whiplash

       “Then it’s a good thing you have me.” Emily liked cooking, and she liked taking care of people – therefore she figured this was a bit of a win-win situation for both of them. Moving into the kitchen, she sat her grocery bags down and started unpacking them. “If you want, you can start chopping some of the vegetables. But please don’t cut off your fingers – I don’t want to bring you into the hospital, I’ll probably never be allowed in your kitchen ever again,” she teased him with a wink.

"It’s always a good thing that I have you,” Uriah added, grinning as he followed her in the kitchen. One thing that he knew for sure after going through all of this, despite how difficult it had been, was that there were numerous people that had his back. Emily, especially. “Deal -- don’t worry, no finger cutting will happen on my watch. I may be a shit cook, but at least I’m careful with sharp objects,” he smirked, digging through the drawers for a cutting board. “You’ll always be allowed in my kitchen, Em. Even if you did bring me to the hospital, at least Lou would be there to stitch me up.” Uriah shrugged, pulling the board out before grabbing some of the vegetables. “Anything new going on with you?”

“Don’t be sorry, it’s okay, are you okay?” Carlotta asked with motherly concern, reaching out to the redhead so she could place her soft hand on his arm. They were the hands and nails of a woman who didn’t have to lift a finger even in her own home that was for sure, each nail delicately painted with a polish named ballet slippers, despite her never having danced. There was something about the look in the boy’s eyes that distressed her but she couldn’t put a finger on why, so when the conversation moved onto the animal she’d just been greeting her smile widened once more. “No, I wish! My husband is allergic otherwise we’d have like…ten I’m sure. I had dogs when I was growing up but not anymore. This one is a real cutie that’s for sure.”

His eyes met the blondes as she placed a delicate hand on his shoulder, the small gesture indescribably comforting to him despite not knowing her whatsoever. He’d always been rather sensitive to touch, always the type to want to hug something out, feeling comfort in the physical -- it was the Virgo in him, surely. “I’m fine. Just -- it’s been a rough morning. Hence why I really need some coffee,” he let out a sigh, forcing a small smile. “Aw, man, that blows. I’ve been thinking about gettin’ one myself, but I still need the ‘ok’ from the roommate,” Uriah shrugged, glancing up to look at her. “I’m Uriah, by the way.”

       When the door to the bedroom opened quietly, Louis hadn’t really been asleep. He’d tried to drift off for hours, but it was hard when he knew Uriah wasn’t by his side, and trying to find comfort in the television program rather than his arms. “Can’t sleep,” he mumbled, trying not to let it show just how worried he was about his roommate. “Come here,” he added softly, pulling back the blanket and patting the space beside him.

Uriah sniffed, biting the inside of his cheek as he slowly made his way toward the bed. He wasn’t usually the type that hid his emotions, always ready to talk it out and make his feelings known, but at this point he felt numb. He felt tired. For someone who’d never experienced the brush of death so close up, it was all new to him. Crawling into the bed, Uriah pulled the covers over him before curling himself into the blonde’s side, eyes fluttering closed momentarily. “I’m so fucking exhausted, Lou.”

      Emily’s eyes scanned over Uriah’s features, catching up to the signs of exhaustion quite quickly. But the smile on her lips didn’t falter – she was good at trying to cheer others up, at least she always told herself that. Moving through the door when he stepped aside, she arched her brows. “You haven’t eaten all day? That’s not good. You definitely need some food in your system then. I was planning to make some pasta caprese. I think you’ll love it.”

The male shrugged, closing the door before following behind her. “Guess I’ve just been sleeping mostly. Louis has been at work all day, so...” he trailed off, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Unlike her brother, Emily had quite a knack of brightening his day, even in the rare moments when he felt low. “That sounds perfect. Anything I can do to help? I could start choppin’ something, or I could get some cooking supplies out.”

