Addictions Chapter 1

[Yazoo]

This is a part of a story of mine, which I called Addictions ^^

SUMMARY:
Dave is a messed up kid doing drugs and alcohol. He’s in love with a man older then he is that goes by the name of Martin who loves him back.
However, Dave’s mind is not clear enough to actually make anything happen so Martin, who tries to make Dave stop screwing up his life, gets the wrong idea and thinks it’s one-sided on his part.

The posts are divided depending on scene-changes or a scene being over 2 pages to avoid stretching the page.



He knows he’s messed up, that he’s ruining his life; he doesn’t need others to tell him that. Placing his bottle against his lips, Dave looks around slowly. There isn’t much in the alley he’s sitting in; merely some garbage bags which he is currently sitting against, pressed into them like he is one himself.
He wonders, when the people come the next morning to take the garbage away, will they take him away too? Mistake him for one of the bags he’s sitting against surprisingly comfortable and dispose of him just as easily?
Turning his dark green eyes to the sky, Dave realises that he might know sooner then he thought. He never even realised that the almost black sky turned to red, so how can it happen that the red is already fading into blue? He never did understand how time could pass so quickly, though he doesn’t really care. It’s not like the passing time influences his young age too greatly anyway; it still goes too slow for that.
He is a sixteen years old boy with a sickly pale skin and more bone then muscle. He’s not exactly tall, but how can he be? Considering what he fills his body with, there is just no way he shall ever hit a full growing spurt…
It doesn’t matter to him, though, just like time doesn’t matter. Time always goes fast for the people that don’t care about it, people who’s mind aren’t clear all that often. Dave’s mind is hardly ever clear, be it caused by a whiff of cocaine or a sip too many of his favourite brand of scotch.
A shadow falls over him, making him look up slowly. He blinks a few times, slowly making out the silhouette of a man. He’s not sure of he knows him, though…
The man sighs softly “What a mess you are again, Dave.”
Hm… He knows his name… That must mean that he knows this man… His momentarily blurred vision caused by the alcohol doesn’t really let him make out the man’s face, though. Squinting his eyes slightly, Dave tilts his head to the side, trying to get his eyes to focus on the man’s face, or what he believe to be the man’s face. Who knows what it really is…
A tanned skin, baby blue eyes and dark blonde hair that falls to the man’s elbows in a low ponytail and the age ranging from twenty to twenty-five. Dave vaguely remembers seeing someone like that a few times… Oh, right, the man knows his name, he’s supposed to know him… Hm…
Sighing again, the man crouches down and gently pries the bottle from Dave’s bony fingers. He really can’t believe how a seventeen years old boy such as Dave can already screw up his life that badly… Having talked with the youth several times, he can’t really find any reason for the other to ruin his life either.
Dave blinks slowly as his hand is suddenly empty. Slowly bringing the limb in front of his eyes he turns it a few times. He could have sworn he was holding something… But maybe he was mistaken… He’s not quite sure… He inspects his other hand which is laying in his lap, empty. He doesn’t even remember that it was empty in the first place.
The man picks him up easily, noting like always how Dave seems too light for his height even though he already is quite short. He doesn’t doubt it being caused by the drugs and alcohol constantly in the boy’s system. “Your brother won’t be happy about this.”
“Hu…” He has a brother? He may have a brother… Oh, right, he has a brother. He lives with his brother. However, he can’t really recall his brother’s face at the moment, nor his name. He wonders if that’s a bad thing.
The man starts to walk to where he knows Dave’s home is, making sure not to trip over the garbage laying scattered around or to do anything else that will cause him to drop the boy.
Dave doesn’t do anything to oppose to the treatment of being carried in the old-fashioned princess-style. He barely even registers being carried at all. Letting his head tilt back, he closes his burning eyes. If he’ll stay in this position too long he’ll probably have a sore neck, but he’ll take care of that when it happens.
Dave just isn’t the type of person to think ahead; he just takes things as they come, not worrying about tomorrow. Who knows? Maybe he’ll overdose and die tonight and then what will become of the intentions of tomorrow? Nothing, nothing at all. He doesn’t want to put himself through all the effort all the future planning will cause. It may not be needed, after all…

[Yazoo]

