Oneshot: Character Development

Characters: Onimikeler, featuring Jeremy, Doll, etc.

Plot: It's the end for him, but he looks back on his life with satisfied eyes.

Based off Deathbed by Relient K

Warning: This one-shot is like 16000 words long. It's loooooonnnggg.

-...-

He was 6 years old.

He was small and fragile, with short, messy, blond hair. He had big, bright blue eyes. He got them from his dad. He had a cute little smile and the kindest of hearts. Maybe he wasn't the smartest, and trusted people a bit to easily, but he was just a child.

He had a toy monster truck in his hands, and he was rolling it around on the carpet floor, making cute little car noises as he did so. He sat in front of the old TV, which happened to be playing reruns of a monster truck show. The kid was fascinated by these mechanics, and loved to watch them as they dominated their field. The screen reflected in his eyes.

The room, otherwise, was dark and small. There was a roughed up dark red couch, a stained glass coffee table with a crack or two, and a recliner. As the boy leaned closer to the TV, his grand father slept, snoring lightly on the recliner. That was his father's dad, an old cranky man with a beer belly. However, he was the one to okay that the boy could watch TV at such a late hour. The boy didn't always like being yelled at by the selfish man, but the man made up for it in many ways. That boy was his favorite.

"Your siblings are a pain in the ass" The boy remembered being once told. "But you kid! You know how to entertain yourself! You make my job easier!"

His mother, on the other hand...

"Mike!"

The boy jumped, scrambling to his feet, dropping the toy. The tired sound of his mother's voice scared him. She was a nice woman, just not when it's ten at night and you were supposed to be in bed two hours ago.

"I'm sorry, Mamma!" Mike looked up at his mom, terrified about what punishment awaited him. No dessert for a week? No TV? No Toys? The list goes on and on of all the possible outcomes.

His mother looked dead tired, and she had the right to be. She worked a lot for their poor family, over time to feed the kids and the useless grandad. He wasn't even her dad, but the dad of the asshole who ditched them and became rich. The woman also had to take care of Mike's older siblings, his sister Andrea and his brother Gavin. They were both 4 years older then Mike and a lot meaner. They were loud, rude, and gave mom a headache. It was unbelievable how she still loved those demons.

"They're just children!" She'd argue with grandad.

"You were told to brush your teeth and get to bed hours ago! I can't believe you're still up!" His mother frowned, walking over and turning off the TV.

She then picked up the toy and grabbed Mike's hand, pulling him out of the room. Walking down the creaky wooden hallway, she pulled him into his room, where his siblings snored loudly in a deep sleep. She placed the toy on Mike's side table and then picked up the boy, placing him onto his bed.

"Are you mad at me?" Mike asked weakly, getting under the covers.

His mother sighed. "You can't have dessert for a week."

Mike looked down, feeling guilty for causing his mother trouble.

"But neither can your siblings. They broke the neighbor's window today. I have to pay for that." She said, giving the small boy a pat on the head.

"Oh..." Mike pulled the covers up and his mother tucked him in. She then turned to walk out of the room.

"H-Hey, mamma!" Mike called out quietly.

"Yes?" His mom stopped and turned to look at him.

Mike hesitated, but looked up at her. "I love you!"

His mom gave a small, sad smile in return, and then left, closing the door behind her. Mike looked around as his room was completely and utterly dark. His siblings couldn't sleep with a night light, but truth be told he needed one. But he had to deal with that, because that's how life was.

-...-

He was 11 years old.

Mike sat at the kitchen table, eating breakfast. It was a poorly put together bowl of cereal. Too much milk, as there was some spot on the table where it had spilled. The cereal was also cheat, and got soggy fast. It was full of sugar too, in no way healthy for the kid. But he didn't care. He made it himself and he was happy. His mom was at work, and his grandad who knows where.

"Yo! Mike!"

Mike turned to see his 16 year old siblings, Andrea and Gavin. Andrea had dirty blonde hair, and a chill additude. Gavin's hair was more like mom's and was brown. He already had a stubble of a beard on his face, and had a roll with the flow sort of mind. But even so, they still hung out with troublesome people and were ignorant to what was right and wrong. They were oblivious to the wrong they did.

"H-hey!" Mike smiled, turning around in his chair, only to be met by Andrea messing with his hair. He laughed.

"So, kid, you think you can do us a favor?" Andrea asked.

"Sure!" Mike leaned to the side on his chair, careful not to fall.

"So, like, were going out to hang with some friends!" Gavin explained. "Buutt, mom doesn't want us to go out. Said we got work or some shit to do. I dunno, but like, you don't mind figuring out what she meant and covering for us, right?"

"Yeah, bro!" Andrea nodded her head.

Mike's smile slowly vanished. He shuffled in the chair uncomfortably. His siblings were cool and all, but they were oblivious to the fact that they hurt him. Maybe not physically, but they never include him in anything. Mike has friends of his own, but none of them live around and he can't drive over to hang out. His out of school life is spent in his home, all alone. And yeah, he did wish that maybe Andrea and Gavin would talk him along to have an adventure with their friends. Mike often worried that maybe he was embarrassing to them. Why else would they care so less about him?

"So, what'cha say?" Andrea asked, nudging his sibling in the shoulder.

Mike sighed. "Yeah, sure. I'll be in here all day anyway."

"Dude, thanks!" Gavin smiled.

"Means a lot to us, bro!" Andrea said.

"We'll see ya later!" The two started heading towards the door.

"W-Wait! When will you be back!?" Mike asked.

"I dunno, maybe midnight? You got our backs though!"

Mike twitched when he heard the front door open and close. His siblings were gone. Sure, he could cover for them in the sense that he could make up excuses to why their work wasn't done, but when they won't be back before mom, cover just means that he has to do their work for them, or they all get in trouble. It was how this house hold worked.

Mike wasn't hungry anymore. He climbed out of the chair and took his cereal to the sink. He trashed the remains and cleaned out the bowl, leaving it in the sink to be cleaned later with soap. He then walked back across the kitchen, stopping when he saw a new piece of paper taped to the fridge. He looked at it, reading what it said.

"Andrea and Gavin, please clean the dishes and finish the laundry. Get dinner started as well. Mike, please complete your homework. You've got that project due Monday."

Mike stared at the paper. He never had to do these things that his siblings were asked of, but he'd watch his mom do them sometimes. Still, it wasn't enough for the small 11 year old he was. He could probably figure out how to do the dishes, but laundry was messy, as they didn't have any cool machines yet. They used the laundry mat a mile away. His siblings had bikes, so would make the trip in no time, but Mike was behind on that as well. He wasn't even strong enough to do that and hold the laundry. And lets not forget he had to start dinner. He couldn't cook to save his life. And cook what? The note didn't say.

Mike didn't get to work on these things for another couple of hours. When the clock struck 12, he had to force himself up to start on what he could do. He did the dishes, accidentally breaking one of the plates. He threw the pieces into the trash and never told a soul. He later stepped on a piece of the plate he missed and had to tend to his own cut as not to raise suspicion. It fucking hurt and bled a lot.

He then got to work on the laundry. Unable to get to the laundry mat, he had to take matters into his own hands. He'd seen his mom sometimes wash clothes with water and soap and her own two hands. So he thought he'd give that a try. He found the supplies in the back room of his house, where the laundry machine would be if they had one. He filled the thing up with water and soap and got to scrubbing. He hung them up on the hanger out back, and left accomplished. Only thing was that he didn't do a great job getting all the soap out.

And, well, dinner...yeah, he burned himself on the stove trying to turn it on. He hid in his room after that, in pain from his burnt finger. He'd totally forgot that mom would get home any minute, and when she did, he realized he'd failed his mission. He failed his siblings. His mother was upset that the dinner wasn't started, the soapy clothes were a mess, and the two she told to do them were nowhere to be seen.

"You're all grounded for the rest of the weekend!" His mother frowned, sitting at the table with Mike, Andrea, and Gavin. It was 1 AM, when the two finally got home. Mike had been asleep, but the woman woke him up for this.

"What the hell?!" Andrea was upset.

"Yeah! We did everything you asked us to do!" Gavin argued.

