Mike quickly shook his head.  He had thought about it, but he couldn't do this.  Yeah, he was harming himself...but he couldn't do this to Layne.  Layne was doing so well before he found out that mike was still allowing his disease to control him.

"Go ahead and tell Briana," Mike finally said.  His face fell when he caught the look of anger still burnt on his best friend's face.  "I refuse to take part in this."

Layne shook his head at him.  He opened his mouth, but he couldn't form any words to say.  So he quickly spun around and slammed the bedroom door behind him.  Mike could hear him stomping around the house.  Fear wrestled in his chest—he wasn't sure if Layne really would tell Briana.  And if Layne actually did, he had no idea what he was going to do.

If he was going to get kicked out...

Where is he going to go?  The "friends" he made at the plasma center only talk to him because he pays extra so they make a profit off of him for the hook ups.  They don't care about his well being.  And living with people like that would be a nightmare.

The brunette let out a huge breath of anxiety, scratching at the tip of his nose.

*********

"Layne..." Briana blurted out.

She had come home a couple of hours ago from her shift at work.  Layne had barely said a word to her.  Instead, he kept all of his attention on his video game.  He was tense, his muscles seeming to be tightened up as he clenched his jaw on and off angrily.

"Layne, what's going on?" Briana asked again.

Layne continued to play his game of Mario brothers.  He didn't bother to acknowledge her.  It irritated Briana, causing her to stomp over to the huge tube TV and click it off.

"What the fuck, Bre, I was in the middle of a level!" Layne cried out.  Those blue eyes bulged from his skull, the veins in his forehead prodding out from the skin above them.  His cheeks burnt red.

Briana shook her head at him.  "I don't care," she spat.  She tapped back over to the couch, yanking the video game controller out of Layne's hands.  "You've been acting WEIRD since yesterday!"

"What do you mean weird?"  Layne growled out.  He raised an eyebrow at her.  "I'm fine."

"No you're not!" She snapped.  She narrowed her eyes at him, noticing how he wouldn't look at her.  Instead, he was slumped over in the couch, his slim arms crossed stubbornly over his chest.  "Tell me what's going on."

"There's nothing going on," layne continued to fight her accusations.  He chewed on his lip for a moment, reaching a hand up to run his fingers through his hair.

Briana leaned in close to him.  "I know for a fact there's something bothering you," she growled.  "You can't hide anything from me."

His blue eyes finally slid over to meet her green ones.  A pink tongue slid across his lips.  A loud sigh hissed from him as he looked away from her again.

"I know I can't hide anything from you," he agreed.  His voice was low, seeming anxious.  Almost paranoid.  "I just don't want to tell you because I have a feeling you'll do something that will be detrimental..."

She raised a brow at him.  "Try me."

Another nervous sigh ensued from him.  He leaned over to rest his elbows on his knees.  He covered his face with his hands.  "There's something going on with Mike."

"I figured you'd say that."

Layne snapped his head up to glare at her.  He wasn't shocked that she could tell something was off.  He was only worried that she'd kick Mike out of the house.

Briana rested her head into the palm of her hand.  She kept that green haze on Layne's.  "Is he still using?"

The musician gulped.  His eyes grew wide.  He, yet again, turned away from her.  "What makes you say that..."

She rolled her eyes.  "He looked high as a kite during dinner last night."

Layne bit his lip.  "Do you want to kick him out..."

Briana gently turned his head to face her with her tanned hand.  He was surprised to see that she wasn't upset.  If anything, she appeared to be concerned.  "That isn't my choice, it's OUR choice."

"But I remember you saying that if he started using again, you were gonna kick him out..." Layne whispered.

"Yeah, I did say that," Briana said, nodding her head.  "And apart of me would like to, considering that you're still new in recovery."

"I've been clean for a year," Layne defended.

She narrowed her eyes at him.  "I can tell that you've been jonzing.  Probably since you found out what was going on with Mike."  She raised an accusatory brow.  "Have you relapsed?"

He bit his lip.  "I was about to today," he admitted.

"What stopped you?"

Layne smirked.  He nodded his head pointedly down the hall of the home.  "Mike wouldn't let me.  I kept pestering him to.  But he refused."

Briana smiled at that.  "That's good to hear.  Because I honestly assumed that if he started using again, he wouldn't have the guts to talk you out of doing it with him..."

"I'm pretty pissed off at him that he didn't..." Layne moaned.  His face softened with shame.

She nodded her head.  "Yeah, back in the day, when I was new to recovery, I would've been too.  But he's looking out for you.  He really does care about you."

Layne eyed her down.  "So, what are we gonna do?" His face fell, his eyebrows furrowing with worry.  "We can't just allow him to get high here...  I fear that I'll find his stash behind his back and do something stupid..."

Briana crossed her legs, determination taking over her face.  "I'll talk to him."

"When?" Layne squeaked out.  "I got him to try an NA meeting today..."  His eyes widened.  "That went to hell."

"NA meetings either are decent or filled with court ordered active addicts," She stated.  "You guys probably went to one that was filled with new-comers.  Those are the worse ones..."

"Yeah, no shit," Layne spat.

Briana squeezed his shoulder.  "We'll talk about this with him over dinner tonight.  Don't worry about it, okay?"

Layne nodded his head.  Though, he couldn't help but to worry.  He didn't know how mike would take this.  He knew mike would either be pissed off or expecting it to happen—or both.  And Layne didn't know how he was going to handle this.

But it's worth a shot...