No one POV
Loud music playing.
Darkroom with neon lights.
A sea of people moving along the rhythm of the music.
A thin fog of smoke.
Drunk people.
People making out with each other, everywhere.
But Brook was all alone.
He never felt more alone in his life and his friends were right next to him.
He felt so out of place that he wanted to cry.
So he left, he made his way through the mass of bodies and once outside, he breathed in the fresh air of the night.
It was freezing till the point where soft clouds were leaving his mouth.
He wanted a drink, he wanted it so bad.
"You think the party is shitty too?" An unfamiliar voice asked and Brook turned his face to meet a guy that was slightly taller than him.
"I...yeah"
The guy nodded and rested his back on a wall while smoking a cigarette.
Brook stared at the guy with a puzzled look but then he looked away.
Silence faded away when the guy's phone rang.
"Shit-" he mumbled with the cigarette between his lips.
The guy stared at the ID of the caller then turned the call down and looked at Brook.
"Do you want to get out of here?"
"Emm...I'm here with my friends..."
"Well, they are not here though..."
"Ok...I guess" Brook gave in and followed the boy after giving a last look at the club where his friends were having the best time of their lives.
"Here take this" the guy gave Brook a helmet.
Was he really gonna go on a motorbike with a stranger?
Yes.
"Shit...I forgot to ask your name"
"Brook"
"Ok Brook, hold on tight"
And with that, the guy started the engine and drove away.

They took the highway and Brook loved the feeling, he felt free.
Under the tunnel, the lights passed by so fast that it looked like it was only a single and continuous light.
The nameless guy stopped in front of a kiosk.
"Are you hungry?"
"Yeah sure"
They ordered a portion of nachos and sat at one of the picnic tables.
"So how did you end up there?" The boy asked while eating.
"It was my friends' idea but they ended up making out with a bunch of girls so..." Brook explained.
"Mm...well I'm sorry they left you but at least-"
The phone interrupted him but this time he answered it.
"Sarah...I told you to stop calling me...no I don't want to go back to that shitty place...fuck you Sarah" he slammed the phone on the table.
"Sorry...she's a pain in the ass" he rolled his eyes annoyed.
"And she is...?"
"She's my ex but we are still close cause we know each other since kindergarten. She has a hard time accepting everything"
"Well, I'm sorry your ex is oppressive" Brook smiled weakly.
"Yea but who cares, we can have fun on our own"
And the boy dragged Brook somewhere else.
"Bye Ron!"
"Bye Jack!"
So the boy is called Jack...

They walked through the city and stopped in front of a bar.
Brook gulped and walked in nervously.
"Two Tom Collins" Jack said to the bartender.
While they were waiting, Brook kept looking around mainly at the colorful bottles and his leg couldn't stop bouncing p.
"Hey, are you ok?" Jack asked concerned, he noticed something was off.
"Y-yeah...yeah fine" Brook managed to say but in reality, it wasn't fine.
He had to get out of there as soon as possible but the barman brought the drinks and Brook was paralyzed.
He wanted to go away, far away but at the same time the glass was calling him and every cell in his body was fighting back the urge to chug it down.
"If you don't like the drink we can change it..." Jack was still trying to figure out the problem.
"I- god..." Brook was in the middle of a crisis and he was definitely freaking Jack out.
"I'm an alcoholic" he was finally able to confess.
At that Jack's eyes widened and in no time he dragged Brook out and away from the bar.
"God, I'm so sorry...I-I had no idea. I'm really sorry" Jack tried to apologize in 300 different languages.
"It's ok..."
"No, it's not. You could have had a relapse...I-what about we go to my place for a coffee, I heard that it helps..."
Brook didn't want to make the guy feel more guilty so he accepted.

Jack's loft was small but cozy, messy but it felt like home, it was nice,
"Ok, just make yourself comfy. I'll be back with the coffee"
Jack ran to the kitchen, leaving Brook alone in the living room/bedroom.
He looked around and noticed that Jack had a lot of plants and water bottles around.
Types of vinyl on the floor and a bunch of ashtrays full of cigarette butts on the small coffee table.
"Ok...didn't know how you take it so I have some sugar and milk" Jack was back with a small wooden tray.
"It's ok. You don't have to do all of this" Brook sat down and put a dash of milk in his coffee.
"No, but I want to..."
Jack truly was a kind soul, no one has ever been so worried about the topic not even Brook's
friends.
"That's why I had to leave the club...and also cause I was surrounded by couples and it was slightly disgusting" Brook continued wrapping his hands around the mug.
Jack listened while sipping slowly his coffee.

They kept chatting about random topics and Brook loved the feeling.
They were on the floor, staring at the ceiling, their heads next to each other.
"No I swear, I was shocked when my high school bully DMed me asking for a sex date"
Brook laughed loudly, tears at the corners of his eyes.
"And Sarah got mad at me cause she thought I was cheating on her"
"Well...were you into him tho?" Brook joked, a smirk on his face.
"No...definitely not into him..." Jack looked at Brook, they were laying upside down but his eyes were still gorgeous.
"Well, I understand why Sarah was so jealous..." Brook quietly said, his voice almost a whisper.
Jack was so lost.
"Can I kiss you?" He asked caressing brook's face,
"Will Sarah get mad?"
"I'm not with Sarah anymore..." Jack said getting closer.
He was so close that they were breathing each other's breaths but Jack didn't mind.
Brook smelled like vanilla and autumn, he smelled like a calming candle that gives you a sense of home.
Brook didn't say anything just went in for the kiss.