"You didn't start the dinner, you ruined the laundry, I'm missing a plate!" The woman started listing off all that Mike had done wrong. Mike sunk back into his chair, wanting to hide. "And to top it all off, Mike didn't finish his project! Mike, you had the whole day! You're a good kid! Why'd you not do it?"

Mike hid his face into his knees. He felt like a failure.

"I can't believe this." Andrea grumbled.

"Fuck this, I'm going to bed." Gavin rolled his eyes and turned to walk away with Andrea.

"What did you say?" His mother's voice got louder as she stood up from the table.

"Whatever!" Gavin didn't care, and ignored the woman.

"I'm disappointed in all of you. This isn't how I raised you." The woman frowned, and then walked away.

Mike didn't leave the table, falling asleep in the chair. His grandad found him early that morning, and took him to bed before his mother would see.

-...-

He was 13 years old.

"Alright class! We've all got big plans for our future, right? You all look like the kind of kids who know exactly what awesome things you want to do when you grow up, right?"

Mike sighed, walking along the side walk, a red umbrella in his hands. The umbrella belonged to Andrea, but she was spending the day skipping school to hang out with her bestie and Mike didn't see anything wrong with stealing it out of her book bag. She wasn't going to need it, and his, which was blue, had holes in it. It was raining and everything looked gray. To one side was a fenced in christian church playground, empty, and to the other side of Mike was a large road with cars, driving through puddles that were just out of Mike's range.

He thought back on the lesson today that his English Language Arts teacher gave her class. She wanted each student to do research on their dream job, no matter what it was. If it was to be an actor, a doctor, an artist, an alien, a unicorn tamer, whatever. She wanted them to write a small essay about the job and what they would do in that job and how successful and happy they would be.

Mike knew exactly what he wanted to be. He wanted to be rich. He hated being poor, and he hated having to sacrifice so much just to breath everyday. He was thirteen, but he did a lot more work around the house then his mother or siblings did, and had to walk himself over a mile to and from school everyday. If he got side tracked, nobody called to make sure he was okay. It was hard to believe he was cared for at all. But he felt guilty, because he knew they loved him. Their way of showing love just wasn't the kind that the wanted.

He wanted to be worried about, to be hugged and kissed and treated like the only person in the world who's life mattered, even if that wasn't true. He wasn't surrounded by those kinds of people, and he blamed it on being poor. He blamed it on his father who left his loved ones to be rich. And that was the problem. Whenever he thought about his dream to become rich, his father would come up in his head. He associated being rich with being a shitty father, and that was something he was scared of too. He wanted to have a family when he grew up, and he wanted to prove to himself that he could be a better father, a better husband, then anybody else his in family.

That was his dream, and it wasn't a pretty one. At least, compared to his classmate's stories. He didn't want to write that paper. He'd probably lie about how he wanted to maybe work at a pizza place or something, and eat free pizza all day. His teacher would like that.

Mike's attention was shortened when a loud car drove over, pulling to the side of the side walk, splashing water on him. He shivered, the umbrella unable to save him. His school clothes were ruined.

"What the hell, kid?!"

Mike looked over to see his sister in the front seat of the car, beside the driver seat. She leaned out the window, looking at her brother. Mike saw her friend in the driver seat.

"So that's where my umbrella went! You took it! I couldn't walk home because of you!" She frowned.

"I-I didn't think you'd need it. Sorry..." Mike huffed, walking closer to the car.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Andrea rolled her eyes. "Anyway, since she's taking me home, why don't you get in kid?"

Mike nodded his head, and opened the back door to the car, throwing his book bag into the car before shaking off the umbrella as best he could. He slipped into the back seat, closed the door, and buckled in.

"So! How was your day?" Andrea began after a silence in the car.

"Yeah! Couldn't have been too exciting going to school n' all." Her friend laughed before pulling back into the road to drive off.

-...-

He was 15 years old.

"Alright, pair up with a partner and get started on the labs! You only have the class today to get it done! No wasting time!"

Mike huffed. He hated group projects, especially in a class with nobody you knew. He had no friends in that class, and to be honest, he really didn't have many friends in general. There was Doll, the one year older chubby girl who showed him around the first day of school last year, and there was also one or two kids that the teacher paired up with him to help him with his math. There was the small kid who he protected during a game of throw the balls at each other in P.E. Nobody too close though.

"Looks like Schmidt needs a partner." The teacher walked over to find Mike sitting alone, again, while everyone else was talking to their groups, probably not even over the project due.

"I can do this myself." Mike said, looking down at the paper below.

"Working together is part of the grade, Mike." The teacher sighed, already knowing what she was getting into. Mike was a teenager annoyed with the world, in a school full of more open minded people. He was the odd one out, and most teachers knew that too.

"How much of the grade?" Mike asked, challenging the teacher.

"All of it." The teacher replied.

"So, in a way, I could just sit with someone and not actually do anything and still get a 100 for the lab?" Mike grinned.

"You're the super high school level smartass, huh? That's how you got here, right?" The teacher almost laughed.

"You know me well, Mrs. Andrews." Mike replied.

"Alright, alright. But you still seriously need to get that work done." The teacher moved on. "Look, there's another kid sitting alone back there. Maybe you should introduce yourself and help him. He's not doing too well in this class either, so maybe you guys can help each other out."

"You do understand I have a 69 in this class." Mike asked, leaning on the table he sat at.

"Which is why you should go talk to him!" The teacher pushed Mike on, who gave in and got out of his seat.

"Okay, fine. Only because I'm failing and my mom will kill me." Mike sighed.

The teacher watched proudly as Mike walked across the busy room to the kid who sat in the back, alone, starting on the project alone. He was clearly an introvert, his body languages proved that. His face was hidden and he didn't dare look up when Mike approached. He seemed to hide himself in his own world. He wore long sleeves and has a thin body. Messy brown hair, pale skin. When Mike did see his eyes, they were a bright green.

"Hey, uh, my name's Mike. Mike Schmidt. You wanna work with me on this dumb project?"

Almost as if spooked, the kid slowly looked up to Mike. He looked down at his paper, knowing all too well that he was just scrambling down random information that sounded like it fit. He didn't understand it, and he wasn't even sure how to set up the lab. He needed help, and he had no other choice anyway.

"U-Um, m-my name's J-Jeremy Fitzgerald." He introduced himself.

Mike sat down in the seat next to Jeremy, looking at the answers Jeremy already had put down. Mike knew they were wrong.

"So, like, I have a 69 in this class and I don't know what any of this is about, but i'm pretty sure we do the lab first before answering the questions." Mike pointed out.

Jeremy felt embarrassed, and Mike realized that right away.

"Chill out, though. I totally understand you not wanting to do this anyway. Chemistry is a shitty subject anyway. I bet your smarter then me in everything anyway. You look smart." Mike said.

Jeremy looked at his desk. "R-Really? I only have a 70 in here. And not a lot of people call me smart. My dad calls me dumb all the time. I just figured it was true..."

"That's mean! What do you get in your other classes?" Mike asked.

"I have an 81 in english, and a 78 in math. I think I have an 89 in french and a 95 in history." Jeremy answered.

"I'm literally almost failing all of those accept for history I think, and art." Mike laughed. "You're good."

"T-Thank you."

"So, how are my boys getting along?"

The two looked up at the teacher who came to check on them.

"Have you started the lab yet?" She asked.

"Y-Yeah! Totally!" Mike replied.

She took the paper and looked at the answers already answered. Her face looked puzzled and Jeremy hid his face again.

"Y-Yeah, my bad. I wrote those." Mike took the blame.

"You did? Did you even read the instructions, Mike?" She asked.

"No! I want to get this over with!" Mike huffed.

The teacher rolled her eyes, and turned to Jeremy. "This kid here needs some major help. I think he needs a friend like you."

Jeremy was surprised, and nodded his head. When she walked away, Jeremy looked at Mike.

"Why'd you do that?" Jeremy asked.

"Because. That's why." Mike gave Jeremy and thumbs up.

"O-Oh. Thank you."

"Alrighty then! Who is ready to get the minimum passing grade on this lab! 'Cuz I am!"

"I'd rather we aim for an 80."

