Bad Habit

twenty one

Finny went to sleep that night dreading waking up in the morning. After his mom intervened, Moss calmed down, but only slightly. It took nearly two hours for him to just begin coming down from the terrifying trip, and Finny couldn't even tell his mom exactly what he had taken because he didn't know. He assumed that it was something like molly, but considered the possibility of LSD as well. He had never known Moss to do or like drugs, considering he condemned Finny for smoking weed. That was why he didn't want to go to the hospital for his cuts, because if the school found out he'd been at a party and taken some party drugs, he'd be booted from all his activities and have scholarships withdrawn. And that's not even mentioning the wrath of his parents. 

Finny's mom confirmed that the cuts on his legs and forearms were not severe enough to where he had to go get stitches, and she patched him up the way Finny wanted to but couldn't. All in all, it took eleven bandages on his legs and eight on his arms; he was going to have a tough time explaining how it happened to anyone who asked. When he was all cleaned up, he was outwardly sleepy and laid back on Finny's bed, ready to fall asleep within seconds. Finny attempted to offer an explanation to his mom but she refused it, telling him that they'd speak in the morning, which was another reason why he dreaded his wake. 

When his mom vacated the room, he pulled his puked on shirt off and rubbed his face with a different shirt he'd picked up from the floor. He then looked towards his bed that had no sheets on it whatsoever. It occupied a sleeping Moss, and Finny couldn't help but to sigh. He was relieved that Moss was finally out, and he was relieved that he was bandaged and safe in his home, as opposed to being out somewhere on the streets or at a party. Finny stumbled over to his bed after turning off the lights and slid himself in next to his friend, situating himself so that he was comfortable and far enough away from Moss. 

He tried to close his eyes and focus on sleep, but sleep wouldn't come. Something was eating away at him, something strange. He opened his eyes back up and was immediately shown an image of Moss' sleeping face. He appeared as if he was pouting; his face was pressed so tightly against the mattress that he cheeks squished and his bottom lip stuck out cutely. Finny laughed quietly and then looked down, noting the gaping space between them. After a deep breath, Finny carefully scooted himself forward and eventually there were only centimeters of space separating the boys. Finny smiled and enjoyed the heat that radiated off of Moss while still staring intently at his face.

Suddenly, Finny felt inclined the reach his arms up. And so he did, reaching until his fingertips made contact with the skin on Moss cheeks. They were soft and billowy, likely from the way they were being squished. Finny felt his heart flutter as he ran his middle fingertip down the side of Moss' face, brushing it passed his lips and over his eyebrows and down his sunken cheek bones. Moss' nose flinched up and Finny pulled away, having that scare be a bit of a wake-up call. What the fuck am I doing? he asked himself. He shook his head a bit and sighed heavily before closing his eyes tight, struggling to fall asleep yet again. Something was still eating at him, though he couldn't put a finger on what that was.

Angry and exhausted, he opened his eyes once more and was still acquainted with Moss' face. He stared at it just a bit longer before he lifted his hands back to it. He grasped both sides with both hands gently and frowned. He then moved his leg slightly so that it was touching Moss', and moved his stomach so that it could touch his friend's. And something washed over him, something funny, and he felt his face moving closer to Moss' by the second, up until his lips were just barely touching Moss'. He stayed like this, in limbo with Moss' lips for many seconds before cursing himself out and pulling away violently. Fuck, fuck, fuck, what? What was that?

--

"Finny? Phineas, wake up."

Finny tore open his crusted eyes and yawned lightly before nuzzling his forehead into a warm back. He mumbled and then closed his eyes again, earning an angry sigh. "Come on, Jesus. Un-familiarize yourself with Mr. Molly and come downstairs with me. I'm not kidding around, Phineas." Finny opened his eyes once more and pulled himself away from Moss, who he had been grasping onto much like how he was that night prior. He took a deep breath and rolled over so that he was in a position to stand up, then did so and followed his mother out the door and down the stairs.