A Devil for Me

Glass Houses

A morning that they would either forget about what happened, or a morning that would cause difficulties between bandmates and friends.

"Dustin... Dustin... Dustin?"

Having gotten no response from him after knocking, Noah gently opened the door to the bedroom, the stretches of the kitten being in his peripheral vision. With a hum, he sets the glasses of water and Tylenol on the nightstand, scratching behind the kitten's ears with a tattooed hand. A gentle smile on his face with strands of hair gently resting against his face along with a pair of dark-rimmed glasses that sat on his nose.

Closing the door behind him, he steps out into the main area. Down the steps with hands in the pockets of his basketball shorts. A sigh left him to run a hand through his long hair, pulling the hair tie off his wrist to put his hair up in a half ponytail, slumping against the couch with a low groan to make eye contact with the others.

"So?" Nick asked coming from the kitchen with coffee in two mugs. Handing one to the other, he joins him on the couch, Jolly and Folio still fast asleep.

"Still asleep. Pretty sure he's gonna have a bad hangover. Considering the other pair of shoes isn't any of ours." Noah shakes his head, a disappointed mother sighs leaving him to glance back at the stairs, before going back to sip his coffee.

"Told that kid to be careful. That is not careful. He really could've fucked up if it was someone else"

"Noah... He's just a kid."

"I get that Nick. But what would've happened if it had been a completely random stranger? They could've found out who WE were, and eventually sued us"

"I- yeah. You have a point."

The sound of the shared bedroom of Folio and Jolly opened, both jogging down the stairs at the smell of coffee. Both with bed hair while working to put on their shirts. The kitchen within reach while they grabbed their mugs.

"Save any for us? Or did the two of you drink it all?" Jolly laughs, Folio right behind him taking the vanilla coffee creamer from the bottom cabinet to pour it into his mug while stirring with a spoon at the same time. The house fell silent for a couple of hours or so. The only noise that could be heard was the TV that quietly played the news of the current events that had been going on throughout the day. The click of the bedroom door pulled them away only to sigh when the bathroom one opened and then closed.

Soon enough, with the glass of water in hand, Dustin came trudging down the stairs. Sweats being paired with his Green Day 'American Idiot' band Tee before he dipped into the kitchen to avoid them. The sound of Noah groaning while getting up had him on edge while going to refill the glass. Avoiding contact with the older to drink away at the cool beverage.

"When you get done with that. I wanna talk"

Rolling his eyes, he sets the glass down, scooting it out of the way to shake his head at Noah being overdramatic. He only just turned 21. It's not like he had PLANNED on doing anything.

"I know what you're gonna say already, and frankly I honestly don't care. Because last I checked, I could make my own decisions. I learned from them didn't I?"

"You could've fucked up worse than you did."

"But I didn't"

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT! INSTEAD OF IT BEING RICK YOU SLEPT WITH IT COULD HAVE BEEN A RANDOM PERSON! THEN WHAT- WHAT WOULD HAPPEN THEN?? WE WOULD ALL BE SUED!"

Noah slams his hand on the table, making him jump. His fear of loud voices caused his body to shake. Turning his head, he gripped the glass with a near-death grip, Jolly, Folio, and Nick all ran in after hearing the loud slam. Folio going to calm Noah down, Jolly and Nick slowly going towards Dustin who backs away amidst his chest tightening up to start a panic attack, before he's off and slamming the door to his room once again to lean against the inside of it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After what seemed to feel like hours among hours after Ricky had left, Noah sighed heavily. Sipping at the cold coffee in the mug before he had gotten up. Large strides echoed across the living room towards the door. With a soft knock on the door, Noah stepped back but heard no shuffling on the other side.

Quietly turning the knob, he gently opened the door to peek inside. Dustin had fallen asleep, all the blankets being used for a pillow. The kitten curled up in his arms, its tiny head resting against his arm, ears flicking here and there softly.

Reaching over to grab a blanket, he freezes when they both shift around, gently laying it across the both of them, carefully stepping around the mattress while being quick in doing so. Making sure the blanket hung over the edge of the mattress, he turned it lengthwise so it, reaching for another one just in case it wouldn't be enough to cover him.

"Noah..? It started snowing."

Folio whispered, having poked his head inside to see where he had gone, motioning for him to come out into the living room. Following after, Noah closes the door quietly. Jogging down the stairs, he stops behind the couch. The scene on the other side of the big bay window had become a winter wonderland. The snow fluttered in the air to land on the ground in patches, covering everything all around it.

The trees got littered in white, soft flurries stacking on top of one another. The wildlife came out from the wood line to dig up the snow to reach for the vegetation that had been buried underneath. The deer's along with the rabbits blended in with the snow so they couldn't get eaten or taken up by the other wild animals.

A soft smile came from Noah before he's off and rummaging through the kitchen to grab items that seemed unnecessary to most people.

"S'mores? You're making s'mores?'

"Yeah, but they're not for me. You'll see when I'm done."

He calls from the kitchen. Grabbing a small pot, he cranks on the stove. Bending his body down to look for the bag of chocolate circle chips, he measured them out. Putting them into a bowl for a double boiler type situation.

The smell had woken up the youngest, him rubbing his eyes to carry the kitten in his arms. His blanket hung off his shoulders while he glanced up at him from the smell.

"S'mores?"

"Mhm. But not just s'mores. Hot chocolate as well. Maybe you and I could have a nice chat on the swings? To see how you're doing?"

He receives a shrug, a sigh leaving him. He hands him a mug, leading the way while slipping on his shoes to start heading outside to the swings.

" Come on. It's not that bad."