"Jamie..." Joe murmured uneasily, seeing Jamie down his sixth shot when he was only on his third. He eyed the shot, his finger gliding along the rim before he tilted his head backwards and felt the stinging liquid burn to his throat. That was a sensation he had fallen in love with after he had been fired from his workplace, but at the moment, he had no interest in drinking. Simply because, "What are we celebrating?"

"You leaving!" Jamie hollered, his illuminated eyes observing Joe for a moment before downing another drink. But although he had said that a few times, Joe had sensed a strange energy.

Jamie wasn't happy at all and he seemed to be forcing himself to drink rather than wanting to.

He took another shot before Joe could even pour himself a fourth glass.

Joe raised an eyebrow. "Why is that being celebrated?"

"That means you've gotten your life together," he winked, "which I'm proud of."

After a short pause, Joe noticed Jamie's eyes lower for a second before he poured himself another glass. A strange expression had flashed across his eyes and Joe had seen it before Jamie made it disappear. The excitement was not genuine at all, as if it was a way of attempting to suppress the emotion he truly felt by overwhelming himself into believe he was content.

And Joe, unsure how, was able to see through the disguise Jamie was flashing. Which he did not quite understand; Jamie had been the one avoiding him for weeks, acting as if he was nonexistent in some cases. Hell, Jamie always bragged about owning him, hence why Joe could not find any reason Jamie would suddenly be behaving this way.

Before he could form the question he wanted to ask, Jamie pointed to his glass, "We're taking this shot at the same time. Three, two, one...drink!" And Joe followed, taking hit shot and his face contorted. Jamie poured him another one. "That's how we drink around here, Joe. You're only at your fifth and I'm here at my tenth."

Regardless of the number they were at, it was clear neither of them were completely sober. Joe's eyebrows had narrowed since the uneasiness he felt from Jamie's peculiar behaviour suddenly changed into anger as he watched Jamie take another shot without even glancing at Joe once. The worse was that Jamie was not even talking, rather chuckled to himself a few times before downing another shot, and by the time Joe stopped counting, he was at fourteen.

And Joe was at nine.

"I'm beating you like last time," Jamie snorted, mocking Joe for a few seconds before reaching for the bottle of vodka. However, before Jamie could grab it, Joe snatched it from the table and hid it behind his back.

It took a moment since Jamie was fairly drunk, to raise his head and meet Joe's gaze, "Where did you put it?"

"Jamie, we should talk."

He raised his eyebrows with a condescending smirk. "Talk about what exactly? And just because you're leaving doesn't mean you don't have to call me Mas—"

"What's going on with you?"

That question caused Jamie's smirk to vanish and his droopy eyes stared at Joe for a few seconds before cluelessly raising an eyebrow. "What?"

"You've been acting different."

Jamie snorted, extending his palm. "Give me the drink."

Joe refused. "You've ignored me for weeks."

"I haven't ignored you once—"

"You said you wouldn't lie to me and that you never have," he snapped, "then don't start now."

Jamie paused for a moment, his jaw tightening and he leaned back in his seat. "I admit, I've been avoiding you."

"And now, all of a sudden, we're celebrating that I'm leaving? What's going on?" Joe needed answers and he was going to insist of them until he got them. "You begged me not to leave you a couple weeks ago."

"Times have changed." His tone had been deep.

"What is happening inside your head Jamie?"

"It doesn't even matter anymore since you're leaving."

"I knew it!" Joe flung to his feet, feeling his hormones starting to rampage through his veins and create such terrorizing anger to build from his feet to the center of his heart. He could feel the burn from the rage tighten his muscles as he pointed a finger towards Jamie. "You were disgusted by me."

"Disgusted?" Jamie repeated incredulously, slowly standing to his feet.

He nodded his head vigorously. "Yes! Ever since I kissed you, you've been avoiding me, acting like I don't exist. Every time I'm near, you walk further away from me, as if you don't want to be touched."

"That's not tr—"

"I've been nothing but nice and respectful to you, but enough is enough, Jamie!" Joe shouted, grabbing his glass and slamming it against the floor. His mind was racing with drunk thoughts that he no longer wanted to suppress and the raw emotions were inhibiting his senses. "You're grossed out because I'm gay?!"

"You broke my glass, you psycho!"

"I'll break even more after what you've made me go through," Joe exclaimed, grabbing the bottle of vodka and slammed that on the ground as well, short pieces of glass splattering everywhere along the floor.

Jamie could not stand the sight of the floor having been dirtied and he felt a fury begin to build inside him. A few drops had splattered onto the couch, and he pointed to the mess before squeezing his fists until his knuckles became white. "You dirtied my house."

"For god sakes!" Joe spat, glaring at him. "Do you care about anything else but this house?

"I'm going to grab the mop. Go to bed because we're done." After a scoff, he began walking towards the kitchen, stepping around the puddle of liquor filled with glass parts, but Joe was not going to let him leave this easily.

Drunk Joe had veins showing along his neck. "You lied to me. You've been wanting me gone this whole time."

He expected a reaction from Jamie, but Jamie did not even turn to face him.

He spat, "That's why everyone I've ever met completely dislikes you. You're only concerned about yourself and nobody else. Even if you don't want to admit it Jamie, we were friends!"

"I never said we weren't, Joe!" Jamie shouted back, facing him for a second before disappearing around the corner to the bedrooms.

"Yes you have! Multiple times!" Joe followed him, stomping his feet to his bedroom and barging inside the room. "How come you didn't even give me a chance to explain myself?!" Jamie had been headed for the mop and paused instantly when Joe had said that. "I know it was disgusting for me to kiss you like that. But I thought that we would at least talk about it rather than you ignoring me like I never meant anything."

After a few seconds of Joe simply listening to his heavy exhales, waiting for Jamie to respond, he was surprised when Jamie swirled around and face him with gritted teeth. "Give you a chance to explain yourself?!" When Joe raised an confused eyebrow, Jamie violently widened his arms, "Did you give me a chance to explain myself?"

Joe frowned, which caused Jamie to scoff. "You...said—"

"I never said anything. The morning after we kissed, you said that it was never meant to happen." He stepped forward towards Joe, who simply stared back.

That had been true.

"You said since Connor is back, you rather act like it never happened," Jamie's shout were enough to cause shivers across Joe's flesh, and he continued to step forward, "that you rather keep it between ourselves. That's what you said, Joe."

Silence overwhelmed them for a few seconds, before Joe cleared his throat and quietly said, "Y-You...you agreed with me—"

"I never agreed with you," he hissed. "But I didn't want to be the only one feeling this."

"Feeling what?"

Jamie sighed, sending trembling fingers through his hair, "This...us...Joe, I was never disgusted by you. That never crossed my mind." That caused Joe's eyes to brighten, and Jamie continued, "I...I never..." he was struggling to express all he felt for the kiss, and instead fell quiet. He watched Joe's eyebrows fall in confusion, and he cleared his throat before adding, "Just...close your eyes..."

"Why do I need to—?"

"It's easier telling you how I feel without you looking at me."

Although Joe was reluctant, he did it.

And he was glad he did.

Since a second later, he felt the warm endearing lips of Jamie envelop his again.