Prompto pushed open the campervan door and held it open for Ignis, who had his arms full of funguar and aegir roots.
“Hey we’re back!”
No greetings. Prompto stepped inside and looked around. Noctis was sat on the bed he and Ignis usually shared, with his back turned, hunched over, furiously tapping away at his phone screen.
“H-Hey. Where’s Glad?” Prompto asked tentatively, he could feel dread creeping upon him.
“Don’t care.” Noctis replied.
Prompto started to feel extremely dizzy, he steadied himself on the counter top. Ignis glanced towards him, with a deeply concerned look.
“N-Noct. What happened?” Prompto struggled, fighting back tears.
Noctis just shrugged, he shut off his phone, lay down and proceeded to aggressively pull the duvet over himself.
“Noct. Please-” His eyes stung, welling up now. “Tell me what happened! How long has he been gone for? Please.”
He didn’t answer.
“Please don’t be like this, fine, I don’t care what happened just tell me, how long has he been out for?”
Still nothing.
“Iggy- I need to find him. He could be in danger! I’ll have my phone, please- take care of Noctis. I’ll be in touch.”
Ignis was startled. “Prompto- I don’t understand they’ve argued before. He’ll come back when he’s cooled off.”
“Iggy, he’s- he’s not been doing well. I’ll explain later but right now, I really need to go.”
It was beginning to get dark.
“Prompto, stay safe okay?” Ignis offered as Prompto hopped down the steps of the camper onto the sand.
“I will.”
He sprinted off towards the restaurant as fast as he could, praying Gladiolus was still there.
Wheezing and sweating he travelled up through the restaurant towards the bar area.
“C- Co… Coctura!”
“Hey! Hey! Take a breather, what’s wrong?”
“Glad. Gladiolus.” His lungs burned. He gulped in a breath. “Have you seen Gladiolus?”
“No, he’s not been here today. Why?”
“Need to find him. He- He had an argument with Noct.” Prompto doubled over catching his breath.
“Well, I’ll keep an eye out- Hey if you leave your number here I’ll call you.”
“Th- Thanks!” Prompto straightened himself up, Coctura offered him a pen and a napkin. He jotted his number down as clearly as he could, though his hands were shaking from the exertion.
Where could he be though?
Prompto wandered down the boardwalk, he spotted the shop shack. His heart sank, if Gladio hadn’t gone to see Coctura then there was a possibility he’d fallen off real bad.
He approached the shop keeper “Hey, I’m looking for my friend, he’s a big guy, tattoos. Have you seen him recently?”
“Yeah he was here about half an hour ago, I sold him a bottle of whiskey and he went down there.” The man pointed towards the white wooden staircase which lead to small partially secluded seating area.
“Ah thanks!” Prompto said cheerily, doing his best not to cry out. Prompto managed a casual jog away from the shop and down the stairs. He reached the bottom and saw him.
Not sat at any of the tables but hidden away under the staircase itself. He was sat on the ground, his arms crossed resting on top of his knees and his head buried in the crook of his elbow. It was hard to avoid looking at the half empty bottle of cheap whiskey clutched in his hand. Prompto got close and sat down next to him, looking up at his face through the gap his limbs created.
Their gaze locked, Gladio’s face was red and puffy, tears began to fall from his eyes. Prompto opened his arms widely, Gladio fell into them, letting the bottle fall onto the sand, spilling it’s contents. Gladio gripped onto Prompto’s torso a little too tightly and heaved heavy sobs into his chest.
“I’m so happy I found you, I was so worried.” Prompto whispered softly, stroking Gladio’s hair.
Gladio loosened his grip and pulled up his head to reply. “I f-fucked- up.” Gladio slurred.
“Shh. It’s okay.”
“S’not’m pathetic.”
This was too much, Prompto couldn’t hold his own emotions back anymore. He started to cry too, but silently trying not to draw attention to himself. Gladio still noticed.
-- --
Gladiolus couldn’t get his head straight. His mind was running around in loops trying to figure out what he should be doing but the answers eluded him. He’d fucked up, he’d fucked up terribly. Now he’d made his boyfriend cry and he couldn’t do anything about it.
He didn’t even feel like he had the strength to move.
“Fuck- Prom. ‘S me, my fault. ‘M so sorry.” he forced out his words, his numbed face doing it’s best to garble any attempts at coherency. “Please. Don’t cry.”
