Like A Moth To A Flame. [closed]

Tristan knew the minute that Jeremiah answered the door he hadn’t been expecting him. From the annoyed expression, all the way down to the missing shirt, he was pretty sure he wasn’t ready for the supposed housewarming party Melanie had texted him about. He glanced down at the screen on his phone, checking the time. 6:58. He was a few minutes early, but he knew Jeremiah was a stickler when it came to time, so he definitely would have been fully clothed and ready for the group at least thirty minutes beforehand. He offered him a smile, holding his phone up so Jeremiah could see the screen. “Guess I’m a little early?”

“The housewarming party? For Sutton?” Tristan glanced down at his phone again, pausing a moment before unlocking it and pulling up the text message from Melanie. He held his phone out to Jeremiah, watching as he took it and read over the message before his face turned into a scowl. “She didn’t check with you first, did she?” The look Jeremiah gave him said more than enough. “It was a group message, so I probably won’t be the only one who shows up…” He drifted off, glancing back towards the road as another car pulled up in front of the house.

---

Nick sighed as he pulled his jeep into Jeremiah's driveway. He knew that Melanie wouldn't let him not show up. As much as he wanted to stay away from Tristan. He felt like he was rubbing it in Tristan's face every time he was with Melanie. But she had made her choice and it was done with now. Nick smirked when he saw Melanie walking to her car to get more stuff. "Hey babe." He said as he slid up behind her and hugged her tightly. He nuzzled his face in her neck and kissed her, smirking. He pulled away and looked down at her, "Tristan here?" He asked.

---

Sutton sighed as she sat at the table in the restaurant with her mom. She listened to her talk all about how her older sister was doing and it irritated her. She knew she had to get home soon because she hates leaving Jeremiah alone for so long. She knew he was still having a hard time adjusting to civilian life and everything. Hopefully he just slept the whole time. Sutton took a sip of her water then was relieved when the waitress brought their check. "Thanks." She said. She paid her bill then stood, "I gotta go mom. Jeremiah is waiting at home." She said as she hugged her. "Bye." She said as she grabbed her purse and put her sunglasses on as she walked out of the restaurant.

Sutton pulled into her driveway and frowned when she saw cars. She knew Jeremiah was probably not happy. Sutton was hoping to look at dining room tables that afternoon with him but it wasn't gonna happen now. Sutton walked inside pushing her glasses up on her head. "Um...what's going on?" She asked as she set her purse on the table. She looked at Melanie, "what do you do?" She asked. Sutton walked into the kitchen to find Jeremiah and hugged him, "hey baby." She said.

Jeremiah said to Tristan, "Come in, I guess." He stepped to the side and let him in before looking at more cars into the driveway. He let out a frustrated sighed and stepped in as well, quickly jogging upstairs to get a shirt before returning to the kitchen and waiting for everyone else to come in.

When Sutton came and hugged him, he held her close and whispered to her, "You know I hate surprises. I don't know if I can handle this, Babe." He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips before leaving the room to take a moment to calm down and mentally prepare himself for dealing with people. Since he'd been back, his PTSD was acting up badly and he barely left the house unless Sutton made him. Now there was a party and he was having a hard time handling it.
_____________________________________________________________________________
"Oh hey! Good, you did show up." Melanie kissed him back and continued removing things from the trunk of her car. When he asked about Tristan she sighed a little and told him, "Yeah, Tristan's here. He's still part of the group, you know. It's not his fault what happened..." She did feel bad about what she did to Tristan, but she figured what's done is done and she was very happy with Nick and she'd heard he met another girl, so he must have moved on. She looked up when she heard Sutton and laughed, calling out, "It's a housewarming party! You should have seen this coming, girl!"

Sutton looked at him, "I know babe. I didn't know they would do this." She said as she kissed him softly. She looked at Melanie as Jeremiah walked out of the room. She walked after him, "are you okay baby?" She asked, "I can get them to leave." She said, quietly to him. She took his hands, watching him for a moment. She knew that he hated being around so many people. "You can go lay down if you want." She whispered as she wrapped her arms around his waist. She was still adjusting to Jeremiah being like this. He use to love parties and his friends. Though he had been refusing the counseling and there was nothing she could do about that.

---

Nick nodded then walked into the house. He watched as Jeremiah walked off then looked at Melanie. "Maybe you should have warned him babe." He whispered to her. Jeremiah was his best friend and he knew he was having a really rough time since he got back. Hell he barely came to the shop anymore and that use to be their lives.

--

Tristan sat in the living room texting and sighed. He had a date tomorrow night and he wasn't sure if it would go well. It really scares him to try dating again. After what Melanie did he felt like everyone was like that.

