I felt silly, smudging the dark eyeshadow around my eyes. It looked good though. I angrily grabbed a makeup wipe and rubbed it all off. Well, there goes an hour and a half of my time. I wasn't going to his house to impress him.

I was going to get answers. Hopefully he would cooperate. No reason he would, but I was stupidly optimistic.

It was late in the day, around seven, and my mom had gotten off of work two hours prior. I had no idea where she was.

It's okay, I thought. If she wanted a real conversation, one without yelling at me and insulting me, she would make the effort to.

I smoothed down my sun dress. It was cute, I thought. It was white with purple and pink flowers. In the back, it was crisscross on my lower back and it stopped above my knees.

I wasn't there to try and impress him, I reminded myself as I slipped on my ballet flats. The acne on my cheeks, chin, and my eye bags was enough to prove to myself I wasn't there to look good. I just needed him to care about my words.

When I got into my car, I navigated my way through memory. I had been to his house many times. Writing down an address would have been smart, but I never thought I'd need it. I debated on texting Florencio I was on my way. No, he'd probably leave.

Upon my arrival, I noticed a car that wasn't Florencio's. I looked more closely. It was Sam's, I remembered.

I nervously tugged at the bottom of my dress, suddenly cold. I reached into the backseat and thankfully found a cardigan. I got out of my car and it took me a few minutes before I actually knocked on the door. Previously I had tapped on it lightly, debating if I should just drive home.

Sams answered the door, a hand on his hip, grabbing something under his sweater. I gulped.

"Oh." Sam's face flushed. "It's you."

I nodded timidly. I almost turned around.

The hand on his hip relaxed and went into his pocket. "What are you doing here?"

"Um." I wasn't so sure now. Who was I to come here uninvited? Florencio did that to me all the time but it felt oddly different now with the roles reversed. "I want to talk to Florencio," I said softly.

"Who's there?" I heard someone yell, I recognized it was Florencio's voice. "Is it Rudy? Let him in!" A loud laugh. Then a thump.

Sam looked incredibly conflicted. He sighed. "Just get in," he muttered. He practically pushed me inside the house. He looked outside for a few seconds, then shut the door.

I followed the sound of Florencio talking to the living room. He was laying face down on the couch.

"Florencio?" I approached him. He turned to me and I gasped at his state. His eyes were red and the skin around his eyes were dark. A few cuts and bruises occupied his cheeks and jaw.

"You should have seen what he did to Rudy," Sam said from behind me. I jumped, not expecting him to be there.

Florencio sat up and held his head. "Give me more pain killers," he muttered, shutting his eyes tightly.

"No you self destructive shit," Sam told him, hitting his head. Sam looked at me. "This idiot washed the pills down with alcohol."

My chest felt hollow. My concern for Florencio was too high for me to handle.

Florencio's laugh was rough. "I'm fine, Sam." He opens his eyes and looked at me. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you."

"He's drunk," Sam said. "I don't know how useful he'll be."

Florencio stood up, not wobbly at all to my surprise. "I remember everything when I'm drunk. So I wouldn't..." I guess he gave up trying to remember what he was going to say, because he walked away and up the stairs.

Once he was gone, I asked Sam concerned, "does he drink a lot?" I couldn't help but ask.

Sam shook his head. "No. But with the amount he's drunk today, I'm sure his liver is dead."

"That doesn't make me feel better," I snapped. Why did I even come here?

"It wasn't supposed to." Seeing my expression, Sam's face softened. "He'll be okay."

"What led him to getting like that?" I looked at the stairs.

"It's not my place to say... sorry," Sam apologized.

I nodded. "It's okay." I made my way to the stairs. "I'm gonna talk to him."

When I got to Florencio's room, he was laying on his bed shirtless.

Snap out of it, Parker! Now was not the time to be distracted.

I sat on the edge of his bed next to him. I tugged on his hair, waking him up.

"Parker." He grabbed my hand and kept it on his head, making me run my fingers through his hair.

"What happened?" I whispered.

He looked at me. "Drugs, drugs, drugs, money, money, money," he murmured. "There's never enough of it."

"Do you owe Rudy money?" I guessed.

Florencio smiled. He had a beautiful smile. "Yeah. Always."

"Did you steal it?" I dug deeper.

"He stole drugs from me. That night we met," he slurred. "I gave him money to get it back. Fucking stupid idea. It was Sam's, though."

"This is a dangerous feud," I commented, letting his hair fall through my fingers.

"He's just an asshole who wants money that I need." He leaned into my touch.

"What do you need the money for?" I wasn't expecting him to answer the question and he didn't.

He smiled again and it almost made me smile despite the circumstances. "Nice try, honey."

I huffed. "Fine. Tell me about Natalie."

"Funny," he laughed. Drunk Florencio was happy, almost. He never laughed and smiled this much.

"Okay. What about Tyler?" The name came up often. I could assume he a supplier or whatever, but, he seemed more important than that.

"You're a fucking comedian," he snorted. Angry, I pulled his hair hard. "Ouch—what the hell?"

"Give me a hint then," I practically begged him. "About Tyler." Maybe I was making a big deal out of nothing with this guy but I just needed something.

"He's your man," Florencio said after a moment.

I sighed, frustrated. I was sure that was a way of saying he was just a supplier. Right? I had no idea and was pretty sure I'd be in the dark forever.

"I'm convinced you don't know how to talk," I told him.

"I'm talking right now," he argued.

"Not like that," I murmured and looked away from him. Well, this was unsuccessful.

"Do I seem drunk to you?" He asked me. "Be honest."

I scoffed. "Yes. You do. You're laughing too much and smiling. Also you look like crap. Your red eyes look horrible." I dragged my finger down and poked his eye lightly.

"Yeah, just like that, Parker," he whispered. "Poke my goddam eyeballs out. So hot."

I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. "Also that. You don't talk like that."

"I thought you said I didn't know how to talk?" He pointed out.

"Okay. I take it back. You don't know how to talk well."

"Neither do you, honey. You're shit at talking. All I have to do is look at you and you glitch or something." He grinned, knowing what he said was true.

"Y-you—ah!" I was cut off when Florencio suddenly grabbed me and pulled me on top of him. My knees had to stretch wide to accommodate to his size.

He ran his hands up my thighs, squeezing.

"Wanna make out?" He asked me, still grinning. He sat up before I could say anything and kissed my lips. He must have brushed his teeth because he tasted minty. I felt my face flush. I pushed him back down on his back.

He stared up at me, a red tint on his cheeks. "Why'd you stop? Keep going." He touched me higher under my dress.

"Florencio! You're drunk!"

He rolled his eyes and pushed me off of him. I let out a sound of surprise, bouncing on the bed next to him.

"God, I know," he groaned. "My head is pounding."

My face still hot, I pulled my dress down and kicked off my shoes so they fell on the floor. "Then why are you drinking?"

"To forget," he moaned, throwing his arm over his face.

"I thought you remembered everything when you're drunk?" I shot back, sitting up.

He looked at me. "I don't remember saying that."

"You're a liar then," I accused. "Will you remember us talking?"

He pulled me back on top of him, our chests pressed against each other. "I could never forget you, honey."

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