#so i always went back. obviously blehhh

[pup-pee]

my father telling me how scared he was when i ran away from the house but i cant express how scared i was 2 b in the house

hey, whats up w/that?

[rabbitttart]

My Love - Cat and Lili

Chapter 1. Intro Where does a Vampire meet a Succubi? In the dark muddled streets of course. Cat, a soft outcast seeking out life sustaining blood under the veil of night. Lili, a hardened tool serving her only purpose leading humans to folly after folly. Many times they would almost meet, passing through the same streets again and again. After finding Lili's easy prey they would become a steady diet for Cat, no messy fights. Peeks and glances at one another turned into long distance crushes; "who are they really?" Lili picks up on marks as if knowingly taking care of Cat; "what do they stand to gain?" "What's up?" Lili waited this time to Cat's surprise; "You're a vampire aren't you? - I just kinda guessed since you're not in it for the wallets and jewelry and stuff." Lili remarks "Yeah..." Cat replies shamefully. "I...Um, is there a chance you wanna go get some coffee? - ...Like, after you're done here. Obviously." Lili asks. "...Okay..." Cat says rather confused. Not that Cat can taste coffee but the mutual interest should take care of that...right? Chapter 2. Coffee Seated at a center table for two in a dim red neon lit diner, the server saunters over comfortably "What can I get'cha today?" they ask, "I'll have my usual and um...they'll have a stuck coffee?" Lili responds "Heh, yeah I think we can handle that. I'll go get started." they reply before tapping the table and walking off. Lili breaks the silence "I'm Lili, what uh- what's your name?" "Cat." "Cat...Cat. Have you ever met one of my kind?" "No." Cat replies. "Well we aren't so different, we just suck souls to make a living so it's still survival in a way." Cat leans in and whispers "...What's a stuck coffee?" "I don't know, but it's all I've ever heard your people order." "My people?" Cat replies sharply before noticing the server returns with a plate and two cups "Alright, you two enjoy." "Thank you." Lili says before grabbing a large plate full of a fluffy white substance and scraping it all off into her cup. Catching Cat staring Lili responds "Oh come on, don't look at me like some kind of freak. It's just whipped cream - it's kinda my thing, half hot cocoa half coffee. They have shitty coffee but the best cocoa you can get 24/7 so I deal." Cat arches back in her chair staring at her cup then slow leans in as if about to pounce it. "Gonna kill it?" Lili teases Picking it up Cat takes a large sip of the Smokey Topaz liquid before...letting it all fall back out "Blehhh. It's pig. It's pig!" Grossed out and surprised Lili starts laughing terribly, Cat growing visibly embarrassed squeaks "I can't stand pig's blood..." "I'll remember that for the future haha." Lili responds, "Hey don't worry about it, it's not like can control what you like." "Look I...I should just go." Cat says before standing up. Lili stutters "W-Wait! Please...don't. I just wanted to get to know you. - We...don't exactly make many acquaintances in our profession...I know you're probably used to your kind but I want to try." Cat, now shouting "What kind!? I don't know how it was for you but I was shat out and left to fend on my own no "my kind" - just me, in the forest, doing whatever I had to to survive!" Lili confused asks "What about your teacher or school or kin?" "What school? In case you haven't noticed I don't exactly 'fit in' with humans. The library is it, once I finally got to the city - Books, movies, games, they're all I've had" Cat trails off. "I'm sorry...I was told your kind went to a special school..." Lili replies. Lili stands, offering her open hands to Cat "Hey...It's okay you know? There's nothing wrong, you had it rough but you're okay." Cat accepts and places their hands in Lili's. "We can work this all out, at our own pace. Give me a chance." Lili reassures. "Awwww. That was so cute. Are you two a couple?" The server says before a cup full of Smokey Topaz liquid crashes beside them. Chapter 3. Burn "Stop it." "I'm not." "Stop