good morning, baby--

When Jace woke up he didn’t recognise the ceiling, but that didn’t worry him. He did panic for a few seconds when he felt a heavy weight on his chest, an unfamiliar arm attached to the person that shared the bed he was currently half-hanging out of, but he soon identified that said person was sleeping, their face obscured due to the fact that it was buried in a pillow. He doubted that he’d know who they were anyway, so specifics like facial features really didn’t matter. How had he got there? He hadn’t the foggiest idea. Where exactly was ‘there’? That also remained a mystery. What time was it? His head turned groggily, eyes wincing at the flashing digital numbers that blinked ‘3.47’ in a harsh red across his somewhat-impaired vision, creating a wave of nausea and the dull throb of a headache behind his left eye. He wasn’t sure if it meant AM or PM. To be honest, he wasn’t really fussed.

Gently, quietly, he eased himself out of the stranger’s bed (he assumed that the bed belonged to the stranger; he could not, however, confirm this), cursing under his breath as he attempted to untangle his legs from the sheets that had wormed their way tightly around his ankles. If there was one thing he did not want, it was awkward, post-drunken-sex conversations, but Jace had never been one for subtlety, and in the attempt to pull on the jeans he’d obviously discarded the night before, he lost his balance, falling to the ground with a thump. The room echoed with a hollow sound, indicating that he was upstairs, and he winced as the lamp rattled on the bedside table, sure that this would be enough to rouse his former bed mate, with whom he would then have to converse. That notion was unappealing to say the least, and his shoulders tensed, waiting for the tell-tale movements that meant last night’s good time was waking up.

After about thirty seconds had passed and no movement could be seen, however, he relaxed, affirmed that whoever she or he was, they were wholly and truly out for the count. Probably passed out from excessive use of drugs the night before, that was the way it usually flew when Jace woke up in situations like these. He himself couldn’t remember the slightest detail of the night before, though he could rely on previous experience to help himself create a realistic scenario around his current situation. Get drunk, get screwed… and then (this was the part he was up to now,) get out. Unfortunately, the downside of his alcohol- and possibly drug-induced lack of a memory chose to become apparent right about when that part of the plan came into effect, as he tried to silently sift through the stranger’s floor-strewn belongings in a desperate (and eventually, failed) attempt to find his shirt. When he’d fumbled through every inch of the darkened room at least twice, he finally accepted that his efforts were proving futile, and despite the sound of rain crashing down outside and the enticing warmth he could almost feel radiating from the bed he had abandoned, he crept his way to the door, wincing as it swung open with a deafening creak. He didn’t check to see if the girl (was it a girl?) he was abandoning reacted to the noise, instead tip-toeing his way down the stairs and, reluctantly, out onto the cold street outside.

At first he thought it must be afternoon, because the rain that poured down was accompanied by a dull light, though his muddled brain and sensitive eyes soon discerned this to be the result of street lamps. And street lamps meant night time, right? Or rather, early morning, because he gauged it to be about four o’clock now, maybe even later due to the large amount of time he had wasted searching for his elusive shirt.

The rain pelted against his bare back as he began his slow way down the pavement, a heavy winter pour that was less-than-welcome in Jace’s opinion, especially when coupled with the biting headwind that blew his too-long, chin-length black hair back at an angle that he suspected made him look somewhat porcupine-ish, a fact that might have bothered him had there been anybody out at this time of night to see him. Which there wasn’t.

He’d never manage to get his ass home at a time like this. Not because his house was far away - it was actually frighteningly close, a fact that he supposed he should be grateful for because he recognised the area well enough to know where he was situated in the grand scheme of the town. No no, placement wasn’t an issue. He simply couldn’t return home because he’d be locked out. That was the rule in his household, you see: Be home before one o’clock, be sober, or be locked out. Seeing as he was neither home on time nor any semblance of sober at the moment, he most certainly had no hope of falling into his own warm bed tonight, and on top of that misfortune he also had the pleasure of looking forwards to a very displeased mother to face in the morning. The actual morning that is, not this half-morning limbo where nothing and nobody of any importance seemed to exist.