Is this all it took? One argument with Noctis. Just one argument to completely fuck everything beyond repair. He wasn’t fit for his position, he wasn’t fit for the mission. Images of his father, and of Iris flashed into his mind, he’d let his family down.
And Prompto. Prompto did not deserve to be pulled down into this shit.
And yet here he was. Clinging on like a parasite. The heavy level of intoxication made him feel as though he would fall forever if he let go. He was completely and utterly disgusted with himself.
“I can’t help it Gladio. I let you down. Again. I wasn’t there for you.”
“No. Prom. Fuck-” Gladio sat bolt upright, his stomach swirling with severe nausea.
“Gladio?”
“Feel sick.” Gladio leant forward. It seemed to reduce the intensity, his stomach settled slightly.
“You gonna be okay?”
“Y-Yeah, should be.”
“I know you really don’t want to but- we need to get you back, and get some water in you.”
“They gon’ know. I- I-” He slammed his fist into his leg. “I’m horrible Prom.”
“You’re not horrible, this situation is horrible. Glad. It’s circumstance, you know they care about you too right?”
“Guess.”
“Come on Gladio, you think you could stand up?”
He grunted, pushing himself off of the floor. He swayed, and managed to prop himself up against the wall. Everything was spinning, his head, his stomach, the entire fucking beach. He fought against his body's’ urge to throw up, he breathed slowly trying to calm everything down.
“Okay?” Prompto was so attentive, so caring. Gladiolus found it intolerable, guilt seethed through him.
“Thinkso.”
“Put your arm around my shoulder. I’ll try to support you best I can.”
Gladiolus obeyed, he wasn’t in any position to do otherwise. He tried to be careful not to lean his full weight on Prompto but he found he had no real control over it. He could feel Prompto struggling, but was unable to adjust correctly.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine. We can do this, together. You ready?”
Gladiolus nodded, and immediately regretted it. His blurred vision made it hard enough to concentrate on where he was looking without any sudden head movements.
They started forward, slowly. Prompto was keeping his steps perfectly in rhythm with Gladiolus’s, they reached the stairs. Glad reached for the railing with his spare hand to steady himself. They took it one excruciating step at a time. It seemed like an eternity until they reached the top.
“You good?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, just about 5 minutes across the sand buddy, you think you can make it?”
“Yeah.”
Slowly but surely they did, however his stomach was burning furiously. They had reached the door of the camper and Prompto knocked on it loudly.
“Prom, ‘m gonna be- sick.”
Ignis opened the door, Prompto pushed and opened the bathroom door, Gladiolus followed, still swaying, and nearly tripping up the metal stairs. Prompto lifted the toilet seat and forcefully pushed Gladiolus onto his knees. Gladiolus was extremely grateful for this, since he found that he was unable to suppress it anymore.
Retching acidic bile, his gullet stinging, flavours he wished he could forget resurfacing. He began to cry again.
When it was over Prompto pulled him up and shoved his toothbrush into his hand. He’d already put toothpaste on it.
“Thanks?” Gladiolus couldn’t read Prompto’s expression. He brushed his teeth and tongue, extremely grateful to get rid of the taste. After he was done Prompto guided Gladio round to their bed.
Noctis was sat opposite them just staring, it seemed he was completely shocked. He didn’t utter a word.
“Ignis we need like, five pints of water.” Prompto commanded. Ignis complied immediately bringing them over on a tray.
“Drink.”
Gladiolus drank up, as he did he looked up at Prompto. Alcohol tinted memories came back to him that had been faded with time. This had happened before, and Prompto had been there then too. A brilliant beacon of hope, a lighthouse even, stopping him from sinking.
He finished up the water. “Thanks Prom.”
Prompto sat down next to him. “Feeling any better?”
“Kinda.”
“Lie down, Iggy get a bucket just incase.”
As Gladiolus lay down he could hear Ignis scrambling. He ended up grabbing the small plastic bin from the bathroom and passing it to Gladiolus, who hugged it to his body as he lay.
“‘M gonna sleep.”
“You’d better.” Prompto flashed a smile at him as he closed his eyes. He pushed down his doubts and tried to concentrate on that beautiful smile as he drifted off.
_____________________________
JFC- so incase you couldn't tell, I used to have issues with alcohol! Yaaay~ Writing this has been really cleansing but also a bit challenging. There's gonna be one more part after this. I'm glad you've been enjoying this OP!
