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The door openend, a phone was shoved at him, and the door was closed again, the lock clicking into place. The suddenness with which the phone was pushed at Alex made him scramble to grab it before it fell to the floor, which resulted in him spilling a lot of hot cider all over his hand an arm. He cried out, dropping the glass to the floor, which then broke with what was, to Alex at least, a very loud sound of shattering glass, the hot liquid spreading across the hard wood of the hallway, splattering against the wall and door.

Alex was just staring dumbly at the ground, then at the phone in his hand, then at the door again. What in the name of Jack had possessed Yin to behave like that? He reached over and knocked on the door again, the concern in his voice strong as he called out "Yin? Yin! Is everything ok?" As he was saying this, he tapped at the phone, the screen blazing back to life with a picture. A picture of Yin. As a female.

Oh jack..no..just. no.

He stopped knocking on the door, just letting his arm rest against it instead as he let his head fall forward with a thud. This picture would explain Yin's odd reaction, and Alex pleaded through the door again. "Yin...please open the door?"

He got no immediate response, so he stepped back from the door, forgetting about the glass littering the hallway and stepping on some of it with a crunching sound. The cider itself had already cooled off significantly to being barely luke warm, so it didn't bother him as it soaked into his soaks. He felt dizzy, or like he was in a total daze, as he turned away from the door and went to the closet to get some towels, coming back to get down on the floor and clean up the mess, wincing when the other bottle of cider dug painfully into the side of his stomach. He pulled that bottle out and placed it on a clear patch of floor. When he was finished with that, pushing all the glass to the side, he sat down, leaning with his back up against the door, staring at nothing. He had no idea what to do or to say, so it was probably for the best that Yin hadn't opened the door. If he could just bring himself to tell Yin how he felt, then the whole thing might have been easier, but he couldn't do that..

But why couldn't he? Because it would ruin their friendship? He was doing a fine job of that without telling Yin anything about his feelings. He felt like crying, which was silly, because he couldn't cry if he tried. Or at least, he didn't think he could. That one zombie, Rain, at Christmas time had somehow managed so maybe it was possible.

Slowly, he reached out and grabbed a hold of the bottle of cider, studying it with unseeing eyes before opening it up and taking a small sip. He didn't really care for the taste, or the way it seemed to warm him up as it went down, even though it was clearly a cold beverage...but he took another sip anyways, this one a little deeper and longer then the last.

some time later, the bottle was empty, and discarded beside him in the hallway. He was feeling a weird but almost pleasant dizziness in his head now, but he just continued to sit and wait. Maybe Yin would come and let him back in, eventually....

Alex was resting against the door in his somewhat dizzy stupor, staring at a wall, not at all ready to actually face the weremantis, but at the same time knowing that if he didn't he once again risked the chance of losing him completely. Drinking the cider had been a dumb idea since it only clouded his mind more and compromised his judgement. Right now he was even considering just shouting through the door and telling Yin the absolute truth about everything, since really, what more damage could he really do by confessing?

But as much as he wanted to do it, anytime he so much as thought about telling Yin anything, his stomach clenched up tight and his throat went dry. He brought his knees up to lay his head down, wrapping his arms around the front of his legs. He didn't sleep, he didn't need to breathe, eat, or drink. He could stay here an awfully long time, and he was pretty sure Yin was going to have to come out or let him in eventually. Who even cared that he had dozens upon dozens of family and friends downstairs wanting his company? Nothing was more important then what Alex was doing right here, right now.

Suddenly, he heard movements on the other side of the door, and his head stirred. His clothes and hair were still slightly damp, just not quite completely dry yet, and his movements felt stiff as though he had been sitting in that position for quite a long time. A voice, Yin's voice though somewhat distorted in a familiar way, was telling Alex that the door was unlocked. The zombie slowly pushed himself to his feet, leaning heavily against the wall as the slight dizziness made his already questionable balance even more so. He reached over to fumble at the door knob, finally turning it and inching the door open slowly and staggering inside. He leaned back against the door until it closed, causing him to fall backwards with it, hands splayed across the door at his sides. Once it was shut, he sank to the ground, his gaze quickly finding Yin in his natural form at the far side of the room.

