Closed starter for @magic-ones
Xander really didn’t get out much these days. In fact, he spent most of his time either sleeping, closed up in his room, or curled up on the couch under a blanket while staring at the tv, though not really watching it. He felt like he’d lost a part of himself that night. A piece he just couldn’t get back, but a piece he desperately needed. He was still having nightmares, still waking up in a cold sweat after the memory of watching the life fade from her eyes crept into his mind to haunt him. Asher had been doing what he could for him. The poor guy even had to remind Xander to feed. But he knew Asher was growing tired of having to take care of a grown man. He had to have been. It was likely one of the reasons why the taller boy constantly encouraged Xander to get out of the apartment, even if it was just for a small walk around the block. Something about how the fresh air would be good for him.
He more often than not refused. The odd time he’d find himself out on the streets, but it was never for very long. That sensation of suddenly being boxed in while simultaneously having the air sucked from your lungs as panic set in always had him right back inside the apartment, locked up in his room where he felt some amount of security. He was getting a little stir crazy, however. He needed to get out. And when Asher finally lost it on him a little bit for moping around, it was the last push he needed to actually go somewhere instead of just wandering around in front of the building.
Ten months...That comment kept playing over and over in his mind as he wandered down street after street. Asher said it had been ten months since she died, and that Xander needed to start healing, that he needed to start getting over it. He said it didn’t matter how sad Xander was anymore, that she wasn’t coming back and he needed to accept it. They didn’t talk about her much. He knew it was difficult for Asher too. She meant something to the both of them. Whether she liked it or not, she brought them all together, made them stronger, made them a family...
Jesus...He needed to stop thinking about it. It was too much. If he kept thinking about her, he’d surely turn tail and run right back home.
A sign happened to catch his gaze, and he stopped. A bar. He hadn’t been to a bar in...god knows how long. He could...he could use a drink. Maybe it would help distract him. Yeah. Acting on impulse, he stepped into the dim establishment and made his way to a bar stool that happened to be some distance away from the rest of the evening’s patrons. It was a bar, sure, but at least he actually made it out somewhere this time. Asher would have no reason to bitch at him for not trying.
