One More Than 52

Sober Secrets

[Time Skip To 11:30 a.m.]

The birds chirped loudly, sitting on the railing of the deck just outside the living room. This seemed to wake up Alistair, who had been sleeping on the couch and slipping off of it as he continued to sleep. The birds startled him so much that he fell off the couch and landed upside down on the floor with his back resting against the couch.

"FUCK" was all that was heard before another sound, which was Alistair finally falling completely to the ground.

Tobbi was already up as well, chilling with the birds on the deck and sitting on the railing with a tight grip on it so he wouldn't fall. He chuckled hearing Alistair's small misfortune, swinging his legs joyously. That didn't last long however, as Alistair must have seen him from the living room and made his way over to the deck in a rush.

"What the fuck are you doing!? We are on the top floor, if you fall you will die, or did you forget?" Alistair, despite his mean demeanor, actually cared for the well being of others.

"I feel touched that the same person who would let me die two days ago is telling me not to jump off a tall building." Tobbi let go of the railing with one hand to put it over where his heart would be on his chest and smiled.

"You are constantly looking for ways to be in danger, it's like you're a m-" Alistair tried to conclude before being interrupted by Tobbi.

"That's weird, I think I hear Rose calling for us in the kitchen." Tobbi obviously lied, trying to get out of this conversation. Too bad it didn't seem to work on Alistair.

"No. Rose wouldn't wake till 6 at night if you let her. She's not awake, and most certainly not in the kitchen. Now get your ass off that railing before you slip and fall." Alistair was stern and a lot smarter than he led people to believe. Tobbi sighed and safely got off the railing onto the deck and sat looking at Alistair, who had also decided to sit down.

"You're not foolin' me, and Rose told me about what you did yesterday. Seem's like you're going to great lengths in order to avoid that word." In response Tobbi didn't say anything and looked at the ground to avoid eye contact.

"Look at me." Alistair demanded. Tobbi looked up at him again. "I won't say it if you hate the word that much, and I think you're trying to convince yourself as well as everyone else that you're fine, but I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"You can't." Alistair smiled. This was one of the most genuine smiles Tobbi had ever seen from Alistair, and it felt like he had just witnessed one of the rarest things on Earth.

"Fine. Along with one other thing?" Tobbi smiled nervously. Alistair raised an eyebrow with curiosity. Tobbi leaned over and whispered something quietly into Alistair's ear and sat back down after he was done.

Alistair stared at Tobbi for a few seconds seemingly without any expression until it finally clicked in his mind what had been said, which is when he began laughing hysterically while Tobbi sat across from him with pure embarrassment. A couple minutes had finally gone by before Alistair was able to catch his breath again and wipe a tear from his eye.

"Listen kid, I never thought I would see the day when the proudest cat I knew was a short-haired houscat, but here we are!" And Alistair returned to laughing for a few more seconds before finally standing up, patting Tobbi on the shoulder like a dad would to his kid, and leaving to probably go back to sleep or drunkenly watch and yell at the tv. Tobbi smiled, he knew Alistair wouldn't purposely tell the others his secrets.

Tobbi went back to sitting on the railing again, but this time his heart and his head were both blissfully lightened, and he started to hum to a few of his favorite songs as he watched clouds float by and birds fly in the wind.