4:00 p.m.
The subway was packed, as always. Filled with the reeking oder of unwashed bodies and cigarette stained clothing. Jake stood holding onto the railing, close to one of the doors. He felt trapped and hated himself for being claustrophobic as a bead of sweat ran down the back of his neck. An elderly woman sat in the seat that was closest to him, knitting and talking to herself about her 'little darlings'. Someone coughed in the distance, making Jake flinch a bit, his heart was racing at a dangerous speed. A group of kids at the end of the car were laughing loudly as they passed headphones around. A man standing not far from him was trying to be quiet as he was having a heated conversation with whoever was on the other end of his cell phone. Jake flipped open his cell phone for the tenth time within the past five minutes. The train would stop in.. three... two.. one... And the train did come to a loud stop, the doors opened and Jake nearly fell out, glad to be out of the long, metal, death machine. Cold sweat still continued to run down his neck and he felt a little dizzy, his eyes quickly searching for the restroom. He'd been through this a thousand times and he was sure he'd do it a thousand times more. He pushed open the public restroom door and stood with the water running in front of the sink, his head down, eyes watching the water. It calmed him, somehow. He let his hands run under the water for a while before splashing a bit on his face. His nerves were calm now and his heart was no longer frantically drumming on his ribs. Yet he still jumped as some one burst through the door, hurrying to the sink next to him. Jake watched out of the corner of his eyes as the other guy turned the water on, and red flowed down the sink, he was bleeding, from his hands, or maybe his wrists, Jake couldn't tell.

"Hey man.. are you alright?" He asked, turning to the other guy. Red still flowed down the sink, he was definately cut, somewhere. "Should I call an ambulance?" He asked as the blood didn't seem to be thinning out any. Jake observed the guy for a moment, he was shaking a bit or more seemingly, twitching. Dark circles where under his eyes, which kept shifting nervously. He was obviously a junkie but he didn't look like the normal type of junkie. He had on clean clothes and his body looked healthy, other than the physical signs of withdrawals. It would seem the man had money, enough to keep himself in good health as he supported his addiction. It was too easy for Jake to detect the signs of withdrawal though. He was in pre-med school to become doctor, he had learned a lot about withdrawal symptoms, in which case, this man was showing many.

A black, sleek mercedes can be seen pulling up by the stairs that led down the subway station and a man, who looked a lot like Aki Watanabe - that model that was now rather well-known in the fashion and modeling industry, could be seen stumbling out of the car from the driver's seat and hurrying out towards the stairs. It seemed like he didn't notice he had left his car door open. It attracted a lot of attention, though, as he continued to push his way through the crowded station. The sun glasses he had on was starting to slide loose from the sweat that profusely dripped down from the sides of his head and his forehead. His heart was racing, too, like he had run a marathon and it was getting harder to breathe. His eyes dilated behind the glasses and he, for a moment, had lost what energy he had. Some big-bodied man had pushed the junkie aside, which had Aki flying off to the jagged edges of what looked like a moss-covered wall.

Aki was lucky he had pillowed the fall with his hands but he was unlucky when the sharp-edged stones had scraped through his hands and fingers, causing quite an amount of blood to gush out the moment he'd pushed himself off of the wall. That latter action caused the wounds to become deeper and he continued to breathe - breathe for dear life - as he crashed into the bathroom. His glasses had fallen from the impact with the bathroom door and he parted his lips to try and get more oxygen to his lungs. His bloody hands were twitching with his body as he put them under the running water and his bloodshot eyes shot out to look at the stranger through the mirror. "I..." he trailed off as he kept his knees from buckling under his weight, "I need... it." He needed the drugs and he didn't have them. How could he have been so stupid to not have noticed it to be his last piece? And, why the hell did he drink most of the pills that day he was having withdrawals?

"Fourth... cubicle. Inside the tank." He hit the top of his head against the mirror like that was going to help him calm down. Blood continued to stain the sink as sweat continued to drip down the tip of his nose, the top of his lip and his chin. The man let out a needy groan as his face scrunched up to what looked like pain.