"Sorry. I didn’t wake you, did I?” Uriah whispered as he gently closed the bedroom door, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hand while approaching the bed. He’d been up for hours, watching whatever was on the television and hoping it’d get him to sleep sooner or later. The clock read 4AM, far too late for anyone to be up at this hour, even the blonde when he wasn’t on shift. “Go back to sleep, don’t let me bug you.”

Making Carlotta laugh had never been something that was particularly hard to do, after all she loved having a giggle over literally anything that came along, but since she was a massive animal lover the sight of a dog never failed to make her smile. Bending down in her immaculate designer dress she tucked some poker straight blonde hair behind her ear as she beamed a mega watt smile at the fluffy creature. “Hi sweetie, aren’t you just the cutest thing, hi good boy…who’s the best boy?” She cooed, holding her hand above his head a little before giggling as he tried to take the imaginary treat from her. “Aw, I’m so glad to meet you, you’ve got such lovely hair!” She murmured with a final stroke before standing up and almost banging straight into another coffee shop patron. “Oh oops, I’m sorry! Are you alright?”

“Crap, ‘m sorry,” the redhead mumbled, bleary-eyed and distracted much like he’d typically been over the past few weeks. His grandmother’s death had taken much more of a toll on him that he thought it would, always the positive and optimistic one. However, it seemed as if  this was going to be a bit more difficult to get over. “Wasn’t looking where I was going.” Uriah’s eyes loomed over towards the dog that she’d been preoccupied with, a small smile blooming on his face. “He sure is pretty. Do you have a dog of your own? I’ve always wanted one.”

The call had come at the most inopportune time, causing Taner to contemplate allowing it to go to voicemail. But there was only so many reasons why any of his family would be calling at this hour: his grandmother. So the call had been answered, and the resulting news had left him in a state of shock, unable to comprehend what was being delivered to him. “Baba,” he finally spoke, his voice sounding weak and distant to his own ears. He swallowed the disbelief at the back of his throat, knowing that there was no way this was false news. The battle had been long fought, but he knew eventually that his grandmother would lose; it was the inevitable side of the disease.

“I — I’ll find Uriah and come to the hospital. Yeah — yes, I know.” His voice had lost whatever cheery mood he had gained that night, choked back from the pain welling up in his chest. He needed to find Uriah, but his cousin was either to drunk to realize his phone was ringing or the idiot was choosing this time to ignore him. Taner considered calling Louis, but just as his finger hesitated over the call button, he saw a flash of red hair. There was no consideration for the individuals he pushed through to get to his cousin, reaching out to grab his arm as he tugged him back, “Uriah, we need to go. Right now. I’ll explain once we’re in the Uber.”

He’d lost Taner at some point in the night, far too inebriated to know when exactly that had been, though. By the time his cousin came for him, he’d been chatting up a particularly cute young woman who was commenting on the state of his hair. “I know, I know, the roots are comin’ in. Maybe I should go blonde like you — think that would be a good look?” he arched a brow, always much more charismatic when he had a couple of drinks in him. The conversation was cut short, however, when he was suddenly grabbed by the arm. 

“Taner, what the hell?” he mumbled, shoving the male off of him before glancing back in the direction of the girl. “It ain’t even one in the morning yet. Since when are you one to leave a party early?” Uriah gave him an incredulous look. “I was, like, two seconds away from getting that girl’s phone number. Two seconds.”

      “On a scale from one to ten, how busy are you right now? Let me answer that for you: zero, because I’m in desperate need of some company.” Emily put on her best puppy eye look when she lifted up the bags in her hands, hoping that her showing up unannounced at Uriah’s door wasn’t that bad. But the truth of the matter was, she didn’t have many friends, and her brother’s former band mates were still closest to that. “I got groceries and I can cook you food if you let me in. ( @uriahking​ )

