They say a man isn’t supposed to cry and Ethan Wood was no exception. Instead, even in the wake of all the death and destruction, Oliver Wood’s middle son let a bottle of Ogden’s Old cry for him as he slumped back against a thick oak tree, the neck of the firewhiskey laced tightly between his fingers. From his vantage point, Ethan could see the ruins of the stadium, an arena that had always been like a second home to the chaser and his beloved best mate. He couldn’t muster the strength to return home to their actual flat, not yet at least. Their unfinished match of pool was still fresh on the table waiting for Ethan to rack it back up as he made a ridiculous comment about Alfie moving the cue ball while they were away. He’d even bet there was a mug of old tea beside one of Alfie’s latest sketches turning as icy as his insides were right now.Â
“How could you fuckin’ leave me, too?!” Ethan shouted into the fading summer air as he allowed himself a brief moment of raw human emotion. Alfie was always there for the wayward chaser and never gave up on him, not when Puddlemere rejected him or when he let his anger get the better of him. Alfie was his best friend, his teammate, his mentor, his brother, he couldn’t be just be... gone.
There was only way Ethan knew how to temper the sting and he cracked it open hungrily. Unhinging his jaw like the serpent some believed to be his true nature, Ethan brought the untouched bottle to his lips allowing it’s contents to slither down his esophagus and drop into the depths of his empty stomach without so much as a shiver, just the hunger to numb the pain for however long the bottle would allow. Ethan continued to chug as if reaching the bottom would bring Alfie back, spiraling into the oblivion he so desperately craved.
A voice called his name. At first, he didn’t budge, fixed only on his surmounting grief and the unsettling opening and closing of his own heartbeat. He wasn’t even sure if the voice was real or just a figment of his budding intoxication. It wasn’t until a second calling that Ethan turned around finally lowering the bottle down from his lips.
