CHAPTER TEN

EVERYTHING FELT LIKE A blur in that moment. cooper was on his fourth (or maybe it was his fifth; he lost count) drink and he'd had a handful of shots by the time allie showed up to join the party. they were outside playing beer pong with conrad and nicole. cooper and nicole were on a team while conrad and allie teamed up together. it ended up being a pretty close game, but conrad and allie won, leaving nicole and cooper in the dust.

cooper stumbled into the kitchen to get another drink when he bumped into someone, turning to apologize. the smile on his face grew when he saw that it was belly. "hey, belly!" he excitedly gave her a side hug before reaching for the whiskey, pouring a heavy amount into his cup before he added a little coke.

"jesus, coop. how much have you had to drink?" she laughed, wrapping an arm around his waist as he stumbled a bit.

he hummed, "i'm not sure, but i feel fantastic."

she laughed again, leading him in the direction of the living room. "maybe you should sit down for a few minutes." as they entered the living room cooper's stomach turned at the sight of jeremiah. he wasn't supposed to be there.

"why is jeremiah here?"

"conrad told us all to come." she responded before helping him sit on an open spot on one of the couches. "just settle for a minute, yeah? i'm gonna grab you some water."

cooper pouted, doing his best to avoid making eye contact with jeremiah. "i want my jack and coke." he held up the red solo cup to show the girl and she smiled.

"don't worry, you can keep your drink. i just think you should have some water too. you're going to feel like shit tomorrow." she headed back into the kitchen, leaving the boy by himself. he shrugged his shoulders and brought his cup to his lips, chugging the dark liquid as he sat there, waiting for belly to return. the burn was barely there as he had already had so much to drink, but before he could finish a body plopped down on the couch next to him which caused him to spill the rest of it down the front of his shirt.

"what the fuck, dude?" cooper slurred, eyes wide as he looked over at the stranger.

"sorry, man. it was an accident."

"an accident?" cooper scoffed angrily. "you plopped down on the couch next to someone in the middle of drinking a fucking beverage. what did you think would happen?"

"dude, you're clearing drunk. you need to chill out."

"i need to chill out?" cooper turned to face him more, but before he could say anything else he was interrupted by a curly haired boy grabbing his arm.

"it's okay, coop. come on, i've got another shirt in the car that you can wear." he pulled the blond up off the couch, leading him in the direction of the front door.

"get the fuck away from me." cooper mumbled, trying to pull himself away from the boy. he was so weak and dizzy at that point that jeremiah wasn't even bothered nor did he budge. they made their way outside and the cool air was like a smack in the face, making his head hurt more. jeremiah made cooper lean against the passenger door of the car as he opened the back door to retrieve the spare shirt he had.

"do you want help putting it on?"

"i can do it myself." cooper reached for his shirt to pull it over his head, stumbling into the mirror as jeremiah wrapped his arms around his waist to catch him.

"let me help you." jeremiah demanded and cooper sighed, lifting his arms to let the younger boy pull his shirt over his head. his blue eyes raked down cooper's body and it made the older boy's heart skip a beat. jer helped him get the new shirt over his head and helped him slip his arms in before he spoke again. "do you want help getting back inside?" cooper stared at the boy, admiring all his perfections. he brought one of his hands up, gently placing it on jeremiah's cheek, startling the younger boy. "what are you–"

"i'm sorry i can't be perfect for you."

jeremiah was thrown off and he took a slight step back, but cooper's hand remained on his face. "what?" the older boy admired jeremiah's features, brushing his thumb lightly across his cheek. he opened his mouth to speak, but quickly turned his head to throw up all over the ground next to their feet. jeremiah cursed under his breath and sighed, "let's get you home, coop."

"you–" cooper hiccuped. "you weren't supposed to be here tonight. it was supposed to be a jeremiah–free night, but you showed up anyway and continue to fuck with my feelings." his words were barely audible, but jeremiah could hear them clear as day; as if the boy was screaming them in his ear. the curly haired boy opened the car door and helped cooper get inside, leaning over his body to help buckle him in. "i really want to kiss you right now, but i don't want you to deal with my nasty puke breath." his slurs made jeremiah shiver as he looked at the boy.

he gently pushed cooper's hair away from his face, feeling how damp his skin was becoming. "you definitely have nasty puke breath now."

cooper hummed, eyes closing as he leaned his head back on the seat. "got a toothbrush on you?"

jeremiah chuckled lightly before stepping back to close the door. as he made his way towards the driver's side belly called out from the front porch of the house. "is he okay?"

jeremiah shoved his hands in his front pockets as he looked at the girl. "he's definitely wasted and he threw up. i'm gonna take him home and get him to bed with a bucket."

"i'll come with." belly insisted, walking towards the car.

"we haven't been here long, belly. if you want to stay, you can." jere stated as he watched the girl reach for the back door.

"it's okay, jere. i'd rather leave anyway." she offered the boy a smile before climbing in the backseat. cooper was nearly asleep in the passenger seat by the time everyone was buckled in and the ride home was quiet and peaceful. "the moms are asleep, so we have to be as quiet as possible." belly whispered once they'd arrived home and both had an arm around the older boy, leading him into the house.

"why is it so goddamn dark in here?" cooper slurred loudly, causing jeremiah to shush him and place a hand over his mouth. cooper took that as the opportunity to lick the boy's hand, making a strange noise come out of his mouth as he pulled away. belly made a weird face at them both as she helped lug him up the stairs and into his bedroom.

"i'll go get him a bucket and some water." belly said. "can you get him in bed?"

jeremiah nodded as he helped cooper sit on the bed. he watched belly exit the room before turning his attention to cooper. the boy could barely keep his eyes open as his head slumped forward. "come on, coop. let's get you under the covers." he reached for the blankets, pulling them down a bit as he tried to have cooper lay down. the blond boy hummed as he slid up the bed to lay his head down on the pillow. jere undid cooper's jeans and shimmied them off leaving him in his shirt and boxers, tucking him in.

the boy sat down on the side of the bed next to him, brushing cooper's hair out of his face again, "belly's getting you some water and a bucket. i'll see you in the morning." he paused as cooper's eyes slowly opened and he looked at the boy. "we–we should talk tomorrow."

cooper's eyes flashed to another part of the room. "we don't have anything to talk about, jere."

"maybe you don't," jeremiah said, "but i do."

i am very grateful that my
mental health has finally
decided to let me continue
writing this book