@ acrossleuniverse

"Don't ask them to leave, babe. I'll just go lay down for a while and hopefully I can chill out and come hang out with you guys. Go have fun and don't worry about me," Jeremiah told Sutton before heading back up the stairs to the bedroom the couple shared. He sat down on the bed and buried his face in his hands, taking slow breaths to try to calm himself. He felt the anxiety trying to consume him along with the embarrassment of not being able to handle a few of their friends coming over.

-

Melanie chewed lightly on her lip as she arranged the things she'd brought. "I didn't mean to upset him. I just wanted to surprise the two of them. It's so exciting that they finally got a house together." She ran her fingers through her blonde locks and looked up at Nick, frowning softly. "Now I feel bad."

@ American

Sutton frowned when he said he was going to go upstairs. She stood at the bottom of the stairs, hearing the door clothes. She looked at Melanie and them then looked back up at the closed door. Sutton hated that he was hurting so much. She looked at her friends then went upstairs to check on him. She knocked lightly then stepped inside. She could see he was upset. She moved over and stood in front of him, running her hand over his shoulder as he sat with his face in his hands. "Hey....look at me." She whispered. She watched as his eyes looked at her, "It's gonna be okay baby." She told him. She moved so she was between his legs, kneeling in front of him. She let her hands rest on his thighs. "Everything is gonna be okay." She said. She hated seeing him as the empty shell of the happy outgoing man he once was. Sutton kissed him softly, leaning up, "I will keep them busy." She said. She stood up and hugged him, "I love you so much." She said. She kissed him again then stepped away. "Just call for me if you need me." She said. She let her hand linger on the door, not wanting to leave him alone.

---

Nick looked at her, "Yea it's alright. Jeremiah is just still working through some stuff. You didn't no it was this bad....none of us did." He admitted. How had he lost touch with how badly his friend was hurting. He looked over as Sutton went upstairs, "He just needs her is all." He said softly. Nick looked at Melanie and smiled as he leaned over and kissed her cheek. "He loves that you went out of your way to do this." He assured her. He didn't want her to think she had upset him.

@ acrossleuniverse

@ acrossleuniverse

Omg I completely forgot about this role play!

You'd like to continue it then?

@RomanSky

@ acrossleuniverse

Of course :) we need a new picture for nick though XD

@RomanSky

Haha okay XD I don't even remember what the old one looked like.
Would you like me to look for some?

@ acrossleuniverse
[You can pick whoever you want. I can't really remember either XD]

Jeremiah drew in another shaky breath before he nodded at Sutton and murmured, "I love you too. And I might come down in a bit. I think I'm going to take a quick nap or something first. If I don't, though, don't let it ruin your good time. You really shouldn't worry about me so much." He watched her as she hesitated at the bedroom door and gave her a faint smile, gesturing for her to go ahead. "Go on, I'm sure they're wondering where you are by now. Have fun." Inside he felt horrible guilt for making Sutton fret so much when there wasn't much she could do to help him. He wanted her to be able to be happy and live her life and he felt that he was holding her back from doing that.
-
Melanie frowned a little and looked towards the stairs where Sutton had gone. "I hope you're right...I mean, we can leave if that will make him feel better. I can tell Sutton that when she gets back. I just wish they weren't struggling so much." She gazed up at Nick, her blue eyes full of worry. She glanced over at Tristan and looked down, a heavy sigh escaping her. She knew he had a date the next day, but she also knew he was still hurting because of what she had done to him. "Maybe this was a bad idea, Nick."

@RomanSky

Sutton walked downstairs with a smile on her face, "Okay. So, what did you have planned?" She asked Melanie. Sutton took the wine from Melanie and walked into the kitchen with everyone. She opened the bottle filling some glasses for them. She looked at all of them, feeling their stares. "Jeremiah is fine. He's just tired so let's just enjoy this for now. He said he will be down in a bit." She assured them. She took a sip of her wine, missing him being at her side. She figured their friends could distract them though.

---

Nick frowned, "Mel, everything is fine. We are all going to have a good time." He said, smiling as Sutton cam downstairs. He walked into the kitchen with her and got himself a beer. Wine had never been his thing. He took a sip of his beer, looking at the girls. He stood far enough away from Tristan so that he wouldn't feel pissed off. They had fought at the shop, and that part was over, but Tristan was still bitter. Nick took a sip of his beer, missing Jeremiah who always kept things flowing.

---

Tristan sighed as he walked by the two of them and got himself something to drink. He smiled at Sutton after she spoke. "It's alright Sutton. Don't worry we know he's having a hard time." He said as he took a sip of his beer. He looked at Melanie, knowing she had probably planned everything out. She was always the organized one of all of them.