“You think you can hold your own better than me?” He questioned through the laughter, eyeing his cousin beside him as if he’d just said the most ridiculous thing Taner had ever heard. It was obvious out of the two who the lightweight was. “Does anyone ever actually take you seriously?” He questioned offhandedly, canting his head with a brow perked. To anyone else, Taner’s words may have seemed rude or ill-mannered, but to those that truly knew him, there was no heat behind them. Teasing family members just happened to be a King trait, especially among the cousins. “Oh yes, I secretly want to look like Carrot Top’s younger brother. It’s truly always been a lifelong dream of mine,” he mused, allowing his voice to take on a disheartened sort of tone. It hardly lasted, the laugh slipping through to break the facade. “That’s right, you were in some kind of band, right? Folk music, wasn’t it?” He questioned seemingly out of sincerity, brows tugged together as if he couldn’t quite remember. “All’s fair in this game, Uri.” He commented with a wave of his head, before the belch had him reeling back. “Must you be this foul,” he commented with a wrinkle of his nose, soon enough shaking his head. “I knew you were a lightweight,” he cooed before standing from the stool he had been occupying, “Are you going to need me to carry you, hafif?”

“If picking your messy ass up from the bars tells me anything, it’s exactly that,” he countered, arching his brows as he gave the other a knowing look. It was no secret that Taner often found himself in rather compromising situations after a fun night out, and while Uriah didn’t fully believe that he was much more of a heavyweight than his cousin was, that didn’t stop him from making the assumption. “The people who matter do,” the redhead smirked, rolling his eyes while his cousin continued to playfully insult him. There was so much love between the members of the King family, so some teasing was often considered a sign of affection no matter how seemingly brutal. “Fuck off, it makes me distinguished.” Uriah’s nose wrinkled slightly at the mention of folk music. “Don’t be mad that we had more talent in our collective pinky fingers than you have in your whole freakin’ bod. It doesn’t take much skill to pose pretty for pictures.” The male imitated Taner, contorting his face so that he was giving the other a smouldering look before breaking out into a chuckle. Beginning to step away from the bar, he waved a hand at his cousin dismissively. “Am not,” he argued. “I should be askin’ you that. Do you have a light?” The drummer arched an eyebrow, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and retrieving a white stick from the bunch. Once they were outside, he let out a sigh of relief. “Phew, that autumn air sure feels nice. It was gettin’ stuffy as hell in there.”

Niklaus’ smile only grew when Uriah seemed to immediately agree with going into the maze with him. “Lets stop wasting time then— come on!” he headed towards the entrance of the maze, turning to look back at his friend before laughing. “What makes you think I have any sense of direction? I probably couldn’t even do this maze sober— we’re both fucking screwed if we’re going in here drunk.” he pointed out. Not that Niklaus cared if they got lost inside the maze. That was the fun of it all. Getting lost and just having some fun without worrying.

“What the hell are you talking about? I thought you were supposed to be the smarter one out of the two of us,” he laughed, following Niklaus toward the entrance. He was the type of person who you never wanted to rely on for directions, so it was lucky that they weren’t entering into the area under more dire circumstances. “I’m about three tequila sunrises and two shots of whiskey in...so you be the judge,” Uriah smirked, eyes scanning the tight area as they walked deeper inside. “You ever do one of these things before? I hear they made it hell of a lot scarier since last year — much more zombies and vampires ‘round every corner.”

       “You’re really saving my ego here,” Louis joked, the reassurance of the other enough to warm his heart. Even if none of that had ever mattered to Louis – he never wanted to be popular, never asked for it. The simple fact that he was part of too many sports teams in high school just automatically made people think he was in with the popular crowd, whether he fit in there or not outside of school never mattered. But none of them had ever mattered, not like Uriah who gave him the time of his life without ever judging him or questioning him. In moments like these, Louis seriously wondered how he had managed to survive without the redhead for so long. His mind felt foggy by the time he was pressed back against the wall, the alcohol in his blood responsible for making him forget about the fact that they were in a public place. He was sure there must be a worker close wondering what the fuck was wrong with them (or enjoying the view), but Louis didn’t care. A soft moan slipped from his lips, muffled by Uriah’s mouth and the sounds still coming from the loudspeakers above them. His hands curled around the other’s neck, then his shoulders, down to his biceps. He wanted nothing more than to push his hands underneath the annoying fabric keeping them apart, but instead the just curled into the fabric of that suit. He’d loved how tight it was on his roommate, but now he was starting to hate the thing for the same reason. When they broke apart, his cheeks were burning with heat, chest heaving as much as it could despite being caught between the wall and Uriah’s body. His head leaned back against the wall when he felt the drummer’s lips against his neck, eyes closing as he tried his hardest to catch his breath. Instead, he entirely forgot to breathe for a moment when Uriah’s words reached his ears, causing him to shudder slightly. “That’s quite the goal,” he said teasingly, lips lifting up into an amused smirk. “Can’t wait to see how you want to achieve that.”

