wc: 730.
holiday themed (ish) but sad :( hope u all had a nice holiday, and celebrations if u celebrate anything regardless. promise i'll be more consistent with these.
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will's arms stung from the weight of the bag he was carrying, the bitter cold in his hands not helping. he finally reached the battered up thing he called a car, jiggling the key in just the right way to open up the boot. he pushed the stacks of finals papers he was set to correct over the holidays; he'd think about them another time.
alex's head nodded along to the radio, humming to the nirvana cd he'd put on. will collapsed beside him, taking off his thick hat to show his now frizzy hair. 'thanks for all your help mate,' will joked before starting up the engine. alex laughed, and will prayed to himself that he could hear that sound forever.
lugging the bags into the alex and george's cramped apartment, will was greeted by the excited sounds of a dog; fraser had arrived along with kenji. will smiled at fraser, 'y'alright mate?' fraser nodded, 'yeah i'm fine, can't wait to get drunk though,' everyone hummed in agreement. november and december had been hard for them, money not coming to them as it usually had, and they hadn't had a proper drink in a while. george began unpacking the shopping, marvelling at the expensive brandy and cheese will had bought. he couldn't remember the last time he'd drank anything other than cheap beer from the corner store.
'uh, i got you all a present, just something small but i thought i'd give it to all of yous while you were still sober,' james said, reaching into his bag. he produced four small purple bags, clearly containing jewellery, handing them out to his friends. george was the first to carefully unwrap the shiny foil, and he smiled at the silver chain he saw. his heart fluttered as he clipped it around his neck, the cold metal against his warm skin.
'thanks so much, james, sorry i couldn't get anything for yous,' fraser mumbled, cheeks tinted from blushing. alex, george and will nodded along. james shook his head. 'don't worry about it, alex and geogre, you two are giving up your apartment for this, will you just bought all the food and fraser you put up with living with me everyday,'
everyone laughed at this, george ignoring the sting; he wanted to live with james and put up with him.
the clocks on the hand had reached eleven, and the five could barely see properly at this point. will had called alex 'love' accidentally numerous times, and everyone had chosen to ignore it, to his relief. fraser and james were cuddled up on the couch, laughing at each other, sharing a bottle of cheap red wine, which george had chosen to ignore, in order for him to have a good night.
'i can't believe its christmas, like i know i say this every year, but i just don't feel it anymore. like when's the last time any of us actually felt christmassy?' alex said, taking a slug off the drink he had. he relished in the temporary burning, followed by the numbing sensation that filled him inside.
'can't remember, it all stopped when i was like 11,' george said, fiddling with the bottle opener in his hands. 'who's even happy after they grow up, eh? anyone who says they are is a liar,' will slurred. 'if i could have anything in the world, it would be to be geniunely happy for a day; just to see what its like.'
kenji stirred in his slumber, woken by george dropping the bottle opener. 'we should all run away together,' george said, half joking but also half serious. 'just the five of us and kenji. go and start again somewhere, where no one would find us and worry us,'
the four laughed at him, and george joined in; laughing at himself to ignore the sting it brought him.
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that night around 4am, geogre was sat in his room. he could hear james and fraser still talking on the couch, alex and will were in the room next to him making out. george was aware of the empty space around him, and how quiet his room was; but how loud his head was. and at that moment he realised that if he didn't run away, he'd stay here for the rest of his life with the dark clouds staining his mind, only alcohol and drugs relieving it.
