"Woo-oo somebody loves YOU!" yelled Lydia at the top of her lungs, trying to pry the phone away from Noah.
"Yeah, Mom, we're completely fine. Lydia found something to drink; do you think we could stay here for the night? Tyler said it was fine with everyone here." Noah shoved his inebriated friend onto the couch with ease, trying to hold a straight face while talking.
"I know it was irresponsible, but thanks. I don't want Lydia driving like this either. I love you, promise I'll call in the morning when we're heading back. Love you. Bye." Noah hung up the phone and looked over at Lydia, half asleep on the couch already.
Tyler, surprisingly, hadn't had a drop of alcohol tonight; clean through and through. Noah was sober as well, never having quite gotten over the big incident he had with alcohol in the ninth grade.
"Are you going to be heading to bed soon?" questioned a drowsy Tyler.
"Yeah, anytime now," replied Noah. "I just need to sort THIS wreck out." He rolled his eyes and gestured towards Lydia.
"Don't worry, I've got it. Although, could you grab a bucket from the second floor closet? Preferably a larger one... We don't need any spills..."
Noah grimaced, but complied and ran up the central staircase. When he returned, he found Lydia in a more presentable position, lying under a light blanket and snoring softly. He handed Tyler the bucket and looked around, sighing.
"Are you sure you don't want anything cleaned up yet?"
"Yeah, I'm sure," yawned Tyler, rubbing his eyes. "My parents aren't going to be coming home for quite a while. Business trips and lawsuits galore for the next week."
"You must get lonely sometimes..." Noah trailed off and found Tyler looking at him, smiling gently.
"Yeah... but the fun never stops here, does it? I'll clean up in the morning."
Noah nodded in agreement and trudged up the stairs behind Tyler, glancing up every once in a while to enjoy the view; It was amazing what a few sports and weight classes could do for someone. Shaking his head, he continued following his friend down the darkened hallways until they came to a smaller branch off the main one.
"Bathroom's in your room, across from the closet. There should be a spare pair or two of pajama bottoms in the chests of drawers. I always keep them stocked in case things work out like this. Do you think you'll be okay tonight?" Noah barely took in anything Tyler was saying, but gave an audible "mmhmm" to make it seem as if he were listening.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning, Noah. Good night." Tyler managed another of his gleaming smiles, despite his exhaustion, and made his way to his room across the hallway being sure to leave his door slightly ajar.
Noah beamed inwardly and did the same, quickly finding the pajamas and getting himself back together in the bathroom. He leapt onto the bed, sinking slowly into the mattress, and fell almost instantly asleep.
***
Tyler's POV
It was about 3AM when Tyler woke up, desperately needing a drink of water. He rose out of his bed and made his way to the bathroom. Running the tap for a bit, he thought he heard noises coming from the room across from his. As soon as he'd finished, his curiosity took the best of him and he wandered over to the guest bedroom's door. Tyler pushed it open, thanking his parents for having maintenance in the previous week and oiling the door hinges. Silently, he crept to the other boy's bedside to try and hear what he was saying.
"Bryce... No... Don't..."
Bryce was that dick from school, always making other people's lives hell. What had he done to sweet, innocent, Noah?
"Get off... No... Don't kiss..."
Tyler's eyes widened at these last words. Hadn't Bryce been straight? At least, he certainly went out of his way to ridicule anyone different than him. Especially the gays.
Shaking his head to clear his mind, Tyler reached over to the smaller boy's shoulder and touched it softly. Noah reacted quickly to this and jolted awake, bursting into tears.
"Get off me! Bryce fuck off I don't..."
"Noah!" whispered Tyler. "Please. It's alright, you're safe. You were having a nightmare." He leaned over the bed and took the sobbing mess into his arms. "Everything's okay. You're safe. Please don't cry, Noah. Shh, you're going to be alright."
Slowly, but surely, the sobs turned into small whimpers and then faded into soft whistles as Noah lost consciousness and fell back asleep. Tyler was at a complete loss of words for what had just happened, turning most of his attention to the ball Noah had curled himself into. This poor boy was damaged much further than he'd thought. He needed someone he could trust; a mature guy rather than some blabby chick who got completely shit-faced drunk whenever she could. Tyler laughed softly as he so boldly deemed himself "mature"; The party he'd held last night was the furthest from mature as he could get.
Looking down, he realized he was tracing small circles into Noah's back. His skin was soft and warm; an oddly comforting feeling under Tyler's fingers. Without a second thought, he stood up from the bed and drew back the covers a slight bit, sliding in between them behind Noah. He reached out and brought the boy's body closer to his; Tyler's bare chest against his back. They fit together almost perfectly in this position, and the older boy was soon breathing slowly; a faint smile etched onto his face as he slept.
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Here's a bit of a filler. Hope you guys enjoy. Be sure to vote, follow, add to your library and all that jazz :)
Tyler, what???
More to come soon
Completely unrelated, but Damian up on the side. Any thoughts? Feedback?
~Alex
