Temporary Bliss [boyxboy]

5: Halloween

The next day, I got a text from Anna in reply.

"thats gr8 im happy for u!! btw u gotta come to my halloween party tonight. starts at my house at 10. wear a costume or im not letting u in lol & u can bring ur friend ;)"

Cringing a little at her spelling, I rolled my eyes. Everyone always just loved Caleb.

It was the weekend and it was Halloween, so why the hell not go to a Halloween party? And if I went, Caleb would come no matter what, he wouldn't have it any other way.

We had our costumes ready, too, because Caleb and I always went out on Halloween, going to haunted houses or even trick or treating.

"Hey, Caleb!," I yelled as I thundered down the stairs, "You wanna come to a Halloween party tonight?"

He was sitting on the couch, scrolling through Instagram and looking a little lost.
"You okay?," I asked.

"Alex broke up with me," he said simply, "Just because... Ugh, whatever."
"Honestly," I said, "She was boring as hell anyways. You guys probably wouldn't have worked out."

"Yeah, you're right," my best friend said, looking a lot happier already, "I need someone fun. Let's go to that party."
I chuckled at him a little. Caleb was a party animal.

---

When it was about 10:30, Caleb and I finally left the house. He liked being fashionably late, especially to parties.

"We're gonna be there for the fun part," he always said, and for the most part, he wasn't wrong.

We got there at 10:45 and the party seemed pretty fun. I wasn't sure how Anna could even afford living in a house like this, let alone throw parties with copious amounts of food and alcohol. She was still in college after all.

The music was pretty loud, but I didn't have to scream for people to hear me just yet. Caleb went right over to the bar, pouring himself a drink and handing me some orange juice. I wasn't much of a drinker - I didn't do too well with alcohol.

We went around, talking to people, dancing, whatever.
I was sweating in my bat costume, but at least I got quite some compliments on it, so I guess it was worth it.

At some point - I wasn't entirely sure how much time had passed - I realized that I had lost Caleb.

I knew how Caleb got when he was drunk, so I decided that it was a good idea to go look for him.
After what felt like ages of running around the house, I finally found him slutty dancing on a table. He was about to take his shirt off.
People around him were cheering him on, or even filming.

The sigh I let out was drowned out by all other noises. I gently pushed people aside to get to Caleb.
Just as I wanted to say something to him, he hit his head on the small chandelier that was hanging over the table, and fell. I just about caught him. People around us were "ooh"ing as I carried him outside.

I was scared that he had seriously hurt himself, but it wasn't even a minute before he woke back up.
"Ugh, my head hurts," he grumbled, "Let's sit down on the porch swing."

I helped him walk over to the porch swing, seeing as he was still a little wobbly.

"I wanna take a nap," he said and closed his eyes.
"Hey, no. No nap. That's not good. You might have a concussion," I said, lightly slapping his cheek.

"Okay. If Finn says so, it must be true," he chuckled, swaying back and forth a little.

He stared right into my eyes for a while and it honestly made me feel a little awkward.
Caleb laughed quietly, "Your eyes are really pretty. All blue and shit..."

Before I even got the chance to answer, he threw up all over my shoes.
"Oh my god," I whispered in annoyance, "This was a horrible idea. Let's get you some water."

As if on cue, Caleb's ex, Jessie came outside. Jesus, how I hated that chick. She was an arrogant bitch. And she was also the only person Caleb had ever had a remotely serious relationship with. She ended up cheating and I remembered how devastated Caleb had been.

"Oh, hey," she said.
Her voice alone made me want to punch her in the face.
"Looks like little Cay isn't doing too well. Come on, let's get you inside." She went to take Caleb's arm and put it around her shoulder but I stopped her.

"Um, I don't think so," I said, "He's staying with me."
"Shh, Finny. I can take care of myself," Caleb laughed as he got up, but tripped right away, falling into Jessie. She stumbled a little, chuckling.

"Doesn't look like it," I muttered, "Are you at least sober?", I asked Jessie.

"Yeah, trust me. I'll take care of him."

Pfft. Me, trust her. Right.
"Whatever," I said. I figured I'd just keep an eye on them for the rest of the night. It wasn't like I could force Caleb to stay with me, even in the state he was in. I'd have to take him home soon, anyway. It was pretty late and he wasn't exactly doing great.

I waited a couple of minutes before going back inside to look for them. I didn't want to seem too stalkerish.

Well, it turned out that that was a bad idea. I couldn't find them anymore. Shit.
I ended up asking everyone if they had seen Caleb and/or Jessie, but no one really gave me a sufficient answer.

I found Anna for the first time, though. She was also a little past tipsy, but not quite as wasted as everyone else.
"Hey," she grinned, "Glad you could make it. Did you bring your friend?"
"Yeah, but he's off somewhere and I can't find him. Have you seen him anywhere?"

"Nope," she giggled, "But it's cool. Isn't he taken anyway? I've got you all to myself now."
I followed her in utter confusion as she pulled me up the stairs to where it was a lot quieter and into a bedroom.

It was dark, and before I could ask if she was planning to murder me or something, her lips were already on mine.
She didn't even seem to mind that I wasn't really kissing her back. I was just confused and a little overwhelmed.

After a few seconds, I gave in. Caleb could wait another five minutes, right?

A small moan from Anna and somewhere a light was turned on.

"What the fuck?," Jessie and I said in unision.

She was in bed with Caleb and they were both shirtless. Jessie screamed and pulled the sheets over herself.

I stepped away from a very irritated Anna and towards my best friend.

"Hey, what the hell?! You can't just take advantage of him like that! Get the fuck out!," I yelled at Jessie while Caleb just looked up at me with a lost expression on his face. He was squinting at the lights, too.

"But-," he tried to say but I cut him off.
"No. You don't know what you're doing. I'm taking you home."

Anna was still standing there, looking like she'd sobered up a little.

"I'm sorry," I told her with an apologetic frown.
"It's okay. I'm gonna go get your friend a bottle of water. Looks like he could use one."

"Thanks," I said and helped Caleb get up and downstairs. Anna handed me the promised water bottle.
"Sorry again. I'll talk to you later, have fun."

With that, I was out of the house and walking to Caleb's car.
The silence felt almost weird after being around so much noise for hours.

I clicked Caleb's seatbelt in for him and put the key into the ignition to start the car.

He just sat there, lightly nodding his head to the rock music that was playing.

"I should do that," he said thoughtfully, pointing to the car radio.

"What?," I asked.

"Install car radios," he said, still sarcastic even though he was almost passed out, "Start a band, you idiot."

I hummed in response. Nothing else was said until we got home and Caleb didn't bother going down the hall to his bedroom, but just crashed in my bed.

With a sigh, I changed and got into bed as well. What a night.