The kiss felt like ecstasy.
Once they started, they couldn't stop.
It wasn't about lust, they just wanted to be as close as possible to each other.
Kissing upside down was fun, different but a bit weird so Brook climbed on Jack's lap and went to attack his lips again.
"Woah...someone is needy..." Jack joked.
"Shut up"
Brook kissed Jack's neck, who let out a quiet gasp.
Forget about drugs or alcohol, that was an addiction.
"Stop. Stop. Stop..." Jack rested a hand on Brook's chest.
"Did something wrong?" He climbed off, scared that he fucked up.
"No. No. Not at all. I just don't want to rush things love" Jack rubbed his thumb over Brook's cheek and pecked his lips softly.
The boy said nothing, just nuzzled into Jack's neck turning into a baby koala.
They stayed in that position for a while, Jack playing with brook's hair.

"I need water, be right back" the blonde boy got up, which made Jack pout but when he walked into the kitchen he froze for a second...
There were bottles in the sink, red cups everywhere and a couple of bottles of tequila and vodka on the counter.
"Everything alright? Do you-" Jack stopped mid-sentence cause he realized what was going on.
"Hey. Hey. Look at me...Brook..." Jack pulled the boy away from the kitchen.
"Give me a second ok?"
The boy slowly nodded and waited for Jack on the small sofa.
Jack threw away all the plastic cups and the sound of glass echoed in the whole loft.
Once he was done, he brought a glass of water to Brook kneeling in front of him.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah...just- I haven't been sober for long so it's still hard for me and it made me think of the last time I was drunk..."
Jack gave him a sympathetic smile and rubbed his knees as a sign of comfort.
"I- we decided to go to this party and it was nice at first, there was a pool but I had so much shit in my head that alcohol took over...I got drunk and long story short, I almost choked on my own puke. I know it's gross-"
"No, it's not..." Jack interrupted turning Brook's face towards him.
"I went to recovery...it was a mess, I was a mess and even though the memory is triggering, the desire of drinking again even a single drop of alcohol is still there" Brook ended.
Jack changed his position, sitting next to the boy and engulfed him.
Sometimes Jack forgets that there are people out there so fragile that they crumble underneath the weight of life and no one is there to help them, pull them out.
Jack was gonna be that person for Brook, he can't even picture the boy harming himself like that, he can't let it happen...

-next morning-
Brook woke up to the smell of coffee and the feeling of something fluffy on him.
He wasn't in his bed so he jolted awake, shit did they...?
"Chill, nothing happened. You just fell asleep" Jack walked in with a tray and gave Brook a long peck on the lips.
Brook didn't really know what to say so he just sat on the bed, messy hair and a mug in his hands.
"Did you warn your friends that you're here?"
"Mmm...sent a text yesterday"
Then someone rang the doorbell.
It was Sarah.
"Where the hell have you been?! I've called you thousands of times"
"Sarah, I can't talk about it now..."
But she walked in anyway.
"Where the fuck have you been?!" She was being hysterical and possessive.
"At home! Here!" Jack tried to stay calm but eventually, he gave up.
"Jack...are you ok?" Brook called from the bedroom.
"Who is here? You're cheating on me?!"
"We are not together anymore Sarah!"
But she didn't listen, just walked through the loft and when she saw Brook on the bed and without a shirt, she lost it.
"You cheated!"
"Sarah calm down" Jack begged.
"What the fuck!"
"Sarah, you have to leave" Jack pinched the bridge of his nose.
But before anyone could do anything, she was attacking Brook.
The boy tried to defend himself but the girl was out of control.
"Sarah what the fuck!"
Jack grabbed her waist and detached her from Brook dragging her out from the loft.
Even when she was outside her screams were audible and Jack just wanted to hit his head on a wall.
"Are you ok?"
Brook nodded but he had a scratch on his left cheek.
"Shit. I'm so sorry...she's out of control" Jack was mortified cause none of this should have happened.
"Don't worry. It's not your fault" Brook was being comprehensive maybe way too much since a crazy ex-girlfriend just attacked him.
"I'm still sorry" Jack repeated looking right at Brook's eyes.
Their noses were touching and Jack looped his arm around Brook to pull him closer.
They shared a passionate kiss and the raven boy was careful not to touch the scratch.
"Do you have to go home?" Jack asked in a whisper, lips brushing lightly Brook's.
"I can do whatever I want"
Brook's eyes flicked from Jack's glacial eyes to his lips a couple of times.
"Stay..." he begged.
"Stay here with me"
The raven boy tightened his hold on Brook and he didn't even reply, just attacked Jack's lips taking away all the oxygen in his lungs.
The kiss was hot but also full of love and when they couldn't breathe anymore, Brook moved to his jaw and neck making Jack gasp.
"Is that enough for a reply?"
Brook's lips were red and plump.
"Mmm...no, it's not enough"
Jack couldn't tear his eyes away from the red lips.

So they spent the following days at Jack's loft, buried in soft pillows and fluffy blankets drinking tons of coffee and breathing in love...love, love, love.
Brook got drunk tons of times, he fucked up tons of times but with Jack...love became his new addiction.
He was addicted to Jack's smell that made him feel high.
He was addicted to Jack's kisses that took away all the oxygen in the room and made him feel dizzy.
He was addicted to Jack's love cause whenever he was away from him, he was in withdrawal.
He always wanted Jack around.
"Do you ever get tired?" Brook asked playing with Jack's hair who had his back against his chest.
"Of what?"
"Me...this...I've been here for weeks now"
Jack turned around, offended by Brook's words.
"Never...not even in a million years"
And it was true...Jack would never tell Brook to go or leave him.
"Do you ever get tired of me?" It was Jack's turn to ask.
"Nope" Brook simply replied and the raven boy fully turned around to kiss his boy.
They fell in love with each other but also with love itself...

___________________________________

Note*
I know I'm a few days late but happy new year to everyone.
First oneshot in 2022 and honestly I can't believe how far we've come...
I'm glad for each one of you and I hope you have a great year.🎆