ｒｅａｌ ｌｉｆｅ

An intoxicated brunette wiped his mouth with the lower end of his sleeve as he flushed the toilet he was sat in front of. He let out a sigh and rested his head against the wall, cooling off his hot body slightly.

His dark brown curls were placed messily on and around his head, making him feel even dirtier than he was.

His stomach had settled down for the time being, which relieved him a little bit.

He sat still for a moment, his mind racing with all sorts of unpleasant thoughts, all while his eyes were filling up with tears.

The quiet moment he found himself, was however cut short when he heard a set of knocks on the wooden door, that was placed on his right side.

"Eli, open up." A voice started, which Elijah instantly recognised to be Salem's. His Australian accent clear as day, "You can't stay in there forever."

The brunette groaned, as he pulled his arms that were wrapped around his legs a little tighter. "Fucking watch me."

Elijah had made quite the habit out of pushing people away and isolating himself whenever he felt bad. His friends knew this, but even when they try their hardest to prevent it from happening, the brunette always finds a way to close himself off.

Said brunette lowered his head onto his pulled up legs and let out a hitched sigh, his mind and thoughts clouded by a memory he couldn't seem to let go of.

"I'm serious, Eli." The Australian spoke up again, this time trying to open the door, which was locked, "You can't do this to yourself."

"Leave me alone." The brunette mumbled slowly, not caring if Salem heard or not.

The small and light hearted conversation he had with Tom only minutes prior had long left his mind by now.

"Eli.." Teddy spoke up, worry laced through his voice, "Please talk to us."

The only response Teddy got, was the sound of Elijah throwing up again and the flush of the toilet afterwards.

To say that Elijah didn't deal well with alcohol was an understatement. He usually would avoid it for this specific reason. The only times when he purposely reaches for it, are when he wants to stop thinking for a while, which was the case right now.

"Elijah, you're obviously not okay." Teddy stated from behind the door, getting a little anxious.

The small blond that stood next to him whipped out his phone from his pocket, "I'm calling Carrie. She might be the only one that can actually get through to him."

The mention of Carrie's name made the sickly pale brunette's head perk up.

What Salem said is true. Carrie has been through thick and thin with Elijah and she knows all of his darkest secrets and he knows hers. Carrie had been gone for a few weeks, shooting some movie, and Elijah absolutely missed her. So hearing her name released a small wave of relief run through his body.

It was quiet for a few minutes after that. Salem had gone to the living room to wait for Carrie and Teddy had sat down in the little hallway, in case Elijah would say or need something.

Said brunette's stomach had settled down again and he had sobered up quite a bit. A few lonely tears escaped his eyes occasionally, but he wasn't really bothered by it. He felt a little numb and was tired.

After another five minutes, a soft knock was heard on the door, but this time a feminine voice was heard, "Elly?"

Elijah hesitated a moment before leaning forward and unlocking the door, before quickly slumping back down again as a sudden wave of nausea hit him all of a sudden.

The door opened and in walked a blonde woman. She had her hair in a messy ponytail and a pair of glasses was placed on her nose.

The blonde was a bit saddened by the state of the brunette in front of her. He looked like an absolute mess. His eyes wear bloodshot and his already fair skin looked even paler than usual. Even now, when he obviously felt miserable, he managed to put a small smile on his face.

"Hey bub." Was the first thing she said as she cautiously approached slightly younger male.
She looked at him for a moment in question. He tended to be very particular about whether he wanted to be touched or comforted or not.

Since he didn't react in any way to her movement, she took it as her permission to come closer. She kneeled down in front of him and immediately wrapped her arms around him.

The brunette returned the favour and started crying quietly. The two friends sat like that for a long moment, both holding each other tight.

"I'm a mess, aren't I?" Elijah eventually asked in a raw voice, which made the blonde chuckle and shake her head slightly.

"Absolutely, but you're my favourite mess."