it." "I'm not! I'm just looking in your direction while thinking, that's totally different." Cat and Lili argue Cat laughs "Okay sure you are. What are you thinking about?" "Just...how different everything is becoming." Lili puzzles "It must be super to be able to get high, but for those of us that /can't/, you're just driving me crazy." Cat says playfully "No I mean...who we are, what we are, it's so different than we when we met and...Cat let's just go. I have a nest egg let's use it - let's not pay for the apartment and just go like get in my car and go on a journey. This city is just killing us and no one cares." "Lili...Lili what the hell are you talking about? Are you going Jack Torrance on me? Say no to the crazy!" Cat says shaking Lili's hair. "No I-" Lili chokes and spits repeatedly pulling back hairs "I just think we need to run away to face our problems. We're too comfy here." "What's wrong with comfy?" Cat says stretching out across their sofa, "This is the best it's ever been for both of us, why throw it away?" "You make a terrible partner, give me that ring back." Lili slurs, "Hey hey I don't think so, till death motherfucker we in this now." Cat replies Cat holding their ring finger up high wiggling it, Lili flops over half-heartedly trying to take the ring before giving up slumped over Cat. Lili sighs, "If that's true then do this with me, let's stop being society's bitch and go take what's ours. Our freedom, our rights, eggtoast." "Eggtoast?" Cat asks, "You just...You just don't understand the sensation of egg white in the middle of toasted bread it's so smooth and-" "Okay, okay...I don't because I can't but I'm just gonna take your word for it Method Man...You really think we should just leave?" Lili jumps up, falls down and stands back up again, "We need to do this because...you need this. I am tired of holding you back." Cats scratches their head frantically before standing up, "...Okay sweetheart, let's sleep a bit and talk about it in the evening okay?" Cat tries Lili nods wrapping her arms around Cat as they head off to bed. "You're kinda cute for someone that's dead. You smell nice..." Lili mumbles The sun setting, the soft dark washes over the city as a bright full moon now lingers on the horizon. Suddenly, an old Chevrolet sparks alive. "Wow! I honestly had no idea this thing still worked. I guess I really did luck out; don't ever play cards with a demon by the way." Lili remarks Cat laughs gleefully "I can't believe we're doing this. Where are we going? Hollywood?" Lili laughs, putting the car in drive and pulling away "Somehow I don't think we'd get along with greater demons, let's just start running. I've already got some place in mind anyway." Hours and miles pass before suddenly they're in unfamiliar lands racing without end. "So uh...Did you bring the stuff?" Cat asks nodding "The weed?", "No!" "Downers or uppers?", "Come on, the pig's blood! How am I gonna survive?" Lili grabs something from under her seat "Oh, yeah here ya' go. Whole back floorboard is full of it.", "Loose!?" Cat yells, "Ew no, what? No! In thermoses ya' sicko." Lili says rolling her eyes. Cat wanders off staring at the sprawling mountains...Are they familiar or do all mountains just look the same? Cat sits silently thinking it over. "Cat...I know you aren't gonna like this but please just do this.", "You're gonna break my leg aren't you? I always knew you were Annie." Cat jokes Lili turns on to a dirt road heading towards a forest, "I kinda got the feeling the place you described growing up was a little too familiar - when I was still getting shipped around to be fucking destroyed mentally as a child I got ended up in this little craphole town in the mountains." Lili lights another rolled paper, swerving just in time to avoid hitting an opossum "Damn adorable trash cats.", "Lili-", "Shhh let me tell you." Lili cuts in "Okay so I'm pretty sure this is us- We both came to this forest and we both lost any chance of being normal here and I think it owes us." "Lili, what happened to us is fucked up but it's just a forest, it's not like the forest itself hurt us. Well, maybe me...Fuck that tree." Cat replies Lili shakes her head "We're going, we're gonna stand in it, we're gonna think about it and we're gonna decide then. I already have the lighter fluid." "That's why you brought that? I thought that was for the grill...Why the fuck did we take a cooler full of steaks then?", "Oh shit I forgot about that - Wait...Think, WAIT! We throw the steaks /in/ the forest fire and we can have steak and justice.", "Lili I'm not burning down a forest.", "Just wait." Now deep in the hilly forest Lili stops the car, "So...This look like your forest?", "I don't know it's a forest, how the hell should I remember?" "Well get out and see!" Lili commands. Cat begrudgingly hops out before concluding...this probably isn't the forest. "I don't think so.", "Seriously? - Go look at that tree over there, that's totally not the one you ran into thinking you could fly?" Cat inspects the tree and finds gashes in the bark. "Maybe..." Cat mumbles, "What!?" Lili yells, refusing to leave the car. "What if it is huh!? What good would killing all these animals and their home do!?" Lili grabs some cans of lighter fluid and jumps out the car before walking up to Cat, "I don't recall that mountain lion asking that before trying to eat you." "That's nature, it's dumb, that doesn't mean we /have/ to kill nature for being dumb!" Cat shouts angrily, "Well I am." Lili says throwing lighter fluid around. "Stop it, what the fuck?" Cat grabs for the can of fluid, Lili being taller just holds it out of reach prompting Cat to wrestle Lili for the can, and losing. "Cat...Cat. Okay you're a lover not a fighter calm down baby.", "No!" Cat bats Lili a few more times to no effect, "...Okay...But you can't just do this." "We didn't deserve anything that happened here and I don't want to keep living knowing more might be getting hurt here Cat.", "People did this to us - not a forest, not these animals except that mountain lion I would kill that fucker if I saw it, but not the other animals. Just other people Lili." "...Yeah maybe...I just wanted this to be something we conquered together...Something that brought us closer and let us move on you know?" "Lili, you're the reason I have moved on from all this. I finally came to grips with the fact I don't have to be alone or live in the dark...mentally anyway." "Sigh...I think I might have- What the fuck is that sound?" A huge stampede of animals come out of the nearby thick running away from it, some on fire. The fire catches up to the edge of the forest near the road, "Hey, fuck you I was gonna burn this down!" Lili yells, "What? I thought you were over that!?" "Uh...yeah.", "Maybe we can still save it?" A deafening guttural growl escapes the forest causing Cat to jump back, "Fuck it!" Cat exclaims before running away. "Wait Cat, the car! THE CAR!" Lili says before giving up and laughing. Another heavy shaking growl from the forest "Eep!" Lili finally runs off to follow Cat. This? This is either an epoch or my fall right here. Five days nearly wholly dedicated to this, hours upon hours spent listening to The 69 Eyes, writing, thinking about and working on this. I fell madly in love with these two, I expect no one will appreciate this very much but this is a feeling I haven't ever had working on an art project...ever. I wanted to write! I like writing but not character making, but somehow I just wanted to be in the presence of these two and tell their story and just...yeah. Fuck mountain lions. Bad writing? Maybe. Fun? YES YES YES. See you in hack writer hell, fuckers. Writing and pretty much everything else practice. Stocks: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1286870 https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1015826 https://pxhere.com/en/photo/233 https://pxhere.com/en/photo/81485 https://pxhere.com/en/photo/942487 https://pxhere.com/en/photo/876687 https://pxhere.com/en/photo/748395 https://pxhere.com/en/photo/71774 https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1173 https://pixabay.com/en/portrait-girl-glasses-eyes-face-1152472/ http://fav.me/d1o6rih http://fav.me/db26jfs (Mine) Brushes: http://fav.me/d1j7fpk by https://falln-stock.deviantart.com/ Credits and copyrights go to original artists/owners.

