Bet We Could Make Some MORE (History Huh?)

8: Wasted Bastards (Alex)

In the past few weeks, Alex had not been able to stop with the Adderall, actually he had only started taking more. He had been taking Adderall every morning for over a week now, just to get himself through the day after his few hours of sleep.  To get himself to sleep at all, he would drink.

The wedding was nearly upon them, only a week away, and his bachelor party was tonight. Henry and he had agreed on no groomsmen - just June and Pez as Maid of Honor and Best Man, and Nora and Bea as honorary bridal party - but he did have a few friends from the law office and Liam coming to the party. It had been a while since he had seen Liam, about a year and a half ago he married his boyfriend Alex had first met the night his mother got re-elected. They seemed so happy together - two Texas boys. They both had been invited even when the wedding was supposed to be small.

Alex offered to fly both of them out to NYC for his bachelor party (he had unfortunately been unable to attend Liam's bachelor party because he couldn't get off from work for more than the day of Liam's wedding), but Liam's husband couldn't make it. So the party was Liam, June, Nora, Pez, and John and Craig from the office (Bea had turned down coming since she was still sober, and babysitting, in her words, a bunch of wasted bastards didn't sound like her idea of a good time– plus she wanted to be with Henry. Alex was grateful Henry wouldn't be alone tonight, since he wasn't planning on making it home until 3 or 4 am, when they would have to head to the airport for their Texas flight).

All their bags were packed, ready to go to Texas. Alex had his wedding suit and, unfortunately, his work that he would need to continue to do right up until the day of the wedding (which meant also bringing the pills) so that he and Henry could enjoy their honeymoon work-free. But first, the bachelor parties: Henry's was yesterday (Henry had come home happy and still tipsy) and tonight was his. June had planned it. He didn't know any of the details, but Alex was so excited. He hadn't had a night to let loose in a long time.

As he steps out of his law office building after a client meeting, a party bus pulls up. The door opens and there is his sister, hanging her head out and yelling, "Get in, loser!"

The smile instantly breaks across Alex's face. As he steps onto the bus, it takes his eyes a second to adjust to the dim blue light interior. Benches line the walls of the bus and sitting there are Nora, Pez, and Liam.

"Hey guys! Are we uh, going straight there? Because I did not bring a change of clothes." Alex has on his business suite. His outfit picked out for the night is back home: a colorful collared shirt he had planned to wear open with his bare chest and some ripped knee-length jorts.

"Don't worry, I brought you something," June says as she hands him a gift bag. Out from the tissue paper, Alex pulls a black, shear, glittery crop-top with fishnet sleeves. On the back, it says 'Groom To Be' in glittery pink, purple and blue text. There's also a pair of sleek, mid-thigh black shorts to go with it.

Alex had grown more bold in his fashion choices since he became more involved with the queer community over his time being with Henry. He had even worn a crop top before. But nothing like this, at least not in public. But it's clear his sister had it made, the lettering on the back was custom, so he goes to try it on.

"You'all don't mind, right?" Alex says as he pulls off his shirt.

"I think we've all seen it before," Nora says.

Liam glances over at his shirtless torso for a second. "Well a few things have changed since I last saw it." June and Nora chuckle. Liam smirks before turning his head away and Alex unbuttons his pants. Over the past few years, Alex and Liam had been slowly working on rebuilding their friendship. Liam was Alex's best friend from high school, so Alex wanted to stay friends despite everything they'd been through. But Liam still lived in Texas and had his own life and his husband, so they were both busy. They texted occasionally but not really to the point where they talked on the phone.