Love Drunk

Dominic Chidler

"Doichi, are you ready now?"

A quiet, short man with longish raven hair and poignant huge doe blue eyes turned to his right, and a man with spiky blond hair standing by the door blinked several times. Doichi sat on the bed with his phone in his hand, but it wasn't what caught the other off-guard time and time again.

It was Doichi's features.

Sitting there with a nostalgic expression on his face, the man, Terry, was reminded of the first time he ever saw Doichi, or Dominic Chidler, some twenty years ago when they first formed their band, Ark. Doichi wasn't someone you could call handsome. He was beautiful— even more beautiful than most women. Even after twenty years, their half-Japanese-half-English vocalist hadn't changed.

"Y-yeah," Doichi answered with that half-smile of his, a habit he was unconscious of which he did whenever something bothered him.

Terry however knew this very well. He wasn't the other's best friend for nothing. He watched as their lead vocals stood up slowly, letting out a sigh as he placed his handphone back in his pocket and faced him.

"What?" Doichi asked and Terry raised a brow in inquiry as he placed his hand across his chest, spread his feet apart with the intention of planting himself firmly by the doorway until Dominic talked.

Doichi should know by now that Terry wouldn't let him off when he knew something troubled him. Ark's leader was as stubborn as a mule and as naggy as a fishwife when he chose to be— and he would be that right now.

They're in the middle of their world tour and he wouldn't let their precious lead vocal get distracted by anything, though, he already had an idea what bothered his friend. For the past years, like his looks, Doichi's cause for worries hadn't changed.

"Did Alex call?" Terry inquired, and as expected, Doichi's eyes widened, his pupils flickered in assertion as his lips parted in surprise.

It still hadn't occurred to his friend that he could read him like a book. Yep, Terry was right.

"No…" Doichi answered as he turned his face away. "I was the one who called her," he continued and Terry sighed as he placed his arms down, shifting on his feet as he padded across the room to sit on Doichi's bed.

"How is she?" he asked lightly, and again, the nostalgic expression crossed Doichi's face as he too sat back on the soft bed.

"She sounded fine," the lead vocals answered, his eyes softening as his lips turned up into a wistful smile.

“She’s fine? Why do you look like that, then?”

“I look like what?” Doichi patted his face, as if wondering if there was something there. But both knew that he was just trying to be funny to possibly change the topic.

Terry was not buying it, though. He knew him too much to be swayed so easily. The leader raised his brow at their main vocal without speaking, until the pressure finally made Doichi give up with a huge sigh.

“So?” Terry prompted after a while.

"She got married today, and she said he'll be happy to have us visit them soon" he announced, trying to sound light, but Terry didn't miss the pain that flickered in his friend's eyes when he mentioned his beloved's marriage.

"She— what?" Terry asked in alarm as he searched Dominic's face. "But how could she get married? You're here?" he asked in rapid-fire succession but kicked himself mentally upon seeing that his questions only made Doichi's suffering visible.

Dominic's lips which smiled a while ago twisted more in agony, his teeth biting his lower lip as his eyes filled with moisture he let flow down his cheeks.

"Doichi…" Terry called softly as he pulled his friend against him, letting the other's head rest on his shoulder, as Dominic's body shook as he cried, and they stayed that way for a while.

Normally, Doichi, regardless of his gentle looks, was such a strong-willed person. He's not someone anyone could break down easily. But when it came to Alex, his emotion was like a rollercoaster.

After the tears had been spent, Doichi's soft mewls turned to little sniffles. Terry had the urge to ask what really happened but decided to be quiet and let his best friend tell the story on his own. Doichi told him things anyway even though sometimes it was after some time of keeping it to himself.

"Tetchan…do you know what Lexie told me the other day aside from telling me she's getting married?" Doichi asked, using Terry's nickname, and when the latter inclined his head as if to ask what, Doichi's pained expression returned. "She said that I'm finally free."

"What?" Terry couldn't believe his ears.

Alex had always been the one who was selfish and possessive of his friend— well at least before she became very busy with her career and couldn't stay with Doichi anymore.

"She said I can do whatever I want now. I'm free from her," Doug continued and a thought crossed Terry's mind.

A year ago, when Alex still stayed with them, Terry had talked to the young woman and made her realize a lot of things. Was this after all his fault, he wondered. Alex essentially suddenly changed after they talked. Was it?

"But you know what Tetchan? I never said I wanted to be free," Doichi said sadly and Terry sighed. He couldn't tell his friend that it was his fault yet without being sure. "But it's okay. She sounded happy on the phone. I just hope that someone she married would love her more than I did— more than I do and more than I ever would," he added with a resignation that crushed even Terry's very rational heart.

It would be a little difficult from today, the leader surmised. It wasn't easy to move on. After all, Douglas had Alex all to himself for years, from the moment Doichi first saw Alexandra and fell in love.