a tangible sense of wrong

though the moon shines bright like a beacon

Dave awoke with a jolt and a yelp.

Immediately gentle hands held his shoulder, steadying him.

"Drew? Is that you?" Dave, disoriented, mumbled.

"Hah, sorry, but nope!" Dave glanced up and saw the grinning face of Joe. "Wow, you must've really gotten shitfaced last night to think I was Drew." He let go of Dave's shoulders, and moved to stand from the couch.

"Oh, uh, what?"

"Well, after Ed and I went out, you and Drew apparently cracked open some drinks. You really need to learn to hold your liquor though! According to Drew you just kind of collapsed. Knowing you two, you probably had some drinking contest, right?" Joe gave a chuckle at this.

"Oh, um, I don't really remember what happened?" Dave confusedly replied as he attempted to remember the night before. All his mind could hold onto were brief flashes of color. He slowly ran his hand through his ruffled hair as his head began to throb with a dull ache.

"As, expected, honestly. Like I said, you got really drunk." Joe replied, as he grabbed some items from the nearby table. "Here have this! You must be having a killer hangover," he handed Dave a cup of water and a white tablet.

"Ah, thanks Joe!" Dave gave a grin as he took the pill with a gulp of water. He cradled the cup in his arms as he waited for the medicine to take effect. "Hm, was that aspirin or Tylenol?" The tablet had a distinctly different taste to the subtle sweet outer taste of aspirin, which Dave more often took.

"Actually, I'm not so sure, sorry. I couldn't find anything in the pantry, so I asked Drew for some. You know, since he always seems to be stocked on random things. Uh. If you want to know, you should probably ask him," Joe apologetically stated.

"Mm, it's fine. I think it's starting to work already, so it must be pretty good!" Dave slightly hummed as he took a sip of water.

"Well that's good to hear!" Joe gave a wide grin, clearly glad that his friend was feeling better. "Well, I think I'm going to check up on Ed now. He was really tired last night."

"Hah, did you two get into some unsavory activities?" Dave joked, as Joe turned away.

"Oh. Uh, haha, I guess you could say that!" Joe walked away.

Dave smirked at this friend's retreating form. He was sure that the two got down to something. Just what that was, he wasn't sure.

"I see you're up now." Dave turned around to see the smirking face of Drew. For a moment he remembered the feeling of lips against his, hot and taking. But then the fleeting memory dissipated, as a cold feeling of fear took hold of his heart, and a slight shiver shot through him.

Drew took a step towards him

Dave instinctively flinched back.

"Woah there, no need to be so jittery. It's just me, Drew. You know, one of your best friends." Dave visibly relaxed as he realized the nature of which he was acting.

"Oh, sorry Drew! You just scared me a little there. How long have you been here?" He shot Drew a grin, as he continued to take a sip of water. It was cold against his tongue, which soothed his now receding headache. Drew walked closer to the couch as Dave spoke.

"Ah, not too particularly long. How're you feeling?" Drew gave an easy grin as he took a seat next to Dave.

"Oh I'm fine, no missing limbs you know!" Drew gave a small chuckle at the reply, and draped his right arm over Dave's shoulders.

"Mm, that's good," Drew murmured as he pulled Dave closer. Dave nervously laughed at this action.

"Wow, touchy much? Come on, I was only out for a few hours." Drew chuckled at this.

"I was worried, you know," Drew softly whispered. His other hand found Dave's.

Dave's hand began to tremble as Drew gently moved his thumb across his knuckles.

In response, Drew brought his head closer to Dave's neck.

Dave's eyelids began to droop as he felt himself grow increasingly drowsy. He wondered if it was the medicine.

"Hey Drew," he breathed out.

"Yeah?"

"The pill you gave Joe, uh, does it come with side-effects?"

"Oh yeah. Sorry I didn't tell you," he brought himself closer to Dave's ear, "it'll probably make you feel a bit tired. Nothing to worry about."

Dave held back a shiver at this, and nodded.

"Makes sense."

His eyes darted around the room as he grew increasingly uncomfortable with Drew's closeness. He couldn't place his finger onto the reason why. Perhaps it was because he couldn't remember what had happened the prior night, something that was likely to be important. Or maybe the medicine wasn't sitting right with him. The endless possibilities rolled around his head, as he felt himself growing more disoriented. Each thought he attempted to grab onto slipped from his grasp, as if they had merely been made of sand. The fact that Drew's body was warm against his, and reminded him of nights where they had shared a bed didn't help the matter either. He usually enjoyed the close contact. But something, something-

"Say Dave."

Dave snapped out of his thoughts and slightly turned his head to better see Drew's face.

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember last night?"

"Not really."

"That's a shame," he murmured as he let go of Dave's hand. He cupped Dave's cheek with his now free hand and gently turned his head toward him. "A real shame, Davey," his voice trailed off as he cradled Dave's head in his hand.

Dave's heart sped up. He could feel Drew's warm breath fanning over him, and the feeling of his gentle hold on his skin overwhelmed his senses. His eyes fluttered as his breathe hitched. He felt the inherent wrongness of his reactions roll around in his stomach, as if they were oily snakes squirming against each other.

Fear settled over him like a blanket, but an apprehensive feeling of near-excitement warmed him from his core.

Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe-

Abruptly, as if he had been struck with a new realization, Drew pulled away.

Dave felt himself slightly shiver at the sudden movement. For a moment he felt disappointed, until a wave of relief washed over him.

"I should be going. Completely forgot about something I had to do."

As Drew began to stand from the couch the sounds of Ed and Joe's footsteps approached them.