Langour ・❥・Joost Klein・❥・

11.

'Joost, what happened? You were fine when I last saw you,' Fenne steadied the man.

'I am fine! Where-Where have-' he hiccuped '-you been? I was going to um... come find you, but I can't-I can't see straight right now.'

Joost leaned down when he talked thinking that Fenne couldn't hear him. But his volume wasn't the issue, it was his intense slurring and mumbling. He could barely speak without losing his train of thought and he reeked of cigarettes and beer.

Nathan, who was equally as hammered, called his name multiple times, only to say something in German that Fenne didn't understand. Joost would laugh almost breathlessly with the pitch of a hyena, before turning back to Fenne as if she had said something. His blonde eyebrows would be raised and his blue eyes would be filled with anticipation despite their heavy eyelids and hazed state.

'I think you've had enough tonight,' Fenne said slowly. 'Hanna and I are going to head home-'

'No, don't go,' he whined and hung his arms by his side in a sulk. 'I've barely seen you tonight, Fenne. Stay out here with me.'

Fenne huffed, sending the hair that hung in her face flying upwards. The night had been long and she wanted to go home to her bed. They were in Leeuwarden, which was a long Uber or train ride to Amsterdam. If her and Hanna left any later than soon, they wouldn't be getting to their apartment until the morning. Fenne hadn't planned to stay out that long and she hated when plans took unexpected turns. It was bad enough that they were late to Shelter, which Teun said made Joost nearly cancel the show.

She felt awful. Shelter was an amazing opportunity and because of her and Hanna's tardiness, Joost nearly missed it. And while they stood in the garden, his friends shouting without a care, Joost looked down at her pleadingly. His hair was sticking up from how many times he or his friends had messed with it. He stood close to her with the fear that she would turn and leave unexpectedly. His pouty lips parted and closed, leaving Fenne to wonder what he was thinking.

'Please?' he mumbled, his eyelashes dropping with his gaze for a moment, and Fenne swore that he looked at her lips. Fenne wondered if Joost was even asking her to stay at this point and not asking for something else.

With a sigh, Fenne gave in.

'Fine. I'll stay.'

'Great!'

'But I think you should send some people home. It's a mess in there,' she threw her hand in the direction of the house. Joost barely looked to where someone walked out with his black ushanka on their head

'I'll call the police. That'll-' another hiccup '-get everyone out!'

'Call the police on your own party?!'

Joost was already pulling his phone out his pocket and squinting as its screen lit up his face. Fenne watched as his neck hung over the device with his hand holding it incredibly close to his nose. He staggered from a sway that took him too far to the left and she held a hand out to steady him. She touched the clingwrap that was still wrapped around his bicep, covering the 'KP' logo that was tattooed in red.

'Fenne, I can't see...' Joost slurred and looked up to her while holding his phone out. 'Can you call the police, please?'

Fenne wanted to laugh at the situation she was in. It was ridiculous that Joost was asking her to call the police on himself. But she couldn't resist when Joost showed her his screen where he had typed the emergency number in his calculator app.

While shaking her head, Fenne took his phone and laughed under her breath. Joost wanted to watch her navigate through the apps. He lingered over her shoulder with his chest barely an inch away from her. Fenne looked up through her eyelashes as she got to Joost's phone app and gulped. His polo was all she could see in her peripheral vision and it made her thumb shake as she tapped the call button.