Split

Protect

Barry ignored my protests as he marched back to the bar, dragging me along behind him while I tried to talk him out of it.
When we got back to the building, Barry scanned the room for the guy that had grabbed him earlier, and then went into the garden area.
The man was sitting on his own smoking a cigarette and Barry didn't waste any time before approaching him and clearing his throat, "you know, I thought what you said earlier was really fucking insulting."

The man took a drag and blew smoke into the air, "Oh yeah? So did you come back for an apology?"

"Yes. I'm not leaving without one."

"Well you'll be waiting a long time then, won't you?"

"Only guys who aren't sure about their own sexuality are homophbic, you know."

The man dropped his cigarette, "are you calling me gay?"

"I don't know, are you gay?"
I knew what was going to happen before it did and I winced just as the man's knuckles connected with Barry's face. He fell heavily to the floor and the man went to pursue him, but I stepped in the way.

"That's enough, you've made your point!" I snapped and he smirked at me.

"Shame you hang around with losers, you're a pretty girl."

I spat at his feet and he scoffed before walking away.
I knelt down next to Barry and held his head up. He had a red cheek which would probably have a bruise tomorrow, but other than that he seemed fine.
"Are you okay?"

"What the fuck is happening?" Kevin asked, looking to me for answers with a dazed expression.

"Kevin? Where's Barry?"

"I don't know, I was asleep!"
I helped him up and we both sat on the wall we were on earlier that evening. He groaned and put his hand on his forehead, "have you guys been drinking? I feel like shit..."

I offered a guilty half smile, "maybe a little bit..."

"Ugh, he's supposed to be looking after us."

"He is, but he's allowed to have some fun once in a while," I backed him up and Kevin rolled his eyes.

"Well he's not doing a very good job, is he? Why did he give me the light?"

"I don't know. Let's go home, we can moan at him tomorrow."

"Yeah, I need to sleep."

We walked back slowly, neither of us really used to the effects of alcohol, and stumbled through the front door.
As soon as we were inside, Barry took the light and smiled sheepishly at me.
"Why did you do that?" I scolded him and he took a deep breath.

"I thought that if I got into a fight... if Kevin got into a fight... that maybe Dennis would form again."

"What? How did you come up with that?"

"Well, I just thought that Dennis used to take the rap for Kevin when he was a kid, and I got the idea that maybe if Kevin was in trouble that Dennis might need to be here to protect him again... it clearly didn't work..."

"But Barry, look at your face, look what you did to yourself."

"I know... but I was sitting there with you, listening to how much you cared about us and I just... I want you to be happy. You deserve to be happy so much, and I know you miss him... and he must miss you. I know I would if I was him. I thought that I could help bring him back for you, that's all. I'm sorry if I frightened you."

I couldn't find the words to explain how grateful I was for doing that for me, and the alcohol made me feel emotional, "I can't... I can't believe you did that for me..."

"It's nothing... and it didn't work anyway. I'm sorry, I wish I could bring him back."

I hugged him tightly, "thank you for trying," I let my hands rest on his shoulders, "you're such a good friend."
I kissed him on the cheek, "thank you, Barry."

"Don't mention it," he smiled a little, "if anything I should be thanking you for staying with us," He suddenly burst out laughing and my eyes widened, "Kevin is not happy!"

I laughed, "no he didn't seem like he was!"

We were both in hysterics, clutching our stomachs and tears pouring down our faces. He suddenly stopped, "I think I'm gonna be sick," and stumbled off to the bathroom. That made me laugh even more and I was soon sitting on the floor covering my face, my stomach becoming painful from the continuous howls that were coming out of my mouth.
When he came back, he sat next to me and chuckled with me, "I wasn't sick."

"Good," I wiped tears from my eyes, "It's been fun tonight."

"Yeah, it has. Thanks for going with me."

"That's okay. Bed?"

"How forward!" He grinned, "yeah, that's probably a good idea."

We helped each other to the bedroom and passed out pretty quickly.