Warning! ‘Tis un-betaed.

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A whiskey bottle lay on its side on the counter with a small puddle growing slowly around it. James looked at it with disgust. The brown glass container had been on the counter when had had shuffled into the kitchen that morning; a small reminder of the party his mother had held the previous night. During that time James had stayed in his room with the door locked. His dinner had been an apple and a bag of goldfish; and his source of amusement whatever was in his room.

The blond sopped up the whiskey with a paper towel and the last few dribbles in the bottle were poured down the sink. James scrubbed dish soap all over his hands and almost up to his elbows to rid himself from any trace of the alcohol.

He crunched on a bowl of cereal as he surveyed the kitchen, taking the remains of the party. A few plastic cups of melted ice and soda were next to the sink and an empty food dish was by the stove. A two liter bottle of Coke and another of Sprite both stood nearly empty on the counter and missing their caps. A jacket James didn’t recognize was slung over the back of one of the chairs.

Once he finished breakfast and put his dishes in the sink James began the clean-up. He was in the midst of pouring out the dregs of coke, Sprite, water and alcohol onto the sink when he heard movement from the direction of his mother’s bedroom. Knowing it was either his mother or Chris James filled a clean cup with water and grabbed two aspirins from the bottle. In the bathroom he found his mother rinsing out her mouth. She smiled at him faintly when he handed her the aspirin and glass of water.

James returned to the kitchen and finished the short clean-up. He wandered to the living room and flopped down on the couch. He didn’t bother to look up when his mother stumbled through the room to the kitchen. Instead he just stayed put, his knees drawn up to his chin and said nothing. After nearly ten minutes of just sitting and listening, James reached over to the small lamp table and pulled the phone, cradle and all, on to the arm of the couch. He dialed a familiar number and listened to it ring. On the fourth ring someone picked up.

“Hello?” a woman asked sleepily.

“Hi, can I talk to Henry?”

“Sure, hang on.” There was a pause followed by a faint “It’s for you.”

“Why’d you call so early? It’s – oh, it’s ten in the morning.”

“My mom was drinking last night,” James said quietly, glancing towards the kitchen. “And I needed someone to talk to.”

“M’ all ears.”

Little by little James felt better just talking to Henry. Once he had talked himself out there was a silence, broken only by little noises in the background. James held the phone to his ear, just listening to Henry’s breathing. It was nice that he did have to talk, like he did with Rebecca. Henry would let him sit in silence and things were never awkward. Henry was there on the couch with James where someone he didn’t know had passed out half on the floor and half on the other end of the couch. James could forget his mother was in the kitchen with a hangover while her boyfriend was still asleep in her bedroom.

After about five minutes or so of quiet, Henry asked if there was anything else he wanted to talk about. James said no, and lied down on the couch, bending his knees to allow plenty of space between him and the person on the other end.

“Are you okay now?” asked Henry a few minutes later. He seemed more alert and James assumed Peanut must have sunk up on him somehow.

“Yeah,” answered James.

“Do you want to come over in a bit or something?”

“Can you come over? I want to make sure my mom doesn’t do anything too stupid.”

“Sure,” said Henry, “what time?”

“Whenever you get ready.”

“I’ll be over in about half an hour.”

“See you then.”

“Bye.”

The line went dead, but James didn’t put the phone back on the cradle. He lied on the couch cushions for a few minutes longer before sitting up and outing the phone back. Once the entire device had been returned to the lamp table, James took the opportunity to assess the damage.

About six or seven adults were lying haphazardly around the room, including the one at the foot of the couch. Several plastic sups and paper plates covered the coffee table as well as several cans of beer. Jackets and a shirt or two were thrown across the backs of chairs and a CD player had long since reached its last track.

James fidgeted on the couch. He couldn’t stand the mess. Normal messes were something he could live with and even helped create; but party messes that made the room stink of alcohol were the kind he couldn’t stand. Finally he got up and began to clear the coffee table. He poured the leftover drinks down the drain, tossing the cups and cans into the garbage. He cleaned up some spills and sprayed a thick mist of oust to cover up the smell of alcohol and the trace of cigarette smoke. During the entire time, not one of the guests awoke from their alcohol induced rest.

Henry arrived at around ten-forty still slightly drowsy. They holed up in James room, wanting to avoid the hung-over party goers for as long as they could. Mrs. Sanford hadn’t said anything about the party leftovers in the living room, but offered a sympathetic smile. She knew what it was like for James at home and always made sure he knew he could call if he needed anything.

James and Henry had a blanket wrapped around them ad they sat on James bed. They could hear hang-over associated noises as the guest began to stir. Henry’s stomach squirmed as someone vomited in the bathroom across the hall. James however remained unfazed; he was used to it.

“I can’t wait until summer,” said James. “Mom’s going to let me go to soccer camp.” It was a weak attempt at conversation, but it was nice to pretend things were normal.

“Are you going to play on the school team this year?” asked Henry, trying to ignore the noise from the bathroom.

“Maybe, I’m not sure. What about you?”

“Mmmm, maybe scholars bowl,” said Henry thoughtfully.

The light hearted talk made James feel better. Spring clubs were beginning to recruit members, and now they were eight graders, all clubs were open to them. It was a last chance to add any middle school activities to their records. In just shy of eight months they would be freshmen at the local high school.

“You’re such a nerd,” James laughing, resting his head on Henry’s shoulder.

“I know.”

They stayed like that for a while, exchanging words every now and then. Henry was on the verge of sleep when Chris popped his head in the room. He eyed them cautiously, not quite sure what to make of the scene before him. His girlfriend’s son was wrapped up in a blanket, leaning up against another boy with his head on said boy’s shoulder, and both of them were looking rather drowsy.

“Do either of you want something to eat?”

James looked at Henry for his answer and the dark haired boy shook his head.

“No thanks Chris.”

The man nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him. Henry unwound the blanket from himself and crawled under James sheets. James soon followed suite, spreading the blanket over the two of them.

“I can’t believe you’re still sleepy,” he whispered.

“Blame the puppies.”

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Ick, filler chapter. I’m sorry, the next chapter actually helps the plot. This is just an explanation as to what generally happens every other weekend or so at James house. And I needed something to fill up time between the last chapter and the next.

The fan art has been put up once more at my new, super spiffy, live journal. Yes, I am hopping on the bandwagon. There isn’t much there yet, but I’ll be posting stories that have spoilers for this series and my other works.

One last thing, then I’ll shut up. I’ve been meaning to tell you guys this but I keep forgetting. Back in March (yes, my memory is that terrible) my family got an adorable puppy-ish thing that is almost an exact replica of Peanut. Go to my live journal for the full thing. I’ll try to get some pictures up soon.

Thanks to magalina and FleetingMoment for reviewing!