"How about a 75?"

-...-

He was 17 years old.

"Asshole! What the fuck was that all about!?"

Mike frowned as the kid stormed up to him from the other side of the hallway, clearly pissed off. Mike didn't back up, or step back, or even give off any sign of backing down from the hostility.

"I don't know what you're talking abou-"

"YEAH YOU FUCKING DO, FUCKASS!" The other guy yelled, pushing Mike against the wall.

"So what!? Why are you so mad about it!?" Mike barked back.

The two stood in the school hallway, after school, and not a teacher nearby to stop them, or to really care. It was a Friday, everyone was tired.

"Because of you, all my chances were ruined! You fucked up my grades, i'm going to summer school, and my girlfriend dumped me!"

"Well fuck you! You deserve it!" Mike hissed back.

"You say that again, Mike Shit!"

Next thing Mike saw was a fist to the face. It hurt like a motherfucker, and Mike hit his head against the brick wall too. He stepped to the side, his hand holding the area that got hit. He felt blood dripping down his face.

"There's more where that came from, you piece of shit!" The guy continued to step towards Mike.

"W-WAIT!"

The two guys turned around to see a girl running over. She had short brown hair, cute little glasses, and a slightly overweight frame. She wore a school shirt and skirt and had a small blue cross body bag as well as her blue book bag. She looked bothered by the scene playing out in front of her.

"Oh god no, not you." The guy groaned.

"Mike, what's going on? What happened?" She asked.

"It's nothing, Doll." Mike used his sleeve to wipe away some of the blood. Doll saw it and wasn't impressed. "Someone's just on their period."

"Your shitty boyfriend here ruined my life, Play toy!" The guy turned to Doll.

"Don't call her that!" Mike barked, knowing how much Doll hated being called that.

"Whatever it was, he didn't mean it. It happened all by pure accident." Doll replied. "If you need help getting back on track, I'm all for it, but punching him in the fact only get's parents complaints and school suspension."

The boy laughed. "Like his parents would give two shits if I knocked him out or not! I've seen where you live, Schmidt! Ain't nobody care about their kids in that part of town!"

"Fuck off!" Mike growled.

"You fuck off! I didn't do shit to deserve any of this!"

"Yeah you did, you picked on Jere-"

"Shut up!"

Both of them turned to Doll, who's voice got really loud there. The guy didn't think much of it, but when Doll got mad, it did kinda scare Mike. Doll was typically happy and understanding and open minded and loving to even her enemies, the complete opposite of Mike, and when she was mad, she was a force not to be reckoned with.

"First off, you leave that loveable boy alone! He's everything that is precious and if you touch a hair on his tiny little head I will have your head, and second of all, it's been half an hour since school let out and they'll be locking the doors soon! We're leaving now! End of story!"

Unable to reply, Doll grabbed Mike's hand and pulled him down the hallway. Mike was sorta glad she interfered, because knowing himself, he probably would've gotten into a fist fight. But the asshole deserved it, because he was bullying Jeremy, who probably had the purest heart in the fucking universe. The kid wouldn't hurt a shard of grass, and if anyone messed with him, they deserved to fail a few major tests due to being locked in the principal's bathroom.

They got to the student parking lot and Doll and Mike walked over to Doll's car. As she got into the car, Mike threw their bags into the trunk and them walked around to get in the front side seat. Before he closed the door, he saw the other guy walking out of the school, across the parking lot. They shared a glare before Mike stuck up his middle finger. The guy returned the favor.

Doll ignored it and started the car as Mike got buckled in. She began to pull away and start off on their way to Mike's house.

"Hey, actually, you don't mind if we stay at your house tonight, right?" Mike asked.

"I'll have to ask my parents first. Is there a reason?" Doll asked, keeping her eyes on the road.

"My mom's working late tonight, grandad is out and about. I've been eating microwaveable pastas for the last three weeks. Also, I need some help with my math homework. I've got a test coming up and don't know shit." Mike explained. "Dividing polynomials? Like what the shit will I need any of this for?"

Doll laughed. "You get my phone out then, send my dad a text. I'll start heading my way then and even if they say no i'll just say there was a traffic jam and we didn't want to wait in the car for three hours again."

"Thanks!" Mike smiled. He pulled out the flip phone from Doll's light blue purse. The color was his favorite color, coincidentally Doll's too. He went to her messages and found a group chat with both her parents, and then typed in a text asking "Can Mike stay over for dinner?".

Doll's parents were nice, and her younger siblings were playful, but over all kind kids. Her dad was a math teacher, and a good tutor at that, and her mom worked as a daycare employee. Mike wasn't completely sure if they liked him, but he tried his best to be kind and friendly around them. He's never said anything wrong yet, and Doll would let him know if there was something he should be worried of.

"So, how's our little weeb doing?" Doll asked to break the silence.

"He's alright." Mike replied. Jeremy was such a sweetheart, and it was funny how much he was treated like a son by him and Doll. He was the youngest of the trio, and Doll had a very motherly form of caring for her friends. "I talked to him a lunch. He showed me his drawings. Wish I was talented as him at that shit. He'll probably go into animation or comic book drawing after high school."

"He talked to me once about that. He was worried his father wouldn't accept that." Doll frowned.

"Fuck his stupid father. He can die in a hole for all I care." Mike's fist clenched. He hated Jeremy's dad, the abusive fucking selfish asshole who didn't deserve the wonderful, smart kid he had.

"He's spending the weekend with you, right?" Doll asked.

"Damn right he is! Invited him to stay over at my place! You don't mind picking him up before taking me back home, do you?" Mike asked.

"Anything for my boys!" Doll smiled.

The phone in Mike's hand buzzed, and he looked down to see a reply to the text. He smiled, looking back at Doll.

"Looks like I'll be having dinner with ya!" He said.

-...-

He was 19 years old.

Mike leaned back on the bed, using the remote to flip through the channels. Nothing interesting was on, and he was tired. It was 10 PM, and he was at Doll's house, hanging out in her bedroom. It was a small room, her siblings getting the bigger bedroom down the hall and her parents in bed downstairs. The room was surprisingly a mess, as Doll always had other things on her mind.

There was a trundle bed pulled out from under Doll's bed, but Mike never used it. It just made her parents happy to see it pulled out. There was enough room on the one bed for the two of them, and they were always the first up anyway. Doll was in the bathroom, which had a door connecting to the bedroom as to the hallway. She walked out a few minutes later, in light blue pajama bottoms and tank top. Mike already had on short darker blue pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt. He had socks on, but he placed the remote down and took those off, knowing he would just lose them under the covers again later.

Doll sat down next to him on the bed and yawned, laying her head on his shoulder. Mike loved it when she sat next to him. She made him feel loved for once, and nobody really gave him that feeling. She worried over him and cared for him and would call him if she didn't hear from him after school. She'd pick him up when nobody else could care less, and she treated him like he deserved everything happy in life. She told him that too, which he didn't believe.

"Hey...Doll...?" Mike asked, his voice soft.

"Yes, my love?" Doll asked, rubbing her head into the side of his shoulder. She was obviously tired.

"Why do you love me?" He asked, wondering if that was a question that was a good or bad idea to ask.

Doll paused, pulling away from Mike, and looking up at him. Her brown eyes were beautiful to him, and her hair was soft, and she was everything he could ever want. But what made him, a piece of no good shit, so attractive to her?

"I just...I just don't feel like I deser-"

"Shhh, Mike." Doll quieted Mike with a low tone. "I know you feel like you don't deserve any of this, but Mike, you don't give yourself the credit you deserve. Yeah, you can be an asshole, but i've watched you, and I can see why. You're an asshole to those who deserve it, and you have a right to be untrusting of the world you live in. Sometimes you can be a handful, but it's all of that that makes you so loveable."

"I don't understand..." Mike said.

"What I mean is that you have your flaws, and I have mine, but in order to love someone, you have to understand their flaws, and to be honest, your flaws make you even cuter. Remember when you lost your job, got angry at the manager, got locked out, and your keys they kept in the office? You looked like a lost puppy when I picked you up, you were so adorable!" Doll laughed.

"Oh y-yeah." Mike gave a small smile.

