1983
Brookline, Massachusetts
Conan was planning to watch the Superbowl with his siblings that year, but the Patriots didn't make the finals, to his frustration. So he decided to hang out on his parents' house, reading Luke's comic books and trying to fit on his bed – he was already too big during high school, and he couldn't anymore. He had a lot of books to read and most of his siblings were out. The house was mostly silent, except for Conan's dad watching the TV in the living room. Conan took his pants off, threw them on the floor and just relaxed for a bit.
After a while, Conan fell asleep, the open book sitting on his chest, his mouth slightly open. The bed, whilst tiny, was very comfortable. The phone started to ring. The house was now silent, it was close to ten, and Justin was asleep. The phone continued to ring for a while, and it started to bother Conan who kept sleeping, but was mildly awake. He grunted, closing his eyes and hoping it would either stop, or someone would pick it up. He was relieved when he heard a click and 'hello'.
"Conan!" Justin called.
"Oh, holy shit." Conan mumbled.
Justin ran to his room and shook his brother. "Conan, Conan, that guy at the bar wants to talk to you."
Conan frowned. "Who...?"
"He said it's urgent." Justin replied.
Conan lazily walked to the phone and grumpily talked to the stranger. "Who is it?"
"Conan?"
"Yes..."
"Hey, it's Jake..."
"Hi, Jake..." Conan sounded confused.
"I'm sorry I woke you up, but I think that your friend is here. The one... long brown hair, brown eyes... the girl..."
"June?" Conan frowned. "June doesn't drink."
"She's here with a guy and she just looks really drowsy and they're about to leave..."
"Who's with her?"
"Scott... Scott Walker."
-
Conan ran back to his bedroom, put his pants on, took his dad's keys and went to look for June, no time to actually borrow the car. Justin was left back at home, Conan couldn't take him, he wouldn't have the time to take care of his brother and the situation ahead. Conan knew exactly what Scott wanted to do, and he nervously drove as fast as he could to Jake's bar, his hands clutching the steering wheel as hard as humanly possible.
He parked, cold sweat running down his forehead. He entered the bar and saw Jake trying to convince Scott not to take June away. Scott had his hands wrapped around June's waist, and she was trying to stand up but she clearly couldn't walk on her own. He tried once again, and Jake saw Conan approaching rapidly, his face fully flushed, bright red, full of anger.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Conan said, in a surprisingly low tone, to Scott.
"That's none of your business, O'Brien." Scott replied.
"Hi... Hi, Conan!" June said, completely drowsy. She barely had control over her limbs.
"I'm gonna call the police on you, Scott." Jake said. "The girl is almost passing out. It's not the first time."
"Leave her alone, Jake. She clearly wants to go with me."
Conan stepped over to take June away from Scott and they struggled because Scott didn't want to let her go. Jake threatened to call the police once again, and Scott had to give up. As Jake's friends and some costumers kicked Scott out of the bar, Conan took June home. She couldn't walk, so he carried her to the car, her arms around his neck and her feet dangling on the air.
"You... you ruined everything." June said as Conan put her on the passenger seat.
"What?"
"He said..." she paused. "...he wanted to talk and he's sorry..."
"He's not sorry, June." Conan said as he drove off. He was visibly angry at the situation, he sounded heartbroken.
"Are you angry at me?" She looked at him, her eyes going all over the place.
Conan sighed. No, he wasn't mad at her. He was just terrified, he was anxious. He kept thinking about how the situation would've unfolded if he hadn't appeared, the fact that he took too long to answer the phone and these thoughts were so overwhelming that he was lucky he didn't crash his dad's car. He was starting to shake and he took deep breaths as he tried to control his anxiety, and June noticed this, although she was almost out.
"I'm... not. I'm not." he sighed. "I was just worried... I was worried about you."
Conan drove to June's mom's house. He thought it was more appropriate – June shouldn't be alone, she was starting to drift off. He took her in his arms once more, and called for June's mom, who was horrified to know what had just happened. According to her, June had left alone, and she didn't know June was going out to drink with someone else. Conan believed Scott had tricked her into a conversation and put something in whatever she was drinking, and at this point it didn't matter if she was drinking alcohol or not. He proceeded to carry her to her bed.
"Why don't you ever kiss me?" she mumbled at him. "Am I ugly?"
She had her hands around his neck again, but she passed out before he could answer. 'No', he thought. 'You're beautiful. You're so beautiful.' He knew she wasn't thinking straight and maybe she was exaggerating, it wasn't the place or the time to ask for a kiss. He put her down and looked at her. He felt horrible, and gross. It wasn't his fault, none of it was. But what if he wasn't there...? And that's why he was so nervous about it. He stood there for a while, next to her legs.
"Thanks, sweetie." June's mom came to the room. "I'll talk to her in the morning."
"It's not her fault. Just please, don't let Scott get near her." he whispered.
"Don't worry, son." June's mom touched his shoulder. "She's safe now."
He nodded. She gave him a hug in return, to thank him once more, and he left.
