Hey there! I got some good reviews, and I really enjoy the story, so I am continuing (for now…)
Enjoy :D
It was another late night for the two of them. However, anyone that knew either of them could tell you that they wouldn't have it any other way. The two shadowy figures, one petite and the other hunched over a bit, finally became illuminated by a stray, flickering streetlamp lighting up a patch of the deadly quiet street. Except for the two of them.
The petite shadow was none other than Gwen, a small girl with her most recognizable feature being her teal and black hair. Her hand was on the back of her friend Duncan, who was laughing his head off like there really was something hilarious going on. Gwen frowned a bit as she looked down at the back of his head, his green mohawk flipped the wrong way.
For a moment, once Gwen could clearly see in the light, she looked around. It was silent, except for Duncan's laughter. There was not a single soul around except for them. For any other teen girl, it might have given them the creeps. That wasn't the case for Gwen. In fact, it was exactly the opposite. Being with a drunken guy in the middle of a dark street at night all alone didn't scare her one bit.
"Breathe Duncan," she coaxed in between his fits of never ending laughter. It wasn't quite as foggy this night as it had been nights ago, after it had previously rained. This night was just cold, and Gwen wasn't feeling afraid, but moreover helpless. When Duncan didn't pause, she looked up at the feebly twinkling stars and the full moon. Not only did she have this nagging feeling of vulnerability, but she felt somehow like Duncan had betrayed her. By getting drunk, he was entrusting himself completely to her. She could just dump him here and find him staggering around in the morning. It wouldn't be that difficult. In fact, the idea even sounded appealing to her.
But she didn't do it.
Feeling rather stupid, she grabbed Duncan's shoulders and tried to push him into an upright position. When he didn't budge, she released her hands, only to hear another loud howling of laughter coming from her delinquent friend. She sighed, frustrated; she wanted to be home, in bed, not outside in the freezing cold with barely a sweatshirt on and a skirt. At least it wasn't windy.
She wanted to slap Duncan for making her come out here. It had been all his idea, and she just went along with it so he wouldn't make fun of her.
Feeling afraid and feeling alone were two different things.
Gwen thought about this. She made the line. She was able to separate them. What came to mind was her real friend Duncan, the one that laughed and made her laugh and was the best friend in the world to her. The one that meant everything. The one that tickled her insides in warmth every time he touched her. The one that made her feel like she was soaring whenever he spoke to her.
~ Got me hypnotized, the city's your playground
~ I watch you take a bite
~ 5 am roaming the streets, drunk all night
Armed with her thoughts, she did the only thing she really could think of to do. Her petite little hand raised a tad, and then slapped him full force on the cheek, whipping his head to his left. His laughter instantly stopped as she lowered her hand. Dumbfounded, he rubbed his cheek where she slapped him before looking at Gwen. He seemed to make some connection because he then attempted at standing up straight, but then stumbled backwards and chuckled a bit.
Gwen rolled her eyes as he regained his balance and pointed to her with a goofy grin on his face. "Y-y'know Gw…gwen…" He laughed for a moment, but took a gulp of the cold night air before continuing. "I…I think y…you got me h…hypnotized." Something about that was hilarious to him, for he continued his hooting for a moment before wiping the tears out of his eyes with a finger.
Gwen's tears weren't the same kind.
"G…Gwen… what are you doing?" He hollered, waving his arms around, really making a fool of himself. "Y…you're just st…standing here!" he shouted, gesturing to her feet with a wide sweep of his arm, to which she cringed at. He seemed not to notice, though, for he continued. "The c…city's your pla…playground!" Once more he waved his arms around, gesturing to the buildings, the streets, the city.
Gwen finally understood.
She wiped her tears away.
In Duncan's distorted, demented mind, he was communicating to her. He was expressing something to her that he couldn't put into words when he was sober, so he used the cover of being drunk to try to illustrate it for her. He still was Duncan. Her Duncan. Her best friend Duncan. The guy that really had a strong effect on her that she never thought was possible. This was exactly something he would do. That's why Duncan was giving her that goofy grin again. It just took her all this time and wasted emotion to realize that.
Once more, she let her arm hang over his shoulders, despite his being taller than her, and they continued walking. Duncan seemed a bit cheerier now that he had gotten through to her. After only a few seconds, however, Duncan felt the need to break the silence.
"I…I'll watch you," he announced to her, stopping her under another streetlight by holding her shoulders and making her look up at him. "I p…promise I'll wat…watch," he assured, stumbling back a little bit and releasing her shoulders just in time so that she wouldn't fall on him and lose her balance as well.
"What will you watch, Duncan?" Gwen went along with him, feeling a bit better now too. She wasn't totally alone and unaided. Even though Duncan was under the brainwashing effects of alcohol, he was still there, and that was the most comforting thought she could muster.
He smiled a bit at her, as if he understood some joke that she didn't. "Take a bite," he said randomly, seeming to put two and two together, despite the fact that the two statements didn't seem to fit together. Gwen just raised an eyebrow at him as he started laughing, almost smugly. It was all Gwen could do not to slap him again, but she kept her composure and forced him to keep going. Once more he was howling laughter into the night.
