These Nights Don't End

Nick was drunk again like he was most nights since he had dropped out of UC Davis. It had gotten bad to the point he couldn't tell where his sober self ended and drunk Nick began after the sun set. The party nights had begun to blur together to the point where the only vivid memories he had of them was the part he got to indulge in things a bit more hardcore than just beer or vodka and they were fleeting, a small portion of consciousness before euphoria kicked in and everything else was left blurry. He never could remember how he got home after those nights, counting on his friends to get him back safely. Did his father watch him get back? Did he watch in disappointment as his drunk son stumbled his way into his house at four in the morning?

The thoughts were pressing and sober Nick would've probably been more considerate of the impression he left but drunk and high Nick didn't give a damn about who saw him and what they thought. He still, somewhat, held it against his father for trying to force him into a life that he didn't want. His dropping out was more of a rebellious moment to the young man and he didn't know what he wanted to get out of it. He tried to convince himself and the people around him that his decision to drop out was a strategic one; that he had a completely sketched-out plan in his mind for what he wanted to do otherwise, even if no one really believed him. And why would they? It was true, he had no idea what he was going to do with his life. All he knew was that he wanted to leave that college and come back home, hoping that a plan would form by itself once he got back. It was quite evident that even as a twenty-year-old, Nick wasn't the most careful of people especially not with his own life.

The worst part was that now that summer had started and the people that were younger than him were going off to college and his own class fellows were in various colleges themselves, his failure stood out more. Although his friends put up a face in front of him, he could see the pity in their eyes when he would be puking outside a house, all remnants of his partying leaving his body. They didn't say anything to his face, they were well aware of his bad-temper and knew that he wasn't to be made upset. There wasn't really anyone who could get through to Nick and make him understand what he was doing was damaging to only himself so they had simply given up trying and left him to his own devices.

Even now, he was at another party hosted by his high school class fellow, Martha Jacobsen, who came to Parlis Bay for the summer. Sitting in a secluded corner on an armchair of her living room that had been turned into a dance floor for the party, his usually sharp blue eyes now unfocused as he glared into the distance, at nothing in particular. The living room was crowded and sweaty except for the corner he sat in as nobody was brave enough to approach the Walters boy as he lazily sat with his legs spread apart, his head resting against the back of the armchair, one arm draped across the armrest while the other raised a solo cup filled with a mixture of vodka and coke to his lips. There was more vodka than coke inside it and he could feel the bitterness of it on his tongue as it went down his throat.

After gulping it down, he placed his arm on the armrest, his eyes flicking towards his bandaged-up right hand. His glare hardened as memories of that morning flashed in his mind increasing his grip on the solo cup, ignoring the pain that shot through his palm at the action. Madison's words echoed in his head; how she had looked straight into his eyes and said what everyone else was too scared to say and had then simply walked out without a care in the world. Once she had left, he had tried to not let her words get to him but failed as he had smashed the glass she had used against the countertop, making a deep cut in his palm. She had always been irritating to him but it was clear that her apprenticeship with his father was forcing them into more interactions with each other and he wondered if the next one would be better or worse than the last.

But he wasn't allowed to dwell on his thoughts for long as his sisters' boyfriend, Sean, made his way over to Nick.

"Yo, Nick!" The blond boy called out to him as he got close enough to tower over his sitting form, "Have you seen Sarah anywhere? I've been trying to call her all day."

Nick stifled an eye roll as he took another sip of his bitter drink, "You being my little sister's bitch is none of my concern, Sean."

Sean had started dating Sarah almost three months ago but he behaved as if they had been together since the dawn of time. The actions that he saw as sweet came off as possessive and clingy to others and even Sarah usually avoided her borderline obsessive boyfriend. He could be quite caring at times and they all knew he meant well but there was no denying that Sean needed to understand the concept of personal space. To Nick, it just seemed like Sean needed to find a personality trait other than dating Sarah Walters.

"Can you not be a dick for once? I really love her, you know this," Sean raised both his eyebrows.

"Yeah? Well, you're an idiot for putting yourself through that," Nick said as he emptied his glass before standing up and grabbing Sean's shoulder, looking into his eyes with his unfocused ones, "You're young, man! Sleep around and have fun before getting tied down to some miserable bitch." His words were slurred but Sean didn't miss the pointed harsh tone in Nick's voice.

"You're being more of a dick than usual," he asked in concern, "What's up?"

Nick's eyes widened, a flash of panic in them, before he went back to his sitting position, "Nothing, no, this-this is just life advice that you're receiving from Nick Walters, all right?"

"I think I'll pass," Sean looked at him for a minute before his eyes flickered in the direction of the dance floor making him take a breath of relief, "Thank God! There she is!"

Nick followed his path into the dance floor with his eyes as Sean come face to face with Sarah who was dancing with Heidi. Even with the crowd surrounding them, Nick could easily see the annoyed looks that both girls had on their faces as Sean talked to them. He stood up from his chair when he could see that Sean was starting to get grabby with Sarah while she kept pushing him off.

The crowd seemed to part for him as he made his way to the three teenagers, pulling Sean away from Sarah by pulling at his shoulder.

"Alright, that's enough!" He said, now towering over Sean who visibly flinched from the hard look in Nick's eyes.

But the fear was gone from his eyes and he tried to defend himself, "I'm just trying to talk to my girlfriend, Nick!"

"Yeah? Well, she doesn't look like she wants to talk to you," He put both hands on Sean's shoulders and lightly shoved him in the direction of the patio and with an authoritative tone, "Go chill out, man. Go!"

Sean looked at the three of them for a few seconds before scoffing and finally doing as Nick told him to. Rolling his eyes at the retreating back of the teenager, he wondered how many times he would have to deal with Sean's clingy obsession with his sister.

Heidi muttered from behind him, making him turn around, "I still don't know why you're dating that guy. Talk about attachment issues."

"Not that I care about your little relationship problems but either talk to him or cut him loose, I'm not always gonna be here to send him off," he said pointedly to Sarah who scoffed.

"I didn't need your help."

"Real mature, Sarah. Why do I even bother with your spoiled-?"

She lightly shoved him as his voice rose, "Can you not cause a scene everywhere you go? Also, Dad wants to see you," she added, her lips raised in a slight smirk making his face drop, "Go talk to him and make life easier for all of us. Let's go, Heidi."

Nick could only watch the two girls with angered eyes as they climbed the stairs to the upper floors of the house. While he had to have the entire future of Walters. Inc forced onto his shoulders, his sister could spend all day and night doing whatever she wanted with whomever she wanted and Nick was just expected to be all right with that. He didn't know if this new conversation with his father was to do with Nick's lack of ambition or something else that Michael had found to be wrong with his son but he didn't want to find out and he would be damned if he didn't put this conversation off for as long as he could.