Noah woke up the next day with a throbbing headache. It was even difficult to move his head in any direction. He needed to stay still for a few minutes to settle his rolling stomach.

He tried squinting his eyes but they just were not having the combination of the overly white room and the incoming sun rays, so he opted for closing them. He could barely feel his limbs this morning.

Usually, when he woke up, the first thing on his mind would be food. But his stomach was not cooperating this morning because at the thought of food, it started churning excruciatingly and he threw the sheets off himself, making a break for the bathroom.

He dropped onto the floor and hurled forcefully into the bowl, an abnormal amount of liquid leaving his body. Just what the fuck was going on with his body this morning?! He thought rhetorically. He sat there with his back against the wall ,trying to catch his breath and he was about to stand up and leave when his stomach decided to send everyone out of the pool again.

This time he hurled till his stomach started to feel sunken and hollow, like it had not held anything in there for ages. All his strength was gone and he could not even bring himself to stand up on his own two feet. So he just remained there, laying his head on the toilet seat, eyes closed, trying to will everything to stop spinning so fast.

When he finally caught a grip on his bearings, he stood up and went back to his room. This was the first time he was having a chance to examine the room properly, and it was quite a mess. There were a few beer cans scattered around on the floor amidst other trash and clothes. That is when it occurred to him. He had gone drinking last night. Oh no! Not the drinking again! He hoped Michael's parents were not home because they were going to chew him out.

Was this a hangover he was experiencing ? That could not be possible. Noah never got hangovers. He was the king of parties and all forms of reckless behavior. He was fairly certain his blood was at least seventy-five percent alcohol. If a mosquito came and sucked his blood ,that little guy would have been in a lot of trouble. Or maybe the months in rehab and all that crap they had fed him had brought that percentage back to an almost normal level.

His stomach started whirling again and he rushed back, using the walls as support and dropped to the toilet bowl, face first. Where the hell did that come from. He was sure he had thrown up part of his bodily fluids and part of his gut because there was close to nothing in his stomach.

That was not good. He opened the medicine cabinet that was just above the sink and downed a few Ibuprofen™ ,that should at least help him be able to hold his head upright.

He decided to go back to bed and sleep off this monstrosity of a headache. As he reached for the blankets before getting into bed, he noticed one single detail he had missed when looking around the room, and that was the person sleeping on the other side of the bed.

The person had their body turned away from him, but their long, dark brown hair was visible, spread all over the pillow like a mop. They had their face fairly covered so Noah could not really see who it was. Had he brought someone home from whatever hole he had been drinking himself to death ? And if so, why were they still here!

He always made it a point to let his one night stands know the 'no sleeping over' rule. If this was a one night stand, that would explain why he had woken up wearing only his briefs, and all the foreign clothes scattered all over his rug. Fuck! Whoever this was, they needed to leave..now! But he now needed coffee to calm his nerves first, because if this person was the hysterical type, that would cause his headache to worsen -he did not need that now, did he!

He quickly threw on a pair of sweatpants and bolted out of the room, going to the kitchen to brew himself a nice fresh cup of joe. The coffee pot already had coffee in it though, which saved him the process of making it.

As he sat down on the stool by the island, Michael came in looking disoriented, his hair sticking in every direction.

"Morning cuz !" He greeted without actually looking at him.

"Hey Mikey!" He responded while taking a sip. That was some good stuff!

"Didn't think you would be up so early today after last night!" Michael continued the conversation while pouring himself a cup.

"What are you talking about ?!" Noah asked,his attention now peeked.

"You don't remember?" Michael asked.

"Well, I wouldn't be asking if I did!"

"Dude, last night was fucking crazy!" Michael said enthusiastically, looking up as if he was remembering something.

"Does that have anything to do with the blockhead in my bed?"

"Blockhead!?" Michael asked, looking at Noah quizzically. "You mean Austin?"

"Come again!" Noah's eyes were as wide as saucers when he heard the name Austin.

"You just found someone in your bed when you woke up and didn't bother to find out who it was ?" Michael continued.

"Back up!" Noah insisted, "Did you say Austin was in my bed!?"

"Is in your bed." Michael emphasized, "I'm assuming he is still in there and hasn't bolted out of there like an insane person."