When Dave opens his eyes he is surprised once more. He’s laying in a bed, in a room, and it is already dark again. He groans softly as he sits up, hand shifting to his head as he rubs it, pain stabbing through his temples several times. A hangover. That means he fell asleep…
Looking around, he sighs. The room is quite simple, mostly coloured in several blue tones though most of the walls are hidden by posters of various bands. There’s a cluttered desk with several books on it and a radio. He shifts his eyes to his wardrobe. He should probably take a shower and change out of the clothes he’s momentarily wearing, and has worn for three days by now.
Groaning softly as he gets up, more pain shoots through Dave’s forehead. Coffee first. Then shower. Closing his right eye to see if it will lessen the pain, Dave stumbles out of his room and into the hallway. Feeling around for the stairs in the darkness he slowly and carefully makes his way downstairs, cursing softly as he almost loses his footing. His knuckles turn even lighter then they already are as he grasps the banister hard. Maybe he had a bit too much alcohol yesterday, seeing as he doesn’t feel completely sober yet.
After almost a minute, Dave finally gets downstairs. His socked feet move over the tiled floor of the downstairs hallway before he opens the door to the living room. He groans and covers his eyes as light hits them. His brother is still awake.
“I hope your head hurts.”
If it didn’t before, it sure did now considering the words were spoken none too gently. That’s his brother; not pleased with the way Dave is leading his life but not doing anything about it either. He doesn’t want to intrude on the way his younger brother lives his life, but doesn’t want to see him ruin it either. In any way, it seems pretty cold to the younger of the two.
Slowly opening his eyes, Dave’s dull green eyes start to focus on the person on the couch watching TV. Short brown hair with lighter parts highlighted and fierce green eyes. He is still wearing the suit he needs for work. Working as a car dealer has brought them more then enough money for the older of the two to support them and their needs.
“Whatever Charles…” Dave sighs, making his way to the kitchen.
“You’re lucky Martin passed you on the way to work. You should thank him next time; dropping you off made him late.”
Ah… Right… The blonde man from before, Martin. He vaguely remembers seeing him outside earlier today. So it was early morning? Hardly matters anymore if his brother is home from work. Dave doesn’t say anything to his brother as he starts to make himself a pot of strong coffee.
Dave isn’t really surprised when his brother doesn’t say anything anymore, they barely talk to each other in the first place. Hopping onto the counter, Dave watches as the hot brown fluid drips down, landing in the coffee pot. In his eyes it takes too long and the noise it makes doesn’t really do anything to ease his headache either. He already suggested to his brother that they should get a new one several times, but Charles just replied with a simple “It still works, doesn’t it.” every time. Several times already has Dave considered ‘accidently’ dropping the pot to the ground and breaking it in several pieces but since he’s the only one actually drinking it a lot, he doesn’t really like the idea of having to wait until Charles finally gets a new coffeepot.
Minutes pass and Dave has to suffer from both the sound of the coffeepot and the clock making soft ticking sounds as the seconds pass by on the clock right behind him. The headache that just stung before is now pounding at the side of his head. He knows that rubbing it as he is doing now won’t make the headache pass but at least it’s a small form of comfort to him that he’s trying to do something about it at least.
Once the dripping finally stops Dave almost smiles to himself; the coffee is done. Sliding off of the counter he grabs a cup and takes the pot containing the dark brown, almost black, liquid. He watches closely as he lets the coffee pour into the crème coloured cup, steam rising up combined with the strong aroma starting to fill the air.
Placing the still half-filled pot back on the counter again, he takes the hot cup in his two hands. He’s not stupid; no matter how much he wants the coffee right now he has no interest in burning his tongue in trying to drink it now. He still remembers when he did try that; he ended up with first degree burn marks over half of his face. It hurt for quite some days.