He started to shiver, teeth chattering, and he knew he had to get inside somewhere, somehow. And where was he to waste away these nothing-hours until the dawn came about if home was not available? Not that remaining on the side of the street half-naked in the rain wasn’t an appealing notion, but Jace figured, hey, warmth and comfort might be even more enjoyable, if it could be obtained. He patted at the front pockets of his jeans, hoping to feel the familiar lump that meant his cell phone had once again remained, by some miracle, firmly where it had been placed before he‘d lost consciousness, his clothing or his inhibitions, depending on how last night in particular had played out. With a grin he wormed his trusty device out of a pocket that was clinging too tightly to his thigh, due largely to the rain that was making it stick uncomfortably to his skin and not much helped by the fact that they were of a stove-pipe cut, intended to make his tall, slightly muscled frame even lankier than it already was. His long, nail-bitten fingers punched in the only number he knew off by heart, carefully trying to avoid slipping on the wet buttons, blinking through fierce double-vision issues. If the number was correct, which a few read-throughs ascertained it to be, he was confident that the receiving phone would be answered. And then he’d be given food, a place to sleep, dry clothes, and maybe even a smoke. He was dying for a smoke.

The dial tone rang even as he approached his destination, the house that he knew almost as well as his own, knowing with self-assured certainty that any moment the call would be answered and he’d be let in out of the cold. He crept around the rear of the house and to the back kitchen door, where his friend would meet him with a blanket.

It was practically ritual. Jace’s job was to show up, trashed and needing to be cared for. All the rest was left to the other boy.

Pretty good deal, really.

Benji woke up with a death threat to his beeping phone. He swore on his grandmother's grave that he was going to rip it pieces, eat them, throw them back up and then drown them in a river. He knew that he would just get another one after he realized how much needed one. Still mumbling the long, complexed threat, Benji kicked the warm blankets off and tried to find the ever loud glowing light in his dark room. He forced it open, pressing the correct buttons to answer it. He already knew who it was without checking the i.d. There really was only one person who would have the guts to call him at four in the morning. Benji shivered as his feet touched the freezing floor as he went for the door.

"What?" He growled into the speaker. "Do you have any idea what time it is, Jace? Normal people are sleeping at this hour." His tone wasn't exactly angry as it was tired. The aspect to being woken up at an ungodly hour to open a damned door wasn't exactly appealing to him. However, Benji still managed to be there. He still was there to offer a warm bed and food, clothes if he needed too. Jace was his friend and like all good friends, he would be there to help him out the huge hole he dug. He let the blanket he had taken drop to his feet as he quietly opened the door to allow Jace in from the pouring rain. The only one he would be worried about waking was his father but he was a heavy sleeper, he wouldn't be up any time soon.

Benji didn't really have to guess what Jace had been up to prior to calling him up at four. He knew that there had been drugs, alcohol, and sex involved. One or two might not have been in that mixture but it was still the same thing. It was always the same thing. Jace would be out and about, doing whatever he felt like doing and then would come to Benji for clothes, food, and shelter. Sometimes he kinda felt for those women who lived with someone who was exactly like this. Someone who really just didn't give a rat's ass what happened.

Benji knew Jace since those somber years when they were but children. He had been another body on the playground, just another face in the lunch line, just another name on the role list. They played together sometimes, more as time started to grow on them. Middle school and Benji hung around Jace like an obedient lackey, high school and still his status didn't change. He wasn't sure about Jace but he was the only friend that he really had. Benji was more to himself, someone to hide in the corner to watch the action. He lost touch with the others in his past, years and years and farther apart they grew. Jace, however, still maintained good contact. Even if that contact was a call at four in the morning. It was still better than nothing.

He turned off the phone as he moved to the side to let him in, pointing silently to the blanket on the floor that he had for him. Light brown eyes tiredly looked over Jace's wet back, following the wet droplets as they traveled down his spine. He was wet and spent from most likely a fun night of drinking and sex and Benji still knew that he looked good. A pretty face and a nice back, Benji shook his head to stop that train of thought. He knew that lead to more dangerous thinking, a path he followed more than once. Quietly, he shut the door behind him and sighed.

"You look like a mess, what did you do?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

Jace had grinned into the phone as soon as Benji had answered, not bothering with a greeting, not even bothering to ask the boy to let him in. The less-than-friendly tone that he’d been met with didn’t bother him as he waited expectantly at the door; he knew he’d probably be pissed off too if somebody woke him up at four in the morning, but he expected that his friend was so used to it by now it barely even registered as an offence.