"Hey." He said, quietly. "Sorry I uh..spilt your drink out there...." He nodded behind him, towards the hallway. What was he supposed to say now? Had he managed to come up with anything at all that entire time he'd been in the hallway??

"So that picture..." He started, wincing a little as though this were the most painful thing he ever talked about. "I..actually forgot that I even had it until the other day and, well, to be honest I forgot again about it until now. Look, Yin..I can't really explain why I did it but..at the time I was a ghoul too and there were so many weird things happening and I just don't know why I did it."

That was probably the lamest answer he could give. I don't know. But it was better then option two which was I think I'm in love with you and well...you were a really pretty ghoul.

Under normal circumstances, Alex might have flinched away from all the strange clacking and clicking noises the giant mantis in his room was making. But really, right now he just felt numb, and cold, and a little dizzy. He was already having trouble focusing on simple non moving things when Yin started moving rapidly towards him. He blinked his eyes slowly a few times, staring at the face that was so close to his now. This face didn't look like Yin's face, but he knew it was Yin. He had a strange desire to reach out and just touch it, but that felt a little bit like it might be off limits or, at the very least, rude.

"Of course I didn't take it to blackmail you or harm you in anyway. Why would I do that, Yin?" He sounded sincerely hurt at the very thought of it.

"Look, I can even delete it now while we're talking about it. Otherwise I might forget again." He dug into his pocket to pull the phone out again, squinting at the screen as he tapped at it, finding the picture of Yin. It was a shame, really, such a pretty picture. But not worth his friendship with Yin.

With a couple more taps, the image was gone. Deleted. He held the phone up to Yin for proof, his arm wavering slightly in the air, though he wasn't sure how Yin would even know that Alex had done what he said.

"I don't ever want to hurt you Yin..ever again. And I keep screwing things up. I'm sorry." He said sadly, as he let his arm drop and he stared at the phone in his hand.

Alex watched Yin wander away in his true form, pulling his knee's up and resting his forhead on them. He wished the room would stay in focus a little better. He only looked up again when Yin continued speaking, seeing that his friend had changed back to his other form again. That horrible numb but cold inside feeling somehow worsened at the weremantis's words, and the way he was suddenly standing with his shoulders hunched forward and..was he shaking?

Alex wished fervently at this point that he had never been born, so that he could have never made Yin so upset. It had been an invasion of privacy, no matter how innocent the act had been when he'd done it. He'd looked at the picture once since having it, and had never shown it to anybody else, but that didn't excuse it. He was just not the friend Yin deserved, so it was almost a relief when Yin asked him to leave.

He had to swallow past a lump in his throat before he could speak, as he pushed his back up against the door to help slide himself up to his unsteady feet. "I understand." He said, quietly, though he was starting to wonder whether he'd make it down the stairs. Remembering the phone in his hand, he considered calling his cousins for assistance, but then realised just how silly that notion was, since they had probably had drank more cider by now then he had.

Finally turning, he fumbled with the door again. "I'm going downstairs for a bit, if you need me...gotta see my family at some point." He reached up to rub at his eyes, it felt mildly like he was stalling from actually having to leave, as he probably was.

"I'll...I'll see you in the morning then." He mumbled, slowly opening the door and closing it behind him with a soft click. He glanced down to the mess on the floor outside of the room. The empty bottle, the broken glass all pushed to one side with the towels soaked and smelling of cider. Somehow he was going to have to explain those towels to his mom in the morning....and the broken glass as well since Alex had no intention on doing anything more with it then he already had. Bending down, he grabbed the empty bottle and started making his way downstairs, tucking it beneath his shirt so that no questions would be raised.

