~ That's Alright, That's Okay ~

Warning: this chapter contains an incident involving misuse of drugs. If you're sensitive to that, please don't read this.

"(Y/N)! Come on, I have a present for you!"

"I'm coming, hold on!"

"What's taking so long?"

"Nothing, just give me a second!"

I rushed out of the room and headed toward the living room, where my roommate was impatiently tapping his foot.

"That took you long enough," he huffed and rolled his eyes. "Here." He rudely shoved a big box (poorly wrapped, may I add) in my direction.

I stared at it for a second and reached a hand out to touch the box. I tried feeling for any dips or clues, but my roommate gave an impatient grunt.

"Hurry the hell up," he said, roughly pushing the box and nearly making it tip over.

"Alright, alright," I said, ripping the wrapping paper down the side and eagerly speeding up when I got a glimpse at the actual box.

"No way! Are you for real?"

It was a brand-new guitar. The body was v-shaped, it had a floating bridge and 24 frets. I carefully lifted it out of the box and held it up.

"Yeah," he replied, "you like it?"

"Like it?" I put it down and leaped into his arms. "Nikki, I love it! Thank you!"

"Aw, it's nothin'," he said, hugging me back loosely. I laughed at his awkwardness and proceeded to squeeze the hell out of him. I heard him lose his breath when I did and thus let go.

"Anyway," he said after deeply inhaling, "ready to go?"

"Yeah," I said. "Let me just put this in my room."

He nodded and I went to put it away. I admired it for a little, then went back out to join him.

We left, en route to Vince's "Christmas" party. We all knew damn well he only wanted to party, but that was alright with us anyway because we were pretty much the exact same way. When we got there, the party was already in full swing.

"What took you so long?" Vince asked, swaggering up to us with a large bottle of alcohol in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

"It's (Y/N)'s fault," Nikki said, gesturing to me before holding his hand out. Vince grinned and put the bottle in his hand, and he took a long swig of whatever was in it.

"No, it's not," I said, impatiently shaking Nikki's shoulder. He gulped once more before taking the bottle away from his face and handing it to me. I took a long drink. In the name of partying.

"Mick and Tommy are around here somewhere," Vince said, taking a drag from his cigarette. "Not sure where exactly, but I saw them about five minutes ago."

"Shit, it was probably an hour ago. You're fuckin' stoned," Nikki laughed.

Vince nodded. "Good point."

He nodded again in a way that said 'see ya' and wandered off. Nikki turned to me.

"Now what?"

"We party," I replied, taking a pack of cigarettes out of my jacket pocket. He laughed and shook his head, holding his hand out. I handed him one and took another for myself, then lit both.

"Alright," he said after several hits, "now what?"

"I don't know. I think I'm gonna go find Mick. You do whatever you gotta do."

We parted ways then, and I found Mick soon after. He was chugging a bottle of vodka and was more than happy to share. So we drank and partied for a while, soon joined by Tommy, who I can only imagine had been off with a girl.

I couldn't help but wonder where Nikki was; it had been about two hours since I had last seen him. Maybe he had found someone to mess around with. An unexplainable pressure settled in my chest at the thought.

What the hell was that? Was that what jealousy felt like? I didn't know. I knew I was definitely attracted to Nikki and had at one point developed feelings for him, but I wasn't expecting anything to come from them. He was a party guy, a playboy who was used to getting with a different girl every night. I shook away the thought and continued to drink the night away.

About an hour and a half later, when the music was close to bringing the house down while everyone drunkenly danced on, I spotted Vince's blond hair moving toward us.

My heart sank. Something was definitely wrong. He was hurrying toward us with wide eyes, pushing some people out of his way as he did.

"Vince!" Tommy yelled out, his voice cracking horribly. "Where 'n the 'ell 'ave you been?"

"Not now," Vince snapped. His eyes met mine. "It's Nikki."

I felt my pulse jump into my throat, then sink into my stomach. "What's wrong?"

"He's... come on." He grabbed my hand and pulled me along, through the crowd of people. We went upstairs, and upon pushing open one of the doors my eyes found Nikki, his feet twitching as he lay on a bed, eyes closed.

