Stolen

chapter 16 ☘️❄️

Murdoc's POV

   I hated being around Ace, but I honestly didn't mind it as much if it meant I got to be around Stuart without having to talk. A part of me missed when I could just be around him and not have to say anything to keep it from being awkward. I had so many regrets regarding 2D, but I wasn't going to do anything about it. There was just no point. Maybe he was gone, but I didn't need him. Just like he so clearly didn't need me. But sweet Satan did I miss him like hell. Whenever I'd get drunk, I'd have to keep myself from going to his room and telling him. Because for one, I didn't want to get in a fight with Ace. And two, I wasn't sure if I would be able to win anymore. Not if it was a fair fight, anyway. My age was catching up to me, and Ace was still a kid. He had nothing to worry about, and everything to lose. So I acted responsibly and left it alone. As hard as it was.

   But soon I ended up meeting a rather lovely fellow at a pub not too far from the house. He was good looking, and well mannered. He also seemed to love drinking as much as I did, so we went out several times after we met.

   One day I ended up taking him back to the house he was staying at, and he invited me inside. Let's just say things went quite well for me that night. I spent the entire evening with him and left the next morning after he made breakfast for us. It was quite lovely actually. That is until I actually got back home.

Ace and Russel were arguing over something, likely because Ace had been starting fights left and right for a few days. I assumed it was from his obvious withdrawals, which I had already prepared for by not talking to him.

2D and Noodle were trying to calm the both of them down. And the second they saw me, it was like I was expected to break up this foolishness. I just shook my head and went up to my room, sitting on my bed and pulling my phone out. I scrolled through the contacts until I found the one I was looking for, and I texted the man I had just spent the night with. I thanked him for the drinks and breakfast, and to my surprise, he texted back. He thanked me for a 'good time'. This made me smirk, I hadn't had someone as bold as this one in a while. I figured if he wasn't too scared to do it again, we'd have a great bit of fun together. It was exciting in all honesty. Just an attractive man with no strings attached. I could've used this a year ago.

2D's POV

I really didn't like being around Ace when he was in withdrawal, because he was like an animal. I couldn't reason with him.

He'd just got done yelling at Russel about something to do with the stove. I couldn't even remember. I had almost no sleep from being worried about him, and I was exhausted. I felt like a zombie. Ace hadn't gotten much sleep either, because if he wasn't hurting, he was throwing up. If not that, then he was panicking. It was really hard to watch, and it really put a strain on us. It lasted much longer than I was expecting, and I hated that I was actually scared of him. I expected him to get violent with me, but he never did. He wouldn't lay a hand on me unless it was loving. I had to keep reminding myself that he wasn't Murdoc. He was nothing like him.

   Even so, it was still difficult. Especially when Ace would get paranoid. He would sometimes think the craziest things, and no one else besides Noodle would help me calm him down. I understood that it wasn't their job, but we were all family in a way. I just thought they'd be more considerate.

   I noticed Murdoc was gone a lot more, and I felt almost guilty. Like I had driven him away. I couldn't really understand why I cared though.. He'd been so rude to me. But I just couldn't shake the guilty feeling. I noticed I was running out of cigarettes faster than usual, but it didn't bother me that much. Ace would usually be the one to go get more; he said it was to get his mind off of feeling bad. Part of me wondered if getting cigarettes was all he was doing, but I chose to trust him. We'd been through enough shit already.

Other than all of that though, things were looking up. We started recording on the new album we'd been working for a while. Murdoc even let Ace play in a few song so he wouldn't feel left out. It made me happy when he let him play, because I knew that playing would help Ace tremendously. And it did, or at least it seemed to. He started smiling more and he didn't have to make so many trips out to calm down or throw up. Eventually he was able to get into the music again. I always knew when he was, because he would do a cute little dance. It started with him tapping his foot, and then he'd move his whole body in time with the bass line. It always amazed me how he didn't mess up. It was like he had done it a million times before.

I knew how much he loved music, and it honestly made my heart happy. I think he loved music more than he loved me, and I was ok with that. Music is different than anything else on this planet. There's something that's magic about it, and not everyone feels it as strongly as others.

But that was just about everything that had been happening. Murdoc and I didn't speak much after he had started going out more, Russel and Noodle were busy with things, and I was occupied with Ace. But even he was off practicing his bass sometimes. Things were ok, but I wasn't sure if I was. I hoped that getting enough sleep would help.

It didn't.

hello u guys
soooo
shits about to progress a lot real soon
ik it's been super slow moving, but i really am working hard to keep you guys happy :(
lmk if i can do anything different/better that you'd like but please keep it respectful if you do give feedback
ily guys have a great night/day
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