He had at first intended to speak with his mom that night, to tell her what had happened with Yin and the twins, or at least, what he had seen of it. But at this point, that seemed like a rather dumb thing to do. He looked a complete mess. His clothing had dried rumpled and creased, his hair was a tangled disastrous mess that no amount of running his fingers through seemed to be able to tame. No, he would not be speaking with his mom tonight. Perhaps later on, in the morning or during the daytime he could, but not right now.

Now he was going to find his cousins, and some more of that cider they had smuggled.

Somehow, he made it downstairs, somehow, he made it out into the backyard without raising too many suspicions along the way. Somehow, he found the cousins in a grouping in the woods outside, and he saw with some mental hesitations that Olivia had rejoined them. She appraised Alex with a cool look, taking in his shabby appearance with pursed lips as the other cousins all cheered for his arrival, telling him to sit down and already pushing a cider towards him as he collapsed to the ground.

The rest of the evening was a blur that Alex wasn't quite sure he remembered properly. Olivia mostly gave him the silent treatment to start with but became more amiable towards the end the more he persisted in trying to win her back over. The cousins had somehow managed to collect quite the stash of drink, and somewhere in the back of Alex's head he told himself this was a bad idea, and that somebody was going to notice that much cider was missing, but then he also decided he didn't care anymore, and drank it anyways. He only needed to drink two more before he was slurring his words a little, becoming just as loud and rowdy as the other boils (and ghoul), laughing along with the rest of them, making jokes, telling stories.

But no amount of laughter or story telling or cider drinking would fill that sudden dark and painful void left from his earlier discussion with Yin. He asked Olivia, who hadn't been drinking much, just sipping on one cider the entire evening, if she could help him back upstairs, and she had stared at him thoughtfully for a while before obliging and pretty much dragging him to his feet, ducking her head under his arm and wrapping her arm around him to assist him back into the house. He kept himself quiet, not really trusting himself to speak anymore, as she somehow got him through the kitchen and dining room, and up the stairs, leaving him at the top with a small smile.

"Good luck, Alex." She intoned before turning and making her way back down.

Alex had no idea what time it was, if it was close to morning or still just late evening or somewhere in between. It didn't really matter. He leaned against the wall and made his slow way down the hall, his left foot dragging behind him, all but useless at this point. When he reached his bedroom door he noticed that the broken glass and towel were gone, indicating that his mom had been up here at some point. Somewhere dimly in the back of his mind a voice was telling him that this was a bad thing, but he ignored it as he slid to the floor, leaning back against the door and just..waiting. Waiting for morning to come. Waiting for Yin to wake up. Waiting for this dull ache in his chest to subside. Just waiting.

Alex had been 'dozing'. That is to say, he had been staring straight ahead at a wall, his mind blank in what might be considered as close to a state of sleeping as the zomboil ever got. Normally he would have avoided this with video games or reading, but all of his books and his hexbox were in his room. If he had been in a better state of mind last night, he might have remembered that he was supposed to join Michi and her party to play games...but he really hadn't even been in the mood by the time Yin had asked him to leave his room for the evening. He was feeling...drained. Not so much physically, though his head was throbbing dully, but just..mentally and emotionally. He couldn't think anymore, because when he did it was just about how much he had screwed things up this weekend. Of how much he wished he could just lock himself in his own room and hide away from everyone today, go back to school tomorrow, and hide out in his dorm room away from everyone once he got there.

But he knew that wasn't going to happen. Not with Yin sharing the room with him, not with the family downstairs, probably with plans for the entire day that would likely take up all of Alex's time. Here in the cold hallway, all alone, this was the closest he was going to get to quiet solitude, and he couldn't even utilize the benefits of such a notion, because he knew that Yin was on the other side of that door, upset with him and probably ready to wash his hands of Alex for good.

The door was suddenly shifting behind him, and his head raised, eyes slightly unfocused. He had a moment of alarm where he thought the door was going to swing completely open behind him, and he was going to fall flat on his back on the floor, but the door moved open slowly, by centimeters, and Alex was able to shift away from it slowly so as not to be leaning on it anymore. Yin was awake, and was coming out, finally, and Alex just sat there, hunched over, looking like a dog that had been beaten. "Morning Yǐn Cáng" He mumbled back to Yin, his voice a barely audible croak escaping a dry throat. Could he possibly hope that things were going to be ok between them after last night? The thought might have been laughable, if Alex felt like he had any happiness left in him anymore.