"Nikki!" I jumped to his side and shook his shoulder, then took his hand. "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know," Vince said, his eyes filling with terror. "I found him like this outside. I called an ambulance, they're on their way."

"Overdosed on something," I said, lightly touching his fluttering eyelids. I felt his pulse, then pushed his slightly sweaty hair off his forehead. His heart was beating erratically.

Vince said he'd go get him a blanket, then left the room. I sat on the edge of the bed and held his jerking hand.

"Don't you dare leave me," I said, tears forming in my eyes. His feet weren't moving anymore, and his hands were stilling.

The ambulance came soon. No one even seemed aware of what was going on as we carried Nikki downstairs. They loaded him onto a stretcher and into the back of the ambulance.

"I can only take one of you," the EMT said, looking back and forth between Vince and I.

I looked at Vince with a pleading look. His eyes were shifting back and forth frantically, and he said, "you go. I'll meet you at the hospital."

"Thank you," I said, hugging him. I got in the ambulance and we sped off.

The ride was nightmarish. Nikki wasn't moving. His heart was beating, but very faintly and slowly.

When we got to the hospital, they took him away, but assured me I would be allowed to see him soon. They hooked him up to several machines, then left to analyze some blood results. One doctor stayed back.

"I'm going to be honest with you. It's not looking great for your friend. If he survives this, he's going to have to seriously rethink this lifestyle choice." He led me into the room, then left.

If.

I sat on a still by the bed and smoothed his hair back. "Don't leave me," I said again. "I don't know what I'd do without you. Someone has to be the bass player while I play the V, and I only want it to be you. Please, don't die. Please."

I wasn't very religious, but I found myself praying to God that he would survive.

Vince arrived soon after that. I tried to wipe the tears off my face, but it was supremely obvious that I was crying. He sat next to me and took my hand, squeezing it tight.

"He's gonna be okay, (Y/N). I promise. We won't let him die on us."

I let out a little sob, then buried my head on his chest and cried, squeezing his torso in a sad hug. He rubbed my back and repeated the words "it's okay" over and over, and finally I calmed down.

We sat that way for a while, and I kept silently praying as Vince held me and sang softly to me.

"I... always knew... you were... cheating on me."

We looked up at the speed of light. Nikki was blinking at us, his eyes narrowed in the harsh light.

"Nikki!" I squealed, attacking him in a hug. He coughed and I tried to back off, but he held me there.

"What happened? Where am I?"

"You overdosed, man. We're at the hospital. I'll go get the doctor, tell him you're awake," Vince said, noticeably cheering up.

I looked back to Nikki.

"I thought I was gonna lose you."

"You're gonna have to try a lot harder than that," he said, sitting up a bit and grinning.

I shook my head. "That was dumb, Nikki. Dumb and dangerous."

"I know," he said softly, looking down a little. "I'm sorry I scared you."

"You don't have to be sorry. Just promise me it will never happen again."

"I promise," he said. Tears filled me eyes again at the thought that I'd really almost lost him tonight.

"Hey," he said. I looked down to hide the tears, but I couldn't stop them.

"Hey," he said again, lifting my chin with one hand. "I'm okay. I'm not going anywhere. I'm here to stay."

He hugged my head to his chest and I said between sniffs, "I can't imagine what my life would be like without you. I was so scared I was going to have to find out."

"You'll never have to," he near-whispered. "I love you, (Y/N)."

I looked up.

"It's true," he said, wiping a tear off my cheek. "I love you."

"I... I love you, too," I said. We both leaned a little closer. I could hear his heartbeat speeding up on the monitor, but in that moment, Vince and the doctor walked in.

I sprang away from him, and Vince gave me a knowing little grin. He gave Nikki what he must've thought was a sly thumbs-up, but I clearly saw it.

"Well, you're going to be fine, Nikki. But we need to have a serious talk." The doctor looked down at a sheet of paper and began.

***

"Home, sweet home," Nikki said as we walked into our place. I laughed at him and started to walk to my room, but he grabbed me by the waist and spun me back around.

"We didn't get to finish what we started," he said, pulling me close.

"Can't have unfinished business between us," I replied, standing on my toes to kiss him.

"I love you," he said.

I reached up and ruffled his hair so it covered his eyes. "I love you too, rockstar."