Summary: Naser is in the dumps about what happened between him and Reed. Only for something to change from his isolation.
(After the After Party sequel.)

 Don't say yes if you can’t say no~

Victim of a system, say if it isn’t so~

Squatted on the doorstep, swollen on the blow~

Leaving without you, you can’t say no~

 

I lay in bed, listening to the same song… What was it, fifth, tenth, fiftieth time in a row? I lost count; I didn't even know what time it was. What month is it? I’ll check sometime next year. Next century, maybe. Reed, no, I can’t think about him. He is probably high on carfe or some shit. Why is my face wet? Not again. Why, why do I have feelings for him? All we did was have drunk, gay sex and split. And not to mention, he wasn’t even drunk! He used me and ducked out. Filthy, pink, bastard! So why do I feel like shit?! I even feel bad for punching him after he confessed. Why do I still love him? Should I contact Reed? No, it’d be a waste of time.

 

Suddenly, I heard my phone buzz. I sluggishly sat up and checked the device. Anon? What would Lucy’s husband want? I accepted the call and– “Naser! Answer your door, man!” A voice on the other side yelled.

 

“What? Anon, Why are you at my door?”

 

The line went silent. “I’ve been knocking and ringing for almost an hour. Get down here; it's urgent. If not, I’m calling Ripley to kick your door down!”

 

“What?! Anon, you better not–” He disconnected the call before I could tell him not to break my door down. Fuck, I finally got off my bed and quickly put some clothes on. I went down the stairs and faced the front door. I doubt Reed might be with him. I open it with bated breath. Anon is on the other side alone; he looked relieved.

 

“Well, look who finally came out of their cave.” Anon looked me over. “Are you growing out your hair?”

 

I ran my hand through my hair, sure enough. It’s gotten slightly longer than it had in years. I sighed. “Dunno… What do you want?”

 

“May I come in?” I nodded and let him in.

 

“Don’t mind the trash; I haven’t felt up to it lately.” Anon looked surprised at the months of trash piled up in the living room.

 

“Fuck, you too?” Anon spoke in a low voice.

 

“Hey, it ain’t that bad. I was planning to clean it.” I sat on the couch. “At the end of time, probably.” I cleared off some trash beside me for Anon to sit. But he chose to stand.

 

“How did you…” Anon facepalmed himself and looked at me. “No problem! But I didn’t come here to check on your well-being if that's what you think.” He looked around the living room. “Though I might now that I’m here.”

 

I sighed, “Anon, I don’t need your charity. Just leave me alone, and I'll–”

 

“Is this about Reed?”

 

“What! No!” I exclaimed, “This isn’t about him! For all I can care about is him going straight to hell!” My voice almost broke. Anon stepped back.

 

“Whoa! Okay, okay. I won’t poke the bear.” He rubbed the back of his head. “I might have to… Fuck…” He looked back up at me. “Did you hear that?”

 

“Yeah, I did… what is it? Did Reed want to hook up with me again?” I chuckle dryly.

 

Anon shook his head. “No, at least I don’t think so.” He walked up to the couch and sat on it. “How do I put this… Okay, so you and Reed broke up on explosive terms the last we met. Correct?”

 

I nodded, “Yeah, bastard got what he deserved.” A smile formed on my beak. “Bloody snout and all.”

 

He looked down, “ Jeez, so it was true.” He turned to me. “So when you and Reed made the drunken mistake of having sex in my room, Reed wasn’t drunk. Right?”

 

I laughed, “No! He wasn’t! He certainly had the both of us fooled!” I felt my eyes sting. “But I… sometimes I wish he was.” Why am I crying? Anon noticed. “Dammit… Sorry, I–”

 

“It's okay! You don’t have to apologize.” Anon assured me. “Though I do have a question.”

 

“Sure, fire away.”

 

Anon sat silently for a moment. “So… Do you like…” He paused. “like Reed?”

 

“What!?” I laughed. “No!.. I…” Something inside of me began to hurt. Not physically. It grew every second. “I…” It was unbearable. It was the truth, and it hurt like hell. “Fuck…” I covered my face as my eyes began to sting, and fresh tears fell again.