"Anyway, moving on from the flaws, you're a nicer person then you think as well. You care about other people and you stick up for them, help them, make them feel better about themselves. You have common sense and you're smarter then you think too! You're handsome and sweet and you treat me like a princess when you don't have to at all. You might not come off as a man with a pure heart, but behind all those bad words and dark feelings, you are the most caring, sweetest, kindest man I've ever laid my eyes on."

Mike didn't know what to say. He loved it when she made him feel better. He didn't really think much of himself, even if he came off as selfish and full of it to strangers. He was just over protective of himself and those he cared about. And Doll saw that and loved that. Mike loved her because of that. Because she was willing to put aside everything else and care for him for once.

"I love you so much." Doll yawned again, stretching out her arms. "Let's grow old together. I'll make your coffee while you complain about the kids on your lawn every morning."

Mike laughed.

"I look forward to that future."

Mike then turned to Doll, grabbing her and pulling her into his arms. He was warm, and Doll hugged back. After a few moments, Mike turned off the TV, and then Doll reached over to turn off the lamp on the side table. Doll got under the covers of her bed, and Mike climbed over, getting between her and the wall. He stopped though, looking down at Doll as she looked up at him.

"Good night." Doll smiled.

Mike smiled, and leaned down to plant a kiss on her forehead. But Doll leaned up, and Mike ended up kissing her on the lips. Her lips were soft and covered in green apple flavored chap stick. Before Mike could pull away, Doll's hand reached up and rested behind his back. She was keeping him from doing so, and he was surprised by that. Doll actually continued their kiss, until they went farther, and they had to pull away for air.

"You never do that." Mike panted.

"Yeah, well I'm not really that sleepy after all." Doll said quietly.

Mike paused. He wasn't quiet sure where she was heading at with that. He leaned back and Doll sat up. Her face got red.

"I-I mean, if you're tired and all-" Doll looked away.

"W-Wait, are you suggesting we-"

"Maybe!" Doll forced herself to confess. "I mean, you're 19, I'm 20, we've been dating for a few years. A-And I'm not tired."

Mike didn't expect that from her. She always went with the flow, and to be honest he did too. They planned dates, but they never planned where to go or what time, just whenever. They never planned to hang out, as they were just some random call away. Mike didn't think he'd ever get this far in a relationship at this age, and he thought that maybe Doll was the kind who wanted to wait longer.

"W-Well...um..." Doll was beginning to get worried by Mike's silence.

"I'm down for it." Mike answered. Doll looked surprised as well. "I-I will say this though, first timer! Don't know what the fuck I'm doing!"

"Do I look like I know either?" Doll laughed. "Come here, you big teddy bear!"

Doll reached out for Mike and pulled him closer, kissing him more passionately. Mike was hesitant, worried to making the wrong move, but he kissed back, meeting her strength, and then ultimately dominating it. They continued to show their love for each other as the night went on, and that morning they were the last to wake up.

-...-

He was 20 years old.

"This is all your fault!" She screamed at her son.

"My fault!?" Mike stepped back. He'd just gotten back home from his job at a fast food place and his mother was a mess, his siblings wouldn't talk to him, and grandad was gone.

"He left us because of you!" His mom yelled, sitting at the table, clearly off her medication and probably intoxicated too.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Mike asked, worried about his mother, but also upset that this was what he came home too. His life was shit.

His mother grumbled, taking a sip from a liquid in a glass. It was clear, like water, but Mike wasn't stupid. It wasn't water.

"Where'd you get the money to pay for that?" Mike frowned, walking over and taking the drink from her.

"T-Thats none of your b-business!" She hissed at him and reached for the glass back.

"None of this is good for you! If you think wasting your money on alcohol is going to fix your problems then you need to wake up!" Mike spat, dropping the glass to the floor, his shoes protecting him from the glass and liquid spilling everywhere.

"What the fuck!?" His mother stood up, reaching out to hit him. But Mike caught her hand, his grasp on it stronger then planned. She pulled back in pain, turning to walk around the kitchen.

"Where is grandad? Doesn't he normally know when to give you your meds?" Mike asked.

"He's not here! He left! For good this time too!" His mother said. "He told me nobody in this house gave two shits for him so he decided to drive back to the Carolinas where his niece and nephew offered to take care of him. I bet he'll be a rich ol' hag there!"

"Are you kidding me!?" Mike looked offended. "I cared about him just as much as he cared for me!"

"You were his little spoiled brat! Decided that since you spend so much time out of the house nowadays that he didn't really have much to stick around for! Not that I expecting him to stay! Your father's whole side of the family are rich selfish cocksuckers!" His mother yelled.

"Grandad was a nice man who stayed to help you when his son couldn't do that!" Mike replied, stepping over the mess on the floor and walking around the table.

"You sound more and more like a stupid Schmidt each day!" His mother growled. Mother never had the time to change their last names back to her original last name, and when she eventually did, she didn't take the time to change her children's names back. She tried so hard to look at them as her own kids, but she wasn't right in the head, and she was now old and unstable and hated everything. She even grew to see all the flaws in her children, and never any positives. She grew to associate them with her ex.

"Maybe dad wouldn't have left if you didn't make such a big deal out of nothing! You're the kind of woman who thinks that a man will sweep you from your feet and you'll never have to work! That didn't fucking work and look at you now! You still believe it!" Mike yelled back. "You shit so much on him but you need to work just as hard as anybody else to make it! You only started working once you realized you were going to starve and die without him!"

"HE LEFT ME BECOUSE OF YOU!" The woman felt tears in her eyes. "Shortly after you were born, he was gone!"

"That wouldn't make any sense! It was just a coincidence!" Mike felt sick inside. "Besides, he loved Gavin and Andrea, why wouldn't he love me?"

His mother grumbled under her breath. She turned to the cabinet and pulled out a glass and reached for a bottle hidden under the sink. It was more alcohol. Mike felt enraged. His mother was ruining her life, and she wouldn't do a thing but blame it on other people. He walked over, taking the bottle from her and holding it out of her reach.

"You son of a bitch!" His mother yelled again, reaching up for it.

"No! You need to get a hold of yourself! You're killing yourself!" Mike spat back.

"You're killing me with your stupid fucking presence!" His mother placed the glass down and pushed Mike. "Get the hell out of my house!"

"You're not even paying for it anymore, this isn't really your house!" Mike didn't take her seriously.

The woman stepped back, but her face was red with anger and tears. She glared at Mike, her body trembling.

"Get out of my house. I don't want you here at all. It's clear there's nothing here for you anyway! Go live with your stupid fucking friends! The people dumb enough to think you're actually a good person!"

Mike didn't reply. He stared at his mother. So this is what it came to? He came home just to be kicked out. Was she just saying that because she was mad? It didn't matter, Mike didn't want to be in a house full of people who didn't give two shits if he died. But this place was where he grew up.

"Fine. Fuck you." Mike growled, his voice this time actually coming off as legit threatening. If he wasn't angry before, he certainly was now. "Fuck you, Fuck Gavin, Fuck Andrea. You're not family to me at all."

Mike began walking out of the room, but to make it worse, his mother followed him.

"Go! Go crash at your stupid play toy's place! I can't for her to leave you just like he left me! Nobody with money is good!" His mother hissed.

"Don't fucking talk about Doll like that! She's more motherly then you could ever be!" Mike barked.

"Motherly my ass! She wouldn't know how to raise a child with a Schmidt if she tried! Your bloodline is full of assholes and it'll never fucking evolve out!"

Mike didn't want to hear this. He slammed the front door so loud it shook the house. Gavin and Andrea even felt it as they were hiding away in their room. He could hear the yelling in their house, and they ignored it. They were suffering too. Mike walked down the walkway to the side walk, pausing before taking out his phone from his pocket. He waiting for an answer, and each second it took felt like an hour.

"Hey Mike! What'cha need?" Doll answered, her voice calming to Mike.

"Uh, well, how long do you I could crash at your place before getting kicked out?" Mike asked.

Doll paused. "...What do you mean? What happened? Are you okay?"