He hadn’t always been this inconsiderate, obviously; it just sort of started to happen as he grew - the parties, the alcohol, the girls - mixed up in the whole scene, his conscience just sort of began to fade away. People would still argue that he was fairly likeable guy, of course, but they were the people who experienced the fun side of him, the side that cracked jokes and went wild and always managed to look hot while doing it. These people never really got to the see the part of him that was attached to Benji, the part that took merciless advantage and (though he’d never admit it even to himself,) relied way, way too much on the boy’s help and friendship.

The thing was, out of all the people Jace hung around with and all of the people he knew, not a single one of them really even registered in Jace’s brain as a friend. He’d never met a girl he could stand to be around for more than the amount of time it would take to get a good screw out of her, he’d never been able to bond with any of the guys that gave him grins and slapped him hi-fives on his way out the door. The reality was, they were all far too much like himself. He needed a counter-balance, somebody to level him out; he found this soul in Benji. Sometimes he even found himself wondering what would happen if Benji finally decided he’d had enough of Jace and the wild way in which he lived his life. Sometimes he wondered if that’d be enough to really tip him over the edge, though he was far too self-assured to consider the possibility that that might actually ever happen. His warped brain managed to convince itself that Benji needed him every bit as much as Jace needed Benji, so any doubt he felt was purely subjunctive.

He gave a grin, the widest he could manage, as soon as his friend opened the door. Grabbing the blanket he was offered, he swept it around his bare shoulders, pulling it tight and looking forwards to the moment he could take his sopping wet, freezing cold jeans off, because they were making it hard to move
.
“Hey,” he whispered in a quiet greeting, trying to be as quiet as possible. Manners weren’t exactly his forte, but he did know better than to make too much noise in somebody else’s house at this time of night… morning. His voice sounded strange to his own ears and he credited that to the unknown substances that were probably still floating around in his bloodstream. Just because he couldn’t remember taking anything sure as hell didn’t mean it hadn’t happened.

“Ah, you know.” He gave a shrug, a wild glint in his eyes.
“The usual.” He didn’t really feel like going into detail, suddenly paranoid of what Benji might think. “I just couldn’t find my shirt, you know, after...” He trailed off, looking down at his chest and wrinkling his nose in annoyance to demonstrate his displeasure. Water dripped from the hair plastered to his forehead, running into his eyes until he was forced to look up again.

“Let’s go to your room, I’m freezing my ass off.” He lead himself off in front of his friend, knowing the way like it was ingrained on the back of his hand.
It wasn’t until he’d entered Benji’s room, shod his pants and wrapped the blanket around his waist that a thought struck him:

“…hey. I don’t look that bad, do I?”

Benji chuckled and nodded as he took the lead and started up the long hallway toward his room. He picked up a dish towel on the counter, throwing it down to the floor and wiping up the droplets of water left behind. He listened to the footsteps and watched as the rain pelted the window, stopping his cleaning for a moment to stare at it. Thoughts began to wonder off track and Benji took in a deep breath. It was instinct for a friend in need to go to the next person if everything else was closed off. He shook his head and went back to wiping up the water. He really didn't need to let it go, it was dangerous to do such a thing. He kicked the towel out of the doorway, letting it land crumpled and wet under a barstool. He turned on his heel, going to catch up after the flick of blanket as it shuffled into his bedroom. He managed to close the door just in time for Jace to de-pant himself.

Jace's way of thinking and Benji's way of thinking were two very different ways of thinking. Jace thought a high would bring everything to his level and real fun could be had there. Some booze and a fake girl could make someone happy even if it was for a moment. It was happiness that maybe most people might not be able to get. Benji thought that sleeping late and having pancakes buried with syrup and fruit was just the best thing ever. Listening to music and watching newest medical drama was happiness in a bottle for him. There were, however, things that they did agree on. That Jace couldn't look bad even if he tried. Benji again found his eyes roaming over the wet skin, looking over the tan skin like it was buried treasure. Benji had seen his friend naked plenty of times but it was like a glass of fresh water every time he saw it again. The cold water running through the tips of his finger, shaking him from his stare. "N-no." He mumbled, running his fingers through his own dirty blonde hair self consciously. "Y..." A deep breath, "You look fine."