Aki needed the Ice pronto.

Jake was silent for a while, watching the man bleed, unsure what his next move should be. When suddenly his doctor instincts took over and he grabbed the mans hands, forcing them directly under the water, with his free hand he grabbed a few paper towels and forced them into the man's hands. "Grip those tightly. You need stitches." He said as he pulled out his cell phone, calling his friend Matt. "You probably don't want to head to the hospital all strung out." He said more to himself than to the man. Finally, Matt answered the phone. "Hey, I'm at the subway. I need you to pick me up and then pick up something for me. Its sort of an emergency." He said as he hung up the phone and switched out the bloody paper towels for a new set. "Keep pressure on them." He said as he threw away the other paper towels. "I'm taking you back to my house so I can stitch you up." He said knowing that if he brought the man to a hospital he'd probably be treated poorly because of his.. condition. Which Jake didn't find that fair, a person's choice is his own, whether it be drugs or not. Jake then led the man out of the subway, ignoring his agoraphobia as people stared at them. When they were back up on the streets Jake noticed Matt was already there in his beat up truck. Jake had been ignoring the mumbling the man had been saying until now.

"Don't worry. Everything will be okay soon." He said as he opened the door for him and entered after him. Matt kept staring at the man and several times Jake had to remind him to keep his eyes on the road. The walk that normally would have taken twenty minutes took only five in the truck and finally they pulled into the parking lot of Jake's apartment complex. Jake led the man up into his apartment before turning to Matt, "You're going to need to run downtown for me." He said as he turned back to the man.

"Drug of choice?" He asked, Matt scoffed a bit and Jake glared at him. Jake knew what he was doing was probably morally wrong but the man was obviously in need and the last thing Jake needed was a hysterical junkie as he tried to stitch his hands.

Hitting his head again on the mirror proved to be a wrong move, it made him nauseous and a deep frown marred the good-looking man's face as he hissed at the contact of the pressure of the water to his wounds. The moment paper towels were forced into his hands, his frown couldn't have gone any deeper than it already was. He couldn't turn his hands into fists so much but he loosely did. His breathing, though, continued to be ragged while the irrational beating of his hearts continued to ram against his chest. The word 'stitches', though, caught his attention and his eyes had widened as he shot the stranger a gaze. He was just about to open his mouth to speak up when the man - who acted much like a medical doctor - replaced the bloody paper towels with fresh new ones and said something about taking him to his house.

That was good. At least, he didn't have to worry his manager from covering up his faults should he be brought to the hospital. That, and he really didn't want to be on the front cover of the news like a certain actress and singer did. Not at all.

Sweat continued to drip down the man's face and his body gave a little twitch every now and then. His throat felt parched and he's still having a hard time breathing. The withdrawal symptoms weren't at all pleasing to feel, much more when he was leaning against the stranger for support as he was led out of the bathroom, through the crowd and out of the subway. Should he be sane enough, he'd definitely apologize for having bothered the man at all with his troubles. The stranger's words would have been reassuring if it weren't for his head running and rummaging around, bouncing between the words, 'I need' and 'I want'.

"Ice," he replied, his voice hoarse as he looked at Matt, "Speed." However them drug users call it. He just needed his dose of Metamphetamine and he'll be fine. The nausea seem to be rising up to his head all the more and he shut his eyes tight as he tried to grip on the tissue papers tightly with his hands. Tried as much as he could while he continued to pant, still out of breath.

Jake opened his wallet and took out a hundred, Matt started to protest but thought against it. The two had been friends forever and Matt, among other things, trusted Jake. As Matt took the money and left, Jake led the man into the kitchen, pulling up a stool. As the man sat Jake went to grab his medical kit from the bathroom. His resources were limited but he had what he needed to stitch him up.

