We Are the Kids From Yesterday

We're Damned After All

A/N: hhhhh i broke my laptop :\ so until that's fixed updates might be weird
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The pounding headache was what woke up Party. He sat up, rubbing his temples, noticed he was smushed in a booth. How drunk had he gotten? His hair was a mess and his head hurt and he couldn't think straight and he honestly wanted to die. He could barely remember the night before, before getting drunk. Oh, there it was. Everything rushed back. Especially what Ghoul had said. He looked around, Kobra was asleep sitting up and Ghoul was holding tightly onto Jet who leaned against a wall. He was the first one up, which rarely happened. It was almost always Jet.
Party got up, miserable and wrapped his jacket around him like a blanket. His head throbbed as he walked over to a sink and lowered his head down so he could get a drink. Water had never tasted so good. He ran his fingers through his hair and walked back, his knees buckling as he sat up against a wall. He rubbed his temples and groaned silently. Hangovers were the worst.
"Party, you're awake already?" came Jet's voice.
Party opened his eyes momentarily and looked up, seeing Jet who was lightly pushing Ghoul off him and standing up. Jet walked over, saying, "You look like shit, dude. You got pretty drunk last night."
"I tried to regulate myself for a bit," said Party but when Jet gave him a questioning look he replied, "I swear, I did! But then I talked to Ghoul and needed to forget it for a bit so I downed a few beers."
"You and Ghoul went through three cases on your own," said Jet, smiling. "And you wonder why Kobra and I don't trust you to do things by yourself."
"Okay, we're slightly irresponsible drinkers."
"Slightly?"
"Fine, really!"
"There you go!"
Trust Jet Star to lighten the mood when Party was miserable. The issue was that he didn't have any painkillers with him so for the time being, Party would just have to sit through his agonizing hangover. Ghoul was the next awake, groaning loudly and throwing his head back against the wall.
"I wanna fucking die!" he shouted, hands to his face. "You really have nothing? No Advil no Tylenol, nothing? Seriously?"
"Sorry Ghoul, not now," said Jet. "This is why you shouldn't drink so much."
"Oh fuck you."
Party looked over and saw Kobra was still asleep. He was wrapped in an old, dirty comforter that Party remembered well. He bought it when Kobra was 15, he was 18 because they had just officially left their house for good. No more coming back, they had left. And it was during a desert cold spell so every day and every night Party looked at Kobra and saw his frail, thin body freezing and cold and shivering. It got to the point Party couldn't stand it, so he took what little money they had with them and he got Kobra a blanket. It felt odd he had such a specific memory to a piece of fabric but how could he help it. He really cared about that kid.
"Hey Party, c'mere," said Ghoul, waving Party over. He took him in his arms, Party laying his head on Ghoul's chest and Ghoul laying his head on him, wrapped around him. "This helps."
"Really?" said Party, leaning in and enjoying the embrace. Was he really living a lie for Party's sake? Or was everything really better but last night he was just really drunk.
"Yeah, of course," said Ghoul. ""It feels like all hell was set loose in my head and cuddling with my baby helps. Is that odd?"
"No, it's just..." Party looked around and saw sleeping Kobra and Jet had gone outside to clean his car. "You said something last night. And... and it alarmed me, I guess."
With furrowed brows Ghoul said, "What did I say?"
"Pretty much you were traumatized by what... what I had done. You had nightmares about it. You cried yourself to sleep. When you see me, you wanna snap my neck."
"I mean... the nightmares are real."
"Really? I was scared of that."
Nodding, Ghoul rubbed Party's arm. "I have nightmares about it. A lot, actually. You leaving me, you sleeping with her, it really scares me."
"I don't want you to feel like that," said Party. "I want you to be happy when you think of me."
"I do too and I'm getting there," said Ghoul. "It's not that I don't love you. It's that I guess part of me is convinced you don't love me and I know you do, I know you do. I just... I keep thinking of you and her. And it's painful, I don't want to think of you and her, I want to think of you and me. I love you so much."
"I love you too," said Party. "Please, next time you have a nightmare, wake me. I want you to know I'm here for you 100% of the time. No matter what."
Ghoul smiled softly. "I'm glad."
Party went in for a soft kiss as Ghoul's hands lightly touched Party's face. Party smiled at the touch, pushing hair behind Ghoul's ear. Their foreheads touched and Ghoul grinned softly. "I really can't imagine a world without you," said Party softly. Then he heard the sound of feet hitting the ground and looked up, Kobra had woken up.
