I'm Raw and Invincible

John walked into the 8123 studio and immediately walked over to the make shift bar grabbing whatever beer was available and went to find some of his friends which wasn’t very difficult to be fair. After a tour or a lot of times, just for the hell of it, the record label will have a post tour party and everyone in the 8123 studio community is invited which means most of John’s friends. They parties are always laid back and the vibe is all about family and just having fun and John’s never really thought he had a home but if he had to pick somewhere, it would be in this room with all of these people.

John didn’t make it very far before Justin Richards was walking towards him and giving him a huge hug, excited to catch up since their tour together in the summer. Its how the whole night went really, John talked to different people about different tours and the party was nice, familiar and John was able to drink and drink and drink without a question from anyone because everyone was drinking just as much as he was. It was nice to drink without pressure because his band mates would limit his drinks while on tour, not a lot really just if they ran out of alcohol they wouldn’t buy more for a few days and that’s enough for John to think they were limiting him.

After a few hours John was thinking about going home when he finally spotted his best friend, Joel, walking into the room. John yelled out his name and ran over to him, stumbling over himself and other people until he was finally hugging Joel who could hardly hold John up.

Joel laughed and steadied John back on his feet, “Hi John.”

John grinned, “How ya doin, Joely?”

Joel wasn’t even phased by the nickname, “I’m great John, how are you? Drunk obviously.”

“Obviously.” John laughed, “I’m great Joely! I’ve missed you bud!” John said wrapping his arms tightly around Joel.

Joel coughed and pushed John away from him, his weight too much on Joel’s skinny frame, “Fantastic, missed you too bro. Tour did well?”

John nodded, “It did man, it really did. Some of the shows were really small but,” John shrugged. “It wasn’t so bad. Smaller shows mean I get to meet the kids.”

“That’s the best part.” Joel grinned, “Isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” John agreed. “Unless they’re really fucking weird.” John laughed. “Oh! Some girl wrote me a letter and it was strange.”

“What did it say?”

“Something about worrying about me and my drinking and how I should slow down and all this stuff.” John rolled his eyes. Joel was quiet for too long making John’s draw drop, “Oh you’re joking.”

“What?” Joel questioned crossing his arms over his chest.

“You agree with her, don’t you?”

“I’m not going to lie to you.”

“Dude, come on you know me. You know I’ve got it under control.”

“Do you? Do you actually have it under control John? Because if I remember correctly you used to be able to wait until after leaving a venue to drink but now you drink the second you wake up all the way until you pass out. That isn’t having it under control.”

“Oh fuck off Joel, really? I didn’t know drinking was a crime.”

Joel shrugged, “It’s not, until you become an alcoholic then it gets dangerous.”

“You seriously think I’m an alcoholic?”

“Yes, yes I do.”

“I can’t believe this shit. Why are you saying this?”

“It’s about time someone pointed it out, John. A lot of people are worried about you.”

“Oh yeah? Like who? You and this fan? A lot of people my ass.”

Joel shook his head, “Your band mates are worried, your family is worried, I’m sure if I asked everyone in this room would agree. More fans than just this one girl are worried about you John. You should be too.”

“I’m fine, Joel. I’m fine. I don’t know why you think I’m so kind of crazed alcoholic but that’s not me, I’m not my dad.” John snapped. “I’m not him and I’ve got everything under control. Now if you excuse me, I’m leaving.” John said beginning to walk away.

“No you’re not.” Joel called holding onto his forearm.

“Oh what are you going to do?”

Joel rolled his eyes, “You obviously can’t drive like this. I’m driving you to your place.”

John rolled his eyes, “I’m fine, Joel.”

“I don’t give a shit if you think you’re fine. You can hardly walk there is no way I am letting you drive home. Give me your keys.”

John could tell just by looking at his friend that he was serious so with an eye roll he handed over his keys and followed Joel out to his car. The ride was tense and John really wanted to crack a joke to fix the awkward silence but he figured it wasn’t the time to do so. He’s still pretty upset about everything Joel said anyway so he isn’t even sure if he wants to talk to him right now. When they finally arrived at John’s apartment, John stumbled out of the car just as Joel tossed him his keys telling him to get some sleep and they’d go pick up his car the next day. John flipped him off as he drove away and clumsily looked for his keys which took longer than John wanted to admit. John slowly made his way up the complex stairs and into his apartment walking over to the couch and falling onto it, too tired and too drunk to fuss about sleeping in his bed.