"My name is Jake. In a better situation I'd shake your hand." He said as he filled a syringe with novocaine and shot it into the man's hand. He then got out a cotton ball and poured rubbing alcohol over it. "Its going to burn." He said as he rubbed the cotton ball across the two deep cuts he had on each hand. The blood had now stopped and the orange fat tissue was now poking out of his hands, not a pretty sight. After a few moments the swollen tissue began to lessen. "How's it feeling? Numb yet?" He asked and then began to stitch the cuts, so far everything had gone smoothly. As the cuts were stitched, Jake ran a new alcohol soaked cotton ball across the cuts before wrapping his hands. At that point Matt entered through the door. "When you're actually looking, you will not believe how many drug dealers there are." He said as he handed the man the drugs, glaring at bit, which made Jake glare at Matt in return. "Thanks. You can leave now." Jake said to Matt, a bit disappointed at the way he was treating the guest. Matt nodded and turned to a leave, not wanting to be around a junkie.

It took a bit for Aki to sit down, what with him shaking a little from the withdrawal. He flinched a little at the sight of the needle but continued to breathe as he looked back up at Jake with his bloodshot eyes. And, on normal occasions, he'd be energetic, nonchalant and not at all this useless. People wouldn't even think he'd be a junkie, running on drugs for his everyday work as a part-time model. Once he felt that needle poke through his skin and he watched, his eyes squinting just a little, at the liquid lessening in the syringe.

Hissing again and gritting his teeth at the sudden pain in his hands because of the alcohol, he watched with silent disgust at what he saw there. That wasn't the greatest of sight at all and neither was he now, still in his state of withdrawal. Where was that drug when he needed it? Trying his hardest not to move his hand but occasionally feeling it shake as he looked around Jake's place like something he was finding was present there, his eyes snapped to the door when it had opened. Matt. Oh, thank god. The junkie quickly snatched it with his newly-stitched hands, undid the cap and poured two or three pills to his hand. Quickly putting that into his mouth and swallowing it, he, slowly, felt himself calm down and let his eyes slide shut. The drug was working wonders in his body and the sweating, the shaking, the jerky movements - even his eyes seem to have gone back to their normal color when he'd opened his eyes to meet Jake's face first.

A smile touched his lips and he put the bottle after he'd capped it and looked down at his hands. "Thanks," he started before he'd traced the stitch lightly with his index finger. "I think one went loose here..." The model turned to look back at Jake to show him his hand.

Jake loosened the bandages a bit more so he could see the row, the last stitch was a little loose. If this had been a test on a dummie he would be marked down for it. However, now that the stitch was already in he couldn't take one out without having to undo the entire row. "It'll be fine, just take it easy for a while, let your hands rest." He said as he began to clean up the mess. "Anyways, I'm not a real doctor. Just pre-med. In three years I'll be the greatest doctor in the city." He said before watching his lazy German Shephard walk out of his bedroom and plop down onto the couch. "Max! Down! Off the couch you lazy dog!" He yelled at his dog, the dog merely stared at him before laying his head down, obviously not going to listen. Jake sighed and opened the fridge. "You never told me your name, by the way." He said as he grabbed two sodas and handed one to the other man, wondering if he even would tell his real name or not.

Aki supposed he could take Jake's word for it. Nodding a little at that, he felt the slight nausea burning at the back of his throat and he frowned at that. He was just about to ask for some water when he'd heard what he'd said about being the greatest doctor in the city. It had him smiling in amusement. He'd thought the same, too, back when he was still a newbie in the modeling industry. Despite him being part-time because of school, he planned on getting into it full-time when he'd graduate. "After you've saved my ass, I'll be rooting for you," he said with a slight chuckle as he blinked and turned to look over his shoulder to see what Jake was talking to. A dog?

The dog's reaction made the model laugh again and he turned to look back at Jake and the drink. "Ah," he started and reached out to take the soda. "It's Aki. Thank you again, Jake." The male held the soda with his fingers, not really wanting to have the bandages wet and popped it open to take a long swig from it. Much like one would do when he was thirsty.

