SHORT CIRCUIT, connor dbh (discontinued)

; 41

"Noah, where are we going?" Connor asked as he got into his car.

"We're going wherever the road takes us, dude," Noah's obviously drunk friend said, "You want a beer?"

"No, but thank you for the offer," Connor said. Recently, he and several other andriod models were able to receive an upgrade to make them more human. He got it earlier in the week, without telling Liv, and now was able to drink if he wished to, and had upgraded pain censors, along with many other modifications. Connor was never really bothered by not having such abilities, but he enjoyed feeling normal. He still couldn't eat or sleep, but he looked past that.

"Nevermind, give me a beer," Connor said. He figured that one drink wouldn't impair him, and now was a great time to test his new ability. One of Noah's friends handed him a glass bottle as Connor tried to not notice how illegal most of this was. He popped off the cap and took a drink.

Disgusting, this is so awful. How can Hank stand to drink this? Connor grimaced after taking the drink.

"Yeah, I'm not much on beer either. You wanna shot?"

"You're not pouring shots in my car, Logan!" Noah warned, "Give Connor a break, he's never drank before."

"You've seriously never drank before? Are you not old enough yet or what?"

"No, I can drink." Connor said, then was handed a shot of tequila. He downed the shot. This was a lot better than beer. He could actually see why someone might enjoy it.

"So?" they asked Connor what he thought.

"It's good," he gave his approval.

"You want another?" Logan asked, holding out the bottle to him. Connor nodded and he filled up the small glass. He downed another shot, and another, and another.

"We're not even there yet, calm the fuck down, guys," Noah said to three other men in the car, all intoxicated.

"You're so uptight, Noah!" Logan said, jokingly.

"Let us have fun! This is your party, you should be having fun!" Noah's other friend said.

"Noah! Noah!" his friends chanted. Connor found their relationship odd, but he enjoyed being around them.

He thought about what it would be like to have close friendships, like Noah had. People who liked him that weren't his girlfriend, or Hank, or his coworkers--just normal people who enjoyed his company. Connor started to wonder if that was what Noah was becoming to him, despite the fact that he felt like an outsider here with his friends.

"Fine, give me one. I'm only doing one though," Noah said in defeat and was handed a shot glass. He downed it and handed it back, "Happy now?"

"It's your bachelor party dude! You should be having fuuunn!"

"Trust me, I'm having fun just watching the three of you idiots," Noah smirked as he watched Connor continue to do shots, "I don't need to be drunk."

"Hey! We are not idiots!"

"Alright, sure. I'm just glad we're here," Noah said as the car stopped in front of a small music festival. It had already started as it was now getting late, and a band was playing on stage. It was free, and they had to bring their own booze if they wanted any. With how the car ride went, they were all sure they wanted to bring it in. Connor stumbled out of the car as the door opened, then was followed by the other three.

They went in and watched the bands that were on stage. Connor enjoyed hanging out with them. He didn't pay much attention to the music, however, and drank instead. Noah seemed to be enjoying himself.

"Having fun, Connor?" Noah asked with a laugh.

"Hell yeah," Connor said as a couple girls they didn't know approached them.

"You're really cute, I'm Abby," one of the girls said to Noah with a smile. She reaked of alcohol.

"Thanks, I'm Noah."

"Can I get your number?" she asked and winked.

"I'm getting married later this week actually," Noah explained, "And I'm gay."

"I meant as friends! Actually, no, I didn't. You're really hot. Whoever you're marrying is lucky," she said before walking away.

"She's right. Liam's lucky to have you," Connor said.

"Do you," Noah paused, "like him?"

"No. Absolutely not," Connor said, "But I'm not marrying him, so it doesn't really concern me."

"I- Well, I didn't expect you to be so blunt about it," he said, "but I guess I appreciate the honesty.

"I feel like Liv doesn't like him, but she's being so nice about it, so I can't tell what she means anymore," Noah sighed, "I just wish she'd be upfront about it like you are, because I could really use her advice."

"Why not ask me then?" Connor asked.

"Well, I guess I could," Noah said, "Liam's just been acting shady every since we had dinner together, it's like something changed after that night. I don't know how to explain it, but it's making me have second thoughts. What do you think I should do, call it off?"

Connor paused for a moment to think, but he had already forgotten what they were talking about before he could form a response, "Call what off?"

"Nevermind," Noah said, "I'm sure it will be fine."

"Ok," Connor said as he took another drink. The festival started to die down, and eventually no more bands were left. Everyone started to clear out, and so they did too.

"Where now?" One of Noah's friends asked.

"I think I'm gonna call it a night," Noah said, "I had fun, but I think we should just go home."

The other three men slowly made their way to Noah's car as they talked and laughed loudly at each other, but Connor wasn't paying much attention. He was just thinking about how Liv had said the change of scenery would be nice for them, and now he knew that he agreed. Spending the evening with Noah and his friends ended up being more fun that he expected.