Drowning Lessons

I couldn’t tell which was louder: the raucous hollers of the increasingly drunk strangers or the metal being played at a volume that shook the house. It was the final night of our tour for I Brought You My Bullets, and the guys and I wanted nothing more than to let loose and go out with a celebratory bang. Our set had ended an hour or so ago, but each of us were already on the cusp of being practically plastered. I could hear Ray’s boisterous laughter from across the room, his messy curls bouncing with every rise and fall of his chest. Although Mikey maintained his seemingly unchanging expression, I could tell he was enjoying himself by the slight crinkle of his eyes. Next to the keg stood Frank, easily identifiable due to his messy dreads and piercing giggle. Someone’s gotta break it to him, those dreads have REALLY gotta go. I smirk to myself, knowing he’d argue to his grave that it fit his punk aesthetic. Whatever you say, Frankie.
I make my way to the kitchen, bee lining for the vodka. In my opinion, vodka tastes like trash, but it was the quickest way to get shitfaced and that was my main intention for the night. I pull a random shot glass from the table before pouring the rubbing alcohol to the brim. I’m about to throw it back before I feel a hand slide around my arm, and feel warm bubblegum breath against my ear.
“Hey sugar, would you pour one for me?”
I glance towards the voice, coming face to face with brown eyes, blown in size despite the obvious smell of liquor on her breath. She’s pretty, but tonight I’m only interested in relaxing with my friends and this bottle of vodka. I hesitantly extend the glass that had only brushed my lips to her, and turn to pour myself another. She patiently waits, never breaking the close body contact she had boldly established.
“Cheers” I hear myself say as she locks her arm around mine, and we quickly gulp the smooth but bitter liquid down. Our faces both scrunch in disgust, and my head already starts to spin. We giggle and she pours us another without asking. After a few more (or a lot), we slam the glasses on the table, and the little personal space she had allowed me before was continually closing. She’s leaning heavily against me, running her finger up my chest and breathing her sickeningly sweet breath on my face. In a dizzy motion, I attempt to push her away. I think I succeed but only hear a giggle and something about “bathroom”.

Now feeling a little less socially inept, I stumble towards the living room. Mikey is now arguing with Ray about some comic or another, and I wish I could join in but I’m just drunk enough to have a hard time understanding what they’re saying. Mikey notices and a hint of a smile breaks across his stony face.
“Hey bro, you doin’ alright?” He laughs as he pats my shoulder.
“Mhmmm I’m peashy” I slur, and take a look around me. The music is still blasting a mixture of metal and hardcore, and the amount of bodies seems to have doubled. I squint my eyes and look around, perhaps a little frantically.
I frown. “Whers Frank?”
Mikey and Ray share a knowing and amused look. “Well, last we saw he was pushing some guy out the door, saying something about having a smoke.”
I feel my frown get deeper, and an unknown feeling begins to claw its way into my chest and throat. Without a word, I turn and head towards the front door, intent on….checking in on him. But as I reach the stairs I feel a strong hand painfully grip my upper arm, using his force to swing me around.
“Hey fuckface, whadda you think you were doin’ with my girl, huh?”
I have to look up to even see the guy’s face, and I might just be drunk but he looks a little pissed.
“Huh?” I mumble stupidly.
“Don’t ‘huh’ me asswipe. You think you’re sneaky, getting another guy’s girl drunk and letting her fall all over you?” He practically yells in my face.
“Dude, I have no id-“ is all I get out before I’m slammed into the door, losing my balance and tumbling down the front steps. I land on my stomach and feel the gravel already torn into my hands. I attempt to turn around to defend myself peacefully, but my words are caught when his boots connect with my side. All of my air is forced from my lungs and I curl in on myself, ready to be subjected to this guys unwarranted rage.
“Get up, pussy” he growls at me and I shake my head, not wanting to drag this out any longer. He bends down and grabs me by my collar, and I can see my blood smeared all over the fist that’s coming at me again. I close my eyes, hoping it’ll lessen the pain. I hear hurried footsteps and the sound of skin on skin, as well as an “oomf” of someone being thrown.
I crack my eyes to peak, and am shocked to see Frank kneeling over the sprawled out body of the angry man. He’s throwing fists relentlessly at his face, screaming something that sounds like “Don’t ever fucking touch him”. The guy starts struggling less and less, obviously losing consciousness from blood loss. Blood that’s all over Frank’s hands and splattered on his face.
“Frank” I whimper, but he doesn’t seem to hear me.
I hear more rushed steps and see Ray and Mikey pulling Frank away by locking onto his shoulders, but still, Frank struggles towards the now totally unconscious man, rage contorting his facial features. The two pull him away into the house. I attempt to stand, but moan at even slightly uncurling my body.
“Gerard! Gerard are you okay?!” I hear Brendon panic as he helps me to my feet.
“Fuck if I know. This jetset life is gonna kill me, man” I grumble, and hear a slight chuckle from Brendon.
“Gotta watch for those groupies man. They’re relentless, and so are their skinhead boyfriends”
I nod with a grimace, and without a word he helps me up to the poorly lit and uncomfortably dirty bathroom, which says something for a guy who practically lives in a van.

Notes

Honestly Bullets Era is my favorite and this is actually based off of an alleged video of Frank fighting a guy off of Gerard and I've wanted to recreate this for a while so I hear I go.
Stay tuned for the next and last chapter, which will contain almost entirely smut :)
Feedback is really rad and I'd love to hear from you guys <3

P.s: my wattpad is @tradgician if you're interested

xoxo ghoul