The mind is such a strange thing.

Before alcohol took over his senses, his thoughts went a million miles per minute, leaving him heaving and dizzy. But because he drowned himself in the bitter taste of beer, all thoughts have been emptied out of his head.

With the cab’s AC hitting him directly, Aloe pulls the coat over his shoulders closer. He presses his forehead against the window, watching the town pass by in streaks of blurry lights and fuzzy faces.

His mind can only reach a single concrete thought.

His hands reach for his phone, and without a moment of hesitation, calls the number at the very top of his call logs. Why had he been ignoring Basil for so long?

Why had I been ignoring my feelings for him?

It rings for a while. But just as the car stops to a halt, Basil answers his phone. Aloe ignores how the cab driver curses out the other drivers in front of them, and instead, he giggles at the sound Basil makes on the other line.

“Aloe? What was that sound just now?!” 

“Basil,” Aloe coos. “Come pick me up!”

Even Aloe is surprised by his own bravado at this moment. Basil accommodated the little things he noticed about Aloe, but never did Aloe demand things of him.

It always scared him that he might scare Basil away. Because in the deepest depths of Aloe’s heart, he knows there’s only one thing he wants to ask of his friend.

“Where are you now?” Basil asks.

“In a car.”

“Where’s the car headed, then?”

When the car starts again, Aloe tumbles forward. Fortunately, his seatbelt keeps him in place, but he does hit his head on the window. He groans in pain.

“You alright there, kid?” The cab driver calls out. “We’re almost there so try not to make a mess.”

Aloe doesn’t mind the disgruntled cab driver, just groaning as he rubs the sore spot on his head. 

“Are you okay? Where are you headed?”

“Am just fine,” Aloe says, his words slurred and voice a bit groggy. His eyes feel heavy with sleep, and the only thing keeping him from passing out are the noises coming from the other line of the phone. “About to head home.”

There’s the rustling of fabric on Basil’s side, shortly followed by the muffled sound of someone shouting in the background. In the deepest part of Aloe’s memories, he feels like he’s heard that voice before. He just can’t remember where he’d heard it.

Whatever may be happening on the other side, Aloe doesn’t care all that much anymore. 

“I’ll be right over, so wait for me, okay?”

“M’kay.”

He doesn’t care what else happens, because he’ll get to see his favorite person.