Sebastian's first taste of the rebellion was bitter, fiery and sour, burning down his throat as the liquid melted into him- and then there was that adrenaline rush pulsing in his veins as his sip of the alcohol made him wince.

"Holy shit," he gasped and gagged, "That's strong."

Niko- the boy- nodded solemnly, "That's how you get fucked up." 

"Ugh," Sebastian wiped his mouth free of the rancid drink, "This is- not-"

"Loser," commented Niko, snorting with laughter, rolling his head back to blow the smoke elsewhere. "It's a good stress reliever, though."

"Sounds brilliant," drawled Sebastian silently, "Drinking away your problems clearly indicate how far you'll get in life."

Niko shrugged and just took a drink from the bottle in Sebastian's hand. Maybe later, he'd find the things Niko did were for a reason- to fill a gap in himself or mend an unreplaceable part of him that couldn't be fixed by the materials of the outer world.

"It's good stuff to help deal with shit," Niko said, and then shivered as another cold breeze trickled up their skins, prickling goosebumps when the freezing air sank beneath the layers of a flannel, a sweatshirt, and a t-shirt. It was so cold, despite being summer, because of the dead of the night. The weather was really fucked- Sebastian could see his breath as it fanned out over his lap and crystallised in the air. "Jesus Christ, it's cold. Are you sure you want to wait out here for another good twenty minutes? I have a car. I don't mind, uh, dropping you off."

Sebastian scoffed out a laugh in disbelief, wondering if he was actually serious until Niko didn't join him and he realised he was, Sebastian sobered from the laugh and frowned. "But I just...um...met you."

"And then I offered you a drink. Clearly, this is a mile marker in our relationship."

"But what if you're a serial killer?"

Niko's lips curved into a childish grin, sending jolts down Sebastian's heartstrings with one simple action. Niko took out his dwindling cigarette and smashed it to the floor, stubbing it out with the rubber trim of his converse shoes. "Then you're totally and utterly fucked, you prick."

If only Sebastian how true that statement was.

-

Niko's whole car reeked of the illicit. There was that stale smell of nicotine and smoke stuck to the seat cushion like sticky bacteria, along with a mix of something else- weed. It had Niko's stench as well, smelling like the lean-built olive-toned boy who was attempting to clean up his dashboard by scrunching up spare papers into crumpled balls and tossing them into the glove compartment. Niko's stench was weird; a mixture of sweat, cinnamon and cigarette smoke, which made Sebastian's skin felt like it was on fire.

"Sorry for the bleeding mess," Niko said, trying to dispose the burger wrappers into secret compartments and the pockets of his car. Then he gave up, muttering 'Fuck it', as just slid everything to the floor with one good shove from his arm. He clambered into the car, took out the keys and inserted it into the ignition. The vodka was on Niko's lap, safe and tucked away between the bony thighs of Niko Salinger. As the engine gunned and the heater came on, sputtering and shitty, but it was better than the meat locker outside, Niko reached for his glove compartment, pulled the box down and took out weed joints in a ziplock plastic bag.

With a thrumming pulse, Sebastian looked from the zip lock bag to Niko, not incriminatingly. "That's-"

"-my best friend," Niko proudly announced.

"What?" Sebastian let out a nervous chuckle and scrubbed the back of his neck, "You need to be buzzed to drive?"

"I finished my cigarette," explained Niko, unzipping the bag full of rolled joints. "I always need something-" he stopped, eyes going wide and his eyebrows shooting towards his hairline as he realised what he just said.

Sebastian's interest piqued. "What?"

"Nothin'," Niko shook his head, "It's nothin'. I always need to be buzzed when I drive."

Sebastian eyed the steering wheel and the smoking joint in Niko's hand warily, "You sure you won't get too fucked and send us rolling off the road?"

"Believe me, I've done it before," Niko snickered, holding the joint aloft as it flooded the car interiors with the heavenly smell. Sebastian closed his eyes as he took the first whiff of Niko's joint. The scent made his skin itched with desire.

"Want one?" Niko offered, as he sipped the vodka in one of his cup-holders.

Sebastian's trepidation was burning yes, even though his better judgement was telling him no. His step-dad would find some magical way to smell the smoke on his skin and ground him, locking his video games collection into the cupboard until the end of the summer and sentencing him to a lifetime of 'Fresh Fruits & Others'. But there was this suggestion to breach his thin disguise of safety and normalcy, something different. The allure of getting high and altering reality seemed to cause Sebastian to lock eyes with Niko, who was holding the joint seductively, temptingly, and Sebastian knew what he would say before he said it.

"Why not?"

-

don't do drugs, kids. suggs, no drugs. wait i mean hugs-