Delirious

Alex glanced briefly at the time on his phone, waiting for his friends to jump into the car so they could start making their way to this godforsaken party. 8:45pm. Rian had already bagged shotgun, and he was sat beside the brunette, eyes fixed on his phone as he scrolled idly.

“Tell me again why I have to come with you guys?” Alex sighed. After at least two days of him refusing to go and whinging incessantly about it, he’d caved in, his group of friends’ nagging having gotten to him.

“Because! It’ll be fun, and anyway,” Rian grinned, “We need a designated driver.”

“Thanks,” the older boy sniggered, shoving the key into the ignition when Matt and Danny finally clambered into the back. He wasn’t too sure as to who was actually hosting the party, but he did know that it was a fair way out of town - a solid twenty-five minute drive, provided that there was no traffic to hold the boys up. He pulled out of the drive, scowling over at Rian when he turned the radio on and tuned in to some deafening pop station.

“I swear to god, if you don’t turn that crap off, I’m turning this car around,” he murmured, sure to keep his eyes on the road and giving a vague nod when the music came to a stop. Soon enough they had arrived, and although it was only just after 9pm, it seemed as if the house was already full and buzzing with seemingly drunk people, and Alex already knew he wasn’t going to enjoy tonight.

The four boys departed and slammed the doors behind them, still quiet in speech, until Matt broke the silence - “So Alex is staying sober, right?” he queried, wanting to be reassured that he was allowed to get as drunk as he wanted to without having to deal with the consequences - said consequences being having to walk home. The others all nodded and mumbled yes, the boy in question rolling his eyes. This was the way it always was, Alex didn’t especially enjoy getting drunk or the general vibe of parties but being the good friend he was, he always tagged along anyway, agreeing to drive everyone back, every time, however reluctant he happened to be.

“It’s like I’m your mom, seriously. I’ll come round you all up when the party dies down, but if I can’t find you by like, three, I’m leaving you here, okay?” he scolded, the bossy undertone in his voice making it sound more like an order than a statement. They walked into the house and split, all going their different ways.
-
Alex found himself sat on a porch swing out back, watching as fully clothed people found humour in jumping into a swimming pool at sunset. He found his own entertainment right here, in simply watching other people whilst sipping lightly on a diet-coke he held in his hand. He loved sunsets, and he was beyond happy that he wasn't drunk right now so he could truly appreciate what was before him. Alex was someone who found happiness in other people's happiness, usually, and this also added to his mood, although he was slightly on the edge as most of the people around him were intoxicated.

“Hey bro,” came a voice from just a few feet away. Alex turned his head to see a boy with weirdly dyed hair place himself beside him. He was tall and lanky and clumsy looking, with dark hair, though there was a streak of blonde running through his fringe which Alex thought was odd, yet he couldn't deny it suited him. The brunette couldn't care much for him so he turned away, he could smell the alcohol on the other boy and although he didn't want to admit it to the other boy, he was really enjoying watching this sunset. “Cat got your tongue?”

“No, its not that.” Alex mumbled, leaving the boy next to him to make another comment which the brunette simply ignored and watched as the sun made its way into the ground. He savoured every last moment of the sunset’s beauty, which made the boy next to him break out in a fit of laughter. Alex snapped his head back round to the black-haired boy. “What’s your problem?”

“Nothing! Nothing I swear, don’t kill me.” He raised both his hands in surrender and bit his lip, still managing to let a giggle surpass them. Alex rolled his eyes, yet let a smile rest on his face because as mentioned earlier, when others were happy, so was Alex.

Alex took the others hands and brought them down from the air so they were in this guy’s lap, before withdrawing his own. “You’re drunk.” Alex stated.

“Seeing as we are stating facts, you are remarkably hot.” The boy smirked and Alex’s smile dropped almost immediately. Was a guy hitting on him? All Alex could think was somebody knows, how did they find out? Why is he doing this? Is this a joke? ohmygod. A guy flirting with him when he was still stuck in the closet was quite possibly the most terrifying thing in the world, so he was at this point desperate to either get the hell away from the other boy or find some way of getting him to stop. The boy chuckled at Alex’s reaction before holding his hand out.

“No need to look like I’ve just killed someone. Hi, the name is Jack Barakat and
I’m really gay, in case you were wondering, and everyone is so-”

“You are drunk. We need to get you some water and take you to a room and sober you up and make sure you don’t throw up on anybody,” Alex stumbled over his words before getting to his feet and practically dragging Jack inside to an empty bedroom in the house.