[Yazoo]

He looks inside of the living room through the open door connecting the kitchen with it, eyes moving to the TV in an action of boredom. He doesn’t really see what his brother finds so interesting about the news. Most of the things don’t have any direct connection with either one of the brothers anyway, so why bother? Oh, right, his brother was dying to know about that one store he never heard of in the next town getting robbed. Not. Or at the very least, Dave isn’t.
Looking down at his cup, Dave sighs softly before closing his eyes. His headache is still pounding. Maybe he should try some water before trying the coffee… A hangover is mostly caused by not having enough water in your system anyway, so if he can just remember exactly how much alcohol he had, maybe he can still do something about it that way? Wait. Of course not. It’s too late for things like that and now he has to suffer. A few aspirins would be nice, though.
Putting down his much wanted cup of coffee, Dave starts to rummage through the kitchen drawers, trying to find the aspirins. He doesn’t find them. He does find band aid’s but he doubts they will really help him with his headache.
Once the coffee cooled down enough he takes his cup again, moving into the living room while sipping the liquid. He likes how the liquid burns in his throat even though he can also attest that it doesn’t compare to the burning caused by another liquid, the liquid that caused his headache in the first place.
He sits down next to his brother wordlessly, still drinking the coffee. Whenever he is next to his brother he barely ever knows what to say. It’s almost like they’re living in two different worlds; his brother is so sophisticated and making a future for himself. An engagement ring adorns his brother ring finger; he proposed to his girlfriend not too long ago and they’ll get married a little over a year from now. The date they picked will signal them being together for seven years even though they do not live together yet.
And then you have Dave. He doesn’t work, he doesn’t go to school. He goes through his life drinking and sniffing up his high allowance. It’s been almost two years since he actually bought new clothes, since he had money for that. His sneakers have been filled with holes for almost half a year now; not just at the sides and the heel, but also at the soles. The state of his socks can also be questioned quite often and what with his pants being too short, it really is no wonder why Charles prefers not to be seen with him.
Quietly shifting his eyes to the news he doesn’t even find interesting to watch, Dave continues to sip his coffee in silence. His headache is still pounding but he knows from experience that it will lessen in a bit. He’ll just have to close his eyes afterwards a bit more. Needless to say, he’s not planning to close his eyes around his brother. No, he doesn’t need more biting remarks nor does he need the feel of a disapproving look those eyes will give him.
He doesn’t stay on the couch any longer then when his coffee is gone before getting up again, moving back to the kitchen to wash his cup and put it away. It’s almost an unspoken rule here; while his brother may prepare food and make sure the groceries are in the house, they both do their own dishes. If Dave wants something that isn’t in the house, it’s not needed and he’ll have to buy himself.
Charles isn’t a stingy brother by far, he does get Dave snacks often enough and he is quite generous with the allowance, but he just wants his brother to learn the importance of money. Seeing as none is earned by Dave and his allowance goes to alcohol and drugs, he thinks there are still long ways to go. It’s not too hard to realise that Dave won’t spend money on things like snacks and if Charles won’t get them for him the younger of the two will get even thinner then he already is.
Once done washing his cup, Dave wordlessly moves back upstairs and to his room, still rubbing his head. Yes, laying down for a bit sounds quite nice indeed; he’ll shower even later… Even though that is what Dave has been telling himself for the past few days.
Charles forbids the usage of alcohol and drugs inside of the house and when the urges of them get too bad he’d rather go outside immediately and fulfil those needs instead of wasting time in the shower. He’ll get dirty again later anyway, no point in cleaning himself.
Dave groans softly as he lets himself fall down on his bed, slinging an arm over his eyes to make it darker to his eyes. He can’t find the strength to get up and close his curtains, nor to get off of his blankets and to cover himself with them. He just doesn’t want to move anymore…

[Yazoo]

