Things like this; parties, only served to drive home the fact that old habits were slipping back into his life, coping mechanisms that he thought he had shed – but apparently hadn’t. Maybe it had all just been a matter of time before his addictions resurfaced, or maybe the trigger had been his newfound and confusing feelings for Ellie.
Or not new, just different.
He had always loved her, but over the course of the last few months’ things had shifted to something else. A feeling he was drowning in alcohol, prescription drugs and music, the trifecta of his coping mechanisms, ones that were working overtime tonight. Everything felt kind of fuzzy around the edges, comforting in that way that old habits could always be comforting. His costume couldn’t quite be considered a costume, since it was jeans, a black t-shirt and a peacoat – the latter was thrown over his amp currently – but if someone asked him, Miah just explained it was from a movie and left it at that.
All other conversations – those about his costume, and others - seemed lacking when he had the company of an extremely tipsy Ellie, both a familiar and comforting presences – and a distracting one, especially when she was wearing what she was wearing.
Raising his own glass up in a salute to her, Miah laughed. “Who decides when it’s too much?” He questioned, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth, faint, but there. “Because to me it seems like we just started, Lo."