“That’s what I’m here for, isn’t it? Told you I could play the dutiful housewife role well,” he said playfully, the smile on Louis’ face enough to make the whole night itself. Uriah’s mother had always taught him to put the people he cared about before himself, hence why he typically made it his mission to lift the spirits of those around him. Of course, he wasn’t perfect; he was thoughtless, oblivious to the point where he’d unintentionally hurt others for his own self-satisfaction. He hadn't meant to be that way, but it frequently took him a long time to see reason and even longer to learn from the actions that had gotten him into trouble in the first place. Hence why he hadn’t told the blonde about his hook-ups, both past and present, when they found themselves together. The nurse’s warm hands sent a chill down his spine, the front of his jeans tightening slightly as their moans fell together under the deafening sounds of the speaker. If the workers could see them they certainly weren’t acting like it, otherwise the two men would have been kicked out minutes ago. “I’d like to think I’m pretty ambitious,” he mumbled against the other’s neck, pressing soft kisses to the skin there before pulling away. Uriah looked at the blonde under the dim light of the haunted house, running his thumb over his cheek affectionately. “I dunno about you, but I could go for another drink...think you can make it the rest of the way?” he teased, giving Louis a tender kiss.

uriahking‌:

          “Sounds like it’s good I never was surprised by either of you like that. You wouldn’t have thought of me as the cool guy anymore,” Louis grinned. The truth was, Uriah was pretty much the only person at their school who knew the real him, not the guy who everyone labeled as cool and tough simply because he liked doing sports and didn’t talk much in school. Uriah was the only one who go to know the truth, and that was the sole reason why Louis didn’t mind showing how scared he was with him. Though the haunted house was almost forgotten at his point. He hardly noticed the flashing lights anymore, or the scary sounds coming from loudspeakers above them. He was too focused on the way his heart picked up its speed at the idea that Uriah liked being the only one. “Very badly,” he breathed out, his hand resting against Uriah’s lower abdomen as he looked at him, his own eyes probably starting to gloss over with need. There was something about the redhead using words like intense and horny that definitely played tricks with his drunk mind. His breathing turned more shallow when Uriah framed his head with his arms, and the hand that wasn’t pressed against the other’s stomach moved to the back of his neck to pull him in for a hungry kiss. When he broke the kiss, there was a smirk on his lips. “Makes sense, yeah.” Whether it was the season or simply the redhead driving him crazy, Louis could definitely find some truth in his words.

"Are you kidding? I still think of you as the cool guy, even though you’re also the jumpiest person I know,” he teased lightly. It was true — every time he looked at Louis, he saw the handsome jock that he’d immediately become enamored with even despite the bruise on his face, despite everything in his body telling him that there was no way he’d ever give him the time of day. How wrong he’d been about that, and how happy he was that he had been wrong about that in the first place. A mischievous smirk appearing against his cheeks, the male felt himself practically salivating in response to the way his words were affecting the other, yearning to replace the taste of alcohol on his lips with the taste of the blonde before him. “I might be able to give you a sneak peak.” Dark hues interlocked with Louis’ light blue ones, chest heaving slightly before he suddenly found himself being pulled into a hungry kiss. One of his hands moved to cradle the nurse’s cheek, tongue slipping into his mouth as he pressed their chests together, sandwiching Louis completely against the wall at this point. “Good,” he breathed between kisses before crashing their lips together once again. His movements were urgent, desperate, even, far too inebriated to care if anyone else was coming through or if they could be seen by the workers lurking in the corners. All he cared about was Louis, and having him right where he wanted him. “By the time I’m done with you tonight, I don’t want you to remember your own name. Or anyone else’s. Only mine.” His lips moved roughly against the crook of his jaw, savoring the taste of Louis’ soft skin under his mouth, his tongue. 

