Chapter Text
Salt For Your Wounds
Davey couldn’t see. At least, not well enough to count as having vision. He wished it was for a less embarrassing reason but unfortunately for him, someone’s stray Doc Marten just had to slam into his nose. Usually, this wouldn’t be as concerning, but currently he was getting sucked into the currents of a growing mosh pit, and there was enough ringing in his ears to disorient him entirely. Shoving like a salmon upstream, he realized he would most likey have to wait out the crowd and just try not to get trampled or bleed on everybody.
He felt and hand grip his shoulder and yank his frame towards the walls of the circle. It belonged to some skinny punk kid, who was trying to help him escape the sweaty tsunami of concert-goers. Finally managing to escape, he quickly walked out the front end of the small, sticky, venue, flashing his savior a thumbs up of gratitude. He had been holding his previously white, now partially dark red Alien Sex Fiend T-Shirt over his nose in an attempt to not drip his face all over people who would certainly fuck him up worse over the inconvenience. Now standing outside in the suddenly way-too-cold air, he let his adrenaline wear off and let his eyes water until he could see once more. After a few minutes he could breathe through his nose again, which was a huge relief, knowing he wouldn’t have to go to the ER or explain to his mom how it had been broken.
Hearing the cheer of a mass of people swell from inside the building (which might as well have been a sardine tin) and whatever unknown band say something along the lines of “Thank you,” he made his way back inside against the flow of drunk adults to find a bathroom before they closed. Finding a sticker-blasted, mildly-sanitary, bathroom which thankfully had a mirror, he inspected the damage. There was a cut below his eyebrow which is what probably had gushed all over his eye, temporarily pausing his most vital sense, and a gnarly bruise already pulsed over the bridge of his nose. Tentatively pressing his finger to the spot between his eyes, he winced and pulled away before wiping his face and hands free from as much red as he could achieve with the limited options he faced.
As he was walking out to try and bum a ride home off of someone, he heard footsteps coming around the corner. Low and behold, it was the lanky kid from before. Upon further inspection, he wasn’t as much skinny as just a stringy build. He had sort of perpetually sad downturned eyes; his face sort of melancholy, and very, very, unruly curly hair. “Hey, thanks for saving my ass back there, man,” Davey praised as he turned the corner. The kid called out after him, “Oh, no problem. Is it broken?” He seemed genuinely concerned and had helped earlier so Davey weighed that he was probably worth having a conversation with. “No, I don’t think it’s broken. Just kind of bashed in,” He joked. The other guy smiled; his bottom teeth were slightly jacked up, but barely noticeably. “I like your- well, it’s a little messed now, but I like your shirt,” The stranger said before adding, “I’m Jade. You’re Davey, right? I think I’ve seen your band.”
Grinning, Davey confirmed that Jade was correct. He was practically beaming. “Yeah, that’s me. You like us? You don’t have to say yes, we suck.” He laughed. “No, no, you guys kick ass! I only heard about you from you living in the frat house, is that still true?”
Jade spun a ring around his finger, picking at the coffin that was placed on the band. “Yeah, not anymore, I live with my family.” Davey trailed his words off in a way that made Jade realize that that probably wasn’t a good thing.
Feeling guilty for bringing it up, he said the first thing to come to mind. “You need a ride?” Davey seemed a little surprised but not creeped out. This Jade fellow seemed nice and had already helped him twice before, plus he had already needed a ride. He took him up on the offer and they left the grimy building as the workers were tidying up. Walking out under the streetlight, the taller of the two pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it, offering it to Davey, who declined. Their drive was mostly quiet after Davey had offered his address. The windows of the car had been rolled down and the air pooled in through them, blowing their hair in reverse but drying any sweat still remaining from the night. It was quiet in the way where every sound was warm, the air pushing past itself and hum of a motor pulling them through the road. Leaning his head on his own thin arm out the passenger side, Davey could see the stars, increasingly thankful light pollution hadn’t taken the sky yet. After the cruise to his house, he thanked Jade once again and told him to keep going to shows in the hopes they’d run into eachother again. Disappearing into the dark hole leading into his house, he crept to his room and promptly began his attempt to sleep off the impending headache, but only after he had groggily scrawled onto a paper in subpar handwriting “Feed me a star. Let me taste the Sky.”