"C-Could you pick me up? Maybe by the park near my house? I'll talk to you about it when you get here. Is that okay?" Mike asked, looking around. It was getting dark, but he didn't want to stand outside his mom's house for half an hour.

"Sure! I'll be there as soon as possible!" Doll said in worried tone.

"Thanks, Doll. Love you." Mike said.

"Love ya too!" Doll replied, and then their call was ended.

Mike sighed, placing his phone in his pocket. He began to walk down the street, looking back at the house he just left, telling himself he'd never go back. Not to a place he wasn't welcomed.

-...-

He was 21 years old.

He sat on the couch, staring at the TV in front of him. It was some stupid reality TV show playing, but it was the most interesting part of his life at the moment. Other then the kitchen light, the apartment was dark. It was 3 AM, and he couldn't sleep. But neither could his friend, the man who owned the apartment that Mike was crashing at. His name was Alex Pines, and he was a college student a few months older then Mike. They met when they were both working at fast food half a year ago.

Ever since he was kicked out of his house my his mom, Mike had been couch hoping, unable to get a steady job to save up for an apartment of his own. And not only that, but Doll was gone. She had moved a few states over to go to college, and it turned out that as perfect as their relationship was, neither of them were prepared for how difficult it would be to maintain the relationship as a long distance couple. So it ended, and Mike missed her a little too much, but had no choice but to take care of himself.

Alex was able to take him in as well as a few other distant friends, but Mike was running out of places to go. He absolutely refused any help from Andrea or Gavin, and he'd lost contact with Jeremy shortly after high school. He missed the small dude too, and hoped he was doing alright.

"Looks like your bottle is almost empty."

Alex walked out from the kitchen, two bottles of cheap beer in his hands. He handed one to Mike, who took it and opened it, taking a rather large sip from it. Alex sat on the other side of the couch and looked at the TV, seeing what it was playing.

"Ugh, I hate shows like these." He frowned.

"You can change it if you want." Mike said, pushing the remote over to Alex.

Alex took the remote and flipped through the channels. Mike watched as clips of shows passed, reflecting in his eyes. He was tried, but he didn't want to sleep at all. Finally, Alex stopped and Mike noticed what was now playing was a cartoon based channel.

"Cartoon Network?" Mike asked.

"Well, since it's 3 AM, it's Adult Swim." Alex shrugged. "How much TV do you watch?"

"I didn't get to watch cartoons past 7 PM so I wouldn't really know whats out there." Mike sighed.

"Well, knowing you, I think you'll like this stuff." Alex sighed, leaning back and taking a sip out of the bottle in his hands.

The two watched the adult themed cartoons for another hour, and Mike had drunk the whole bottle he had rather quickly compared to Alex. By the time it was 5 AM, Mike was half asleep on the couch, and Alex had gotten up to clean up the bottles around the couch. When he came back he watched as Mike fell off the couch, and he laughed.

"Ugh, my head hurts." Mike groaned.

"When do you need to get to work?" Alex asked. "You started last week, right?"

Mike rubbed his head, standing up. He was so tired, but he had to get ready soon.

"Around 7. It's on the other side of town. I'll need to catch the bus." Mike answered.

"You look like you need a pick-me-up." Alex was amused by Mike's appearance.

"I need a coffee." Mike started walking towards the kitchen.

"Yo, have you ever given these a thought?"

Mike turned to see Alex holding a box of cigarettes. Mike shrugged.

"Never had the money for them."

"Well, here. You try one. I'll help ya." Alex pulled one out and held It out to Mike.

Mike knew that they were bad, but he had the same thought in his head that everyone else had when they first try smoking. "Whats one little cigarette gonna do to me?". So he took it from Alex, and they both walked outside, watching the sunrise as so.

-...-

He was 22 Years old.

He had the worst job on the face of the planet. Every fucking night was a living nightmare. Mike sat in the office chair, cold, worried, and nervous wreck. He'd honestly much rather be back home with his screaming mother, but he was never going to admit that. The room was dark, but he had a monitor up that showed him many different security cameras. The two doors to his left and right side were up, but he glanced at them almost every second of every minute, peeking out with the flash light to make sure they weren't coming for him.

He worked at an old pizza place, known as Freddy Fazbear's. He thought it'd be just another job, but he had never been more wrong. The animatronics were alive, and they were out for blood. It was his third night there, and he truly didn't want to stay at all. The pay was actually so low it was illegal, but Mike wasn't in the position to complain or sue.

The only good thing that came from this was that he got to meet Jeremy again. Jeremy also started working there, and would cover night shifts every now and then, but mainly worked in the mornings. Mike was thrilled to see his old buddy again, and in fact he currently crashed at Jeremy's apartment. The kid was working to pay for college, and Mike was working to pay his side of the rent, and also save for his own house.

There was suddenly a loud beeping noise, and Mike turned to see that the battery was low.

"Fuck!" Mike hissed, looking at the time.

5:40

"Maybe I can make this!" Mike told himself. "I've got to! I can't give up!"

Jeremy wouldn't want Mike to give up at all either. So Mike tried his best to cut back on power usage, continuously checking the position of the murder bots. He sat on the edge of his chair, almost falling off multiple times. His heart raced dangerously fast. The last time he felt this was adrenaline was when he with Doll. But this was not a good adrenaline.

When the clock hit 6, Mike was out. He didn't hang around at all. He made it through the night, and now it was time to count his blessings back at the apartment.

-...-

He was 22 years old.

It was a month later, after the whole Freddy thing. Mike only stayed a week at the place, quitting to find a job elsewhere instead. He worked at a Game Stop, which Jeremy was able to hook him up with through a college friend. Jeremy worked no longer then Mike did at the place, and instead now worked at the college store on campus. The two still lived together, and Mike was close to saving up to get a house, of course with a loan.

But even if they weren't at Freddy's anymore, that didn't mean everything was okay. They were mentally a wreck. Their week at Freddy's made them realize how precious life really was, and how close to death they really were.

"How's your back?" Jeremy asked, sitting down on the couch, leaning beside Mike.

"That damn robot left a pretty deep scar. It hurts every now and then." Mike sighed, rubbing at the dark bags under his eyes. He looked a lot more unhealthy, lost weight, and had a stubble that he didn't care to take care of.

"It worries me." Jeremy frowned quietly, his head leaning against Mike's arm.

"You worry me." Mike replied.

"Hmm." Jeremy shivered, the fan above them on high.

After the week at hell, the two had grown a lot closer. Mike didn't talk to any of his old friends anymore, and he hadn't contacted Gavin or Andrea since he ignored their pleas to come back years ago. Jeremy was the only one there for him, and he was the only one who would understand the pain theyd gone through at Freddy's. Jeremy had friends at college, but none of them were close, and not near as close was Mike.

"Here." Mike reached over the side of the couch and pulled up a blanket that was kept stacked in a basket. He unfolded it and placed it over the two of them. Jeremy felt better.

Another thing between the two of them, was that in their state of feeling depression and loneliness, they left feelings towards each other. They left like they needed each other. Jeremy made Mike feel so much better, and within the time living together, Jeremy had actually improved Mike's personality. He wasn't as grouchy or upset with the world like he was as a teen. He was starting to get ahold of himself, and Mike returned the favor by helping Jeremy with his depression.

It was confusing at first, and took a lot of courage for them to tell each other, but the two ended up starting to date. It was confusing for Mike because he never thought about dating a guy. He always looked at girls. Jeremy had never dated anyone before, and he was raised with a shit father that told him relationships were built on sexual attraction, not romantic. But Jeremy knew that wrong. It had to be.

Jeremy's hand held onto Mike's hand, and he yawned. He was tired. The Tv was on, playing cartoons. Not just any cartoons, but anime. Jeremy loved it, and though Mike never really cared for it, he was willing to watch anything that Jeremy wanted him to. Besides, now that he knew what it was, anime wasn't half bad.

"Hey, Jereweeb, why don-"

Mike was about to suggest they go out to grab a bite to eat, but Jeremy was asleep, snoring quietly while snuggled up against Mike. He was an adorable little weeaboo. Mike relaxed where he sat, deciding that maybe he'd ask again when Jeremy woke up. He leaned his head back against the couch, and closed his eyes. Getting sleep was a good idea.

