​Trigger warning: Talk of drug and alcohol abuse and someone does pass away from drug use

 

Henry was not a friendly man he drank but he swore it wasn’t a problem as long as he never broke his two rules: no drugs and never too much while on the job as long as he could solve cases he was ok. But he saw the way the other detectives looked at him like he was less than them though he didn’t mind he didn’t really get along with his coworkers and was mostly a loner except for two friends John and Sly. John whose name was really Johnathan was a Stockbroker who Henry met one night while on a bender he bought henry drinks all night so he’d over look the drugs he offered him and somehow they ended up hitting it off and hung out many times after, of course John did much better to hide his drug use and Henry was always just drunk enough to ignore how poorly John hid it. Sly whose real name is Sylvester was who kept the other two men level headed or at least he’d like to think that but he couldn’t hold his liquor and was usually the first to suggest the men drink. Sly was a lawyer hence the nickname given to him by Henry while attempting to tell some bad Joke about being friends with a lawyer which Sylvester didn’t really get since he was a contract lawyer not a defense attorney but henry like most nights they spent together was too drunk this night to know there was a difference.Sly and John would meet on Henry’s birthday hitting it off the same way both men did with Henry. The three men would spend many nights drinking together; some nights they drank in a somber silence and other nights they would drink and party and shout; these nights would usually end with them being tossed from whatever bar they chose that night and many other bars. In their own substance abusing ways they grew closer so they began to see each other as best friends though none of the three men would ever admit that even at their drunkest.

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The three men have been friends for 5 years and met up regularly to drink the night away and sometimes the days. Henry has tried and failed to quit drinking twice since meeting his friends which shocked even henry. He had grown contempt of a life of booze and police work but the moments were two situations he hadn’t accounted for the first attempt being because he had gotten so drunk and broken his first rule. He knew the moment he sobered up that he had to stop if not stop just slow down just a little and in all honesty he did come close to slowing down he had only gotten buzzed for two whole days but then he went out with sly and John and that was the first time he caught a glimpse of the loneliness that drove him to the bottle in the first place. Henry came close to breaking his second rule too but that wasn’t when he tried to get sober at that point he had stopped caring about how he appeared at work the detectives didn’t waste their time hiding the shame they felt working alongside him. The second instance was for Love; he met Jenny 3 years into his friendship with John and Sylvester. Jenny was a new hire at the Three Square Diner, a place Henry went to after a long night out alone, the one place he kept secret from even his two friends. This was because this was the one place where being alone felt nice so in turn so did being sober. He used to eat at this place with his mother and father before they split up. He felt he would sully the memories he made here if he came in drunk and he knew if his friends were around he’d be drunk for sure. 

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Now back to Jenny, she was Henry's waiter for two of his visits to the diner before she decided to ask him on a date. They had talked a little the two times she waited on him so Henry decided why not it couldn’t hurt. And it didn't. They weren’t an instant match at least not to Henry. He thought she talked a lot and she had not a single drink every time they went out but she kept asking him out and to Henry's surprise he kept saying yes. It was after date two henry decided he’d lay off the alcohol at first it was just because he didn’t want her telling the staff at the diner about his drinking problem but after a few more dates he started to realize he didn’t have to try not to drink with Jenny he felt whatever had kept his mind at ease in the diner must have rubbed of on Jenny. Ths was the catalyst for Henry's love growing while he knew spending more time with her would mean less time for him to get drunk; he just had to see if she could somehow make him feel like the diner so that he could stop drinking. He hadn’t had thoughts of quitting since the time he broke his first rule. However the only reason he never considered the idea was gone he’d no longer be alone but unfortunately for Henry the light at the end of his tunnel went out or at least that's how he’d describe it to you. He had been seeing Jenny in secret for sometime now and by this time he started to go out with John and Sly significantly less and even had reigned in his drinking to nights. He was slowly improving and a little pleased he didn’t have some horrific rock bottom to get him to sober up. However he never told Jenny about his drinking problem and contempt with hiding it till it wasn’t a problem anymore but that's not how it worked out for him unfortunately. One night on the few instance he goes out with Sly and John this night in particular Henry had plan to be there last hangout he knew with Jenny he could sober up and if he stay with his friends like this he’d only ended up at rock bottom with this Henry decided to party hard with them this one last time and then disappear into the night to live out a life with Jenny a real one. Next thing Henry remembers is Jenny’s disgusted look before she slaps him and leaves then he passes out from the booze. When he woke up he was at home in his bed he immediately began to panic. Jenny had blocked him and John and Sylvester were too just as out of it as he was saying all they remember is that he introduced them to some girl he’d been seeing. He later found out from the manager at the diner that Jenny just up and quit. Henry tried going to her apartment but she never answered. A part of him felt like she had moved which scared Henry more that something he did drunk would scare someone he cared for so much they would remove him from their life entirely. Losing her caused him to wallow and eventually given his loneliness fall back into old habits with his old friends. Henry as he got back into drinking eventually “got over” Jenny in his own way with the only two people who made him feel less alone. He did however hold on to some solace that a Jenny moment would come again or maybe he’d hit his rock bottom though these passing thoughts were always drowned out by the liquor. His last chance to get sober was the day he lost a friend, John being the only friend with a drug and alcohol addiction would pass away this moment was not his third attempt at getting sober it had been a two years since he had seriously tried by now he didn’t even have to drown out the thoughts of sobriety cause he scarcely thought of it. When he heard the news it shattered him knowing one of his two friends was gone but he easily kept his cool cause he of course was drunk at the time, but once he was alone he cried like a baby. After that he went to meet up with Sly at a bar Henry even though it is around midday and he is only on break from work immediately orders two drinks. Henry notices Sly takes the drink but does not drink it but ignores the unease that gives him in favor of getting as drunk as he could before returning to work. They talk for some time about John and his passing along with whether they will attend the funeral, Henry joking that if they go there better be drinks Sylvester gives him an uncomfortable chuckle but by now Henry is work drunk so he couldn’t tell. 

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The day of John’s funeral Henry invites Sylvester for a morning drink before the funeral Sylvester agreed saying he had to talk to Henry anyways. They meet at the bar Henry wastes no time with hellos and orders two shots for both of them. Giving Sylvester no time to respond Henry shoves the drinks in his hand and downs both his glasses in an instant While Sylvester just stands there with a look on his face. Henry notices this look because it’s the same one his coworkers used to have when he’d come into work off a bender, disappointment, shame. Before Sylvester could say a word Henry knew what was going to happen and simultaneously realized the day John died so did Sylvester and All he could think was that he needed a drink.