I've Got It Bad (And You'll Never Know) (BXB)

v.

Julian had never been happier to be vomited on, then passed out on. Seconds after the kiss, the reason Max sank down the wall became apparent-- he put way more alcohol into his body than his five feet and seven inches could handle. He had crossed the blackout threshold-- and thank God for that. Max's poor alcohol instincts complemented Julian's poor impulse control perfectly.

Goodbye, CLASS OF '09 hoodie. That one was toast. Jules would have to find something else to wear trudging across campus to class when it was -10 and windy.

But at least he didn't have to find a new best friend. Fuck, what was he thinking? Was he thinking at all?

He was mostly looking. Looking at Max's hair, fucked up-- probably from running his hands through it a lot while talking to Joey Thatchlin. That was a flirting tell of his. Jules had been examining Max, seeing all the things he was obsessed with, all the things a meathead like Joey Thatchlin could never notice.

After Max puked his guts up, Julian had to grab his head to keep him from planting in his own spit as he fell onto Jules' chest.

Jules groaned aloud-- at his own stupidity, at Max's inability to puke in the other direction. He had to carry the kid to the train-- and he wasn't buff by any stretch of the imagination. He hadn't played a sport since his pre-prosthetic days, or hardly worked out at all. Going to the gym made him self conscious. He felt like everyone was staring at his fake leg.

Max suddenly sat up from his sleeping position on the floor beside Julian's bed, gasped in pain, then went flat again. "Fuck! My fuckin' head hurts!"

Julian snorted, already sitting up in bed, wearing basketball shorts and a soft t-shirt, hair wet from the shower he'd taken twenty minutes back. He was confident Max wasn't in danger of waking up then, so he'd decided to try and cleanse himself of the alcoholic-puke scent. "Well, you drank your fuckin' weight in alcohol last night, so that scans."

"Shit... we went to that sorority party, yeah? Greta Lendebuillen's?"

"Yeah, your old pal Greta."

Max held his head, like his brain might leak out his ears if he didn't apply pressure. "I hate that bitch. Fuck her."

"She didn't cause the pain you're feelin' right now, man, that's all you."

"How the fuck did we even get home?"

"I had Joey Thatchlin carry you in his arms, princess style. Very romantic, actually. I took a million photos, I'll show ya later."

"Hilarious, asshole. How did we actually get home?"

"Why would I lie about something so beautiful? Go ahead, text Joey and ask him all about it."

"Yeah, sure, let me just pull up his contact real quick. Ha ha ha."

"You seriously don't remember getting his number last night?"

That sobered Max up. "I did?! How in the fuckin' world did I do that?"

Julian fought his damnedest to keep any sadness from reaching his eyes. "Fuck if I know, man. I was hiding in a bathroom the whole time."

"Where's my fuckin' phone?" Max moved fast for a man with a serious hangover, suddenly standing, searching.

"Relax, psycho, it's over here." Julian reached to the outlet next to his bed. "I plugged it in for ya. You're welcome."

Max greedily took the little silver box, hands shaking, and opened his messages. "Shit! Holy fuck!"

"What? What happened?'

Max shoved the screen at Julian's face. "Look! Fucking look at this shit!"

On the screen, Jules registered the text from the previous night ("Hi, this is Max from Greta's party! :)") and a new text. A reply.

"Heya, number 1 fan B)"

The phone was gone just as quickly, held tenderly in Max's clutches. "What should I say? Fuck me, he sent that text almost two hours ago!"

Julian crossed his arms across his torso without thinking about it. "I don't know. You're the one who charmed him into coughin' up his digits, you know what he wants to hear more than me."

~~~

author's note: i had a recent birthday and the love of my life sent me the world's sweetest letter and my heart is full of love!!! so there will be a second update 2day :^) see y'all again in a little bit!! i hope u are enjoying where the story is going <3!