-...-

He was 23 years old.

"Looks like we're early!" Jeremy smiled, walking down the large hallway.

"Yeah, for once in my life." Mike smiled, looking around.

The two walked down a large, curved hallway, which had booths to both sides, selling foods and gifts and tickets for those who didn't order already. They were at a large concert hall, one they had to drive an hour to make it too. After saving up, Jeremy wanted to go with Mike to see the people playing there. Mike really didn't know much of them, but he never spent time out of the house, so it was nice.

Mike lived at his own house now, paying off for it slowly by slowly, month by month. He moved out of Jeremy's a couple months ago, and the two had broken up, but were still really close friends. Turns out the love they felt really wasn't romantic or anything at all. They were just scared and worried for each other that moment in time, but growing old together like husband-husband just didn't feel right. But it was all okay. Mike was feeling better about himself, though he still had a lingering depression that he blamed on his week at Freddy's. He was trying to make more friends, and Jeremy was trying his best to make more friends at his college.

"You want anything?" Jeremy asked, the two looking at the menu on a booth selling food. They had the average hot dogs and popcorn and what not.

"Uhh, how about a coke? I'm not really hungry." Mike shrugged, his hands in his pockets.

"You sure? That was a long car ride." Jeremy asked.

"You get whatever. I'll wait over there, since the line is long." Mike replied, motioning towards the opposite side of the hallway.

"Okay! I'll be back!" Jeremy nodded his head and walked over to the line.

Mike sighed, turning to walk across the hallway to the other side, still in perfect view of the booth that Jeremy was waiting in line for. He stood against a wall covered in posters, waiting for the weeb to return. He looked around at the people at the hall, noticing many different kinds of people. It was loud too. Mike wasn't really the kind to like places like this, but he had to admit it was a nice change in setting.

"What do you mean you don't work tonight???"

Mike's ears picked up on a voice a bit louder then others. He looked over to see a few feet to his right was another person, talking into a phone. He looked upset. He was short and had brown hair, nerdy glasses, a checkers red shirt over a white t-shirt, jeans, and red converse. Someone who looked like they would be at some music festival.

"My car won't start! Once this thing is over I won't be able to get home!"

Mike couldn't help but think about how he was glad he wasn't in that guy's position.

"No! Like hell my aunt's gonna pick me up!" The guy huffed. "And I'd have to walk down the highway to get to a hotel! Mind you that it's also really dark outside!"

The guy's foot tapped against the cold flooring, and his eyes glanced around at the other people in the hall as he listened to whomever was on the other side of the line.

"You know what, i'll call around later. I'm here to enjoy music, I paid for this, i'll worry about getting home later."

With that, the guy hung up and with a frustrated sigh, he turned to walk away. Mike watched him walk away, disappearing into the crowd. Not long after, Jeremy returned, holding a few things he'd bought at the booth. He handed Mike and can of coke as well as a small bag of popcorn.

"You okay with that?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah, thanks!" Mike smiled, and the two began to walk away from the area.

"I hope I wasn't too long, that line nearly killed me." Jeremy laughed.

"You'll never believe the kind of luck this other guy had though. Man, I'm glad im not him." Mike commented.

"Oh really? What happened to him?"

"I think his car broke down..."

-...-

Later that night, when it was getting to be really late, and the two had had enouph of the loud music, Mike and Jeremy began to throw away what was left of their food and started walking out of the building. It was dark outside, and the large parking lot was pretty quite, even though it was still littered with cars. The music blasted in the distance, as well as the shining lights.

"You know, I don't think that second band that played knew what they were doing." Mike said.

"They were off with a few notes, but to be honest I wouldn't be able to tell if I didn't listen to that song they covered a thousand times a day." Jeremy replied.

"That song is overrated." Mike said.

"You can be wrong if you want." Jeremy pushed and Mike laughed.

"Overall everything else was pretty good." Mike said, beginning to yawn. "I'm not looking forward to this hour long car right back home though."

"Wish I had planned ahead. Want to stop at a gas station for a coffee or something to help?" Jeremy asked.

"Sure! I'll pay this time."

The two finally reached the row in the parking lot where their car was. It was all the way in the back, closest to the highway located right beside the lot. There were only three or four cars in the row, which made getting a place easy. As they approached the car, they saw someone sitting on the car next to theirs. Passing by, Mike realized it was the same guy he saw earlier complaining about his broken down car. Mike felt sad for the guy, because he was laying on the front of his car, staring up at the stars in the sky. He looked tired, and would probably be headed home to bed if he could.

"Mike, you getting in?" Jeremy asked, unlocking his car and getting into the driver's seat.

"H-hold on a second."

Mike walked over to the guy on the car, and stopped, waiting a second for him to realized he wasn't alone. When the guy looked over to see Mike, he sat up, getting off the car.

"You okay?" Mike asked.

"My car's dead. Probably going to have to spend the night in this parking lot." The guy yawned.

"Doesn't sound nice at all. Ya know, if you need a ride I wouldn't mind helping." Mike suggested.

The guy paused.

"I don't really want to be a bother. I'm sure you guys want to get home just as much as I do. What is it? Almost 1 AM?"

"We live an hour away, planning to sleep in, so taking a stop along the way won't really be a problem." Mike replied. "And it's not always safe out here. You wanna sleep in a car in a parking lot where a bunch of drunk people will be walking around after the music stops?"

The guy thought about it.

"Where do you live?" Jeremy asked, and the guy turned to him. "I mean, if you need help, you need help."

"Alright, I guess so. You make fair points." The guy agreed.

"It's no problem." Mike replied, and he walked over to the front seat of the car.

The guy made sure his own car was locked and that he had his phone, wallet, keys, etc, before getting into the back of Jeremy's car. He got buckled in as Jeremy started the car.

"So, what's your name?" Mike asked, looking at the rear-view mirror to see the guy in the back.

"Uhh, you can call me Tyler." The guy answered.

"Cool. I'm Mike, that's Jeremy." Mike replied.

-...-

It was a busy day, the sun shining high in the sky, blazing down upon the people below. The summer heat was exhausting, but everyone seemed to get by. Mike and Tyler walked across the parking lot to a Subway, ready to eat lunch. They ordered, and then took their food to one of the outside tables. The place was crowded inside because of the heat.

"We got any more things to do while we're out here?" Mike asked before taking a bite of his sandwich.

Tyler swallowed what he was chewing on before answering. "We've got to go check on my parent's dog because they're out of town, but after that we can go back home and relax for the rest of today."

"I can't wait to get back home." Mike replied, then grabbing his water and taking a big gulp from it.

It was months after the two met at the music festival, and that night driving Tyler home was one of the most chaotic nights ever. They got lost a few times and Mike and Jeremy didn't make it home until 4 AM. But they were able to make a new friend, which in turn later became Mike's new partner. Tyler moved in with Mike and they worked together to pay for the bills, food, etc. They weren't rich, but Mike was taking care of the money better then his family growing up had, and so he was able to afford better foods, as well as better TV and internet too.

The two ate their lunch, talking on about things as the world ran around them. From outside the Subway, there was a small highway in view, and a forest on the other side. The area was just beside the neighborhoods of the city, of which where Mike and Tyler lived. They were actually within a mile or two walking distances of the house, but it was too hot to walk for lunch.

At one point while listening to Tyler talk, Mike's eyes wondered over to the road, where cars drove by. Though, something odd caught his eye. There was a man on the other side of the road, looking like a nervous wreck. He glanced in every direction, and Mike wouldn't have any other guess as to where he came from other then the forest behind him. The man approached the road like a scared cat. Mike couldn't help but get worried that the guy was going to get run over, as it looked like he had no concept of road safety.

"Uh, are you okay?" Tyler asked.

Mike looked confused, and so Tyler followed his gaze, and they both watched the man at the other side of the road. He was a skinny man who had, from what it looked like at this distance away, dark brown hair, a white shirt, gray jeans, and shoes. There was something on his head, and Tyler adjusted his glasses to make out what he assumed to be headphones. The two watched closely as the guy began to cross the road. He made it about half way before a car blasted it's horns, and the man quickly ran to the other side.

