Frederick snorted and snickered a little, almost giggling. Not that he'd ever admit to it. He did not giggle, thank you very much. Except when drunk, but he'd still deny it. "Fine, fine, no matches then." He found it too funny that Bryan didn't get the joke at all.
"Of course you can drive, babe. You're a very fine driver. When you're not drunk."
Now that the whole adrenalin rush had run its course, the little sidewalk stroll had mostly settled Frederick back into his earlier alcohol induced semi-pleasant haze. Of course, it helped that he had laid to rest all of the horrible scenarios that had spawned in his head during that desperate call from Bryan in which he couldn't get to him in time. Images of Bryan, bruised and bloody and alone in some dirty alley somewhere were what had fueled his rage back in the bar. He almost lost his mind when the other man stopped him only to basically express that same exact thing.
Frederick gaped and made like a goldfish, his mouth moving but no sound coming out. He couldn't deny that it was very possible that same thing would have happened, judging from the way that big guy was manhandling him out of the bar and would stubbornly not let go even when Frederick confronted him. He felt himself pale and all the little hairs on his arms stood at attention. It was creepy, like Bryan had read his mind or something. Of course, it wasn't that big a stretch to imagine the same thing, given the situation.
The expression on Bryan's face made Frederick's stomach clench up in knots. His hands grabbed Bryan's shoulders and pulled him close. He swallowed thickly, his voice turning a bit rough. "I wouldn't let that happen to you." His stomach then did backflips when it heard the words that came out of his mouth, but it was too late to take it back. "It's okay, man. You're okay. Nothing happened. Right? It's all good."
Okay... what the freakity-fuck just happened?
"Um... come on, babe. We're almost there," he mumbled, feeling a little woozy himself now.