Caring

VI

All my friends are wasted
And I hate this club
Man I drink too much
Another Friday night I wasted
My eyes are black and red
I'm crawling back to your bed

He downed the single shot in front of him. It was his seventh in the space of less than five minutes. He paid no mind to the burning sensation in his throat and ordered two more rounds, dismissing the look his best friend gave him.

James sighed. "Listen mate, I asked you to come with me so we can get wasted together. Not so you can sit there bloody judging me."

"You haven't wanted to come out for months. What's changed tonight?" Bret wasn't going to let this go that easily.

"Nothing's changed. What? Can I not come out and enjoy myself once in a while? When did you become such a killjoy?" James was getting annoyed and losing patience quickly which was very unlike him lately.

"Okay, fine. Knock yourself out."

Bret raised his glass and took a sip of his beer, still watching his friend glare at the empty glasses in front of him.

Then a thought occurred to him.

"Wait James, where's Nadine?"

James' jaw visibly clenched at the sound of her name and his lips tightened into a straight line as if Bret had physically wounded him. The loud music in the club and the buzz of people around him faded for a while and he had to hold the counter to regain his balance. A few minutes passed before the jaw relaxed and he spoke. The words were raspy and he had to clear his throat twice.

"At home."

The way James behaved answered all of Bret's questions. Something had happened between them for sure. There was no other way to explain the way his friend was behaving.

The two of them, Bret and James, were now in their late twenties, almost hitting thirty, and a lot had changed in the last 7 or so years but not them. They were both still in the biz and both still close. Bret had been there for James through all the rough patches, all the confusing times, the scandals and rumours and even helped him realise that he shouldn't let the girl he loved go. All in all, Bret was proud of the man his friend was today.

In fact, James was getting married in a month and Bret was the best man. He had tried convincing James to chose one of his brothers instead but his reply had been straight to the point. "You are one of my brothers." And it was probably the sweetest thing that had been said in their friendship – or rather brotherhood.

Everything was going well, even the wedding preparations despite James' fiancée's need for everything to be perfect. So this is what left Bret in the predicament he was currently in.

What had happened between James and Nadine for him to be here, downing his body weight in alcohol?

"James, bro-"

Bret's sentence was cut short by the sound of a phone ringing. He watched as James took out his phone and looked at the caller ID – it was Nadine – and then reject the call. Damn, this was more serious than he first thought if James wasn't answering her calls. James always answered Nadine's call no matter what was happening.