        “Fair enough. Though burning witches because they were scared of them and trying to scare off demons in costumes are still two different types of stupidity,” she chuckled, glad that she no longer lived in such times. Who knew, maybe someone would end up thinking she was a witch because she buried her nose in books too often as well if that was the case. “I’ll remember that. I promise if I do end up needing someone to hold my hair back and take this stupid wig off, I’ll make sure to ask you before I ask anyone else.” Arching her brows, she smirked and slowly shook her head. “A couple of people? Damn, Uri, you’re impressing me even more with that than with the costume,” she teased, taking another bite of her muffin before she shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve come as a doll from a kid’s horror movie and I’m stuffing my face with candy. Do you really think I’m trying to impress anyone?”

“Me, when you fall off that stool and right onto your ass,” he confidently spoke, sliding the empty shot glass away from him to make room for the others they had lined up. Leaning against the counter, he eyed his cousin with little remorse to the teasing he had dealt, “Are you going to go cry to him too? ‘Mean ol’ Taner is making fun of me’,” he mocked in his best Uriah impression, sticking out his own bottom lip in a pout. His features almost instantly transformed into shock, then disbelief at the other’s words, “Now that is an absolute lie. The only one complimenting you is obviously your mom, and gran — but that’s probably because of the meds.” He countered, easily grinning when Uriah snatched up another of the shots. “Must suck to suck,” he responded in a sing-song voice. “You really need to step up your game,” he chided, picking up one of the shots. “And for your information, it was both. When you have a body like this —,” his free hand indicated towards himself, sweeping down his form, “it would be a shame not to show it off.” Tilting his head back with the shot glass placed at his lips, he downed the harsh liquor. “Never have I ever — done a podcast. And thought it was cool,” Taner grinned, pushing one of the shot glasses towards the other.

"Not if I watch you do it first, my friend,” he teased, watching as his cousin cleared the way to better organize the shot glasses in front of them. Taner was definitely the bigger drinker out of the two of them, but he’d be damned if he didn’t go down trying. “Maybe I should cry to him. He always took me more seriously than you ever did,” he rolled his eyes at the male’s poor attempt at impersonating him, practically used to it by now. Being so close in age, they’d practically grown up squabbling with one another — luckily, now that they were older, it became much ore in jest. “I think you’re just jealous that the red works for me when you know you couldn’t pull it off,” Uriah rested his chin on his hand, letting out chuckle as he shook his head. “How about you save showing off your body for someone who actually has the audacity to sleep with you? And, I think you’re forgetting, I had my fair share of cover shoots back in the day.” Granted, they were remarkably more clothed (sans a couple without his shirt on) and Uriah was typically standing off the the side while Milo and the guys took center stage, but still. “Now you’re just being a dick.” He brought another shot up to his lips, quickly downing it before letting out a belch. “Shit,” the redhead grasped his chest, glancing toward the outdoor area. “Let’s put a pause on this — I need a smoke break. Care to join me, or have I bruised your ego too much?”

        Had Louis been a little less drunk, maybe he would have been more worried about not appearing very brave in that moment. But he didn’t care. In fact, he kind of liked getting to hide behind Uriah, seeing the redhead’s protective side – even if it was laced with laughter and teasing in this haunted house. “Thank you. All of those are enough reasons to make me scared,” he pointed out, trying to relax as he leaned against the wall, but his shoulders were still tense as he expected someone to just appear out of thin air behind Uriah’s shoulder any moment now. Then again, Uriah was an exceptionally good distraction in this moment. The look in his eyes was enough to pull Louis in, his mouth suddenly feeling a little dry as he watched Uriah’s tongue slide along his lips. “Obviously not. Only you,” he repeated once more, his voice a little quieter now. A part of him, the one that was still scared, tried not to let his mind go down the road of less innocent thoughts, but the truth was, he was a lost cause a this point. “But I want to know,” he begged, pouting a little as he let one of his hands run up Uriah’s chest. Lifting his brows, Louis slowly shook his head. “No? But I’m sure you’re going to tell me now.”