He doesn’t even realise when he falls asleep, yet when he opens his eyes again he can most definitely feel the sun fall on his face from the uncovered window. He groans softly as he sits up. The headache is still there, but barely. He’s used to it always being there in the back of his head.
Moving off of the bed, Dave rubs his growling stomach; he’s hungry. Walking downstairs goes easier then the previous evening; he doesn’t stumble on the stairs any more and there is no need to hold the banister tightly.
He walks through the now empty living room and into the kitchen, to the counter. There is bread on the counter, sealed off with plastic to keep it good. Taking off the plastic Dave grabs the plate before moving back into the living room and plopping down on the couch, starting to eat his breakfast.
Dull green eyes fall upon a small paper on the table and he picks it up while taking a bite of the bread, reading the text the paper says.
14:00
Ah, right, he needs to be somewhere at that time. Glancing at the clock he notices that it already is past one. He should hurry if he wants to get there on time.
Once done with the breakfast, Dave moves back upstairs to his room and opens the drawer of his desk, taking a few things out and putting them in his messenger bag before slipping on his shoes and moving back downstairs before walking outside. He already forgot about the shower he was supposed to take…
Walking through the streets he opens up his bag to take out one of the items he put in there; a small bottle of alcohol. He opens the cap as he walks before putting it to his lips and takes small sips every now and then. People send him disapproving glances; a boy his age, drinking so early in the day while walking over the street. They can not seem to understand his need for the intoxicating liquid but that hardly matters to Dave. He won’t have to deal with all those people anyway, he only has to deal with the people he gets said liquid from.
Of course, the background of those people can always be questioned; shady characters that hang out on the streets at questionable times in questionable states but Dave doesn’t even try to get his alcohol in liquid stores anymore. Being under aged and not even looking that young age but looking even younger is quite annoying with things like this. And they you still have the things that he can’t even buy in a normal store.
His hand slides over his bag that contains small packs with white powder and the things he needs to use them. Dave quite likes those packs and would rather have to buy them from people he would rather not have against him then not being able to buy them at all.
He slowly looks up at the gray building he is supposed to be entering as he closes his bottle and puts it back into his bag. A building like this, he’s not supposed to enter it with a bottle against his lips. He’ll be in quite some trouble…

[Yazoo]

Letting out a sigh, Dave makes his way inside. Walk through the hall, take the stairs, the second floor, pass three more halls and move to the reception. By now Dave can do these things with his eyes closed. He gives his name to the blonde woman at the counter. She looks like she had a rough night; maybe she did, who knows? All Dave knows is that she always looks like she had a rough night.
Mandy, her name says. Dave is quite familiar with this woman outside of this building. They don’t talk to each other but they see each other quite frequently. And why not? She goes to the same streets as he does at the same times in the night. It will only be logical for them to meet often enough.
Brushing her hair out of her brown eyes, Mandy glances at Dave before scribbling something on the form in front of her with a nod. He doesn’t need to give his name because she knows it well enough and they don’t need to exchange words such as ‘hello, how are you?’ because she knows he doesn’t care for them.
Moving to the comfortable brown chairs at the other side of the room Dave sits down on one of them, kicking his legs lightly as he waits. Ten more minutes, then he will have to get up and move into a room. Ten more minutes, then it’s his turn.
He doesn’t do anything in those ten minutes; just sits there swinging his legs either looking at his lap or picking at his chewed on nails. There isn’t much left of them. Whenever he finds himself in a stressful situation Dave always ends up chewing on them.
He doesn’t bother looking up before the door to the room opens and two people come out talking, shaking hands while smiling.
He waits until they pass the reception counter before getting up and moving to the room, waiting. He’s the only one in the waiting room, making it quite easy to see that it is now his turn. He sighs as one of the two men walks to him, the other one leaving once a new appointment is booked.
“Hello Dave, quite the mess you were yesterday, weren’t you?”
Martin. His therapist. That’s where he knew him from…
Dave merely shrugs lightly, running a hand through his greasy hair.
“Well, come in.” Martin smiles as he walks back inside of the room.
Dave follows, keeping his eyes on Martin as they enter the brown and crème coloured room.
“Take a seat.” Martin instructs as he takes a seat behind his desk.
Dave sits down on one of the two chairs at the other side, placing his bag on the other chair. He doesn’t need to be told a seat anymore, yet Martin still tells him every time.
“So, what exactly happened yesterday? You looked pretty bad off.”
Dave shrugs “Just looked a bit too deep into the bottle, that’s all.”
He can already see the frown starting to form on Martin’s face, but that is quite unsurprising. The scent of alcohol is lingering under his breath, probably from the last few days. It’s been longer since he brushed his teeth then when he took a shower.
“Is there any reason you had for even picking up the bottle?”
“Nope, just felt like it.”
The frown makes itself clearly noticeable now. “You do realise you drink too much, don’t you?”
“Yep.”
Martin sighs softly, sitting back in his seat and eyeing the teen opposite him. He likes him, he honestly does. He knows that when the other isn’t too busy wasting his life he’s quite fun to talk to, but when he gets in these kind of moods there is just no talking to him.
Originally, Charles just put him up as Martin’s patient to see if he could help him with his alcohol and drugs problem. Martin told him at the very beginning that he wasn’t really into dealing with matters like that and that a rehab would most likely be better for Dave, but having been friends since college he told Charles that he’d at least try.
Fortunately their moderate level of knowing each other in private enables Martin to lose some of the professional attitude towards the younger boy. He knows that kind of attitude won’t get you far with people like Dave anyway.
Dave doesn’t need people asking him the same question four times while the answer is being written down, he doesn’t care much for talking about personal problems nor does he really care much for the entire ‘I’m your friend, you can trust me’ attitude some therapists like to put up with that age-group. Dave needs someone that will tell him what to do, that will make him listen. He needs a parent figure. Unfortunately Dave doesn’t quite agree to that. If he would, this whole session would be a lot easier.

