Asher/Drew: After Dinner
Why had he promised to attend Thanksgiving? It was a terrible terrible idea and Asher was seriously considering calling in sick. He knew that wouldn’t work. Someone would feel bad for the sick lonely German and bring him some left overs. He was going to just have to suck it up and deal with all of the impending awkwardness that was about to happen. He hadn’t seen Caty or Drew since his dream and was quite relieved about that. He was far from Caty’s favorite and his best friend was currently sitting near the top of Asher’s shit list. He felt a bit bad about not speaking all that much to Drew since the mission but he just didn’t know what to say. Gabe’s bombshell still weighed heavily in his mind whenever he tried to hold even a slight conversation with him. Tonight was going to be awful, so Asher did what his genetics demanded of him… he drank.
No, he didn’t show up at the front door drunk… just slightly buzzed. It was the drinks before and during dinner that had tipped him into the whole seriously drunk department. As with many people, booze had a tendency to loosen Ashers tongue, as well as fill him with the need to discuss his problem with Drew at this very moment. He didn’t care who was around and he certainly didn’t care that Drew was helping his now boyfriend clean up from dinner. Stepping up behind the earth TA, he clapped his hand on the other man's shoulder. “I know this doesn’t exactly seem to be the best time, but I need to talk to you, Now, preferably. It’s important.”
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Drew was actually having a nice time. He’d been cooking all day, and now he was cleaning up and joking to Charlie that the man had likely eaten an entire turkey all by himself, which was a gross exaggeration, but with the way the night had gone, he hardly cared. He had, like Asher, almost wished the man had not attended. But Asher was his friend, and after the ordeal of the dreams, he wanted the German there to feel as if he had family on the island as well.
When the other man walked up to him, he smiled nervously and rubbed his hand onto his jeans.
“Alright. Outside?” he suggested, giving Charlie a look as if to say ‘it’s okay’ and opening the patio door. The patio was dark and the door was frosted, but the windows of the living room looked right out over the wooden structure giving them only the illusion of privacy as Drew sat down at the picnic table he’d built himself a few summers ago.
“You alright, Asher? If this is about your dream, I’m not going to talk to anyone about it. I would, maybe, talk to Caty.”
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Simply following Drew out the front door would have usually been enough for sober Asher, but drunk Asher had to offer a wave goodbye to the delicious ginger doctor and anyone else in the room. “We will be right back. I promise. Dinner was fantastic by the way.”
Having said his piece, he latched the door securely behind him and stood facing the other man. Why had this seemed like a good idea again? Oh yah, alcohol loosening his inhibitions and an annoying weight in his chest. It had been childish not say something sooner, or even sober, but it was even more childish to do it now. Deep down Asher knew he wasn’t going to be proud of himself in the morning but drunk Asher didn’t much care what the sober version of himself thought. “Listen, Drew, this isn’t about the dream. Thank you for coming in to get me but if you can Caty could just forget what you saw I would appreciate it. It is my cross to bare.” He started pacing at this point, unable of how to think to start his next sentence. Lucky for him, drunk brains aren’t the best at thinking. They are however, really good at blurting things out.
“Gabe told me. On the mission. Gabe told me that back when we were together, you were in love with me. That’s why you cut things off after Halloween. He claims you still love me,” blue eyes searched his friends face, desperate to find any hint of the truth.