He snorted at Uriah calling Lance his sugar daddy, though their arrangement, at least for the time being, was not that far from it. He just imagined that if he were to have a sugar daddy, he’d be someone along the lines of Elias or maybe even Ethan, though it was clear that neither men were viable options. “Nah, nothing like that. He’s not nearly rich enough to be anyone’s sugar daddy. Plus, his aunt comes over a lot, which totally kills the vibe.” He shrugged. He didn’t even know why he was sharing these things with Uriah, considering the knowledge he possessed about the other’s feelings for him, and the fact that those feelings were acted on not too long ago, but there was something about his companion that made him feel like he could trust him with anything, almost forgetting the fact that they’ve seen each other naked. Speaking of naked… “Hey, it’s not so bad. Leaves things to the imagination.” He pointedly directed his gaze downwards towards Uriah’s crotch hugged tightly by his suit. He brought the cup to his lips, sipping his drink slowly as he continued to ogle Uriah’s… well, super-package.

He followed the younger male as they moved away from the beverage line, smirking when Uriah vaguely referenced their time together. He shoved one hand into his jacket pocket, his eyes on the ground, watching his feet as they walked side by side. The mention of the name Louis had his head jerking up, fully catching his attention. “I don’t think I do,” he said, blinking a few times as he tried to recall anyone named Louis. So many people hung out with the band, himself included, that he stopped bothering with names at one point. “Jealous? That’s cute.” He wasn’t, not by a long-shot. More of, threatened by the fact that Uriah’s attention was now divided between himself and whoever it was he came in here with. “You guys… seein’ each other or whatever?” he followed up in a much quieter tone that would suggest some reluctance or maybe even insecurity. The night that he and Uriah shared was exactly just that— a night they shared. He knew deep down that he just liked the attention, and whether or not he could reciprocate any feelings was questionable.

Uriah arched his brows, still confused by the entire arrangement that the male spoke of but deciding to let bygones be bygones. He was just immensely relieved it didn’t appear as if him and this Lance character had been intimate — not that he had a right to be, and even he knew that in some sense, despite none of it helping to quell his anxieties. “S’long as you both get what you want, I s’pose it doesn’t matter much.” Shrugging, the redhead took another much needed sip of his punch to avoid his words coming out like croaks. He hated the way his heartbeat would quicken tenfold whenever they’d speak, unable to help himself from picturing the other’s naked body under what he assumed to be a very last-minute costume. The very thought made his tongue get caught in his throat...especially when Gibby was now looking at him like that. “Luckily you shouldn’t have much of a problem with that,” he tossed back, surprised at himself for being able to keep up with the other’s quips, though he figured that would only last him so long. 

“Really? Huh, I could’ve sworn y’all had met before.” Or could he have? Typically Louis would come hang out with the band when they were all back in Seattle. Gibby happened to be around a lot more often, in a lot of different locations — it was a wonder that it’d taken Uriah this long to develop such hardcore feelings, though he supposed that was what came with getting to know someone better. There was still so much more he had to learn about the Dexter male, but he hoped that it would be inevitable. “Oh.” He bit his lower lip, daring to glance up at Gibby as he continued to speaking. Was that — wait, what was that look on his face? Paired with his quiet, insecure tone, Uriah could have sworn that the comment about him being jealous hit some sort of nerve. Was he imagining things or, like a few weeks ago, was he right? “No. We hook up sometimes, but...” The redhead shrugged, cocking his head tot he side. “Would that — I mean, would it be a problem for you if I was? Seeing someone, that is.”