Fill 3/4. I'll Surely Drown Re: Gladio/Any Bro or OT4 - Alcohol/drug relapse
“Hey we’re back!”
No greetings. Prompto stepped inside and looked around. Noctis was sat on the bed he and Ignis usually shared, with his back turned, hunched over, furiously tapping away at his phone screen.
“H-Hey. Where’s Glad?” Prompto asked tentatively, he could feel dread creeping upon him.
“Don’t care.” Noctis replied.
Prompto started to feel extremely dizzy, he steadied himself on the counter top. Ignis glanced towards him, with a deeply concerned look.
“N-Noct. What happened?” Prompto struggled, fighting back tears.
Noctis just shrugged, he shut off his phone, lay down and proceeded to aggressively pull the duvet over himself.
“Noct. Please-” His eyes stung, welling up now. “Tell me what happened! How long has he been gone for? Please.”
He didn’t answer.
“Please don’t be like this, fine, I don’t care what happened just tell me, how long has he been out for?”
Still nothing.
“Iggy- I need to find him. He could be in danger! I’ll have my phone, please- take care of Noctis. I’ll be in touch.”
Ignis was startled. “Prompto- I don’t understand they’ve argued before. He’ll come back when he’s cooled off.”
“Iggy, he’s- he’s not been doing well. I’ll explain later but right now, I really need to go.”
It was beginning to get dark.
“Prompto, stay safe okay?” Ignis offered as Prompto hopped down the steps of the camper onto the sand.
“I will.”
He sprinted off towards the restaurant as fast as he could, praying Gladiolus was still there.
Wheezing and sweating he travelled up through the restaurant towards the bar area.
“C- Co… Coctura!”
“Hey! Hey! Take a breather, what’s wrong?”
“Glad. Gladiolus.” His lungs burned. He gulped in a breath. “Have you seen Gladiolus?”
“No, he’s not been here today. Why?”
“Need to find him. He- He had an argument with Noct.” Prompto doubled over catching his breath.
“Well, I’ll keep an eye out- Hey if you leave your number here I’ll call you.”
“Th- Thanks!” Prompto straightened himself up, Coctura offered him a pen and a napkin. He jotted his number down as clearly as he could, though his hands were shaking from the exertion.
Where could he be though?
Prompto wandered down the boardwalk, he spotted the shop shack. His heart sank, if Gladio hadn’t gone to see Coctura then there was a possibility he’d fallen off real bad.
He approached the shop keeper “Hey, I’m looking for my friend, he’s a big guy, tattoos. Have you seen him recently?”
“Yeah he was here about half an hour ago, I sold him a bottle of whiskey and he went down there.” The man pointed towards the white wooden staircase which lead to small partially secluded seating area.
“Ah thanks!” Prompto said cheerily, doing his best not to cry out. Prompto managed a casual jog away from the shop and down the stairs. He reached the bottom and saw him.
Not sat at any of the tables but hidden away under the staircase itself. He was sat on the ground, his arms crossed resting on top of his knees and his head buried in the crook of his elbow. It was hard to avoid looking at the half empty bottle of cheap whiskey clutched in his hand. Prompto got close and sat down next to him, looking up at his face through the gap his limbs created.
Their gaze locked, Gladio’s face was red and puffy, tears began to fall from his eyes. Prompto opened his arms widely, Gladio fell into them, letting the bottle fall onto the sand, spilling it’s contents. Gladio gripped onto Prompto’s torso a little too tightly and heaved heavy sobs into his chest.
“I’m so happy I found you, I was so worried.” Prompto whispered softly, stroking Gladio’s hair.
Gladio loosened his grip and pulled up his head to reply. “I f-fucked- up.” Gladio slurred.
“Shh. It’s okay.”
“S’not’m pathetic.”
This was too much, Prompto couldn’t hold his own emotions back anymore. He started to cry too, but silently trying not to draw attention to himself. Gladio still noticed.
--
--
Gladiolus couldn’t get his head straight. His mind was running around in loops trying to figure out what he should be doing but the answers eluded him. He’d fucked up, he’d fucked up terribly. Now he’d made his boyfriend cry and he couldn’t do anything about it.
He didn’t even feel like he had the strength to move.
“Fuck- Prom. ‘S me, my fault. ‘M so sorry.” he forced out his words, his numbed face doing it’s best to garble any attempts at coherency. “Please. Don’t cry.”