[uy8hg]

First-Aid Kit

A month of putting it off, finally wrote another little fic. Have some Fake AH Crew post-disbanding.

For the record I could not come up with a better title and this is what I called the file so blehhh

Word Count: 3304

Geoff was lazily sipping on a nearly empty glass of beer while watching a rerun of Always Sunny when someone knocked on his door. The noise startled him, leading to him nearly falling off the couch, or at least spilling the last of his beer on the floor. He frowned down at the mess before setting the glass down. As he stepped toward the door, he hesitated. He hadn’t had any problem with people snooping on him before, but he crouched and grabbed the gun out from underneath the couch just in case. Right hand and the gun behind his back, he made sure the chain was in place before opening the door a crack.

The person on the other side was probably the last person he expected.

“Jeremy?” Geoff exclaimed loudly. Jeremy barely had time to open his mouth before Geoff slammed the door in his face. With a quick flick, he undid the chain and threw the door open.

The lad seemed surprised at Geoff’s reaction, but he recovered quickly, cutting in before Geoff could ask anymore questions.

“Do you have a first-aid kit?” Jeremy asked, gaze only briefly flicking past Geoff into his house, then down to the gun now forgotten about in Geoff’s other hand.

If Geoff wasn’t confused before, he definitely was now. “What?”

“A first-aid kit,” Jeremy repeated. “Do you have one?”

“Yeah, sure I do. Why?”

Jeremy sighed, looking as if he was steeling himself to tell Geoff something that should have been extremely obvious.

“Because of this,” he finally answered sharply, nodding his head down to his arm. Geoff hadn’t spent the moment to fully look at Jeremy, but now that he followed the direction he noticed Jeremy holding his right forearm with his other hand. Jeremy didn’t have to move his hand for Geoff to see the blood dripping through his fingers.

“You’re bleeding!” Geoff yelled, eliciting another sigh from Jeremy.

“You think I don’t know that? Can I use your first-aid kit?”

Jeremy’s opening question finally lodged itself in place in Geoff’s mind and he stepped aside. “Yeah, yeah, sure, come in.”

The younger man stepped past Geoff into the house, now taking a longer look around. If he wasn’t preoccupied with the fact he had a bleeding guest, Geoff would have worried about the appearance of his place. He might even have remembered all the mementos of the crew he had displayed on the shelves of the living room. Instead, he rushed pashed the lad to go grab the kit from the bathroom, muttering something that was likely incoherent about sitting down while reaching over the back of the couch to mute the TV as he went by. He breezed through the medicine cabinet, grabbing anything else that may be of use before bolting back to the living room.

When he came back, Jeremy had hesitantly sat down on Geoff’s bright white couch, holding his arm out an away from the precious upholstery. Geoff was touched at the thought, but realized Jeremy should have been more concerned about his own health than the furniture. He plopped the kit on the coffee table, dumping the rest of his items next to it. Jeremy watched silently as Geoff opened it up and grabbed some disinfectant and a rag.

“Can I see it?” Geoff asked, turning to Jeremy, who still had most of his arm covered. The lad shifted his gaze, looking instead at the carpet. Geoff followed his gaze to the new beer stain, then unconsciously to the empty glass.

“I can do it,” Jeremy responded quietly. He reached out with his injured arm and Geoff pulled back. He noticed the wince the younger had tried to hide.

“That’s not what I asked.”

Jeremy’s eyes found Geoff’s, who was surprised by the hardness in the other’s look. He remembered how tough Jeremy was, but he hardly turned that animosity toward the crew. At least, not seriously.

Suddenly, Geoff’s mind flicked back to a memory. Jeremy had been hurt, and bad, basically dragging himself into the apartment. Everyone had swarmed him, but Jeremy had only barked at them all, told them he was fine, that he could handle it. Jack had finally gotten to him, nearly breaking down his door twenty minutes later to check on him. They’d all heard the shouting match, but Jack was always the best at medical issues. Jeremy had lost, but Geoff could now see a similar look in his eye.

He couldn’t handle this! He wasn’t Jack. Sure, he knew how to patch someone up well enough, but if Jeremy didn’t want that, he didn’t know what he could do to help.

“Just let me see,” Geoff tried again, trying to keep his voice steady and firm. Jeremy relented, but he didn’t seem happy about it.

The wound was bad. Not life threatening, Geoff didn’t think, but it definitely wasn’t just a scratch. There was a gash, clearly from a knife or other blade, from his elbow all the way to his wrist. It wasn’t actively bleeding, but there was blood slowly drying all around it.