[Yazoo]

“Your breath smells of alcohol.”
“I know.”
“Did you even brush your teeth?”
Dave shrugs “Not really.”
“So I see…”
“Then why do you ask?”
Martin sighs, running a hand through his blonde hair. Talking to Dave is positively hopeless. “Would you mind emptying your bag?”
“I would.”
“Why?”
“Invasion of privacy.”
“… You have drugs in your bag again, don’t you?”
“Yep.”
Martin narrows his eyes slightly “I do not tolerate drugs in this building.”
Dave shrugs, getting up “Then I’ll leave.”
“Sit down.”
“Hell no. All you do is whine anyway.”
Martin gets up as well, looking down at Dave with a small frown on his face. “I’m only trying to help you so you will finally stop ruining your life.”
Dave shrugs, not meeting his eyes “I never asked for your help, did I?”
“You didn’t, but your brother did and so-“
“Then my brother should be the one sitting here, not me.” Dave sneers, interrupting Martin’s talking.
“Your brother doesn’t need any help. You do.”
“Why? I’m perfectly happy like this.”
Martin sighs, sitting down again “Are you really? You’re a seventeen years old teenage boy, addicted to both drugs and alcohol. You don’t have any friends, you don’t work and you don’t go to school. How can you possibly be happy?”
Dave doesn’t reply, merely stares at the floor.
Martin runs a hand through his hair again “Let’s cut this session short for today, alright? Just think about it; are you really happy? Can drugs and alcohol really substitute for a carefree social life?”
“They can…”
“Just think about it, alright? And try not to take anything anymore today. Keep your head clear for once, alright?”
Dave sighs “Sure, whatever.” Though the moment he walks out of the building he’ll probably put that bottle against his lips again and go back to drinking before finding a nice place to take out his drugs.
“Why don’t you go to an arcade?” Martin suggests, not really minding that he only gets a weird look in return “Go to the arcade, play some games, meet people around your age; nothing wrong with that, right?”
Dave doesn’t reply, mentally calculating. That would cost money he can spend on other things…
“Why not ask your brother to take you to an arcade?” Martin suggests, almost as if reading his mind.
“… My brother. In an arcade.”
“Yes, why not?”
“I doubt he’ll even know the meaning of the word fun.” Dave huffs softly.
Martin smiles slightly “You’d be surprised. Just ask him, alright? What do you have to lose?”
Dave shrugs lightly. Nothing, he knows that. In worst case scenario Charles will say no and he’ll stay at home. He shifts his weight from one foot to another. He doesn’t want to be here anymore, quite obviously so. “Are we done?”
Martin shrugs lightly. Who is he to keep someone here when they don’t want to be? He offers help; he doesn’t force it. “Yes we are.”
“Kay, bye.” With just those two fast spoken words he turns around and walks to the door, not even bothering to wait for Martin to show him to the door.
“See you next week.” Martin smiles at Dave’s back as the younger boy leaves.
Dave sighs as he walks down the stairs and out of the building, taking his bottle back out. So he has to ask his brother to go to an arcade with him? That should be amusing… He can already see his brother eyeing the arcade games while standing out in his finely tailored suit. Or Charles playing Dance Dance Revolution? His tie would surely get in the way. Just the mental images alone make Dave snicker as he starts on his walk home, sipping the alcohol he wasn’t supposed to take anymore.
Dave brushes his greasy hair out of his hair. Ah, right, he was supposed to take a shower… His fingers feel slightly damp after touching his hair, just showing him how badly he really needs his shower. Fact that his arms are a few tones darker thanks to dirt proves to Dave that it has been a while since he even washed too. Maybe he really should do that today.