Jake smiled a bit before opening his own soda. "Nice to meet you Aki." He paused after taking a long drink and taking a good look at Aki, now that the symptoms have toned down. "You look familiar." He said, still looking at him. Jake knew he had seen him somewhere he just couldn't figure out where exactly. Jake then walked into his living room; the apartment itself was clean and spacious, the furniture was all modern yet bare from decoration. As Jake sat on the couch he tried to push Max off the couch but the fat German Shepherd wouldn't budge so Jake quickly gave up, his eyes lingering back to Aki. "So where are you from?" He asked, leaning back into the couch a bit.

Aki only smiled at those words. He knew people always tells him he looks familiar. Until they'd see him either on TV, on the billboards, or in magazines - posing or talking in an interview. Not that he'd mind. He didn't elaborate on it and instead, moved to join Jake and his dog on the couch. He, of course, didn't leave his drugs on the table. He tucked that into his pocket. "I'm originally from Asia but I moved and grew up here. My parents are still back there." Leaning on the back of the couch, he took another sip of his soda and turned to look at the dog. He was cute.

"Do you live alone here?"

Jake nodded and looked at Max. "Yeah just me and max." He paused and smiled a bit. "I've been living here for about two years. After I graduated college I couldn't wait to get away from parents." He said quietly. His mother had always treated him like a child and his father had always expected him to be President or something along those lines. Life was never really settled for him but he never lashed out at anyone for it, if anything growing up with several phobias had made him a better person. "Aki.. Aki.. Whats your last name?" He paused looking him over again, he knew he knew him. "I know I've seen you before." He said, turning a bit on the couch to face Aki a little more.

"You couldn't wait to get away from your parents?" he asked as he raised his eyebrows a little and continued to sip on his soda. He didn't know what that felt like. His parents had walked him all through the way. He wasn't necessarily spoiled per se. His parents just made sure he went the right way. If they knew about his drug addiction, not only will they be disappointed in him, he'd never be able to forgive himself either. "Watanabe," he replied as he chuckled, "Have you now?"

Jake was silent for a moment remember all the unpleasant things that had happened while he was living with his parents. "Yeah, my dad.. expect the world from me." He said after a minute, not exactly sure how to put the situation into words that would explain everything correctly. He studied Aki's features a bit more and it clicked. "Aki Watanabe.. You're a model right? Whats that like?" He asked nonchalantly. He had always been a little jealous of models, not from their looks, anyone could be a model now-a-days but because they could stand, half naked, in front of a camera where as Jake, would panic. In his late teen years Jake had agreed to try out a modeling career, after many arguments with his mother, and as he stood with his shirt off in front of the camera he began to hyperventilate and one of his many phobias kicked in at the thought of how many people might see his picture. Ultimately, it was a disaster. The photographer had thought he was some kind of loony and Jake's face was nearly stained red from the embarrassment. Needless to say he never tried to become a model again.

"The world?" he repeated before he'd frowned. That didn't sound like a good experience at all. It almost seemed like Jake's parents had high expectations of him. When he'd seen the look of realization on the man's face, he found himself letting out a little chuckle as he nodded. "I am and it's pretty much what you know, I'm sure. Lights, make-up, photos, and vices. It's a pretty dirty business and it's more than standing naked in front of a camera." Watanabe finished his soda and he looked back down at the German Shepherd. Despite it being lazy, it was quite cute. It'd be nice to have a dog as a companion, even better if it were human - someone like Jake who wasn't so intent on drilling out information about his life in general like the media.

"Do you want to become a model?" he asked as he raised his eyebrows a little when he'd glanced back at Jake. Jake had the looks and definitely the build from what he had assumed a while ago with him pressed up against him, leaning for help.

Jake's eyes widened at the question and he laughed a bit. "Absolutely not." He said shaking his head a bit. "I.. Modeling is.. not for me." He added, not wanting to explain the situation about what had happened when he had tried to pose for a photo shoot in the past, especially not wanting to talk about all his phobias.

