play loud. 

The alcohol laced in everyone's blood is the cause of the unbridled happiness that we all share. It's also the reason I feel like me again. 

I rub my eyes to try and clear them and sit up. Around me, my five friends sit playing spin the bottle. Funny enough, the first one somehow shattered which made us attempt a serious, sober cleanup that wasn't taken seriously at all. Luckily, the glass was somehow swept and thrown in a bin and we had plenty of bottles to go around. 

I sit and watch; the bottle doesn't often land on me so I'm soft-spoken, rarely interacting. But that's okay, I enjoy it just the same. 

An hour goes by.

The game barely exists now.

I guess at this point introductions are needed. Jesse, a six-foot-four skater with the largest board I've ever seen dared Day, a significantly shorter (five-foot-eight) skater, to kiss Hailey, the quiet girl, about twenty minutes ago and they've been going at it like dogs ever since. Jesse himself passed out right after, sleeping like a baby on the floor with a blanket half wrapped around him. And for some reason, his legs were under the bed. I have to remember not to step on him when I get up. I look a little bit to my right, and sitting in the corner with her laptop on her legs and earbuds in is Claire, catching up on the new season of some show that I'm sure is filled to the brim with helpless romantics and unnecessary drama like she always is. Even drunk she's determined. I'll give her that. Who does that leave?

"Hey," a tired voice sounds from behind me, and soon enough a pair of arms wrap around me and I'm pulled into a warm chest. That's right, almost forgot. 

"Max?" His face gets buried into the crook of my neck while his arms tighten themselves. All I get is a quiet groan in response. 

"Ah right, forgot you're an affectionate drunk." He lets out a little giggle and I can tell it's time for him to sleep. I lean over to push his head onto a pillow and make sure he lies on his side. He doesn't really fight. 

"Stay here, okay? I'm gonna go get some water." Another groan.

I carefully rise from the bed, watching where my feet go as to not accidentally step on the sleeping giant. Speaking of my feet, I just noticed I somehow lost a sock. Weird. 

I make my way to the door and Claire watches me momentarily before whispering, asking for a water bottle. I nod in return. Then the door opens, and the slight chill of the hardwood seeps into my unclothed foot and my uncovered arms. I cross my arms to hold some sort of warmth and find the stairs. 

Tiptoeing down them, I take in the dark and quiet atmosphere of the Holt house. It's peaceful at night. The daytime is something else, though; filled with the chaos brought in by the twins and my friends. Glad Max and Kacey's parents are nice enough to not mind. I make my way to the kitchen to find the light already on. Whoever was in here last must've forgotten to turn it off.

A soft sigh hits my ears and confusion hits me like a wall. Who the hell is down here?

I look over the kitchen island to find a hooded figure with his knees to his chest and his head shoved between them. Wait a fucking minute.

I know that black hair, and that fucking hoodie. I saw it the day some prick decided to ruin my confidence. Just like that, I'm sober. On top of that, I'm very, very mad. 

"Hey, prick!"

I completely ignore the questions I have storming around in my head and stomp over to where he sits. I do notice, however, the open liquor cabinet and the bottle of Malibu half empty next to him. But I then ignore that too.