***

Context: You've been engaged for five years now. What started as a beautiful relationship with your best friend turned nasty over the years. He's taken to drinking heavily to get through each day and is nasty to you when you try to ask him to seek help. All you want is to fix this and help the man you love, but... he's addicted.

Setting: A restaurant/home

Tags: [MM4A][Lovers to ?][Fiancé Speaker][Big Brother Speaker][Fiancé Listener][Angst][Leaving Him][Addicted][Heartbreak][Comfort][Protective Brother][CW: Verbal Abuse/Gaslighting/Alcoholism]

Usage: You may tweak or record this script. Gender flipping is OK! Please credit me if you use this script in any of your projects. If you would like to use this script for a paywalled recording please DM me first. Thank you :3

***

Unmarked text / italicized text is the fiancé

[BB] = Big Bro

***

[Scene opens in a restaurant]

[SFX: A phone ringing]

[After a bit, your fiancé answers the phone, mid-laugh]

“Hey, baby! How you doing?”

[Pause]

“Huh? Where am I? I’m hanging out with the boys. Boys, shoutout to my fiancé!”

[His friends give a cheer for you, except Dave, who boos. You really don’t like Dave]

“Hehe, see? What’s up, huh? You need me to pick up some food or something on the way home?”

[...]

“Restaurant…? Oh. Ohhhh! Oh, shit, that’s right! Ahh, my bad, sweetheart. My bad.”

[Pause]

“Yeah, I forgot… Geeze, I’m sorry, hon. We kinda already had a ton of pizza and beer over here, I am waaay too buzzed to drive. I mean… I guess I could get a taxi or something, but, you know… it’d be silly to show up all sloppy and drunk to a nice restaurant, right?”

[...]

“Wh-? I have not been neglecting you lately! All I ever DO is spend time with you! I just wanted to hang out with the guys for a night!”

[...]

“Oh, c’mon, can we not with the whimpering? Baby, c’mon, don’t guilt me in front of my friends, please?”

[Pause!]

“Oh, you are SO trying to guilt me! You always do this, you’re always on my ass about cutting back on the drinking and taking care of my health and helping more with chores. Like, I get it, OK, you work from home and do a lot of the chores, but my job is a thousand times more stressful. Why is it such a big deal if I just want to come home and relax, huh?”

[SFX: Some of his friends chiding him in the background]

[Pause]

“Mmhm, sure. “You’re just worried about my health”. You know what I think? I think that you picked up on some of your ex’s worst traits. I think you just like trying to control me.”

[The chiding almost dies completely and you can faintly hear murmurs of “Dude” and “Is he serious?”]

[...]

“Did that hit a sore spot? Yeah, so do you every single time you make comments about shit like this. I fucked up tonight, I get it, but I’m sick of you holding my fuck-ups against me. Sometimes, I kind of wish we’d never fucking MET.”

[The noise on his side is silent, now]

[...]

“...oh god. Baby, wait, no, I-!”

[SFX: The call ending]

[Pause]

[SFX: Your phone buzzing. A lot. And you ignore it]

[Scene transitions to your apartment]

[As you get home, your brother waits outside of your apartment and hugs you the second he sees you]

[BB] “Hey, kiddo… I’m here, don’t worry. He hasn’t been by. C’mon, let’s get your stuff.”

[SFX: A door being unlocked and opened]

[Your brother dutifully helps you gather your things and gets your cat in a carrier]

[BB] “Don’t worry, OK? You can stay with me until you figure things out. I’m sure Kev won’t mind.”

[Pause?]

[BB] “How are we doing? Eheh… Do you want honesty or do you want me to say terrible so you don’t feel more miserable? Mmh. We’re really good, especially with Little Guy settling into his new kindergarten. We were a little worried he might catch flack for the “two dads” thing, but it’s been good so far… Hey… Look at me, for a sec, OK?”

[Pause?]

[BB] “Listen… Your ex was an abusive dick. And this guy? Even if he doesn’t mean to be, he’s hurting you. Don’t gaslight yourself into feeling like you’re the bad guy here for wanting to help a fucking alcoholic try and be better. No matter how much you love him… And I know he makes grand gestures for you after he’s been shitty enough, but a relationship isn’t built on grand gestures. It’s built off of consistently being a good partner, and… Damnit, sorry, I know you don’t want my take on it. I’m your big brother, not a therapist, but I am gonna insist you see Dr. Carlotta again… OK?”

[Pause]

[BB] “Pfft, if he comes home and starts a scene, I’ll kick his ass, simple as that. Listen, you said that even his friends were stunned, right? Yeah, that alone should tell you that he’s unequivocally fucked up. Dude left you at a restaurant, dude said unforgivable shit to you, and usually, if a guy is with “his boys”, said boys will be on his side. If they ain’t, that speaks volumes.”

[Pause]

[BB] “Oh, hon… C’mere. It’s gonna be OK. You can still be the prettiest princess at a wedding. Just… not with this clown, OK? Now, c’mon, I think the journals are the last thing here. Erm… This one doesn’t have your name on it. Newer one?”

[You take a look at the journal and don’t recognize it]

[BB] “Well, look through it real quick, c’mon. It’s late as balls and I want to get home.”

[SFX: Pages flipping]

[It takes you a second to recognize your ex-fiancé's handwriting]

10/13

They made breakfast for me again and included some aspirin and a big thing of water. They know, but I don’t want to talk about it. I’m fine! I can quit any time, so I wish they’d get off my ass…

10/16

I yelled at them again… They asked me to help with the chores but I feel like my brain is glued to my skull, like there’s a visor behind my eyes that makes everything feel like nothing. It hurts, but I know it’ll pass. I’ll have a drink later, maybe one with them! I know they want to cuddle and all, so it works… right?

11/01

Yelled again… Why did I yell at them again?

11/25

I made them cry… What is wrong with me?!

12/03

Stomach hurts so badly. Want to go to the hospital but then they’ll know. Why do they love me so much? They took the whole day off to help me, why… They’re so good to me… I have to be better. I can’t keep fucking doing this, I’ll lose them and I don’t… I don’t know how I’d live…

12/24

Why are they still here? Please, it hurts so much when I’m sober

01/02

I’ll fix this. Somehow. I’ll go talk to John when I hang with the guys tonight. He’s my cousin, he’ll know how I can fix this, he’ll save me! Just gotta make sure that I don’t upset my fiancé. Don’t see anything on the calendar

I can fix this

I can fix this

Please… let me fix this

[...]

[BB] “...Kiddo, you OK? You’re shaking…”

[You show him and he frowns]

[BB] “...Look. I know you. I know you want to set aside your feelings and hurt to be there to help him. But you can’t, sweetheart. He has to want to help himself and, sorry, even if the journal says otherwise, he still got drunk tonight, he still stood you up on your fucking anniversary, and he said something so nasty to you that I’m honestly tempted to drive on over to John’s place and make the bastard drink his own teeth!”

[Pause]

[He exhales]

[BB] “Sorry, overprotective big brother instincts… You put five years into helping him, kiddo. Five years is a long time for him to have improved… C’mon. You need to be out of this space, for now. And if he blame you for fucking dooming him or whatever, you tell him that Casey said he can fucking pound sand, got it? This isn’t on you. Now, c’mon, grab Tapioca and let’s go. I think he’s tired of being in that carrier.”

[You grab your grumpy Scottish Fold with one hand while your other sets the journal back on the shelf and leave your engagement ring on the nightstand]

[BB] “C’mon, kiddo. Let’s go.”

[For the last time, you look around the apartment you’d helped maintain for five years before locking the door and sliding the key through the mail slot]

[To be continued]