Jake sighed and shook his head before patting Max's head. "No.. Becoming a Doctor and maybe even a Surgeon one day is what I was meant for." He said with a small smile. He didn't want to admit that he was a bit envious of Aki for only needing to pose for photo to earn his money. Jake however, had to study, preform tests, study more, get grilled by professors, study some more, and finally ace his exams just to graduate medical school and then get a job as an intern at a hospital before being able to actually become a doctor, and even then he would still need to work his way to the top. It wouldn't be easy, in any way, but Jake didn't mind. He loved helping people and with his understanding nature he would be a very good doctor, or so he hoped.

Well, even if Jake didn't want to talk about his phobias, he had to some time, right? That reply of Jake's definitely confused him. Modeling is not for him? "How could you say that when you haven't-" He stopped for a second as his brows raised again out of curiosity, "Have you tried modeling before? What happened?" Now, he was curious. It wasn't everyday, after all, that he got to meet someone who was once in the same profession as he was only to drop out because of some reason. It was that 'some reason' part where he got interested. "Why isn't modeling for you?"

For that single moment, Aki ignored Jake's want to become a doctor. He'll be rooting for him, of course, but his curiosity wanted to be satisfied. He might've had come on as strong but it couldn't be helped. When Aki was wanting answers, he wants nothing else but to get them, much like when he wanted something be it an opportunity, a thing or a person; he'll do anything to grab it.

Jake was a bit shocked at the blunt question, surely Aki couldn't expect to get such a direct personal answer but Jake remember that Aki was also famous and probably used to getting what he wanted. Although Jake was a kind person he wasn't a push over and wasn't about to give in to Aki just because he was someone with status.

"Yes. Something had happened." He paused as he stood to throw his soda away, he offered his hand to take Aki's empty can as well. "But the details are personal." He said with a half smile. He might have been being slightly manipulative but isn't everyone at one point or another? Jake couldn't help but smile fully at that thought.

When Aki got nothing but a vague reply, he only frowned in disappointment. It looked like Jake knew how to work his way around him. That was good. At least, Aki's thinking Jake isn't such a boring person to be with. He held out his empty soda can and shifted a little to let himself slide down and fall onto the couch. "Personal's good," he said with a nod before he'd smiled, "Thank you again for a while ago." He'd definitely had probably gone crazy if it weren't for Jake who asked his friend, Matt, to go and buy him some Ice.

The thing vibrating in his phone made him blink and he pulled out what looked like a beeper of the sorts. "Well then," he started as he got up to his feet, "I'll see you around." Those were words he rarely ever let go. He'd usually just leave without a word. When he said that, though, he was sure to be back. With or without Jake in the house, he was sure to be here and probably make this house his comfort zone. It was near his workplace, too, when he'd realized where he was.

Jake smiled a bit as he up the cans in the trash. He felt so much old than Aki for some reason, although he was sure they were probably in the same age range. "Hey, how old are you?" He asked as he watched Aki pull out a cell phone or beeper of sorts. Jake watched as Aki stood and headed for the door. "Stop by anytime." He said, leaning against the wall. Max jumped off the couch and went running toward the door, sitting between Aki and the door, looking from Aki to Jake. Jake smiled a bit, "Seems like Max wants to go with you." He said as he walked over and pulled Max out of the way. "See ya around." He said, with his arms around Max, looking up at Aki.

"Nineteen," he replied with a smile as he turned to look over at Jake and then looked back towards the door only to blink in surprise when he'd seen the German Shepherd sitting between him and the door. He felt a little nervous as to what the dog had wanted but when he'd heard Jake, he raised his eyebrows a little and chuckled. "I should be back," he told this to the dog more than to the pre-med doctor as he came over only to reach out and scratch the underside of the dog's chin. "Thanks again, Jake." Looking back at the man made him do a double-take. Up-close, the man really was handsome. Surely, he'll catch a lot of women's attention - nurses - once he'd start in the hospital.

The model moved towards the front door and he was gone to attend to matters.