That was, until an elderly man who was obviously not happy with having his sleep disturbed slid open his window and yelled at them for being "noisy horny teenagers." Gwen hurriedly put her hand over Duncan's mouth and shouted the softest apology she could up to the man before hurrying Duncan along. She heard the faint sound of the window closing and sighed with relief before feeling something warm and wet on the palm of her hand covering Duncan's mouth. It took her but a moment to register what it was.
"Ew, yuck, Duncan!" she all but shouted, yanking her hand away from his mouth as he laughed, his tongue hanging out like a dog's. "Take your spit back," she grumbled, wiping the palm of her hand on his usual skull shirt, to which he only laughed harder.
"You know, its 5 am and you're roaming the streets drunk all night," Gwen started as they continued walking, her hand now fully free of all of Duncan's intoxicated slobber. "At some point, you're going to get a much more severe warning than some old crabby guy yelling at you through his bedroom window," she warned, flicking his nose in an attempt to get his attention. He yelped sharply, but quickly became quiet again. He gave no apparent signs that he was heeding her warning, but he was quiet in response.
But then something seemed to spark in his mind. He seemed to remember something, as if he were a patient that had just woken up from a coma. Feeling good about himself, he said to her, a bit slurred, "And ooh, I love it!"
She shook her head, recalling their little joke session from nights before, when they had sat together on that grassy hill. And then made their rough descent down it, and then made their rough ascent back up. It made her smile and giggle, and Duncan looked very achieved. It was for no other reason but because he had gotten a decent giggle out of her for the first time the whole night, which he oddly remembered. It seemed as if he really felt like he was onto something, because he gave her a look that just seemed to encourage her to go on.
~ Stumblin' but yeah you still lookin' hella fine
~ Keep doin' what you're doin' and I'ma make you mine
~ Well you're a hot mess and I'm fallin' for you
She rolled her eyes with a playful smile before giving in and going along with it. "Stumbling, but yeah, you're still—" Before she could finish the line, Duncan felt the need to say something, so he cut right in and finished it for her.
"I…I'm still lookin' h…hella fine!" he started laughing, but not in a drunken way. More in a friendly, everyday way that really put Gwen in a state of complete comfort. She felt compelled to laugh along with him, and so she did. As it turned out, the laugh she supplied him with was no fake one, like she had anticipated. It was real, side aching, tear jerking, all around good laughter. It pulled her to him in a way she hadn't expected.
"Just keep doin' what you're doin' Duncan…" she meant to warn, but it came out as an innocent joke, harmless, all for fun. Her tone was betraying her mind, but it was portraying her real thoughts. Those of which told her things that she didn't want to hear, things that troubled her more than they should have. It all sounds so much simpler when you say it… she thought, just as she heard him say:
"Wha', and you… you're gonna make me mine? Nooo, make you mine?" he laughed, since he couldn't really get the line right. But all she could do was frown. It occurred to her that she didn't remember hearing that one when they made this little game up. If he came up with it, he left it unvoiced, stuck in his mind. Maybe he didn't notice, but she certainly did. Something that she didn't know about was going on here, but was coming to the surface for him. Something that she had a feeling she didn't exactly want to hear, just as her own thoughts. That gave her the itch that maybe, maybe they were connected. As if they were connected beyond, as damn creepy as that sounded. It made sense in her mind…
"Well…" she struggled to return to the train of thought they had started up as they kept walking, their shoes the only sounds as they clicked against the concrete under their feet. Duncan looked expectantly at her, as if she was that one kid in the game of Telephone that messed the message up on purpose. Was she?
Determined not to mess up his message, she finally found the line she was looking for. "You're definitely a hot mess, Duncan…" she murmured, feeling uncomfortable with saying that for whatever unknown reason. Her conscience was trying to break through to her, but she couldn't quite grasp it. The words just felt strange on her tongue, in her mouth, in her ears. Not exactly wrong, like when you lie or deceive someone, but they had an unearthly taste and sound. Definitely something foreign; perhaps not unwelcome, but foreign.
Just then, Duncan took it upon himself to trip over his own feet and fall flat on his face on the concrete without so much as an "ouch." Gwen just stared at him in astonishment—he was one hell of a guy—but he just giggled as he put his arms by his sides and pushed himself up a bit. Only to fall back down, laughing the whole time. Her head shook as he finally managed to sit up, swaggering even while he was sitting in place. He smiled up at her, put his finger in the air as if to make a point, and told her as straight up as he could: "And I'm falling for you!"
While he was rolling over laughing his guts out, Gwen felt that foreign feeling again. It was icier this time, however. Not in an unpleasant way though, which bothered her the most. In fact, it was somewhat welcome to her ears, but not to her stomach, which was practically performing a one-man circus at the moment. As the silent seconds went by, Gwen was becoming more and more frustrated with herself. A mystery movie was okay, maybe even a book, but not when it happened to her. Not when it happened inside her, which was even more perturbing.