The best friends let go of each other and Carrie sat down next to the brunette on the cold bathroom floor, all while she held Elijah's hand tightly in hers.

It got quiet for a moment and the two just stared in front of them.

Eventually, Carrie was the first to speak up again, after looking at him, "Is it the same thing again?"

The green eyed guy nodded in response, tensing up slightly, but he didn't return her stare.

"You shouldn't be drinking." She added, with care and worry laced through every syllable of her words, "Not because you're underage. Because you know I don't care about that. Just- you know you don't deal well with it."

Elijah nodded again, "I know."

After he let those words out he felt a cold shiver run down his spine and his stomach began to act up again. His whole body tensed up and the blonde next to him noticed.

She let go of his hand and he immediately leaned over the toilet, only to let out the last bit of the contents of his stomach, while Carrie softly rubbed his back.

After he was done, he flushed the toilet and leaned back against the wall, a sudden wave of exhaustion taking over his entire body.

"I'm tired."

The green eyed woman nodded and looked around to find out what time it was. She noticed Elijah's phone on top of a couple of towels. So she stood up and grabbed the black object.

As she turned it on she saw the notification of Tom Holland's message pop up. She cocked an eyebrow in amusement, but decided that it would be something for another time. She looked at the time on the screen; it was 2:14am.

"Let's get you to bed then, bub." The blonde sighed and put out her hands in front of her friend, as a help for him to get up. He complied and stood up wobbly, feeling a little lightheaded.

She put one of his arms around her shoulder and together they walked out of the small bathroom.

Once in the hallway, they saw both Salem and Teddy sitting against the wall, sleeping on each other's shoulders. It was quite the sweet sight, and it made Carrie chuckle.

"Thank you for being here, Carrie." The brunette spoke sleepily, having a hard time keeping himself upright.

"You're welcome." The blonde replied before letting out a huff. Even though her friend was quite skinny, she had a heart time supporting his weight, "I couldn't leave my favourite boy hanging, now could I?"

Elijah chuckled in response and they entered his bedroom. It was quite a simple room, that consisted of his bed, closet, desk and YouTube set-up. The moment they entered, the blonde woman threw her younger friend on his bed, who let out a groan in response.

Carrie walked to the closet that was on the opposite side of the room and opened it, looking for a new shirt. She found one and threw it at the brunette who laid sprawled out on the bed.

"Put it on. I don't want you to sleep in your own puke." The blonde stated bluntly.

She only got another groan in response and she scoffed.

She walked over to the exhausted guy and pulled him upright, "Sit."

Elijah complied and sat up, but was sure to make a mean face at the girl in front of him in the mean time, making her shake her head slightly in amusement.

She went to pull off his shirt, but the moment she tugged on the fabric of his blue hoodie, he reached for her arms in panic and held them in a tight grip.

"Calm down. I'm just changing your shirt." Carrie said calmly, waiting for him to let go of her arms.

He relaxed and let go of her arms, "Sorry."

The blonde gave a reassuring nod in response, and with a little help of her friend, the two successfully changed him into a simple shirt.  The moment they were done, Elijah fell down onto the bed, already half asleep.

Carrie pulled the covers over him and sighed. Her friend could be quite a handful sometimes, but she wouldn't exchange him for anything in the world. He was a one of a kind, and she loved every piece of him.

"Alright, bub. I'm gonna make sure that Salem and Teddy are going to bed too. I put your phone on the charger on your desk. You go sleep now, okay?" She stated, sounding a bit like a mother.

"Thank you, Carrie." Was the last thing she heard before putting off the light in the small bedroom and shut the door quietly.

Only seconds later, Elijah found himself drifting off in a dreamless slumber, forgetting about all his worries that haunted his mind.

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[ 12- 5 - 19 ]

boys i'm so soft for eli. he's such a pure bean and i hate that i made his life miserable-- i also wrote this chapter 3 times bc i kept hating it sksksks

what do you guys think of a more serious chapter?