Alex had no idea how long he'd even sat outside the door. It could have been thirty minutes or it could have been several hours. If the stiffness in his joints was any indication of time, it must have been a couple of hours at least. He unfolded his limbs and pushed himself up off the floor, but he was still slightly dizzy and once he got to his feet he stumbled, and had to reach out his arms to catch himself on the wall opposite his room. Mentally he was chastising himself for looking like such a moron, but he turned himself around, leaning against the wall and nodding at Yin. "Yes I think...new clothes would be nice right now."

He pushed off of the wall and made a genuine concentrated effort to just walk, or at least, shuffle, in a straight line to his bedroom. It was like his brain and his limbs were not working on the same speed yet, so it too a lot of focus on his part to do something so simple.

He made it past Yin, and into the room. The room was still quite a mess from last night, but he didn't really care. He was supposed to be getting clothes to change into, but his eyes landed on the bed, and it looked rather comfortable, especially for a boil who was having difficulty moving. He made his way over towards it, and practically fell on top of it, rolling so that he was on his side, back to the closet.

He just..needed a few minutes, that was all. "Yin?" His voice came out muffled from behind his arms which were covering his face to keep the light out of his eyes. The light hurt, jack damnit!. "This is going to sound like an odd question, but is there any water left?"

Alex felt the bed shift downwards as Yin sat on the edge, felt his warm arm as it wrapped around him and pulled him to an upright position. It seemed a bit silly to keep his face covered at this point so he let his arms drop but his eyes still closed in pain. Suddenly there was a plastic bottle pressed up against his mouth and he tilted his head back to drink it, until Yin pulled it away. He wasn't sure if that made him feel any better, but at least his mouth and throat weren't so dry now. "Thank you." He muttered, pathetically, then without even thinking about it set his head down on Yin's shoulder.

Then Yin mentioned getting his mother. "Oh jack noooo." He moaned, "Please don't call her up here." He had no doubt in his mind that his mom would put two and two together and figure out why he wasn't feeling...his best at the moment.

"It was just the cider...I don't think I'll ever drink cider again." At least, not when already feeling horrible to begin with. He was suddenly aware that he was acting like a whiny child, and that despite everything that had happened, Yin wasn't just abandoning him to his pain, and was in fact, helping him.

"I mean..Thank you." He whispered, again, head still resting on the weremantis's shoulder as he brought his own arm around Yin's waist and gave him a half hug, though a fairly weak an feeble one. This time the thanks might have been for anything, not just the water.

"I'm not....well..maybe. But that was hours ago." Well, he thought it might have been hours ago, he really wasn't sure. He brought his free hand up to rub at his eyes, blinking them open, but not trying to move away from Yin just yet. This was nice, and comfortable and if Yin would just not move or shift or speak quite so loudly everything would be fine. He felt his eyes closing again against the dizziness, but opening again when Yin spoke.

That cold numb feeling in his stomach was back, and he thought he aught to just pull away from Yin now, but for some reason he couldn't do it. What if this was the last time Yin ever let him touch him? So he stayed in his place, though he stopped hugging the other boil and just let his hand drop down to the bed.

He finally managed to pull himself away, however, realising quickly that this kind of conversation should not be done while using ones friend as something to prop himself up with. Now he just had to think through the dizziness and mild headache, and not fall off of the bed. Easy, right? But Yin wasn't looking at him as he spoke, and maybe the remnants of cider was making Alex a little more brave then he normally would be because he leaned forward in front of Yin and put a hand on his face, attempting to turn him towards him so he could look the weremantis in the eyes. "I'll never, ever do anything like that again, Yin. I promise. I don't want to compromise my friendship with you for any reason." He said that with the most sincerity that he could muster at the moment.