Benji went to his clothes and pulled the doors open, eyes going to the side of the closet that was filled with clothes too big for him. He had a small stash of clothes that were a size or two too big for him, his father had wondered why he was buying clothes that wouldn't fit him. His father knew about Jace and the parties and late nights but he didn't know that those late nights were usually spent in his own home. Of course during those late nights, Jace didn't come over half naked. It happened every now and again but usually he was fully dressed. Benji pulled out jeans and a shirt, throwing them on his bed. He pointed to the jointed bathroom hidden away behind a jut-out while he went back to his bed, sitting down beside the new clothes.

"Where did you go?" He asked, dragging his fingernails across the bridge of his nose. It was a habit of nervousness for Benji, scratching himself. It wasn't that he was itchy but that the attention would be taken to his moving hands instead of him. It helped more than once during school when he had to get up in front of everyone. His fingernails ripped at his skin until he was bleeding or at least looked like he had a rash to the unsuspecting teachers. He was sent to the nurses more than once, each of them from every school grew to know him and his habit. It was usually just something to stop the bleeding or ease the supposed itch and taped on gauze. He was sent back to class just in time for the teacher to go on to the next thing. He, at first, didn't notice his nose going under attack. It was something that happened like breathing or blinking. It finally registered with him what he was doing and quickly dropped his hand, looking at the wall on his other side. Benji only asked because it felt it was the friendly duty to be sure to know where he was. It might some place important that Benji might need to know in case Jace decides to become rather friendly with the floor.

"Are you going to spend the night?" All questions that already had pre-answered questions but Benji still felt like he needed to know. He still wanted Jace to talk to him, to realize that friendship.

Jace nodded and smiled in a self-satisfied sort of way when Benji told him he looked fine, his ego accepting this without argument. He knew most people stared at him when he walked by, and he’d be lying if he didn’t utilise this gift at every instance that was presented to him. Some called him vain (heck, most people called him vain), but he himself preferred to think of it as measured self-appreciation, duly placed. He practically lived by the motto of ‘If you’ve got it, why the fuck wouldn’t you flaunt it?” being one of those guys that looked at himself in every window he walked past. He used his looks as a tool to get what he wanted, almost always succeeded, and considered himself somewhat superior because of it. Sure, he wasn’t the brightest cookie in the tool shed, a new high every day of the week had taken care of that, but he looked good, and that was all the really mattered, right?

He grabbed the clothes that Benji had procured for him, grinning as winningly as he could manage and ruffling the boy’s hair patronisingly.
“Thanks love.” He ducked into the bathroom, using the blanket to dry himself off completely before he pulled on the shirt and pants he‘d been given, shaking the remaining droplets of water out of his hair until the left side of his face was plastered with it and the right side of his head looked like a pissed-off porcupine. He raked it back with his fingers, irritated, but it fell forwards again, sticking to his forehead and cheeks. After trying a couple of times to improve the state of it, Jace finally decided it was a futile activity and gave up, leaving the blanket where he’d dropped it in the bathroom. He’d ignored Benji’s questions up until this point (being far too busy with his ever-important hair), but he began to answer once he’d sauntered out of the bathroom, lounging his body across his friend’s bed in a way that could only be described as way too comfortable.

“Ah, you know that guy Craig, the one that’s going out with that girl Jenny? Well, he was having a few people over, real quiet like. And then, you know, I took some stuff, not sure what. I think we might have gone somewhere else after that. I don‘t really…” He scratched the side of his head, trailing off. “I don’t really remember. Next thing I know, I’m waking up in some chick’s bed, and then I‘m here.” He gave a goofy grin. “And, you know, a warm bed is always appreciated. Or a warm floor. Wherever you want to put me.” This obviously translated into ‘Yes, I’d really appreciate if I could stay the rest of the morning, thank you,’ in Jace’s own personal world, though he felt no need to waste so many words on being polite. Surely Benji didn’t mind?

“You know,” he said, his mind changing subjects in the blink of an eye (one could only assume his attention span had gone down the drain with his memory and the ability to button his shirt correctly the first time he’d tried - those darn drugs), “You look a bit tired. You really should try to get to bed earlier, you’ve got these big bags under your eyes.” Satisfied that he’d made his caring-friend-observation of the night (morning), he shuffled under Benji’s blankets without further ado. His hair was leaving a damp patch on the pillow but he didn’t take any notice, nor did he mind that he was fully clothed. He figured if he got too hot during the few hours of morning left, he’d just take them off. For the moment, he was still shivering a bit from the rain. The fact that he’d all but kicked his best friend out of his own bed didn’t even cross his mind as he wriggled down beneath the sheets until just the top of his head was showing.

