Author's Note - About the Spanish parts - I speak Spanish about as well as Kit does, which is to say pretty poorly. I did my best with the grammar, but please forgive any clumsy sentences.
Trigger warnings - discussions of domestic violence (not perpetrated by any main character), self harm, substance abuse, suicidal ideation, negative self talk, and mental illness. I try to handle these topics with care, but please remember that these are characters talking about themselves. They are not always going to be as careful with their language as I would be talking about mental illness in any other context. If you find any of it too hard to read, please click off and know I have no hard feelings <3
These chapters include some more explicit drug use, as well. No noncon or dubcon involved with that at all. All sex in this story is consensual.
If you are or someone you know is struggling call or text 988 for the Suicide Lifeline in the US. For other countries, dial your local emergency number for local resources. Take care of yourselves!
5
Kit
I don't know why I agreed to go to Rose with Ira and Teddy. It was once the kind of club where you had to wear something cool enough to get in the door, but I hadn't been there in years. It was also nearly an hour away in Nashville.
Unlike most places in Nashville, I wasn't going to slip in with the tourists by donning cowboy boots and a pink hat with a minidress. This place was well off Broadway, on Church street with the other queer clubs and bars.
"Do you ever go to Rose?" I asked Ben a few days later. He arched an eyebrow at me.
"Sometimes. Why?"
"What are people wearing there now? I agreed to go with Teddy but, um, I haven't been in a while."
"
Teddy
wants to go to Rose?" Ban said doubtfully.
"Teddy agreed to DD Ira there and somehow sweet talked me into going along."
"That makes more sense," Ben nodded thoughtfully. "Well, they don't keep the door like they used to. You'll be fine with your casual punk rock thing. Tell Theodore not to dress so straight, though. When are you going to Rose?"
"Friday night. Some band called Idyl is playing," I answered with a shrug. I had no idea who that band was.
"Idyl? Can I tag along?" Ben asked. He looked excited. For a moment, that curated bored barista look was gone.
"Um, I think that's up to Ira," I said carefully.
"Then I'll ask Ira," Ben nodded and tapped at his phone.
We both had to get back to work as the afternoon crowd started rolling in. Among them was Ira, who waited until the line died down to lean on the counter and smirk at Ben.
"So, Benji wants to go see Idyl," Ira said, sounding bored but he was still smirking.
"You're a pain in the ass," Ben chuckled and handed Ira a drink he didn't order.
"Yes, of course I am," Ira agreed and sipped the coffee with a contented grin. "I mean, I was going to ask you anyway, but you can definitely come after this perfect breve."
"Order one from Kit next time," Ben said. "I've heard through the grapevine that she makes better coffee."
"I don't give it away for free, though," I added.
"Except to Theodore," Ben pointed out.
"I paid for that," I said and shrugged.
"Maggie's meeting us at Rose," Ira said as he checked a text.
"Does Ted know that?" Ben asked.
"Probably not," Ira said. "I just asked her this morning and she just answered. She probably won't tell him, though, because she'll be there with David."
"Who is Maggie?" I asked.
"Teddy's sister. They're usually close, but she's been dating this piece of shit that Ira absolutely shouldn't be inviting along to a club," Ben said pointedly.
"I didn't invite David. I invited Maggie. She loves Idyl," Ira explained. "I didn't think about David tagging along."
"Ah, fuck," Ben groaned. He pulled out his phone.
"Teddy is working right now," I said quietly. "Don't text him that while he's working."
But Ben ignored me. A flurry of replies lit up his and Ira's phones. A few minutes later, Ira's phone rang.
"Dude, I just asked her this morning," Ira said into the phone. "I didn't think she would bring him." He paused for a moment to listen. "Yeah, I don't want him drunk and high around her, either. But we'll all be there to watch her." He waited to listen again and winced. "We'll bring Foster, then. He'll come for Maggie. And Ben's coming." There was another pause. "Ok. Yeah, love you too. Bye."
I blinked at that. I hadn't expected Ira and Teddy to end a phone call with "I love you". Ira looked at me and his eyes widened.
"It's not like that," he stammered. "He's like my brother. It's hard to explain."
"I know, Teddy told me," I said and held up one hand to stop him. "It's good. I'm glad he has a family that loves him."
Ira relaxed a bit and nodded.
"We love both of them. Maggie is just young and not interested in her big brother's opinion about her shitty boyfriend," Ben explained.
"She's not interested in any of our opinions," Ira sighed.
...
In the car on the way to Rose, Ira offered me a little, chalky white tablet.
"Um. You do know my boss is sitting next to me, right?" I asked and jerked my head at Ben. We were crammed in the backseat of Ira's car with Ben in the middle. Foster had kindly offered me the front seat, but I couldn't imagine how he would fit his giant self back there at all much less with Ira and Ben. Ben grinned at me and popped his own molly tablet in his mouth.
"I don't give a fuck. Just don't bring it to work," he said and shrugged.
I took the tablet, but I just held it in my palm and glanced at Teddy in the driver's seat. Ira hadn't offered Teddy or Foster any. I knew Teddy didn't do any drugs at all even when he wasn't the DD. Maybe Foster was the same.
"Would you rather have an edible?" Ira asked me.
"Or nothing at all if that's what she wants," Foster said pointedly.
"Yeah. Or that," Ira said and rolled his eyes. "I'm not pressuring her. I'm being nice."
"Um, let me think about it," I said and handed the tablet back to Ira. I thought I saw a little smile on Teddy's face. That was enough to convince me for the moment.
Rose was as strangely opulent as I remembered. It had a lot of purple and gold and big, gaudy chandeliers.
Ira and Ben were rolling already. Ben had his hands in Ira's hair, rubbing the buzzed sides and twisting the long parts on top. They both begrudgingly accepted a bottle of water that Teddy forced on them instead of the drinks they asked for when he got back from the bar.