Jake smiled at Aki's words. For a druggie he sure seemed like a nice guy. "No problem." He said as Aki thanked him again. Jake watched as Aki left, his house seemed quiet now and he decided to call Matt, however when Matt picked up the phone he was short and harsh with him saying something about "Why don't you just hang out with your new junkie pal?". Jake hung up on him. He didn't want to play the jealous Matt game. In which case Matt did often. Matt couldn't stand it when Jake hung around other guys for the simple fact that Matt had a crush on Jake since the time Jake had moved into the apartments. However, Jake wasn't gay, or so he believed.

Jake sighed before patting Max a bit and plopping down on the couch, turning the tv on. Max tried hard to climb on the couch and after a while he managed to get up there and lay on top of half of Jake's body. Lazy dog that he was.

Aki is a nice guy when he's running on drugs. He's not lashing out on people when he was feeling those symptoms that Jake had seen on him not very long ago. Sometimes, when he is, though, he'd be locking himself up in his dressing room, disappear in the bathroom, in one of the cubicles or find some place in an alleyway or an empty room.

About a few days later, Aki could be seen pulling up a new car in the driveway of Jake's apartment and going up with the landlady to get into Jake's place. He had welcomed himself in like it was his new home, striding in without as much of a care in the world. His hand was tucked into his pocket and he made his way to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. He'd already had his dose of drugs that day and was running on it. The erratic heart beat against his chest was present, though, and the slight symptoms of shaky hands but it looked pretty normal to a normal person's eyes anyway. He downed about two glasses of water before he'd turned to look around Jake's place, not really minding whether the man was in or not.

Aki had just come from a photoshoot and was currently wearing one of the latest clothes: leather pants that showed off his legs and ass, a see-through gray collared shirt that was halfway buttoned up with the sleeves undone and boots that clinked with his every step. His hair was pushed off to one side and he was wearing an earring on one ear while chains could be seen hanging off of his belt hoops.

Jake had been sleeping off a hang over, even though it was late in the afternoon he was still tired. However when Max barked and left into the living room and he heard the kitchen sink run he decided to get up, expecting to see Matt. However, as he entered the living room and saw Aki sitting there he was a little surprised and now felt awkward standing in nothing but his boxers.

"Uh.. hey." Was all he said, wondering if he had even locked the door when he came in, he obviously hadn't. He wasn't sure how to respond to Aki just barging into his house, he didn't know him that well and wondered if this was typical behavior or if he was high again. Jake figured it was probably a bit of both. "You know.. most people knock." He said as he sat down at the end of the couch.

Aki settled back onto the couch when he was done looking around and he blinked at the dog whom he remembered had stayed in between him and the door when he left a couple of days ago. He was about to call the dog over but he stopped at the greeting from what he remembered was the bedroom door. "Hey," he said with a nod before he'd thumbed to the door, "Well, your landlady showed me in." Leaning back comfortably on the couch, he noted the pre-med doctor in his boxers and raised a brow.

"And, most people wouldn't come out in their boxers." He looked back up at Jake and smiled in amusement. "If I were like your gay friend, I'd have definitely jumped you."

Jake smiled a bit. "Well obviously I was sleeping." He said rubbing his head that was pounding. "How'd you know Matt was gay?" He asked. It wasn't like Matt went around flaunting it so it was sometimes hard to figure out. "Besides, you're one to talk. Look at what you're wearing." He said, pointing at Aki's outfit which did make him look just a bit gay, making Jake internally question if Aki was actually gay or not. "What are you doing here?" He asked as he stood and went to get some asprin and down a full glass of water, hoping his heart would stop ramming itself into the side of his skull. As he finished the water he fed Max and walked into his bedroom to throw a shirt on but not bothering to put pants on, it was his own house, he wanted to be comfortable, and Jake was really not a pants guy. He loved sitting around in his boxers except he normally didn't when Matt was around because it made him feel like Matt was raping him with his eyes.

As he sat back down on the couch his cell phone buzzed, Matt said he was coming over and wanted to show him a new movie he had just rented. Matt wasn't going to be happy to see Matt there but Jake wasn't about to cast Aki out or tell Matt not to come. Matt would just have to deal with it. "Matt's bringing a movie over." He said as he wrote a short reply back to Matt.