“Jesus Christ, I’m tired.“ He yawned widely. “I’m gonna grab some shuteye.”

And just like that, he had once again imposed himself upon his best friend in the middle of the night, messed up his house, crawled uninvited into his bed, got his pillow wet and not even bothered to say thank you. He did let a genuine smile, a few degrees toned-down from the goofy, well-practiced grin he knew people fell over themselves for, grace his lips and eyes for an instance before he let them snap shut. He didn’t really think he’d actually get to sleep, what with all the strange substances ripping their way through his bloodstream still, but he figured he might as well try.

“Night!”

Benji only sat there and watched his friend as he moved around the room like it was his own. He was pretty sure that it was half his room, Jace was here nearly every night unless he made it home sober or he was too fuzzed up to get up off the floor. He kept his eyes on the floor, counting the floorboards as Jace made himself at home. He nodded as Jace went on about his most recent adventure. He knew Craig, one of the many drug suppliers that prowled the streets for newbies or hard hitters. Benji sighed, tasting the new air of Jace as he flopped onto the bed next to Benji. "You seriously need to be careful about what you put in your system. It could be the end one day." He said with a shrug, he had tried before to make Jace aware of that but it didn't work. The guy still went out and got wasted.

Benji laughed sarcastically to himself as Jace pointed out those bags under his eyes. Benji went to bed at a reasonable hour but getting up at two or three, or even four in the morning just wasn't agreeing with the normal sleep pattern his mother forced on him many years ago. Benji scooted off of the bed and left it to Jace as he snuggled down into the blankets and tried to sleep. He had a big chair he could fall asleep in, of course it wasn't going to be as nice as he bed but he made do. He's been doing so for a while.

"Yeah, you do that." Benji nodded as he pulled out the bunched up blanket in his closet and crawled up into the large chair. Picking up his feet, he tucked himself into the chair and threw the blanket over his shoulders and over the edges of his knees. He leaned back into the chair, resting his head on the padded back and watched Jace as he tried to sleep. "...Night." He said softly, almost defeated like.



The few hours of sleep didn't help Benji's system as his body crankily woke up to the noise his dad was stirring up down stairs. His neck hurt and his back popped and snapped as he tried to unfurl himself from the chair. His head felt heavy and he wanted to go back asleep and he almost fell back into his bed as he stood up. Of course remembering the rain shower and Jace and all of last night - he decided against falling on his best friend.

"Jace." Benji strung out his name as he reached into the bed and shook the body taking up space. "Jace! Get up. C'mon, my dad's awake. You gotta go." He said, too tried to start threatening.

Jace had been having some fairly confusing dreams involving rainbows, little green creatures and lots of pillows when Benji’s hands so rudely shook his awake, and despite the fact that he could easily guess at the unpleasant consequences that may arise did he not move, he was reluctant to drag himself out of the warm bundle of blankets that was his best friend’s bed.

“Go ‘way,” he grumbled, even as he pushed himself unwillingly into a sitting position, rubbing at his eyes with his fists. He climbed out of the bed fully, feeling the warmth leak from his skin with regret. The shirt and pants that he’d climbed into bed still wearing the night before were slightly rumpled, twisted around as a result of the fitful, restless sleep their wearer had endured. Though he couldn’t see it Jace could easily assume that his hair was sticking up in all sorts of directions thanks to the fact that he’d slept on it while it was wet. He ran a vain hand through it in a hopeless attempt to flatten it down somewhat, and then searched for Benji’s eyes.

“See ya later then, yeah?” he said with a grin, not bothering with a thank you as usual. He was, of course, meaning that completely literally, because he practically depended on day-to-day basis contact with Benji (though he probably didn’t even realise it). It was one of the only things in his life to keep him grounded, filling the spaces that a struggling solo mother with two extra daughters, a father who dropped by maybe twice a year and countless flings, drugs and one night stands never could.

He grabbed the pants that he’d left lying in a wet pile in the corner of the room, taking no note of the water still clinging to the denim or the damp patch spread over the carpet beneath where they had lay. He gave Benji a final grin, but instead of leaving he hovered by the door, getting the feeling there was something he was forgetting to say.