Party rubbed his thumb across Ghoul's wrist before he got up and walked over, rubbing his temples again. "Kobra? Ugh, you hungover?"
"Not really," he said in response. "I mean I have a faint headache. You know I don't drink that much."
"Well I do and now I wanna die," said Party. "You're a smart one."
Kobra smiled and said, "You like touch alcohol and you're drunk."
Ghoul stood up next to Party, his head at his shoulder, leaning back in Party's arms, his head against his upper collarbone. "I think I'm a bit worse," said Ghoul. "He wasn't even that drunk until I got him all stressed."
"What did you say that stressed him out enough to get him drunk?" said Kobra.
Party squeezed Ghoul before saying, "He--It was pretty much that he still wasn't okay about everything I did. With the girl. He had nightmares and stuff."
"I'm trying to get over it though, I promise," added Ghoul, quickly. "I swear, there's nothing I want more to feel the same way about Party as I used too and I want nothing more than for us to be happy together. It's just... it's kinda hard."
"No, I understand," said Kobra. "You're in love and you were hurt. As much as I stand up for Party, what he did was wrong and you have... you have every right to be hurt."
"Party?" came a familiar female voice, running in the diner. Noir. Ugh, that bitch was back again for whatever reason.
Party looked up, still holding Ghoul tight, "What do you want?"
"Party, you guys need to go away, you need to go now," she said, panicking, obviously.
"That's not an explanation."
Kobra turned around and Jet stepped towards Noir, saying, "Haven't you gotten the message? You're not welcome here."
"Look, I know I fucked up way too many times and you guys have no reason to trust me but hear me out," she said. "It's dangerous for you guys. You can't be here. Please!"
"Yeah, you fucked up!" said Ghoul, clutching Party's arms. "So leave us alone!"
"No, you guys are going to be killed!" said Noir. "Someone's after you. Someone's always after you. It's horrifying how you guys just don't care."
"We care," said Kobra, his voice barely above a whisper. You see, Kobra was quiet but when he spoke it provoked immediate silence. "We care a lot. We're just done letting you involve yourself. You continue to ruin our lives more and more and we're sick of it."
"You guys realize I'm honestly trying to help you?" said Noir. "Even after you guys have said some pretty awful shit, I keep trying to help you! I don't know why, but I do!"
"Well, we don't appreciate it," said Jet. "And I am... I am not one to talk like that. But we don't like you. We don't like you and you just don't get it."
"No, I get it!" said Noir. "I do get it, completely. I just have enough respect for you guys and I care about you guys even if you guys don't care about me. And I hope you understand what I risk by trying to help you guys."
"Ok! Ok, cool you wanna help us and we don't care," said Party. "What else is knew? Go away!"
Noir crossed her arms and gave a bitter expression on her face. "I don't even understand why I waste my time with you guys anymore."
"Neither do I," said Party.
She rolled her eyes and turned around, looking back one last time before she left. Everytime they thought maybe it was the last time they'd see Noir, she came back. Came back sprouting her bullshit.
"She just... she can't give us break, can she?" said Jet.
"Seriously!" added Ghoul. "Like, let us live our lives. The most valuable tip she gave us was the posters, but after that, she's done nothing but cause suffering for us. Almost destroyed Party and I's relationship, almost got Kobra killed."
"She just... I think she has good intentions," said Kobra. "But she doesn't realize she's hurting us."
"At this point, how can she not realize it though?" argued Party. "We've made it clear to her. She's just obsessed with us."
Ghoul sat up and wrapped an arm around Party's shoulders, pulling him close to him. "I mean, as long as we're all together and alive and safe I really don't think it matters what she says."
"Yeah," said Party. "You know, even if Noir doesn't leave us alone I think we'll be fine. We've done a really good job taking care of each other. It works out."
"I really hope so," said Jet. "I really don't know what I'd do if you guys died or if anything happened to you guys."
The guys all agreed and Ghoul held Party, lightly rubbing his cheek. Party agreed with Jet. If he lost any of the three he didn't know what he'd do. He'd go crazy, drive himself mad. He needed all these guys despite what any of them might've thought. And maybe Noir was helping them, maybe she wasn't. And no matter what she was doing, Party was happy they were all alive. He didn't know how long that would last but for now?
For now they were alive.