When Geoff didn’t say anything, Jeremy held out his good hand. Not knowing what else to do, Geoff put the rag in it and sat down in one of the chairs. He normally relished sinking into its plush confines, but now it just felt like it was taking him farther out of the situation. He watched Jeremy try to do everything, using his teeth when he could, not moving his other arm once he’d braced it on the table. The lad was obviously having a hard time, but Geoff was nearly scared to butt in. He couldn’t win an arguing match like Jack could. He had to avoid that, but he also wanted to help.

He sighed and sat up. Jeremy hardly spared him a glance, focusing on cleaning the wound as best he could. “Can I help?” Geoff asked hesitantly. This time the look he got was longer, but Jeremy still seemed adamant. Geoff knew his answer before Jeremy even vocalized it, sitting back in his chair again.

All he could do was watch. The lad struggled, finally managing to get the wound as clean as he could. His gaze kept traveling back to the TV, where the episode was still playing. He wished he’d thought to put subtitles on, but he knew the TV shouldn’t be his priority right now.

Geoff sat back up again when Jeremy reached for the needle. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Jeremy looked at him once again like he was stupid. “I’m going to sew it shut.”

“No you aren’t. Aren’t you right handed?”

Jeremy shrugged with his one good shoulder. “Yeah. I can still do it though.”

“Are you sure? I could help.”

“I know how to do first-aid, Geoff.”

“I’m not doubting you!” he defended, putting his hands in the air. Jeremy pulled out the needle anyway, going back for the thread.

He didn’t even get another glance as he got his answer, almost too quiet to hear. “I’m fine.”

Geoff wasn’t sure what exactly Jeremy was talking about, but he was sure the statement wasn’t true. Even so, he didn’t say anything back, or try to interfere, no matter how much he wanted to. He watched the lad trying to thread the needle, dropping the needle several times in addition to losing the end of the thread once or twice, before he finally stood up. Jeremy jumped at the quick movement, teeth clenching down on the needle in his mouth, but Geoff walked past him and out of the room.

When Geoff returned with two glasses of beer, Jeremy eyed him warily. Geoff just set one down in front of Jeremy and moved to the other side of the couch. Hesitantly, Jeremy slowly reached forward with his bad arm. Geoff saw the twinge of pain rock through Jeremy and the lad stopped.

“You should probably use your other hand,” Geoff suggested casually. After a quick glare, Jeremy set the somehow-threaded needle down in favor of the drink. Geoff took the opening to sit next to Jeremy and reach for the needle. “May I?”

Jeremy watched him and Geoff could feel himself start to sweat. If Jeremy said no, he had no other ideas. This was his best plan, and it wasn’t even that great. His answer was always alcohol. He didn’t know how else to incorporate that into the situation.

He relaxed when the lad sighed and looked away, taking a sip. He quickly got started before the other could change his mind. Jeremy stayed silent as Geoff worked. Geoff could see him staring out the front window. He didn’t know why, it had been dark for hours at this point. He shrugged it off and kept working.

It wasn’t until Geoff was pretty much done that Jeremy said anything, startling Geoff by setting down the now empty glass. “Do you know how I found your house?”

Geoff tied off the thread and snipped it done before sitting back. He had been curious, but he didn’t want to disturb Jeremy. “No I don’t,” he finally responded.

Jeremy sighed. “From the news and such, I knew you lived somewhere in this neighborhood, or at least a surrounding one. I was doing a job that went south, obviously, and it just happened to be nearby. My apartment’s pretty far away, plus I know I’m also mostly out of first aid supplies, so I went for the shot-in-the-dark.”

The lad was gesticulating along with his story, sitting forward with his elbows on his knees. As Geoff watched, he could tell Jeremy was still the same guy he’d known from the crew, behind whatever façade he was creating that made him seem like he didn’t care about anything. As soon as he let Jeremy in, he had had the suspicion that the kid wasn’t as stoic as he was trying to be. He was glad now that Jeremy was trying to break that, to actually talk to Geoff, but he still wanted to know why. Jeremy still wasn’t looking at him as he talked, eyes locked on the table in front of him, so Geoff just listened and watched.