"Come on, Duncan," she hissed suddenly, if a bit harshly. He paused and looked up at her in bewilderment, just as she grabbed his arm and somehow managed to yank him up, despite her tiny stature compared to his. She was forced to inhale his breath, reeking of alcohol, for a brief moment as he nearly toppled on top of her. Just in time, luckily, he managed to catch his balance and actually started walking alongside her normally, as if he wasn't completely drunk. It quickly became apparent that he was putting a lot of effort into the simple act, however, because he nearly tripped on himself again a few quiet minutes later, and he then resumed his drunk staggering.
His laugh was gone, though.
~ And I'm like, "Hot damn let me make you my boo."
~ Cause you can shake it, shake it, shake it, yeah you know what to do
~ You're a hot mess, lovin' it, hell yes! This bit of the song is repeated again, but I'm not going to repeat it because I'm bored of it xD
Awkward was the best way Gwen could find to describe the next few minutes. They had started something, even in Duncan's drunken state could he figure that out. They just didn't know what, which was the problem. It wasn't that they were mad, or feeling tense with one another. It was simply the situation they had placed themselves in this time.
"We're always getting into something, aren't we," Gwen stated after a little while.
Much to her surprise, Duncan turned to her, if a bit slowly, and replied in a steady tone of voice, as if he were completely sober, "Yeah."
She glanced at him carefully. She hadn't even known that was possible to do. Then again, with Duncan, anything was possible. And then he had that flirty grin on his face again, but it seemed actually intentional, not like he had been drinking. Although, his voice still sounded pretty steady.
"You know you want me," he said, wiggling his eyebrows. It was a gag, nothing more, nothing less. In fact, even Duncan himself was laughing.
Gwen laughed along with him.
"Yes," Gwen started, slapping his arm lightly. "And I'm definitely like, 'let me make Duncan my boo.'" She rolled her eyes at him.
"'Boo'?" Duncan inquired, looking at her funny, as if she were an alien.
"What?"
"Who talks like that?" he laughed, poking fun at her.
"Well, didn't you say that just a few nights ago?"
His brow furrowed as he tried to remember, his mouth forming into a frown. "Touché…" he muttered.
Gwen laughed at him this time. "You just don't like being beaten at your own game."
Duncan pushed her, into the street, too. It was lucky for the both of them that there were no cars going around at this time. If it were any other time of day, Gwen would certainly be mad at him, but even she knew for sure that there would be little to no activity going on at this time. Unless some stupid drunk, much like Duncan, was smart enough to not only go against the law, but to go on a suicidal mission simply to get home by driving.
Once Gwen had returned to Duncan's side on the street, the two smirking side by side, Gwen looked up as they turned a corner. Their houses loomed in the middle of the street, side by side, the tree right in place by Gwen's house.
"We're almost home," she announced quietly.
"No shit, Sherlock," Duncan chuckled.
"Shake it, shake that attitude, Duncan," Gwen rolled her eyes for about the hundredth time that night as they approached ever closer. As a cold wind blew by, stinging Gwen's eyes, she pulled her coat tighter around her. Duncan gave her a glance before stopping at the tree that lead up to her window. The "backwards fire escape" that Gwen used to get home whenever she was out late. It took a moment, as if they hadn't used enough that night already, before either of them said anything.
"Well, you know what to do," Duncan mumbled, almost incoherently. Gwen sighed, her breath coming out as a thin white fog in front of her for just a moment. She only took notice of it now because, quite frankly, she had been preoccupied with a drunk Duncan. So much, in fact, that she had completely forgotten it was cold. But now it was coming back to bite her; her tiny hands stung, her cheeks were flushed, and her face felt frozen, almost to the point where her mouth couldn't move.
Despite all this, she pressed herself up against Duncan in a brief embrace, one that made Duncan's insides tickle, but one that Gwen couldn't take the time to analyze. The break in their conversation gave her the perfect opportunity to properly attend to her current state.
She started climbing. Slowly at first, getting the feel for the tree as she reawakened her sleeping limbs from the cold. It was almost as if they had been hibernating for the whole night while she had been neglecting them. In fact, that seemed pretty accurate.
Once at her bedroom window, she heard Duncan call up, "You're a hot mess, Gwen!"
She would have laughed, if it were not for the fact that her face was really rejecting the movement right now. So instead, she replied with a tone of voice that really betrayed her amusement, "I'm loving it, hell yes." Despite the monotone in her voice, she heard Duncan laugh as he disappeared into his own house and her into hers.
As soon as she stepped in her hands and face started to warm up. If it were earlier in the day, she would have made herself a cup of hot cocoa, but she couldn't risk herself being discovered. She'd have to make do with piles of blankets and warm pajamas, which she slipped into without hesitation.
There were two or three extra blankets at the top of her closet, which she gladly pulled down, very thankful to have them in case of cold winter nights like this. She snuck under the covers and was instantly warmed in her fabric cocoon.
Although, she had to admit to herself that as comforting and warm as it was snuggled under the blankets, in her bed, alone, it wasn't as comforting as being with Duncan.
I really enjoyed the story so I did decide to continue… hope you enjoyed :D should I keep it up…? It's more of a story than a songfic… but lol, I'm quietly incorporating it.
R&R!