"Please, tell me you're just messing with me Mikey!" He pleaded, getting off the stool he was on.

"I have enough problems of my own to be screwing with you bro."

"Austin can't be up there. No way ." He was deeply in denial.

"You keep telling yourself that!"

"Dude, what the fuck happened last night!"

******

Austin woke up, at first opening his eyes in slits because his head was pounding so uncontrollably he could feel it in his temples.

When he was finally able to open them, they fell upon his closet. There was a problem though, this closet was on the wrong side of his room, unless someone had changed the position of his bed. Usually, his closet was a few feet from the foot of his bed; now it was on the side. Weird.

He turned to his back and looked up. The Lighting was all wrong. Double weird.

He immediately jerked himself to a seating position, forgetting the pain in his head until he got light headed and everything started spinning at an ungodly speed. That had him laying down slowly, not wanting to risk any more life threatening movements.

That was when he noticed the bedding. None of it seemed familiar. Just where the hell was he? It was either elves had come in the middle of the night and done some serious interior designing in his room...or he had been kidnapped. If it was the latter, then classy kidnappers !

He heard footsteps coming from outside the door. Not sure of what was going on, he pulled the sheets up to his face and pretended to be asleep, in case the person decided to do a pop-in. After three minutes of nothing, he peeked from below the sheets to make sure it was 'safe' before uncovering himself further and getting out of the bed , cautiously so as not to cause any disturbance.

As soon as he did that, his heart started beating faster, his face turning pale ,the little hairs on his back standing on end and his palms started to sweat. He was sure he was about to have a nervous breakdown.

He was wearing nothing but his grey briefs. Looking around more, he noticed his other clothes scattered all over the rug. But there were more clothes scattered around, suggesting that the rest did not belong to him mainly because he did not recognize them. So they were classy, rapist kidnappers ! To make matters worse, the unrecognizable garments did not look like they belonged to a female. Oh fuck!

He was now full-on freaking out. Just how the hell had he gotten here? How did he not know the answer to that question? Had he been kidnapped and then drugged so that he would not remember anything? Was that the cause of his excruciating headache? And why the hell were his clothes off -who had taken them off? What the fuck kind of kidnappers kept their victims in such a pricey-looking room?! -that part was even the more puzzling.

He was about to reach for his pants when he heard more shuffling of feet just outside the room. In lightning speed, he was back in bed, fully covered, trying his damnedest not to make a move, which was difficult since his entire body was shivering uncontrollably. Once again, whoever it was never came in.

The rushing and jumping into bed had almost knocked him out cold. That taught him that it was not very advisable making such sudden movements in the condition he was in. Though he should have learned that earlier.

The anticipation was killing him. He kept thinking the culprit would come in with a gun and decide they were done with him and off him....or worse. Dying by the barrel of a gun was more humane than leaving him to be killed slowly by this headache. He wasn't sure how getting killed was a good thing, but the waiting part was somehow even worse. He felt as if his intestines were literally knotting themselves .

He assumed the cost was clear -well, as clear as it would get, and was about to step out of the bed again when he heard the doorknob turn. That made him freeze in position, hoping whoever it was would get it over with. He closed his eyes and remained immobile, listening as the person moved around slowly -as if cautiously. Wow, this guy must have really had it out for him.

Suddenly, the unidentified stranger cleared his throat. Brace yourself, this is it! Austin thought to himself.

"A-Austin?"

Noah?!

He was so sure he was hallucinating. What had these guys drugged him with ?!

"Austin...you up?" The voice -which still sounded suspiciously like Noah's, asked.

He started sliding the bedding off his face, but kept his eyes tightly closed, refusing to open them in case he did and found out that someone was playing a practical joke on him.

"Is that you ?" This time Austin snapped open his eyes and looked left.

As soon as their eyes met, both boys stared at each other as if both of them were wishing this was not actually happening.

"Oh god!" Noah finally said, standing there in all his sexy glory, his pants hanging dangerously low and spotting his seemingly natural bedhead.

"Oh fuck!" Austin agreed.

"How -"

"What are you doing here!?"Austin sat up.

"Ummmnnn... I live here." Noah answered, " Yo-you're in my bed." He looked freaked out, but not as much as Austin was.