@ acrossleuniverse

@ RomanSky

Melanie took a sip of her wine, trying to get over her guilt for upsetting Jeremiah, and leaned against Nick slightly. "Well, I made little snacks and things like that, and I brought some board games and Cards Against Humanity in case you guys wanna play something like that. I also have karaoke. I've never thrown a housewarming party so I didn't really know what I should bring so I winged it." For once, she really didn't seem very organized, which was unlike her.

Meanwhile, Jeremiah took one of his pills and laid down, trying to fall asleep for a bit so he could join his friends later. He shut his eyes and began to drift off, but before long he began having flashbacks and he sat up quickly, running his hands through his hair. His heart was pounding and he felt as though he couldn't breathe, but he didn't call for Sutton because he couldn't even think straight. He tried to calm himself, resting his head in his hands, rocking back and forth slightly.

Sutton thought for a moment, before taking a sip of her wine. "Why dont we play cards against humanity. In the back of her mind she was in constant worry about Jeremiah. She tried to focus on their friends though. Sutton sat down atthe kitchen table with them and watched as Melanie got the game out. She got her cards then waited for Melanie to start.

---

Nick smiled as he put his arm around Melanie as she spoke, "Sounds like a lot of good drinking activites which is perfect for me." He said, taking a sip of his beer. He sat down with the rest of them and got his cards. He wished Jeremiah was with them. He had missed his friend and they seemed to be drifting.

---

Tristan sat with the group and got his cards. He waited for them to start them laughed at some of his cards. He laid his answer down for Melanie and waited. He could wait for his date the next day. He looked over as Sutton asked about Olivia. "Um we are going out tomorrow." He said. He honestly felt weird talking about it in front of Melanie.

@ acrossleuniverse

@ RomanSky

Melanie felt extremely awkward when Sutton asked Tristan about his upcoming date, her body noticeably tensing up as she continued to lean against Nick. She remained silent as he spoke about it, then she read out the cards she had gotten and laughed really hard at one of them. She announced the winner and it turned out to be Tristan's card. She tensed up again, but put on a smile and gave him the card, telling him, "Nice job." She held her cards in one hand and reached for Nick's hand with the other. She just needed his strength for the moment so she could keep her composure. The group had had enough issues when the whole scandal had happened and she didn't want there to be more trouble.
-
Jeremiah accidentally let out a rather loud sob and then almost immediately moved towards the bathroom, shutting and locking the door so no one had to hear him as he tried to handle his problem on his own. He was nearly hyperventilating, his shaky hands searching the cabinet for his pills again. He popped two more in his mouth and swallowed them dry, trying desperately to get something to work.

Tristan took the cards from her, "Thanks." He said. He set the cards down then listened to Nick reading. He frowned when he heard a noisw upstairs, everyone looking at Sutton. The girls reaction time waa good because she was already out of there and headed up the stairs. He looked at Nick and Melanie, worried about Jeremiah. Was this everyday?

---

Sutton set her cards down and ran upstairs to their bedroom. She opened the door, not seeing Jeremiah . "Baby?" She called. She shut the door and walked to the bathroom door trying to open it. She frowned when it didny budge. "Baby let me in please." She begged him, feeling scared. She was glad when the door opened but behind it was Jeremiah freaking out. She could tell by the beads of sweat on his forehead and shakey hands. She watched as he dropped to the ground and started breathing heavy. "Baby its okay." She said as she sat with him and held her in his arms. "You are home with me now." She whispered as she ran her fingers through his hair.

@ acrossleuniverse

@ RomanSky

Melanie's brows furrowed when she heard the noise and a worried frown curved her lips. "Oh, Jeremiah..." She said softly and glanced over at Nick. "This was not a good idea. Maybe we should pack up and give them some peace. I feel so bad that they're going through this." She glanced towards the stairs, unsure of what to do. She didn't want to go up and intrude but she was so worried about Jeremiah but Sutton as well.

Jeremiah continued to shake, his body tense as she held him. He was hyperventilating, a distant look in his eyes, the beads of sweat rolling down his face. Tears also brimmed in his eyes but didn't fall and he didn't seem to be responding to her soothing words. His heart was still thumping hard in his chest as if he had just gone on a run.

Nick looked at her, "I dont know. Maybe we should." He said. He watched as Tristan started to clean up the cards. Nick felt like they would never have their friend back. He could only imagine what Sutton felt like. "Does she deal with this all the time Mel?" He asked knowing the girls talked.

---

Sutton became more worried, "Jeremiah please." She whispered through tears. She moved away from him and got a damp washcloth and got down with him again. She placed it to his forehead to try to calm him down. It had worked many times. When Tristan opened the bedroom door to tell them she was leaving she snapped, "Get out!" She yelled at him. She got up amd shoved him out in front of mel and Nick shutting the door. She locked it and moved back to Jeremiah., holding him again.

@ acrossleuniverse