Thanks to hippiechick2112, ladygris, and feathered moon wings for reviewing!
World tilting.
Blurring.
Aching.
Expanding… contracting.
Throbbing. (heh.)
Alex spent most of the day lying facedown on his bed, pillow resting over his head, his eyes closed—lightly, not too much tugging at the head, but then he would see a burst of light and it would pierce his brain.
The door creaked. "Alex?"
He groaned.
He would have expected Scott to peek in, see that Alex was still alive (and still here), and disappear. Under the sick float in his stomach and the drums in his head, Alex was distantly surprised that Scott padded into the room. Something clacked and Alex moaned. Sounds were not his friends.
"There's toast and water."
Alex tried to say something, but it came out groaning and spread the drool puddle to new parts of his face.
Scott closed the curtains before he left.
It took a while for Alex to motivate the pillow off his head. The toast was cold by then, but he crunched down a couple of bites and chased them with water. He felt a little better then. He also felt aware that he now had something to puke up if he needed to.
He stumbled and landed hard on the desk on his way to the dresser. The bottom drawer had what he needed. This was the hangover from Hell. Just a little hair of the dog to—
"Wha—" Alex cut off abruptly. The sound made his head hurt. "Little shit," he murmured.
He collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep again.
He woke up and looked for an empty bottle to piss in and cursed his brother all the way to the bathroom and back because he couldn't find a bottle.
It kept happening. Sometimes he woke up to water and dry toast and a few times the lights were off. Mostly he laid there hurting until he slept again.
When he woke up and could almost look around the room, Alex managed to sit up and look for his jeans. The room looked… dammit. That little guy had cleaned his room. How did Alex sleep through that?
Scott didn't knock this time. Alex was stumbling into his cleaned, folded jeans when Scott walked in.
"Alex!"
Did he have to sound so… happy?
"You're awake."
Alex nodded. "…huh…" he managed. His head was really spinning.
"Can we—can we talk? Are you up to that?"
"Yeah, uh…" Alex began. He meant it as an introduction to explaining that, right now, talking was out of the question. Things were still dizzy and sore.
Unfortunately, Scott took it as a yes.
"I know you've had a hard time—I can't imagine what it's been like lately."
Oh, Christ. Not even a chat—he wanted to Have A Talk.
"Alex—"
He stumbled and caught himself on Scott's shoulder.
"Not…" Alex began. He wavered—tried to pull back—and puke toast and bile onto both of them.
For a moment Scott just froze. Alex, to his credit, was genuinely sorry. He had every intention of making this up to Scott. In that moment, he had every intention.
"It's okay, Alex."
And he wanted to be defeated by that tone. But he knew he wasn't. Same way he wanted to be a good brother and knew he wasn't.
"Alex—oh Christ on a cross! Alex? Are you okay? Alex!"
He groaned. What was all the panic for? He was just… and then it hit him. He didn't just stink. He reeked like death. Or rather, he reeked like yesterday's vomit. His head still felt a little fuzzy, but mostly he was okay now. Alex could focus without more than a dull ache behind his eyes.
That hangover seemed to last for days!
"How long's it been?" Alex asked.
"You threw up yesterday. I told you—asked you to take a shower."
Alex nodded. That sounded like something Scott would say. He squinted. The only thing keeping him from seeing his brother properly was the dim light in the room. His eyes were working again. His brain was plugged in.
"Scott—the, uh… yesterday—"
"Take off your shirt."
"Dude, I'm your brother."
"Take off your shirt. I'll throw it in the wash. Sheets too. Just… take a shower, okay? Right now."
Generally when someone gave him an order, he needed to do the opposite. It wasn't a habit, barely a choice. It was like a compulsion that told him if he was cutting off his nose to spite his face, well, he had the joy of spite.
For once, he didn't do that. Alex took off his shirt and went to shower.
He almost felt human again.