"What!" He had thought his eyes could not possibly open any wider..apparently, he was wrong!

"Uhh..yea."

Austin jumped out of the bed as if it was made of thorns and barbed wire, temporarily forgetting his pantless situation . Noah knew he shouldn't be thinking about how distractingly sexy Austin looked in those briefs -especially in the current situation, but that did not help his pants from getting a little tighter. Thank god he was wearing sweatpants, they were loose enough to help hide his little problem.

"You freak!" Austin suddenly screamed, "What the fuck is wrong with you!"

"Austin -"

"Don't !" He cut in, "Don't you dare say my fucking name!" He continued as he rushed for his pants, throwing them on fast because he was aware Noah was looking.

"I didn't -"

"What, in your stupid, minute brain made you think it was ok to kidnap me, strip me and put me in your bed against my will! Huh? And what else did you do to me! Do I need to go get checked?"

"Calm down Austin -"

"I said don't !"

"Fine. Even I don't know what's going on!" Noah defended himself. It hurt that that was Austin's opinion of him, but he couldn't exactly blame him.

"Yea, right!" Austin was not buying it, "I'm assuming you're going to tell me that someone -and you don't know who, drugged us and stripped us both and then threw us in bed together. Yea, don't think I didn't notice your clothes are also on the floor."

"I -"

"For fuck's sake, what is wrong with you. I thought I told you to stay the hell away from me yesterday. What did you do, huh? How the fuck did you even manage to get me here!"

"Austin!"

"And to think I felt bad after I told you to stay away from me. But all along you were just pretending to be hurt while planning to pull some sick, twisted crap on me! I am not a freak like you, so get it through your fucking head you fucking neanderthal; STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

"Calm down ...please!" Even though it was not really his fault, what Austin said struck a nerve. He felt like he was letting down yet another person he would rather have cared for. "I'm sorry! I can't remember anything either!"

"You know what?"Austin was not fazed by the remorse on Noah's face, his freak out was still in full gear, "You can tell that to the cops!"

He took his phone out of his pants pocket and started dialing while heading for the door. He wasn't really looking where he was going and his legs got tangled in Noah's pants that were sprawled on the floor, sending him off balance.

It happened so fast and before Noah could rush and catch him, his head hit the wall so hard it knocked him out.

"Austin!" Noah called out as he knelt on the floor, cradling his head in his lap. No,this could not be happening ! He had thought that Austin being mad at him and calling the police would be the worst thing to happen this morning. If the police had come and ran his name through the system, he would have been sent back to rehab for drinking so much before his recommended period of sobriety was over.

Now, the worst possible thing had happened: his beloved Austin was lying on his bedroom door, passed out cold.

"Austin, wake up!" He knew he was just out, but this situation was bringing back the demons from his past that he had tried to bury. "Please wake up!" He tried shaking him but Austin just remained still.

"What's going on in here!" Michael budged in, probably having been alarmed by all the noise coming from the room.

"Call the ambulance!" He screamed at Michael. How many times were things like these going to happen to him. He only hoped Austin was going to be alright. He hoped so much you would think his life depended on it -and to some extent, his sane life did depend on it.

Michael made the call then sat on the floor next to Noah ," What happened!" He started panicking.

"He -he tripped and hit the wall pretty hard!" Noah was on the verge of tears. This kid was really turning him into a cry baby.

"Hey, he's gonna be ok." Michael knew all about Noah's streak with such situations and he somewhat understood what Noah was going through.

"You don't know that!" Noah argued. Looking at Austin's lifeless body,he almost believed his own thoughts. "When are those fuckturds getting here!" He was getting impatient.

"In a few minutes. "Michael responded, " Hey, how about I stay with him while you go and get some fresh air." He suggested.

"No, I'm not leaving him!" He said stubbornly.

"Michael?" Lira came in. "Oh my god! What happened to him?" She asked as soon as she saw Austin.

"He's unconscious." Michael informed her while Noah ignored her.

"Have you called an ambulance?"

"Yea, they'll be here any minute." Michael answered, "I'm trying to tell Noah to go get some fresh air outside while I stay with him but he won't listen."

"He's right Noah," She said in a soothing voice, seeing Noah's disoriented state. "Let's go outside and wait for the doctors. I promise, Michael will take good care of him."

