The house that we ended up finding was absolutely gorgeous and completely unharmed from the chaos. It wasn't the largest of houses - but it was clear that whoever had lived here had put a lot of love into it.

They had shovelled the snow from the garden so that you could see the vibrant green green and bright coloured flowers. The stonework outside was beautiful too, complicated designs woven through it.

Buggy didn't even bother to stop and look. He opened up the door, made a joke "They didn't lock it. They're basically inviting us to stay the night," and he headed inside.

I just sighed and followed him inside. I closed the door tightly, wanting to keep any heat we could in.

I saw Buggy throw off his jacket, flinging it carelessly to the floor. I picked it up after him.

"You don't need to do that," He told me as he flung his shoes too.

"I do. This is someone's home, we should treat it with respect."

He rolled his eyes at me. "You're such a goody two-shoes. I don't know why I like you so much."

Drunk Buggy had a big mouth. I just ignored him, collected his shoes and placed them carefully at the front door. I took my own off too.

"It's a beautiful house."

"But cold," Buggy added, slumping down in front of the fireplace. "Let's get some fire!"

He began to attempt to light a match. Panic set through me and I ran to him, carefully taking the match and matchbox from his hands.

"You're too drunk to handle fire."

"Boo!" He exclaimed. The force he said it with flung him backwards, and he lay flat on his back. "Let Buggy play with fire!"

"You're such a baby sometimes."

"Only around you."

I suppressed the blush that was trying to spread across my face. I lit a match and carefully lit the logs in the fireplace. They went up quickly, burning bright. The heat was greatly appreciated.

"So warm," I whispered to myself.

I got the fright of my life when I felt Buggy basically slam into me. "Why are you whispering?" He asked in a whisper, laughing as he almost knocked me over.

"You're so drunk."

"You got me drunk, didn't you, Betty? You wanted to get me drunk so you could -"

"Don't even finish that thought," I told him, helping him into a sitting position. He was struggling to even state up. "I'm going to get you some water."

As I stood, he grabbed onto my sleeve. "Can you check if they have any alcohol?"

"Sure, and If they do I'll be pouring it straight down the drain."

His eyebrows furrowed. "I'll consider that an act of treason and I'll make you walk the plank for it."

"Does your ship even have a plank?"

He shrugged. "I'll install one. Just for you."

I pulled free from his grip and headed into the kitchen. I wouldn't actually pour the alcohol down the drain. It wasn't mine to drain. I didn't even check for any.

I grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water, bringing it back to Buggy. He seemed hesitant to take it.

"Buggy, please. You need to drink at least a bit of water."

He scowled, but took the glass and basically downed the entire thing. "Happy?"

"Very, and you'll thank me in the morning." I sat back down next to him.

When I did, he immediately rested his head against my shoulder. I didn't question it. He was always so caring of me, I was happy for him to take any comfort from me.

Plus, he was being quite soft and fun. I didn't mind him like this. At least he wasn't an angry drunk.

"It feels nice to have someone taking care of me. Normally, my crew just encourage me to drink more and then leave me wherever I pass out."

"Because they don't really care about you," I said, feeling mean as I said it. It was true though. "You should surround yourself with better people."

"Are you better people?"

"I'd like to think I am."

"I think you are," He said softly. I looked down at him and saw that his eyes were shut. "I wouldn't mind it being just us."

"What do you mean?"

"When we visited that other town, a couple of months ago, and it was just us two - I liked that. Less chaos, more fun. Somehow."

I smiled at that. The idea of it being just us two was nice to me too. But unrealistic. Buggy needed an audience. He needed a crew. And I wasn't going to be with him forever. Soon, I'd be home.

My home didn't really feel like home anymore. It seemed like some forgotten dream. I'd only been with Buggy for a couple of months but somehow, my life before seemed like years ago.

"We should go to sleep soon."

"I don't want to leave the fire," Buggy said, lifting his head from my shoulder. "Can we sleep down here?"

"Sure. I'll go grab some blankets and pillows from upstairs."

When I stood, Buggy just said, "Be quick," so I did. I ran up the stairs, found the master bedroom and grabbed what I needed.

Back downstairs, I made a mini bed for Buggy in front of the fire. I gently helped him lie down. As I went to leave, to go find a bed upstairs, Buggy grabbed my arm again.

"Where are you going?"

"I was going to sleep upstairs. If that's alright."

"Don't you want to sleep next to me? We've slept in the same bed for so long, I don't know if I could sleep without you."

That made me smile like an idiot. He was so cute when he was drunk. Plus, I felt the same way. We hadn't slept apart for so long that I wasn't sure if I could sleep without him either.

Buggy continued. "I won't try anything funny, I promise. I respect your boundaries."

"I know you do," I told him. "I'd be happy to sleep next to you."

He smiled like an idiot when I said that. His face was a bit of a state from the long day - his make-up was everywhere. He always refused to take it off so I didn't even bother to ask to wash it off for him.

I crawled in next to him and immediately he cuddled into me, big spoon - little spoon style. I just enjoyed how warm he was.

🤡

also we're so close to hitting 100k reads which is unbelievable? I really thought this fic wouldn't do that well - I didn't realise there were that many people who (like me) are obsessed with Buggy! It means the world to me that people are enjoying this book!!

I posted on my board - I'm thinking of getting ao3! I'm still a little unsure of how it works: like I don't know if there's even an app or its on web so once I figure it out, I'll post this book there as well!

Reads: 97.6k
Published 14th November 2023