Is this all it took? One argument with Noctis. Just one argument to completely fuck everything beyond repair. He wasn’t fit for his position, he wasn’t fit for the mission. Images of his father, and of Iris flashed into his mind, he’d let his family down.
And Prompto. Prompto did not deserve to be pulled down into this shit.
And yet here he was. Clinging on like a parasite. The heavy level of intoxication made him feel as though he would fall forever if he let go. He was completely and utterly disgusted with himself.
“I can’t help it Gladio. I let you down. Again. I wasn’t there for you.”
“No. Prom. Fuck-” Gladio sat bolt upright, his stomach swirling with severe nausea.
“Gladio?”
“Feel sick.” Gladio leant forward. It seemed to reduce the intensity, his stomach settled slightly.
“You gonna be okay?”
“Y-Yeah, should be.”
“I know you really don’t want to but- we need to get you back, and get some water in you.”
“They gon’ know. I- I-” He slammed his fist into his leg. “I’m horrible Prom.”
“You’re not horrible, this situation is horrible. Glad. It’s circumstance, you know they care about you too right?”
“Guess.”
“Come on Gladio, you think you could stand up?”
He grunted, pushing himself off of the floor. He swayed, and managed to prop himself up against the wall. Everything was spinning, his head, his stomach, the entire fucking beach. He fought against his body's’ urge to throw up, he breathed slowly trying to calm everything down.
“Okay?” Prompto was so attentive, so caring. Gladiolus found it intolerable, guilt seethed through him.
“Thinkso.”
“Put your arm around my shoulder. I’ll try to support you best I can.”
Gladiolus obeyed, he wasn’t in any position to do otherwise. He tried to be careful not to lean his full weight on Prompto but he found he had no real control over it. He could feel Prompto struggling, but was unable to adjust correctly.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine. We can do this, together. You ready?”
Gladiolus nodded, and immediately regretted it. His blurred vision made it hard enough to concentrate on where he was looking without any sudden head movements.
They started forward, slowly. Prompto was keeping his steps perfectly in rhythm with Gladiolus’s, they reached the stairs. Glad reached for the railing with his spare hand to steady himself. They took it one excruciating step at a time. It seemed like an eternity until they reached the top.
“You good?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, just about 5 minutes across the sand buddy, you think you can make it?”
“Yeah.”
Slowly but surely they did, however his stomach was burning furiously. They had reached the door of the camper and Prompto knocked on it loudly.
“Prom, ‘m gonna be- sick.”
Ignis opened the door, Prompto pushed and opened the bathroom door, Gladiolus followed, still swaying, and nearly tripping up the metal stairs. Prompto lifted the toilet seat and forcefully pushed Gladiolus onto his knees. Gladiolus was extremely grateful for this, since he found that he was unable to suppress it anymore.
Retching acidic bile, his gullet stinging, flavours he wished he could forget resurfacing. He began to cry again.
When it was over Prompto pulled him up and shoved his toothbrush into his hand. He’d already put toothpaste on it.
“Thanks?” Gladiolus couldn’t read Prompto’s expression. He brushed his teeth and tongue, extremely grateful to get rid of the taste. After he was done Prompto guided Gladio round to their bed.
Noctis was sat opposite them just staring, it seemed he was completely shocked. He didn’t utter a word.
“Ignis we need like, five pints of water.” Prompto commanded. Ignis complied immediately bringing them over on a tray.
“Drink.”
Gladiolus drank up, as he did he looked up at Prompto. Alcohol tinted memories came back to him that had been faded with time. This had happened before, and Prompto had been there then too. A brilliant beacon of hope, a lighthouse even, stopping him from sinking.
He finished up the water. “Thanks Prom.”
Prompto sat down next to him. “Feeling any better?”
“Kinda.”
“Lie down, Iggy get a bucket just incase.”
As Gladiolus lay down he could hear Ignis scrambling. He ended up grabbing the small plastic bin from the bathroom and passing it to Gladiolus, who hugged it to his body as he lay.
“‘M gonna sleep.”
“You’d better.” Prompto flashed a smile at him as he closed his eyes. He pushed down his doubts and tried to concentrate on that beautiful smile as he drifted off.
_____________________________
JFC- so incase you couldn't tell, I used to have issues with alcohol!
Yaaay~Writing this has been really cleansing but also a bit challenging. There's gonna be one more part after this. I'm glad you've been enjoying this OP!I hope you like this part too :)