"No." He said simply.

"Come on, it will be good for you. You know just sitting here will not help the situation. I'm sure Austin would agree." Austin would not want me near him, he thought but didn't say it.

He finally caved, laying Austin's head gently on the soft carpet, grabbing a random shirt and Lira held his hand as she led him outside.

They had just gotten outside when the ambulance drove into the driveway, the alarm sounding incessantly. That was fast! A feeling of relief washed over Noah as the paramedics pulled out the stretcher. He hurriedly led them up to his room and soon, they were wheeling Austin into the back of the ambulance.

He debated within himself whether it was a good idea that he should ride in the back with Austin or not, but he decided that if Austin was gonna chew him out, he would have to do it after he was better. For now, Noah was going to stick by his side until he was out of danger.

Michael and Lira drove by themselves after the ambulance.

Noah remembered he had to let Austin's family know ,but he didn't have his mother's contact, so he called Nicky.

"You better be dying." Was the first thing she said.

"Close." Noah said.

"What are you talking about?!"

"Can you come to the hospital? Bring your mom."

"Why, that shrink come back to life?" She sounded like she had just woken up.

"It's Austin." He said that part cautiously.

"What!" Yup,she was now fully awake. "What happened!"

"He hit his head against a wall and fell unconscious. We're in an ambulance now headed to the hospital."

"Oh my god! Is he ok?" Noah could tell she was scared.

"He'll be fine." She decided to put his personal fears aside and try to reassure her.

"Please take care of him Noah ,I'm calling my mom. We'll be there soon!"

"I will," he said and she hung up. "I promise." He said that last part to himself.

When they arrived at the hospital, Noah was there every step of the way as they wheeled the stretcher in ,his face contorted in a worried manner as he looked at that beautiful face, eyes closed as if he was just sleeping -if only.

He was told to remain outside as they took Austin away from him,into the E.R. He tried to fight them so he could go in,but the nurses were surprisingly strong enough to hold him back.

As they closed the door,he pressed his face onto the glass,trying to see what they were doing to Austin. It was as if he was keeping watch so that they wouldn't hurt him.

It was extremely frustrating not being in there that before he knew what he was doing, he punched the adjacent wall angrily. Lucky for him, it was drywall. Otherwise, his knuckles would have been shattered by the force he had used.

"Hey buddy ,calm down!" Michael came rushing to his side, pulling him away from the wall, onto a seat.

Noah couldn't sit though. He felt culpable for what was happening to Austin. He had met different people within this week and two of them had landed in the hospital; one of them dead, the other in critical condition.

It was like he spread bad mojo everywhere he went.

Ten minutes passed and still, nothing from the doctors. That was a short time, but to Noah it felt like ten weeks.

The elevator doors dinged and Nicky came busting through, her mother in tow . Nicky's hair was a tangled mess -clearly, she had not run a comb through it, only bound it in a messy ponytail above her head.

"Where is he?" Allison asked impatiently.

"Through there." Noah said,pointing towards the locked doors.

"What the hell happened?"

"He hit his head."

"I know that part. I mean,what was he doing?"

"He was walking out the door in a hurry and tripped on a clothe ." Noah answered it bout hesitating. Something in her eyes told him to talk fast before she lost it.

"Well, have they said anything yet?"

"N-no ma'am ."

"Where are these doctors and nurses!" She asked loudly as she tried to find either one to answer her questions.

"Oh,Noah !" She said as she walked into his arms. He held her close, tightly, trying to give her comfort -and maybe find some for himself.

She had her arms locked behind his back and her face was buried in his chest. The wetness forming on his shirt told him that she had started crying. "Shh..it's gonna be ok,I promise." He didn't actually know,but it was the best he could say.

However,it was a little weird that she had not run into Michael's arms,considering he was her boyfriend and all. Maybe she just hadn't seen him yet. He looked up at where Lira and Michael were standing and the pair seemed pale,and a little nervous. He brushed it off as worry for Austin.

**************

Austin woke up for the second time today in a room he didn't recognize. It did not take him quite as long to figure out where he was though,due to the beeping heart monitor and the tubes running into his arms. His head also felt much better than last time. Maybe the doctors had given him enough painkillers to kill a horse, because that's how bad the headache had felt.