“I drove around for about twenty minutes, give or take. I doubted I’d be able to tell your house from the others, but I just had to try. At least, that’s what my adrenaline-fueled brain was thinking.”

He stopped to chuckle, and finally turned to Geoff. The gent was taken aback by how little humor there was in his eyes.

“Do you know how I found your house?”

Geoff shook his head, truly curious.

“Even in the dark, I could tell your mailbox was that same obnoxious pink your cars always were.”

Geoff couldn’t hold back the laugh that ripped through the tension in the air. “That mailbox is beautiful! Nothing obnoxious about it.”

“I’m just saying it like it is,” Jeremy defended.

The two of them kept chuckling before it died out into awkward tension again. Geoff had so many questions for the lad, but he didn’t want to push the poor guy. He’d been off the whole evening, and even if he hadn’t seen the kid in a while, he liked to imagine he still remembered his character. Figuring he better try something than let the silence continue, Geoff opened his mouth to speak before getting cut off.

“I’m sorry,” Jeremy muttered quietly, and Geoff wasn’t sure if he’d actually said anything.

“I’m sorry?” Geoff repeated. Jeremy’s kept his gaze down, but nodded.

“I didn’t want to intrude on anything, but I didn’t know what else to do.”

Geoff tried to process the answer. “Jeremy, you were bleeding. That’s an adequate excuse for interrupting anything. I wasn’t doing anything, anyway. Plus, you could never intrude Jeremy, you should know that-”

“Not like that!” Jeremy cut in abruptly. He spoke louder now, finally showing a shred of emotion. “Not that sort of intrude.” He put his head in his hands, shaking it violently for someone who was still hurt. “I wasn’t sure you’d understand, and I guess I was right.”

“So explain it,” Geoff pressed. “What are you even going on about?”

He had reached out a hand, about to hesitantly set it on Jeremy’s back when the lad stood up. He recoiled as Jeremy turned on him. “It’s been three years, Geoff!” he practically shouted. “Three years! Alright, the first year way or may not count. We were still talking, chatting, hanging out. There was even a heist or two in there. But then year two came and it devolved farther. One on one hangouts. Small get-togethers. A game night once a blue moon. It wasn’t even a full year before it all just broke down after that. Radio silence. No one’s talking with each other, at least not that I’ve seen. No one’s contacted me, and I assume no one else has been talking either.

“It’d be obvious, don’t you think? If people were still talking. I know you’ve seen the news, no way you haven’t. Don’t know if you’ve kept up on your research like I have, don’t even know if you think about it much anymore, but there’s no way you could miss it in the news. You have to have seen them, the Vagabond killing a bigshot or MJones blowing up a shop. I’m assuming they’re not working with anyone else, it’d be obvious. If the Golden Boy was on the comms, sure you might not see him, but we both know Gavin. He’d want to fly in and save the day or something, so he’s not in on it. Solo jobs. No communication.

“There has to be a reason behind that, even if it’s unconscious. That’s what I mean. I’m intruding.”

Jeremy slumped into the chair Geoff had been occupying earlier. He was breathing heavily, and Geoff didn’t know if it was from all the pacing, gesticulating, and volume he’d put into his speech, or something else. It was obvious this was something Jeremy had been thinking about for a long time, and Geoff immediately regretting every time he’d thought about calling one of the guys and hadn’t.

Geoff didn’t know what to do. Jeremy had just spilled his guts, in addition to being seriously injured not too long ago, and all Geoff wanted to do was grab a beer. Once again his thoughts flashed back to Jack. He should be the one Jeremy confided his doubts in. Geoff was never the one for talking unless they were drunk. Granted, Geoff had given him the beer, so maybe he should have seen this coming. There was something, though, that Jeremy had said that caught his attention and nagged at his thoughts.

“Jeremy,” Geoff finally said, carefully thinking his way through the idea. “You said you didn’t want to intrude, but you’ve been keeping tabs on people.”

He’d intentionally left the statement open for confirmation and discussion, but Jeremy stayed silent. Alright, Geoff just had to keep plowing on, it seemed.

