If We Weren't Such Good Friends I Think That I'd Hate You

Faris stared at Kyle, who seemed to be in a deep sleep, snoring his head off on the couch. Faris’ couch. Well, sort of Tom’s couch too. Faris shook his head and went into the kitchen to discover Tom sitting at the table, reading whatever he’d laid out in front of him.

“Kyle Falconer is asleep on our couch.” stated Faris dully, pointing back towards the living room.

“He is.” replied Tom, not looking up.

“Why the fuck is Kyle Falconer asleep on our couch?” asked Faris loudly, raising his eyebrows.

The sickness in Faris’ stomach was not getting any better. This is one of the reasons why Faris did not drink.

“Quiet down, would you?” ordered Tom, giving Faris a scolding look. “He got kicked out of his apartment after Kieren bailed him out.”

“And you decided to ask him to come here?” muttered Faris.

“I didn’t ask him, he showed up.” replied Tom sternly. “He said he’d gotten our address from Joe. I knocked on your door to get you but you didn’t answer.”

“Don’t recall that…” said Faris quietly, folding his arms and staring at the floor. “Must’ve been in a deep sleep.”

“A deep drunken sleep.” corrected Tom, faintly grinning at Faris.

Faris grunted and walked to the sink, getting himself a tall glass of water before joining Tom at the table.

“So, when’s he leaving?” asked Faris, purely out of curiosity.

“I’m not really sure, Faris, I didn’t ask him.” replied Tom. “He’s in a right mess, you know.”

“It’s not our problem.”

“It kind of is now, he’s on our couch.”

Faris groaned, rubbing his head. “I don’t understand why you let him in.”

“Don’t try to say this is my fault.” snapped Tom, giving Faris a short, Tom-like glare across the table. “He’s here now, so stop talking about it.”

Faris went back to his room, hating that he had an argument with Tom. Faris hardly ever argued with Tom, he felt guilty almost. He stayed in his room, reading (mainly trying to wait out his hangover until it went away) until mid-afternoon. Then he heard the front door shut, and he got up. He expected Kyle had woken up and left.

“Hello Faris.”

Faris looked out in his living room, noticing that Kyle was no longer asleep, but awake and watching the news.

“Waiting for your cameo?” asked Faris, taking a seat on the couch next to Kyle.

“Funny.” replied Kyle, shaking his head. “Tom went out for a bit.”

Faris didn’t reply, he just sat there and watched the television with Kyle. About an hour passed and the awkwardness grew with the budding silence. Faris had no idea what to say to Kyle, and it was apparent that Kyle had no idea what to say to Faris.

“So, I’m sorry about crashing on your couch.” apologized Kyle awkwardly.

“It’s not a big deal.” replied Faris, even though he could remember kicking up a bit of a fuss a few hours previous.

“My girlfriend kicked me out of my apartment.” said Kyle quietly.

The two of them sat on the couch, staring directly at the television even though neither of them was paying any attention to it. Faris felt somewhat uncomfortable, but this all related back to his theory. Maybe Kyle wanted to talk about things now, maybe this would relate to the unsolved mystery of his black eye.

“Tom told me this morning.” replied Faris dully, wishing that he could have somehow sounded a bit more sympathetic.

“Band mates won’t talk to me.” added Kyle, his voice sounding grim. “I don’t know what they’re going to do.”

“You’re going to have to go to court, right?” asked Faris curiously.

“Yeah, eventually.” muttered Kyle, rubbing his face with his hand. “They’re probably going to make me go to rehab.”

“Maybe that’s not such a bad idea.” suggested Faris, hoping that Kyle wouldn’t flip out at him.

“I don’t do drugs that much, you know.” said Kyle softly, his cheeks blushing a violent red. “I know people think I’m the Amy Winehouse of Scotland, but really, I’m not.”

“So why the cocaine last night?” asked Faris, in his head he didn’t believe nearly a word Kyle spoke when it related to drugs.

“It’s been a rough few months.” answered Kyle, shifting uncomfortably next to Faris.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” said Faris simply.

Faris wasn’t lying; he wasn’t going to be nosing into Kyle’s private life if Kyle didn’t want to share it with him. Faris figured he would, though, since things would probably be more open with Kyle now that he’d spent the night.

“There have been a lot of changes.”

“Change isn’t always a bad thing.” mumbled Faris, hating the sound of his voice every time it muttered something lame out from his mouth.

“I know, but this is different.” admitted Kyle, biting his lip.

Deep down, Faris knew he felt sympathetic for Kyle. Yes, it was mostly Kyle’s fault he was where he was right now, but there was something about Kyle that appeared to be too innocent to be left in the mess he was in. Faris wished he’d been able to say nothing, but he knew what had to be done.

“You can stay here for a while, if you need to.” said Faris quietly, wanting to smack himself as the words came out of his mouth.

“You know, I might have to take you up on that offer.” muttered Kyle, looking embarrassed. “I don’t know where I’m going to go, that’s why I came here.”

“It’s fine.”

Faris knew that Tom was going to laugh his head off when he would realize that Faris offered Kyle a place to stay. Tom wouldn’t care, though.

“So, what’ve you been doing all day?” asked Kyle, seeming cheerful for his current state.

“I’ve been reading, I guess.” Faris wasn’t used to people asking what he was doing, normally they assumed.

“I’ve been sitting on your couch all day, I’m getting kind of bored.” said Kyle, faintly laughing.

Faris tried his best not to glare over at him. He found it boring? Then maybe he could leave. But then again, he can’t leave now because stupid Faris has asked him to stay.

“I’ve got some records in my room, if you want to go check those out…” said Faris quietly.

“Excellent.” said Kyle, cheerfully walking behind Faris as his long, curly hair bounced on top of his head.