"Holy fuck, is he okay??" Mike asked, turning to Tyler.

"You think we should help him out?" Tyler asked.

"Maybe we should an ambulance? He doesn't walk like he's sober." Mike frowned.

"Y-Yeah." Tyler nodded his head. "Let's go see how he is first."

The two got up from their table and walked across the parking lot towards the road, the man they were approaching climbing over the railing between the shopping district and the road. The man froze when he saw the two coming for him. You could almost see a fear in his eye, as his other eye was hidden under his brown hair.

"H-Hey, are you okay?" Mike asked as they were within hearing range. "Can we help you with anything?"

The man gulped, his eyes darting around, looking at the two in front of him, as well as the setting he was in. His heart rate was dangerously high, but it was his fault for stepping out of his comfort zone just for the sake of actually living while he still could. Tyler saw how fragile the man seemed at the moment.

"C-Can I ask you why you were in the woods?" Tyler tried to come off as non threatening as possible. "Did something happen? Would you like us to drive you home or something?"

Mike felt uncomfortable when the man didn't say a thing. "Y-yeah, we can get an ambulance for you if you want. You don't look too good."

The man shifted, looking like he wanted to retreat back across the road. Mike turned to Tyler and they gave each other worried eyes.

"I don't know, I think getting help is the only thing we can do. You think he remembers anything?" Tyler said in a hushed tone.

Mike didn't reply, as he began to notice other people taking interest in what was going on. A woman was walking over, and she asked what was going on. Mike noticed that with each new person curious as to what was going on, another layer of anxiety and fear appeared on the man in question. Mike wasn't sure, but he thought he heard a lady at one point actually call for an ambulance. One woman reached out to the man, asking him if she could get him some water or something. Mike watched as the tolerance level within the man slowly by slowly came crashing down. Finally, when the people around him started getting a little too close, he snapped.

"I-I'M FINE!" He shouted, his voice cracking. He spooked everyone.

The man took a step back.

"I-I don't l-like it out-t here." His voice became quite, and was hard to hear.

Without a warning, the man turned and ran. He didn't stop for the traffic, nearly getting hit by a car. He didn't stop running, not till he disappeared within the forest on the other side of the road. Everyone was shocked, but they were nowhere near as fast enough to catch him. The ambulance appeared shortly after, but they didn't get anyone to pick up. The people placed reports down, hoping that maybe the police would search the forest and find the mystery man to be okay, but nobody heard back at all, so it was never determined what was wrong with him.

-...-

The two stared up at the large mansion in front of them. It looked long abandoned, and it must be at least 4 stories tall. It was located on a hill in the very back of the neighborhood, way past any of the active parts of town. In fact, the lot began about a block away from the front doors of the house, and you had to pass through a gate to walk up to the house. The place was hidden away by the trees in front of it, so you'd never know it existed if you never trespassed on the lot.

"Looks like an interesting place." Mike said, noticing that it's design was far different then the designs of the houses in the town. It must have been it's own thing.

"We should break in." Tyler dared, walking up to the front doors and knocking on it.

"I don't think this place has been touched in years." Mike shrugged, following.

"The front door is unlocked." Tyler took note of aloud, opening the door when he didn't get an answer. "Let'sa go!"

The two stepped inside the mansion, Mike holding the door open as he stepped through. He noticed that the handle on the inside of the door was broken, so he took the second to place a rock in the door. He didn't want the front door to get stuck or anything later.

"Where should we start looking?" Tyler asked, finding that they were greeted by three different hallways.

"Where do you want to start?" Mike asked, standing beside the nerd.

Tyler shrugged, and the two just started down one of the hallways. The place was old and wallpaper was pealing off the walls. Plants grew through some of the cracks in the flooring and there were bugs here and there. The place was empty, most of the furniture gone. What was left behind lead the couple to believe that the place had been long abandoned over fifteen years ago.

The floor creaked as they continued to explore the area. There was a library on the first floor, and all the books were dusty. Many of them were in a different language, one that Tyler was pretty sure had to be a fictional language too. One that maybe a sorcerer would know. They also found a room with an old broken TV, and a small kitchen. There was a broken plate on the ground.

Upstairs, the two found a bunch of bedrooms. It was when they neared the end of a hallway that they smelled a burning smell. It was odd, and caught them off guard. Why would there be a smell like that in a place like this? It came from the last room in the hallway, so with caution, they opened the door and stepped through.

What they saw was something they didn't expect. There was a fireplace, and a man sitting near it, poking at the fire with a stick. The man turned to see Mike and Tyler, and the two realized it was the same man they had seen weeks before trying to cross the road.

"W-What are you doing here?!" The man struggled to form words. He must have remembered them too, because he didn't ask who they were.

"D-Do you live here?" Tyler asked, "Is this where you've been?"

The man stood up, throwing the stick into the fireplace.

"Nobody said you could come in!" He huffed. "Go away! It's not safe here!"

"Not safe here? Then why are you here? How do you live here?" Mike asked.

The man stepped back, trying to think of things to get the humans to go away.

"T-There's a monster here, and someone has to take care of it!" He said. "I've lived here for ten years, I think I'm good!"

"You don't look like you're watching over a monster. The only guy here is you!" Tyler replied. Was the man crazy?

"Exactly!" The man barked. "G-Get out!"

Tyler stepped back and looked at Mike. The man sounded crazy, and he sounded like he needed a walk outside, but being inside the house felt like being outside. He sounded like he needed human interaction. He did say he was living there for ten years, which actually seemed odd since he looked like he was maybe 21. Was he left here as a kid? How was he surviving? He looked fit in all honesty. Maybe he really was a monster.

"I-i think we should go." Mike said to Tyler, quietly enough for the other man not to hear.

"Exactly!" The man replied, and Mike and Tyler looked surprised. How did he hear Mike? How good was that man's hearing?

"How did you-"

"You don't believe me do you!?" The man frowned, walking towards them.

"N-No, we believe you!" Mike and Tyler stepped back into the hallway.

They watched as the man backed them out of the room, and he fixed his hair, pushing it out of his left eye. To their surprise, his left eye was purple, not red like the other one, and it glowed. The man glared at him, and to frighten them off more, his left arm turned dark, and his hands turned into claws, and he slammed the door to the room shut behind him, probably breaking the door.

"HOW ABOUT NOW!?"

The two believed him, and knowing that he wanted them out, they decided not to piss him off any longer. Mike grabbed Tyler's hand and they ran out of the place faster then every. Mike kicked the rock from the front door, the door flying open as they jumped out, back down the hill. The nonhuman man watched from a second story window as they left, a hole in his heart, mixed emotions within his head.

He had no clue that those two stubborn humans were going to return tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, for weeks. Not a single clue.

-...-

His name was Onity. He wasn't human, and within that first month of knowing Mike and Tyler, he wasn't as threatening as he first appeared. In fact, he was a fucking child. A child in an adult's body. He had almost no clue how the human world worked, but at the same time was fascinated by it. You wouldn't believe how happy he was when Mike and Tyler took him out of the mansion to walk around the town. He had more confidence along side them, sometimes a little too much confidence.

At one point Mike and Tyler came to the conclusion that living at the mansion alone needed to stop for Onity. It was a lonely place, and Onity didn't deserve that. If he loved the human world so much, he should stop hiding from it. They already knew how much Onity loved pretending to be human, so why not take it one step farther? The two offered Onity a spot at their place, free of charge. The man took them up on their offer, and moved out of the mansion, into Mike and Tyler's small little home.

The first couple of weeks were fun. Onity was given many talks about what was right and wrong in the human world. He'd gotten in trouble a few times already, and Mike hated to admit that it sometimes embarrassed him. But Onity learning, and he never forgot anything he was told. If he didn't act on his mistakes after his talk, it was because he liked being troublesome. He liked not having a care in the world, even though he was smarter then that.

Onity never really got in the way of their relationship. He would step in at the wrong time or even leave them alone for hours, but the relationship between Mike and Tyler never was important to Onity. In fact, Onity never really asked how human relationships worked, for he didn't care. He wanted to know why things on the news happened and why certain humans could get away with certain things. He wanted to know about class levels and where they stood on the spectrum. He wanted to know if they could have a cat and why not when told no.

