"I should have known you couldn't change!" Ali screams and runs outside, slamming the door. Kai opens it, running after her "NO, It was an accident, I didn't mean to go back!" Ali falls down the stairs, headfirst. She's about to face plant when she wakes up, sweating. She sits upright, waking her sleepy counterpart. He yawns and turns on the bedside light, "What's wrong? Bad dream?" Ali looks at him apprehensively, "Yeah..." She stands and stretches, "You can go back to bed, I'm going for a walk." "Are you sure? It's really late." He looks at her, his face clouded with sleep and concern. She nods and slips on her Annaki tee. Sliding into her cherry kicks she grabs her cap and walks out of the apartment.
It's a chilly night, but it doesn't affect Ali as she walks the streets. Repeating the dream in her head, she tries to bury it with the rest of her terrible dreams. It'd been a few weeks since she and Kai had made up, but she still worried about him relapsing into old habits. She couldn't keep tabs on him every moment of every day, she had to trust him. Her phone buzzes urgently in her pocket and she pulls it out. There's one missed, and one ongoing call. She reads the name and almost drops her phone. She hadn't heard from him in months, since he'd blocked her. Picking up she quickly sputters,"H- Hello? Keaton?" There's silence on the other end and then laughing, "You picked up." Ali listens closely and questions, "Of course I did, are you drunk?" More laughter, "Of course I am... not." Ali sighs, "Where are you? Are you safe?" Another pause on the other end and then he whispers "Are you still with that octo boy?" She can barely hear him. She bites her lip, "Where are you? Are you alone?"
Ali looks at the address she'd copied into her phone. It'd led her to a nice set of apartments, just a few blocks from her own. Shooting Kai a quick text, she tells him she's helping a friend. She walks into the building, and then down the hall. She knocks on the door just once before it opens. Keaton looks at her, looks into her eyes, and vomits all over her shoes. Ali breathes in and out, gathering herself, then she turns Keaton around and leads him to his couch. "Lay down." He obliges and stares at her outfit, "You look good in squid fashion." The corner of Ali's mouth tilts up, "Thank you." She notices Keaton's in just a tee and boxers. She grabs a towel and spray from his kitchen counter and goes to clean up the vomit. She grimaces at the smell, a mixture of liquor, sweetness, and stomach acid. She wipes it up and then works on her shoes, admitting she'd just have to get new ones. Her phone pings, it's Kai. The texts reads "Should I come too?" Ali tells him not to, knowing that would upset Keaton.
"I'm sorry for what I said before." Keaton watches her walk into the room. "It's fine. I'm sorry for hurting you. I was dumb." Ali places a small garbage can by him and sits on a chair across the room. Keaton looks at her through hazy eyes, and Ali has to ask, "What made you drink so much? By yourself, at that." Keaton sits up and leans on his knees, "I got with someone else. I thought it'd help." Ali feels sympathy for him, "Did it?" Then feels dumb. It obviously didn't. He shakes his head, "Are you still with him?" Ali looks down at her shoes, which have small flecks of barf on them, "Yeah, but things weren't perfect. I think I was served a lesson." She smiles at him weakly. "He was selling himself on the side, just like in Octo Valley, but he stopped for me." Keaton looks amused, "Wow. That's heavy." She sees a weird expression cross his face, then he bursts out laughing. Ali sighs and sits back. "I can't believe you got dished like that. At least you know how it feels." He looks at her with a wide smile, "I feel better now." Ali stands, walks over to him and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you for calling me. I've worried about you ever since we talked." Keaton looks at the hand on his shoulder, and then leans down and pukes into the garbage can. Ali withdraws her hand and winces at the sounds.
Keaton sits back up, and then lays down across her lap, putting his head on her thighs. "Oh, uh-" Ali looks down at him and is shocked to see he's already asleep. His face is peaceful. Without knowing what she's doing, she touches the back of her hand to his forehead. Her hand is drastically colder than his face. Ali carefully grabs her phone from her pocket at texts Kai, "Friend was very drunk. Going to stay the night." Kai replies in the next second, "Noir?" Ali smiles, "Surprisingly, no." Kai replies, "Alright. Be careful. See you in the morning." Ali puts her phone on the couch cushion next to her and leans back. Her eyes droop and she feels herself fade into a deep sleep.
"Good morning!" Ali wakes up, smelling crab cakes. "Hello?" Ali blinks at the intense sunlight shining into her face. Keaton calls over to her, "I hope you like crab cakes. I made enough for two!" The octoling rubs her eyes and looks at Keaton, who's standing at the stove, flipping crab cakes. "You... You don't have a hangover?" Keaton laughs, "Nah, I don't drink often, but when I do, for some reason I handle it pretty well." Ali scoffs "You didn't handle it well last night." "Hey," Keaton looks over his shoulder and sticks out his tongue, "You came over, that was your choice. I would've been fine." Ali stands and stretches, then walks into the kitchen and sits at the table. "That smells delicious." Keaton turns off the stove and starts plating the cakes, "I love cooking. I usually don't have anyone to cook for." "No friends?" Ali leans on the table. "I have friends, they're just usually busy in turf wars." Ali nods and finds herself drooling as Keaton places a plate in front of her. He sits across from her with his own plate. "Thank you," Ali chirps as she takes a bite. The crab melts in her mouth. Keaton takes a bite and smiles as she eats. Ali hears her phone ring from the living room and stands to go get it, but sits again when she sees Keaton's face. "So, um, all is forgiven?" Ali peeks up from her plate. "Yeah, we're good."
They finish, and Ali puts her plate away. She walks into the living room and checks her phone, she has a missed call from Kai. "I have to go, it's Kai." Keaton nods and crosses his arms across his chest, looking away. "Thank you for coming over." Ali walks over and kisses him on the cheek, "Don't be a stranger." She runs out the door and makes her way across town. She calls back Kai, "Hey? I'll be back in a couple minutes." Kai yawns, "Alright. I'm here." Ali runs up the steps leading to Kai's apartment. She spent more nights there than her own place. She opens the door, still unlocked and walks inside. "Goood morning!" She calls out cheerfully. When no one replies she walks towards the bedroom, "Hello? Are you awake?" She opens the door and sees Kai, laying on his side on the bed. He smiles at her seductively, "I've been waiting for you." Ali smiles and runs across the room, jumping onto him. Kai laughs, actually laughs as he tickles her. "AHH! Stop!" They wrestle until they're spooning. Kai whispers in her ear, "How's your friend?" Ali looks back at him, "He's okay. He didn't even have a hangover." "He?" Kai asks in surprise. "Oooh, jealous?" She teases. He holds her closer, "No. It's just interesting that it's a 'he'."
Ali's phone dings and she picks it up, it's a message from Keaton. "'Thank's again, but next time don't tease me before you leave.'" Keaton reads aloud over her shoulder, "What's that mean? You teased him?" Ali closes her eyes, "I just kissed him on the cheek. It was friendly." Kai huffs "Sure it was. I thought 'Keaton' blocked you months ago." Ali turns so that she's facing him, "He unblocked me. He was the drunk friend." Kai looks wary, "Okay..." Ali snuggles into his chest, and listens to his heartbeat. Shes still feels confused, but lighter than she did two nights ago.
Thank you for reading! -shipalltheotps