“You still miss everyone, or at that’s what it seems like. Correct me if I’m wrong-” Silence. “-but to me it looks like you’re scared to make contact. You don’t want to intrude, like you said. If someone wants space, wants thing to remain the way they were left, you want to honor that.

“However,” Geoff started, and he could see Jeremy look up at him hesitantly, “you said it yourself. You’re assuming. You don’t know anything. Maybe, just maybe,” Geoff paused to take a big sigh, knowing he was speaking the truth for at least one other person beside Jeremy, “they’re in the same boat as you.”

“What?” Jeremy asked. Geoff didn’t miss the rasp in his voice, the same one that had been in Michael’s voice after he’d raged at someone. Even behind the rasp, Jeremy’s tone was hopeful.

“They’re assuming too. They’re scared to initiate something too. To use you’re words, they don’t want to intrude.” Quietly as he sank further into his couch, he added, “Maybe we’re all just giant idiots.”

The two of them sat in silence, both staring into the distance at nothing in particular. Geoff didn’t know where to go from what he’d said, didn’t even know where it had come from. He guessed he’d had that same thoughts as Jeremy, maybe not to the extent the lad had, but he’d still felt how much he missed his crew. It was obvious from all the knick-knacks and items decorating the living room shelves, right there for everyone to see.

His eyes traveled around the items. There was an unused parachute with the Union Jack leaning against backpack that had more than its fair share of scorch marks on it. Another shelf was home to a couple of throwing knives, lovingly arranged around a pair of sunglasses, next to a headset from a plane. There was so much more, so many memories, and Geoff could feel his eyes start to water. A glance over to Jeremy showed that the lad seemed to be getting just as sentimental as he was.

“Just because the crew ended doesn’t mean we had to stop being friends,” Geoff told him quietly. Jeremy nodded vigorously.

“Once a Fake, always a Fake,” he shot back, and Geoff smiled.

“Say, Jeremy, do you have any plans this weekend?”

Jeremy started to see where he was going and sat up a bit. “You know, Geoff, can’t say I do.”

“Do you wanna watch a movie or something? Like, a really bad horror movie or something.”

“I would love that, Geoff.”

“Do you think,” Geoff ventured, “if I called Michael, he might want to come?”

“I don’t think he’d miss that for the world.”

The two of them were fully sitting up again, both obviously in better spirits. Geoff stood up, grabbing the two empty glasses from the table. “Do you want another drink?”

Geoff watched Jeremy’s face fall, much to his confusion. “I don’t think so. I should probably be getting home.”

“Home?” Geoff exclaimed. “Man, it’s nearly midnight and you’re injured, not to mention intoxicated.”

“Little bit of alcohol never stopped you. Besides, I’m fine.” He stood up, and Geoff watched to see if he’d stumble. He didn’t.

“You sure? I’ve got a guest room, you could stay the night.”

“No, no, I don’t want to in-” Geoff could see him visibly stop himself and backpedal. “I don’t want to be a bother.”

“You’re not a bother Jeremy.”

Jeremy stopped by the door, but he shook his head. “No, I think I want to head home, if that’s okay with you?”

Geoff shrugged, but he was secretly disappointed. Even though the visit had been tense and emotional, he’d enjoyed it Jeremy’s presence. It had made him realize just how much he missed the crew.

The two said their goodbyes and as Geoff closed the door behind Jeremy, he let out a deep sigh. He turned back to stare at his living room again, almost unsure in the sudden silence if the encounter had even happened. His eyes fell on the abandoned first-aid supplies, the muted TV, and finally the pair of sunglasses on the shelves. He was still staring when he heard a crunch from outside, making him flinch. He made it to the window just in time for someone to knock on his door for the second time that evening.

“Hey, Geoff,” Jeremy opened cheerily, if a bit tired, when Geoff opened the door. “Can I stay here tonight?”

“Sure, but what happened?”

Jeremy shrugged. “Let’s just say you might need a new mailbox.” Geoff couldn’t hold in his laughter, and then neither could Jeremy. He beckoned the lad in, and in the midst of the laughter, Jeremy walked back in.

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