 

Anon was quiet. I couldn't see him through my hands or the tears. He’s probably too busy being disgusted by my queerness . Then I felt a hand on my shoulder, his hand. I managed to bring my hands down and look at him. He didn’t look disgusted, but Anon looked worried. “It’s okay, Naser. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Is he being supportive?

 

I sighed heavily, “It’s not that. It’s just that I still have feelings for Reed. Despite what he did.”

 

Anon pulled his hand away. “And that was Reed taking advantage of you. Do you know why he would do that?”

 

I shrugged, “Hell if I know. All I did was cry about something I don't even remember and then get a blow job with a side of creme filling.”

 

Anon seemed to think about something before saying anything. “What were you upset about?”

 

“Well, that's the thing! I don’t fucking know!!! ” I put my hands to my head. “I’ve been wracking my brain for months now, and I don't even know what month it is!”

 

Anon looked astonished, “You don’t know what month it is?!” I nodded. “Naser, it's fucking April . ”

 

“April!?” I rubbed the back of my head. “Could’ve sworn it's September…”

 

Silence befell the room again. “Well, I wasn’t exactly here to check on you, Naser.” I glanced at him. “I’m here because Reed… He almost OD’d on crystal carfe.”

 

“WHAT!?!” Anon covered his ears as my voice nearly busted his eardrums. “IS HE–” I managed to compose myself as my heart beat heavily. “Is he okay?”

 

“Don’t worry, he’s better now. Reed got back from the hospital two days ago.”

 

I was breathing heavily. “H- How did he get his hands on that junk?!”

 

Anon sighed. “He makes the junk, in Reed’s words. It’s a byproduct of unpure carfe. Along with the carfe Reed usually fries his brain on. Because it was illegal, dispensaries were supposed to discard it after making the batch. Reed didn’t throw it away this time.”

 

“Fuck, fuck…” I turned to Anon. “Why would he take it?!”

 

“He said it was to ‘take the pain away.’ Do you know what I think?” I waited for Anon to get to the point. “I think he’s torn up over what happened between you two.”

 

“R- really? Are you sure he isn’t faking it?”

 

Anon sighed. “I wouldn’t be here if I’m sure he was.”

 

I slumped, “I fucked up, didn’t I.”

 

“Well… I think you did what most people would’ve done,” Anon’s face became stern. “But the two of you are suffering from it. And Lucy is worried sick about you two.”

 

I turned to Anon. “What should I do? I mean, I can’t just sit here. But I don’t want to reignite things between Reed and me.”

 

“You could always talk with Reed.” Anon stood up. “You don’t have to get with him out of pity. But the two of you should at least end things on a positive note. Reed does care a lot about you, you know. Just make sure you know what you’re doing is the right choice. ” Anon began to walk out the front door.

 

“Wait!” Anon stopped at the doorway and turned to me. “Could you… take me to his place?”

 

<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

Lucy’s husband drove me to Reed's place and parked it in the driveway. Damn, this place is a house of the future if I ever saw one. Lucky bastard! “I have to say, Naser. You dressed nicer than when you greeted me earlier.” Anon smirked. “ Hiding something spicy under there? ”

 

I was confused, “No? Why would I put spices in my–” Oh… “Really…”

 

He shrugged, “ What? Can’t fault a guy for assuming a fruity guy might get extra fruity with another fruitloop.” I opened the car door and left, shutting the car door while doing so. I’m at Reed's door and— “By the way! Careful where you shoot your icing next time, man.”

 

I proudly showed Anon the bird for reminding me of that. I’m surprised Lucy even stuck with him after that. Unless he’s making up for it to her by– The front door opened. A tired pink velociraptor appeared with disheveled hair and pale complexation. My heart stopped. Did I even think this through? Should I’ve been thinking about it? What do I say? “Reed… Hey, I–”

 

I couldn’t say more as Reed wrapped his arms around me in a tender embrace. It felt good. It felt honest. And the stress of the situation melted away like a hot knife to butter. “You came, Naser…” His voice broke as he cried into my shoulder. It felt oddly comforting. He wasn’t angry with me. It took a while for Reed to collect himself, “Sorry. It’s just so good to see you. Wanna come in?”