The only similarity with the first time was that he could not remember how he had gotten here. The last thing he remembered was having a screaming match with Noah -well, he was doing most of the screaming.

"Am I going to have to fit you with a tracking chip so that I can know where you are or if you're dead in a ditch somewhere?"

"Mom!"

"No, the grim reaper."Austin was so happy to see his mother and he was even happier when she took him in her arms. Finally,something familiar .

"How did you know I was here!"

"Your friend called your sister crying." She said,pulling out of the embrace.

"Crying?..What friend?!"

"The nice ,young man from yesterday." She pulled up a stool from the corner of the room and sat on it next to the bed.

"Noah?"

"Yes, that's him. Nice boy, I like him." Noah had been crying over him?

"Please tell me you met another boy called Noah yesterday."

"Why? It's the same one. He was broken up about you being here, really nice young man. I don't get why you don't like him."

"Did pigs also fly while I was out?"Austin refused to believe that Noah was capable of anything his mom was saying about him.

The door opened and Nicky came running in, jumping on him like he wasn't in a hospital bed. "Hey there airhead!" He greeted as he hugged her back.

"Call me that again and I'm cutting you open. Did you know hospitals have the coolest stuff for cutting people open!" She said into his neck.

"Point taken," he said. "Get off me!"

"Can't you let me get over my impending heart attack!" She complained, "You know you almost died!"

"What!?"

"Get off your brother Nicole!" Their mother said. "We don't want him being treated for more injuries because you accidentally stabbed him with your protruding bones. Seriously, eat something!"

"Well, I would, but you don't exactly give me food!" Nicky retorted.

"What are you talking about ?"

"Most of the things we eat are leafy...or  green. I'm not a goat!" That was always the dynamic between Nicole and her mother. It was normal to Austin.

"I'm gonna go talk to the doctor and sign your papers. Don't you dare die while I'm away, or I'm killing you ,got it?" She said sternly as she kissed his forehead.

"Sir, yes sir!" He mocked as she walked away.

"Well, now that you're ok, do you mind telling me what was up with you last night when you did what you did ?" Nicky asked as soon as their mom was outside.

"Elaborate." He simply said.

"What do you mean by elaborate ?" She asked,mimicking his voice.

"It means, I woke up today with the worst hangover and absolutely no recollection of last night. The last thing I remember was driving from the hospital after Noah left. The rest is foggy. I think Noah kidnapped me and did something to me and that's why I don't remember going to his house, orgetting into his bed!"

She took a sharp, surprised gasp." You and Noah slept in the same bed last night!" She acted like its the best news she had ever heard. He knew she was a fag hag but still, that was not categorized under pleasant news.

"Yea, that dude is a major creeper!"

"What are you talking about, you started it!"

"What?!"

"You heard me, Noah did nothing to you."

"How could you possibly know that!"

"Because I was there with you."

"You were!" His eyes glimmered with the hope of finally getting the answers he was searching for. "Tell me everything !"

Just then, the door opened and Noah peeked inside,"Can I come in?"he was being cautious so he wouldn't spook Austin.

"Yes!"

"No!"

He heeded to Nicky's answer and carefully stepped in, closing the door behind him. "Hey Austin, how are you doing?"

"As long as I'm away from you , peachy!"

"Austin!" Nicky called in a warning tone.

"I'm sorry. You don't have to forgive me. Just know that I'm really sorry ..for everything." He did look remorseful, which was hard for Austin because he needed to hate him.

"Whatever dude."

"Come on Noah, take a seat." She motioned to the stool their mother had been seated on.

"I don't think -"

"I insist!"

"Austin, do you mind?"

Austin just shook his head slightly, so Noah went and sat , still looking very stiff.

"Are you going to be ok?" there was a lot of concern in his voice.

"This conversation," Austin said while motioning between them, "it's not happening!"

"Oh, for crying out loud, can you drop the act!" Nicky raised her voice frustratedly.

"What act?" Both boys asked in unison.

"The two of you made out last night... A lot." She said before she could stop herself.

"What!" They both asked again.

"And, Aussy, you initiated it!"

Nobody seemed able to talk after that.

Again,what the hell happened last night!? Was the question in both Austin and Noah's minds.

***************************************************

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XOXO loves!