lucrative.

THIRTEEN

R E A L   L I F E

i sat on the couch continuing the book timmy had recommended to me when julien slipped in the door and held his heart. without even looking up i said in a monotone voice, "heart attack. must i take you to the hospital king julien ahhh." i flipped to the next page as julien took of his coat and shrugged his bag off of his shoulders. "excuse me bitch." he smacked me up the head which caused me to set the book down and listen to him sitting in the papasan chair across from me. "how was louis?" whenever you question julien about something, you need to be ready for the full explanation, not just the summary. this was one of the few ways him and charlie were alike. they will tell the stories till the end. "oh it was so nice gogo. we hung out and talked for a long time. he played me a song!" i perked up a bit at that. that's honestly, and i'd never admit it, my life long relationship goal. to be important enough to someone they'll write or sing me a song. "damn. i am deeply jealous jules." julien shot me a confused look. "why? aren't you and timmy together?" my eyes went wide and i felt my cheeks heat up. "what? no! of course not. we wouldn't be into me anyways." julien opened his mouth to say something before closing it. "i need backup hold on. are the girls home?" i shook my head. "well stevie and finn are here." julien began walking before stopping. "wait hold on. you invited 18 year old, stranger things and it star, and amazing fucking musician, finn wolfhard to our, no, my airbnb without asking?" i nonchalantly nodded and shrugged. julien looked too preoccupied to care and continued through the apartment shouting the two's names.

ding!

imessage from teem-o-tay <3

teem-o-tay <3

heyy gogo ;)

10:49 PM

me

yes timmy? may i help u :3

10:50 PM

teem-o-tay <3

how mcuh mist u drank to grt frunk

10:52 PM

me

oh no timmy

10:53 PM

teem-o-tay <3

no ni nopr. dint be worrierads guogo. ur stull cite

10:55 PM

me

cite? im cite?

10:55 PM

teem-o-tay <3

c i t e, cute

10:57 PM

my face went red hot. timothee thinks i'm cute? "oh my god he's blushing!" finn poited at me while standing with stevie and julien. "operation tugo is a go! julien phone! stevie, hold him down!" finn shouted at the two like a drill seargent as stevie attacked me. i held my hand out of reach until she tickled me under the arm, causing me to loosen my grip. giving julien the perfect opportunity to grab my phone. julien unlocked my phone and finn snatched it to read over the messages. "what's it say? i wanna know!" both of them squealed. "he thinks our gogo, OUR GOGO, is cute!" julien jumped around and finn twirled. stevie got up and pulled me with her. "gogo's got a boyfriend, gogo's got a boyfriend." i grabbed my hand away from her and snatched my phone from finn's hand. "he is also very drunk so i gotta go. i don't want him getting blackout drunk and seen by the news outlets. i'll be back." they made smooching noises the entire time i got ready to leave and up until i left the apartment.

timothee's pov

the world was kind of blurring together. i had never been more drunk than just buzzed before. i made sure not to. but here i was, waiting in the bathroom of a bar, of which i'm pretty sure was a gay bar, based on all the men i had seen around, for a boy i had met a week ago to come pick me up after i drunk texted him. what a great night. what a great job timothee. puking out your guts out and probably just made a terrible impression on the really cute boy you've liked for awhile. i titled my head forward into the toilet and puked again. i looked at the ends of my hair. the tips of the curls were caked with vomit. i knew i should've listened to saoirse and gotten a haircut. "timmy!" i heard hugo's voice but was too weak to respond. "timmy! timmy are you in here? oh my god please be in here." he sounded so worried. it was making my heart hurt to even just hear him worried, and i hadn't even seen his face. i mustered up enough energy so when he knocked on the door, i was able to mutter loud enough just enough for him to hear. he reached his hand under the stall door and unhinged the lock. when he saw the sight that was me, he immediately came next to me. "oh my god timothee." i felt another puke coming on and he sensed it to. he grabbed a rubber band, presumably from his wrist, and tied my hair up. i let out the last of the substance i had in me and my vision began to clear a bit. i looked up at him and saw his cute face and soft hair. "hey." he muttered, smiling and wiping away the puke from my lips. i returned a small smile and hey in response.

the next thing i knew, hugo was lugging me out the back entrance of the bar. i appreciate now that he was famous, the last thing i'd want is bright photographer lights in my face while my head already hurt like a bitch. he set me in carefully and pulled the seatbelt across me, i held onto his free hand and squeezed my eyes shut. everything hurt. i passed out on the way back to the apartment and when we got through the doors all the lights were off and i could hear soft snoring coming from one of the rooms. hugo pulled me into the bathroom and just turned on the nighlight plugged into the wall that gave off a soft yellowy light. i hoisted myself onto the counter and heard the water start to run and a cool washcloth hit my face. "why'd you come get me gogo?" i whispered. he stopped for a minute to look at me before continuing to swipe away the leftover vomit on my face. "i couldn't just leave you there timmy. especially not with the public eye surrounding you. i don't think if word got out that you stumbled out of a gay bar is exactly the best publicity." i nodded. "i didn't even drink that much. probably one or two shots but that's it. i have never gotten this drunk before." i rambled. i had never gotten this drunk before and i had been to parties where i drank a full round of shots and the night didn't end anything like this.

"maybe someone laced it." i stared at hugo who was rinsing off the towel and placing it on the rack. "it's possible. you're twenty-five years old, by yourself, in a gay bar for the first time. you're not exactly the most intimidating or large guy either and it's really easy for someone just pop one in." was it laced? i would've noticed, right? "listen," hugo said jumping onto the counter and sitting next to me. "i've been here before, and i didn't have someone to get me. in fact, for me it got worse. someone actually touched me and i locked myself in the bathroom. he kept banging on the door and i was so scared. he eventually left and i proceeded to puke my guts out, but i had to stumble home through L.A. by myself." he put his forehead against mine. "i don't want that to ever happen to you. if anything like this happens again, call me. i will get you wherever you are, okay? promise?" i nodded.

"promise."

end of act one.