[Yazoo]

When he gets home, the first thing he does after taking off his shoes and putting down his bag is actually go to the bathroom and take a shower. He figures that if he wants the chance of Charles accepting his offer to do something, he should at least try to look decent enough for Charles to even want to be seen with him.
Once he gets out of the shower, drying himself when passing the slightly fogged mirror, Dave actually has to pause while blinking and turning his head to the mirror.
His hair that was dark with grease before is now only dark with water, though the strands that are drying are of a lighter colour. He never knew his hair was a light brown; he had forgotten. His skin that was dark with dirt and looked so unhealthily pale is actually the kind of white you are sooner to find in alabaster. He realises he needs a haircut too. The ends of the brown strands are a bit fuzzy, easily showing exactly where the split ends are. They’re quite big, almost three centimetre.
Shaking his head Dave starts walking again, trying to snap out of the daze that looking at himself has created for him. He looks so different compared to what he looked like about half an hour ago…
Walking to the drawer in his room he finishes up on drying himself before getting dressed in clean clothes. He doesn’t even want to remember the last time he put on clean clothes… Was this really how far gone he has gotten? How bad his situation became? He doesn’t even know exactly why he started the drugs and alcohol, it’s not like he needs it.
Dave lost his parents at a young age, but his brother was still there to take care of him. No matter what he did, Charles would always side with him and make sure he got everything needed. Granted, they never spend a lot of time together due to Charles working and Dave still going to school back then, but whenever something had happened or Dave needed help, Charles was always there…
He doesn’t know what hits him, but he has to bite his bottom lip to keep a sob in, tears gathering in his eyes. They used to do things together; go to the park, go to the zoo, take a walk and even play soccer, and now look at them… The worst thing being that Dave knows it’s his own fault… He gave all that up just for a few bottles or fluid and a few bags of powder. He broke the connection they used to have…
The more sadness Dave feels the more he longs for those bottles and the bags, but the more he longs for them the sadder he becomes. Because years ago, whenever he’d feel sad, he could go to his brother who would comfort him…
For the first time since Martin suggested it, Dave really wants to do something with his brother…

[Yazoo]

Charles needs to blink a few times to make sure he isn’t dreaming as Dave walks to him. He just got home from a tiresome day at work and the first thing he sees upon entering the living room is Dave on the couch; clean and dressed in clean clothes. It’s not like he wants Dave to look like a mess, but he has just gotten so used to it that this come as quite the surprise…
Dull green eyes shift to him as Dave turns his head slightly “Welcome home…”
Another blink “Thank you.” He really can’t remember the last time he heard those words, mostly because Dave is normally out on the streets doing God knows what around this time.
Charles hardly minds that his brother is here now, though. Home on the couch, looking quite sober. He quite likes it, in fact. “What would you like for dinner?” he asks, loosening the tie around his neck. It’s been a while since he was able to ask that…
Dave shrugs lightly, playing with the hem of his shirt “Let’s… order pizza…”
Pizza… They used to eat that a lot quite some time ago. They would watch weird cartoons on the couch together just to be able to make strange comments about it while eating pizza, stealing each other’s pizza points or the things on top of them. There was so much laughter in this house back then…
“Alright.” Charles smiles slightly, completely forgetting about how tiresome work was and how much he just wanted to fix something fast and then retire to bed. He shrugs off the jacket that fits with his suit and hangs it over one of the chairs standing in the corner of the living room around a table, placing his tie on top of the jacket.
He moves to the telephone standing next to the television and takes a few minutes to order the two pizza’s. In about half an hour they will be delivered.

[Yazoo]