 

I nodded, and the two of us walked inside the modernized home. Dear God! His place was as trashed as mine! Except his house was permeated with the stench of burnt grass. Carfe, no doubt. “Damn Reed, expecting anyone?”

 

He chuckled, “Nah, just didn’t feel round to cleaning it.” He turned to me. “Hey Naser?” I gave him my attention. He looked nervous, “Why’d you come visit me?”

 

I sighed, “I heard what happened to you.” Reed looked guilty as I brought it up. “C’mon, crystal carfe!? I thought you knew better.”

 

“I- I’m sorry, Naser, it’s just…” Reed looked like he had difficulty choosing what to say. “We haven't ended on the best terms. And I felt like an ass ever since I used you. It built up over time, and fiber carfe wasn’t cutting it. But I never meant to take advantage of you, Naser.” He sat down on a beanbag chair. “I mean, I thought you wanted it after you confessed it.”

 

What? “Confesed what?”

 

Reed looked back up at me, “You don’t know?”

 

“Hell no! Kinda drunk at the time, you know.”

 

Reed sucked the air through his teeth. “Well, when you caught me blazing it in Anon and Fang… sorry, Lucy’s room. You began to chat with me about life in general. Then you got all quiet-like afterward. Then I asked what's wrong.” He looked down for a moment before looking back up at me. “You bursted into tears. Yammering about a cliffside, it took me a minute to calm you down. What you told me surprised me.” He rubbed the back of his head. “Do you want to know? I mean, I don’t want to pick at old wounds–”

 

“Yes!” I interrupted, “For Raptor's sake, Reed! We ended up having pity sex over it. So I would love to know why you thought I wanted it.”

 

Reed sighed and looked me in the eyes. “You… Fuck, you were talking about your wing. And how it got hurt.” I stepped back a moment. My wing? I looked back at it. The scars that covered it were reminders of how stupid I was back then. And the reason why my sister was distant from me. The wing never grew as much as my unhurt wing did. It was humiliating.

 

“You kept saying how much you hated it. How it made you feel humiliated wherever you go.” Shit, I must’ve told Reed everything. Reed chuckled, “I felt sympathetic and hugged you, and you damn near wetted my shoulder with tears. You know, just some bromance action never hurt anybody.” His face got pinker than it should.  “Then you looked into my eyes and… I– we…” He covered his red face with his tail. “We kissed!” He blurted out. “We both got deep too! I thought an hour passed. It felt so long!!! But it was only five minutes!” Reed was failing to hide his embarrassment. It was cute to see.

 

The feeling of affection for Reed grew. It was a misunderstanding. Genuinely. Reed calmed down enough to speak a bit more while he hugged his tail. “Then I saw you were… eh… Excited down there.” Reed looked defeated. “I fucked up big time, Naser. God forbid that you actually fell for me.” He smiled a pained smile. “I kinda fell for you. But it's okay if you don’t want to be with me. If you ever will…” Reed was getting teary-eyed. “I just wanted you to forgive me.”

 

I stood there, amazed by his confession. He– he loved me!? He loves me!!! I felt my heart pound with excitement. What was this feeling?! “Reed?” He looked at me, and my heart fluttered. I’m pretty sure my wings did the same. “Do you love me?”

 

Reed looked embarrassed. “I think so… Yes, I–” He didn’t say anymore as the excitement reached my legs, which ended with me torpedoing toward him in a tight embrace, knocking Reed over off his beanbag chair and onto the floor.

 

“You love me!!!” I kept saying it over and over again. He barely had a chance to process what happened.

 

“Wait, you love me?!” I took a moment to give some space between us.

 

“Yes! I do, Reed!”

 

He looked surprised. Then he became as excited as I was. We both embraced tightly again as we rolled around on the floor. We loved each other, and nothing was stopping us from showing it . We eventually settled down. Both of us were on our sides, looking into each other's eyes. Sure, we both fucked up. In more ways than one. But in the end, we realized our mistakes and showed it through the end. But the most beautiful mistake was falling for him. I looked into his velvet eyes, clear of red. As he stared into mine, both filled with hope and purpose.

 

Then we kissed…
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