Look After You

Chapter 7

"Come on it's fun, Nolan," Xander says as he takes another long sip from the bottle of booze. He gives him a lopsided grin and holds the bottle out to him. "Just one sip."

Nolan rolls his eyes and takes the bottle. "You're dumb, you know that?" He mumbles and takes a sip from the bottle. His face pinches up and he sputters. "Ew, gross! It burns my throat!" He coughs and Xander laughs. Nolan had a few sips from his mom's wine before, but the vodka he had just drank felt like pure gasoline going down his throat Now he felt like his throat was on fire and was slowly melting away. He didn't get why or how Xander liked drinking so much. Or what drove him to even start in the first place. Nolan didn't share any of the same opinions on alcohol with Nolan.

He snatches the bottle back and shrugs. "That's cause you're a drinking virgin. I, on the other hand, would be considered a slut."

The two boys were laying against Xander's bed and passing the bottle back and forth even though it was mostly just Xander who was drinking. Nolan had tried to stop him from doing it before but he learned quickly that that never worked. "Okay, well you enjoy being a slut because there's no way I'm drinking anymore of that. My mom will kill me if she smells it on my breath."

Xander rolls his eyes. "Then spend the night here. You know no one here gives a hell."

It was the truth. His siblings all drank except for Theo and his parents didn't pay enough attention to notice. Or maybe they did but simply didn't care.

Nolan nods. "Yeah, okay. I can sleep down on the floor this time." Most times when they spent the night at Nolan's they'd share his bed together and occasionally one would wake up first to find that the other had curled up next to them. But whenever they spent the night at Xander's, they never slept in the same bed together. Nolan wasn't exactly sure why but he was almost certain it had to do with his dad's raging homophobia. So Nolan didn't complain about it. His only complaint was how Xander always insisted that he sleep on the floor instead.

Xander shakes his head as he rubs his eye. "Nah, man. I got the floor this time. And maybe Jeremy or Beckett will be out tonight. If they are I'll take one of their beds."

Nolan nods. "Yeah, okay," he agrees as Xander holds the bottle back out. Nolan lets out a sigh as he takes the bottle. "I hope you know I'm not making this a habit."

Xander chuckles. "Yeah, okay. That's what I told myself before too. Look at me now." Xander wasn't as bad as his brothers when it came to drinking, but he still did it far too often for a fourteen year old boy. He knew he should stop but sometimes it was nice to shut down for a while and forget about his shitty situation.

"I'm serious." Nolan tips the bottle back and takes another sip. He couldn't help but cringe again and make a noise of disgust. "This is peer pressure at its finest."

Xander laughs and snatches the bottle from his hand. He takes a long sip himself before resting the bottle in his lap. He already felt lighter after drinking for a while and he didn't feel the usual weight of anxiety and stress weighing on him. Instead he couldn't help but keep thinking about Nolan's lips and what they would feel like against his own. It was a thought he had often, but still never failed to scare him. He had no right to think about his best friend that way. Not only were they best friends, but they were also both boys. Xander felt like a creep with some of the things he imagined.

He knew he was staring at them, but this time he couldn't look away. He was sure just one small peck on the lips wouldn't do any harm. He was about to lean in to kiss him when Nolan spoke.

Xander frowns and looks back up at his eyes. "What?"

"I asked if you wanna make something to eat? My mouth tastes like ass now after I drank that," he says.

Xander nods. "Uh, Yeah sure we can make something." He sets the half empty bottle down on his nightstand and stands up. "Pizza bagels okay?"

Nolan nods. "Sounds good."

The two boys walk out of Xander's room and goes to the kitchen. Xander opens the freezer and pulls out the box of pizza bagels. He sets them all on a plate and sticks them in the microwave. He lets out a small, tired sigh and jumps up onto the counter to sit.

"So I was looking online and there's this cool thing we could do with a lamp to make constellations on it. It's super easy too. All you have to do is poke holes in the shape of certain constellations on the lamp shade and when you turn the light on you can see the constellations on the walls. Isn't that awesome? I wanna do it to the lamp in my room," Nolan grins excitedly and Xander smiles back.

"That would be cool Nolan," he says.

Nolan always beamed with pride when Xander told him he was cool or he thought something he did was awesome. Sometimes he felt like he was living to impress Xander and even if that was the truth, he wouldn't really mind it. He loved impressing Xander and it left him with a happy warm feeling on the inside whenever he did.

Soon the microwave beeps and Xander grabs the hot plate. "Shit!" He yells as he practically runs to his room and sets the plate down on the bed. "I just burnt the crap out of my hand." He winces and shakes it out while Nolan laughs.

"You should have let it sit for a minute," Nolan scolds and Xander rolls his eyes.

"Waiting is for pussies," he jokes. He grabs one of the pizza bagels and pops it into his mouth. "Haven't eat all day. I'm starving."

Nolan smiles a bit and sits back down next to him. Xander looks back over at him and grins. He wasn't sure if it was the alcohol that gave him the added confidence or just lack common sense but before Xander knew it, he was leaning in. He cups the side of Nolan's face and presses his lips against his best friend's.

Nolan pulled away from instinct with eyes wide.

"I-I..." Xander stammers, eyes now wide with fear. "I don't kn-"

He was cut off with Nolan's lips being pressed back against his own. He hesitated for a moment before relaxing into the kiss and letting his eyes slip shut.

Xander couldn't believe that after all this time he was finally kissing Nolan. It felt too good to be true.

Sorry for there being a bit of a delay in this update. With the holidays and everything I got kind of busy and forgot to update