Dave glances at his brother while taking a bite of his last slice of pizza. They’re not watching cartoons while making silly remarks, but they’re watching a drama Charles sometimes watches when there is nothing else on the TV while eating quietly. It is enough for now, though. If they were to act like how they used to it would just be awkward, especially considering how their relationship stands at the moment.
The usual tenseness they tend to have around them when they’re together has lessened but it is still there; lingering.
Putting the now empty box down under the table, Dave glances at Charles who is still nibbling on one of his slices of pizza. There is still about half of it left, just like there is still the question of the arcade left.
Taking a slow breath for courage, Dave taps Charles’s shoulder, making his brother blink and turn his way.
“Yes?”
“Will you… take me to the arcade… tonight?”
Charles has to blink a few times, to see if he hears the question right “You want me to take you to the arcade?”
Dave gulps. He’s so sure his brother will reject it. “Yes, but only if you want to and if you are… free…” It’s Friday. His brother is always going on a date with his fiancé on Friday. So stupid, why didn’t he think of this before?
Charles stays quiet for a few seconds before smiling at his younger brother “Sure. I have nothing planned.”
Dave is the one that has to blink a few times now before smiling back at Charles, a weight lifting off of his heart. “Alright! I’ll go get ready!” He hops off of the couch and walks out of the room and up the stairs.
He can faintly hear Charles greet his fiancé on the phone. “I’m sorry, I can’t go on a date with you tonight; I’m taking my brother to the arcade. Let’s go on one tomorrow?”
A faint smile makes its way onto Dave’s lips as he moves out of hearing range. His brother still cares about him.

[Yazoo]

Dave stares with wide eyes at the person he thinks is his brother. Not only did Charles change out of his business suit and into a pair of slightly baggy pants, a band shirt of a band Dave would have never believed his brother to listen to and several wristbands with obscene signs on them, but he’s also going crazy on a fighting machine.
The person on the machine opposite Charles has stopped pressing the buttons a long time ago and is now staring mutely at the combinations being pulled on his almost, wait, on his now dead character.
In any other case Dave would have suggested taking the poor person’s place, but… No. He is not going against the monster character that is his brother. He doubts he would last even half a minute… Why, oh why, has he never seen this side of his brother before… Wait, he knows why, best not to let his thoughts head into that direction. But still, now he understands why Martin practically laughed at him when he was so pessimistic over his brother in an arcade. His brother is practically unbelievable!
Charles grins at Dave before flashing him the peace sign, another thing Dave thought to be non existent, but nevertheless he repeats the action to his older brother. This is proving to be more fun then he thought it to be…
“I never knew you were this good at games.” Dave musters out in awe.
Charles merely laughs “When we were still going to school, Martin and I would go to the arcade every other day. Of course, a lot of new games came in after we had to quit due to work, but we made quite the name for ourselves back in the day.”
“You make it sound like you’re sixty years old.”
“With the kind of work I do, I feel like I’m sixty years old.” Charles snorts.
Dave laughs at the comment. He had completely forgotten just how much fun it can be to just hang out with his brother and do nothing else then that.
“You know who you should’ve asked to come as well?” Charles muses, moving away from the machine he was at.
Dave blinks “No, who?” He does hope Charles doesn’t mean his fiancé… He doesn’t quite know what to say to her or how to act around her.
“Martin.” Charles shrugs.
“Eh…” Going to the arcade with his brother is one thing, but going with his shrink… Dave doesn’t quite know what to make of it…
Charles chuckles and pokes Dave’s nose “Don’t like him?”
“… Not really.”
“Why not?”
“He’s always whining about everything.”
“Because he wants to help you, right?”
“…”
Charles chuckles before stretching “Hey, I’m getting some drinks. Want anything?”
“A coke.”
“Alright.”
Dave watches as Charles moves away from him, to the vending machine filled with several drinks at the other side of the arcade. A tremor runs through his body. His body wants something… something that, for the first time in a long time, Dave doesn’t have on him.
He gets shaken out of his thoughts at the feeling of something cold on his forehead. He blinks slowly, looking up to see his brother smiling at him, a can of cold coke resting against his forehead.
“Thank you…” Dave smiles faintly as he takes the can of coke, opening it. He can already feel the coldness disappear from his forehead with the absence of the can touching skin, the cool feeling shifting to the hand holding the coke instead.
“No problem~” Charles grins lightly, plopping down in the seat next to Dave’s none to gracefully. “So, what game around here do you like best?”
Dave shrugs lightly, taking a sip from his coke “I guess the racing games. They’re pretty fun to play.”
“We have some racing games on the console at home as well.”
Dave hesitates for a bit before replying “We have a console at home?”
“We have three.”
“Oh…”
Charles chuckles softly, patting Dave’s head. “Just look around the living room a bit more, you’ll notice them soon enough.”
“Alright.” Dave glances at his brother through the bangs falling in front of his eyes, watching Charles drink his coke while looking at people playing. He didn’t think that going out with his brother could be this much fun at all… Yet, the need for the packs of powder laying at home remains. He should have brought some with him, he’d be able to say he’d have to go to the bathroom and use it; Charles won’t have to know… Though, when he thinks about it, will he really be able to fool his older brother?
“Something wrong?”
Snapping out of his thoughts, Dave blinks a few times “Huh?”
Charles chuckles softly “You’ve been staring at me while holding a somewhat dazed expression. Did you finally notice your brother’s charm~?”
Dave snorts softly “As if. I was wondering how many mirrors you cracked so far, merely by passing them.”
Charles lets out an over dramatic gasp, clutching his chest. “You wound me brother! What a thing to say to the person who stuffed you full of love while raising you!”
Dave laughs softly, taking a sip of his coke. “I’m sure.”
“Tsk. You don’t appreciate me enough.”
“No I don’t.” Dave smiles amused.
“Good thing you admit it at least.” Charles huffs.
Dave laughs softly again before looking around the arcade, sipping his coke. Yes, he really missed spending time with his brother, though not as much as he’s missing something else right now…
And then its time to go home. Dave isn’t sure whether he should be glad or sad about it… He had a really good time with Charles, but the craving for the powder back in his room is just too strong.
Charles sighs softly as the first thing Dave does when they get home is rush up the stairs and to his room. He knew it was too good to be true…

[Yazoo]

Dave’s hands shake lightly as he rummages through his sock drawer, eyes shifting around inside to find the bag he’s looking for. Socks, socks, socks, a pencil, more socks, socks, a piece of chewed and by now hardened gum attached to some socks, some more socks that smell a bit… weird… and finally the package he’s been looking for.
Not even bothering to suppress his smile, Dave takes the powder containing package into his hands carefully like he’s holding a precious gem. He knows he should feel guilty; Charles went with him because he was clean, but the moment he comes home he runs straight to the little bag he’s currently cradling in his hands. He had so much fun too…
Yet, as he thinks back on the few hours of pure fun he had with Charles, his hands are making the movements they know too well.
Grab a mirror. Spray some powder. Cut. Divide. Grab a cut off straw. One end to the nose and one end to the powder. Take a nice big sniff. Now you can fly.
Dave lets out a shuddering sigh as he lets himself fall back onto the bed, eyes slipping closed. Not too long now before the drug will take it’s effect, before his body will feel light and his head will become empty. Not too long now.
Wait. He can feel something drip down his nose and to his upper lip. What’s this? Warm and sticky with a slightly metallic scent… With a soft groan, Dave brings his fingers to his nose, touching the fluid lightly before slowly bringing his hand high enough so he can look at it, one eye cracked open.
Hmm… Blood.. He thought something like that… Oh well, he’ll clean it later, there’s always tomorrow. He closes his eye again, letting his arm lower once more as he can slowly feel his consciousness slip away.
His name. Someone is calling him, yelling? Maybe. Is that someone shaking him? No, no, go away. He’s tired, don’t wake him up? Yes, that’s it, no more voice calling him and no more hands shaking him; just black.

When Dave opens his eyes again, he is in a white room, a monitor beeping next to him and several IV’s in his arms. For Dave, there almost wasn’t a tomorrow.

T.B.C
in chapter 2 :3

[Nockra]

I really like this chapter. How you make it all seem so real, and up close. I hope that Dave realizes how stupid he is and gets with Martin... How long is the story going to be? But amazing job, i really loved it.

[Iregyura]

I really liked how you put it so it's so real, like I'm right next to Dave. Um, even though I usually don't like the drug addicts/messed up people story, I enjoyed this one. It was meaningful, and told us not to use drugs. I hope that Dave finally realizes that he is being a wacko (Sorry, no other words to use ) and that he should really change or go on those programs where they turn you back to normal and get a fresh start, or he is going to die the next week . And that he won't go to someplace good after he dies ...He better shape up~! Awesome story, by the way (If I haven't yet mentioned it!) Please update whenever you have a new chapter~! I am looking forward to it
Edit:
I just noticed that the more times I read this, the more I want the next chapter~ Heheh...It's such a good story...

[la Acuatico]

Wonderful! I find it fascinating. Strange, I feel weird being the only other one than Yura to be posting here. But still!! Addictions chapter 1 was superb. Please continue whenever you have time!! I look forward to what will happen. Lovely story, once again.