And yet, as much as Onity didn't think about the relationship, he was actually a big impact on it.

It was Tyler who brought it up with Mike, who eventually agreed. To explain, whenever Mike and Tyler left on a date or to spend the day away from home without Onity, something always felt off. They didn't feel complete anymore. Their conversations grew boring, and they had already done everything around town together. There was nothing new to explore together. There was a gap that they couldn't fill alone. But Onity could.

Onity's personality was a lot different then theirs, and conflicted a lot, creating interesting conversations that all three would drag on for hours. There were tons of things to do and show Onity around the town, and even more things they'd enjoy with him out of town. Mike and Tyler could enjoy a trip to an amusement park, but actually have someone who would act like a kid go with them would make it all that much more worth it. In conclusion, they didn't want to be a couple anymore. They wanted to be a trio.

But would Onity feel the same way?

They were nervous, and didn't know how to bring it up to the man. Especially with the fear that if Onity declined, they what would happen to their relationship? Would it eventually fall? If Tyler moved out, would Onity like just living with Mike?

"Onity!"

Onity looked over the end of the couch, seeing Mike and Tyler at the kitchen table. He had been watching TV, fanboying of the human entertainment. He loved it, no matter how fake or honest the shows were. He especially loved the cartoons.

"Yeesss????" Onity asked.

"We've got something to ask you. Can you come over here?" Mike asked.

"Okiedokie!" Onity nodded his head, jumping off the couch and walking over to the kitchen table.

Onity sat down in one of the chairs, waiting for Mike and Tyler to ask him whatever they had to ask. But something was off. They had a more serious look on their face. Onity frowned, because that was never good.

"What's wrong?" Onity asked, tilting his head.

"I don't remember if we ever explained to you how human relationships worked, right?" Mike asked.

"Uh, no, not really." Onity shrugged. "Why?"

"I think we should start with that." Tyler told Mike and Mike nodded his head. "Anyway, I don't know how similar it is to your people, but when a human likes another human, as in they feel empty when they arn't together, they ask the other human out. They start dating if they feel the same way, calling each other boyfriend or girlfriend."

"Yeah, I've picked that up." Onity nodded his head. He didn't see the point in this. He wanted to go back to watching his cartoons.

"I don't know if you've picked up on the whole thing from watching the news, but it's kinda a rough topic when two humans of the same gender like eachother." Tyler said.

"Ohh, yeah. You know, I don't understand that. Isn't a relationship more of a personal thing? I thought humans liked keeping personal things away from government control." Onity said.

"Exactly, which is why it's a tough topic. Well, anyway, of course you don't have a problem with it, you've been living with us and never called us anything bad because of it." Tyler nodded his head. "But moving on, something that's even more frowned upon, and is so rare that it's not really talked about, is a three way relationship."

"Like a relationship between three humans?" Onity asked.

"A polyamorous relationship, I think." Mike added.

"You humans have wired names for these." Onity grunted.

"Yeah, I admit that, but continuing on,..." Tyler suddenly felt stuck in his words.

Mike took a deep breath, knowing dragging this on was going to make it more painful to ask.

"Would you have any interest in being in a relationship with me and Tyler?" Mike said before Tyler could get anything out.

There was a pause, of which turned out to be one of the scariest few seconds of their life. Onity looked surprised, but not in any way as much as they would have thought he'd be. A grinned appeared on his face, and he leaned over the table.

"But what if I said no?" He said.

"You piece of shit, don't play with me!" Tyler replied, knowing all to well what that grin meant.

"I'll play with my nerd all I want!" Onity laughed.

"Your nerd?" Mike said with an amused smile.

"Okay, Our nerd!" Onity said.

"Oh my god, I can't believe you agreed!" Tyler felt a wight on his shoulders leave.

"You do understand that we have feelings for you, right?" Mike asked, still not convinced. It was too unreal.

"I'm not dumb! And who said I can't find two humans to be cuties?" Onity asked.

"Did you have a thing for us, or...?"

Onity paused.

"Maybe." He looked like he'd been found out. "Well, let's just say that as much as I like the human race, i'd give it up if anything were to make me choose between two certain humans and all 7 billion other ones."

"Really? Even your precious cartoons??"

Onity paused.

"With heavy consideration." Onity added.

"I'll take that." Mike laughed.

-...-

He was 27 years old.

Tyler was 23, and Onity was 25 as far as they could tell. It was a small wedding, as the two humans didn't really feel comfortable with a huge event. It was more meaningful to have the closest friends with them, like Jeremy and Kyle. The three of them were happy together, and nobody could challenge them. Hell, nobody could get past Onity in trying. Sure, they'd get nasty looks from people, but Mike didn't give two shits about what was normal and what wasn't. He'd never been normal to begin with.

After getting married, they had dinner with cake and really nice food, of which friends and, mainly Tyler's family, helped pay for. It wasn't as expensive as a full blown wedding too, which was nice. Tyler and Mike had on black tuxedos and Onity actually decided he wanted to wear a white one. It was really late when they got back to their house, the clock showing it to be 12 at night.

Stepping into the house, they kicked their shoes off, their hot feet feeling nice on the cold flooring. Mike walked over to the kitchen, grabbing a glass of water to drink while Tyler and Onity walked back to the bedroom. Mike poured what was left in his glass into the sink, but then paused, and then turned on the water, taking some of it and splashing it over his face. He'd come so far, at points thinking this day would never happen. He wondered who would be proud of him. Would his family be proud? Probably not, but he didn't care about what they thought of him.

Mike placed the glass next to the sink and turned to walk back to the bedroom, yawning. He began to take off his outer jacket, and then his tuxedo jacket, and then played with the tie around his neck until he could slip that off as well. He felt so much cooler after that. He placed the articles of clothing at the end of the bed and walked around to his side of the bed, noticing Tyler already asleep, still in his tuxedo. He was the most worn out out of all three of them.

"Are you tried yet??"

Mike was caught off guard when Onity appeared behind him, putting his arms around his shoulders and falling onto the bed with him. Mike saw that Onity was already undressed, wearing a pink "NicoNicoNi" shirt with boxers. It amused Mike how much Onity was becoming a weeb because of Jeremy. The whole Nico thing annoyed Tyler, mostly due to some personal bad luck with the game, but Onity would never let the nerd live it down.

"Y-yeah, actually. I don't suppose you are." Mike replied.

"Not really." Onity replied, letting Mike lay down on the bed. Onity sat up in between him and the sleeping nerd. He was the last one up today, and he normally could stay up a few more hours. In fact, his species was more night owl like, but Onity began to change when trying to adjust to Tyler and Mike's sleeping schedule.

"Do you want to go watch TV or something?" Mike asked, and Onity frowned. Not tonight.

"Why don't we do something else?" Onity asked, shifting over to sit on top of Mike.

"I think we waited a little too late to leave in order to do anything. Besides, maybe you should've caught Tyler before he fell asleep." Mike hated declining Onity, but it was the wrong time to play around.

"You're right. He'll be grouchy if we wake him up." Onity sighed.

"How about in the morning? We don't have work tomorrow, you know." Mike suggested as Onity slipped into his spot in bed, between the two.

"Okiedokie then! I won't forget you promised though!" Onity grinned.

"I didn't prom-" Mike then stopped himself, He leaned over to turn off the lamp beside the bed. "Okay, fine, I promised."

"Night night!" Onity said in the darkness of the room.

"Goodnight, child."

Mike felt Onity grab his arm, holding onto it like a stuffed animal. And shortly after, he began to hear his quiet snores.

-...-

He was 60 years old.

Onity was the first to go.

Normally, you'd think a non-human species would have a longer life expectancy, but no, not in this case. He looked and acted how old he was, which was 58, but the body hidden away by that human mask was at it's limit. In his world, he'd be more along the lines of 90 years old, which was a good run.

It wasn't as hard as it could be, because he knew his end was near about a week before it happened. He had a lot more similarities with animals then one would think, and many animals on earth can tell when they're dying. So Onity made sure they didn't go to work at all, and they spent every minute of ever hour together. His last words were naturally something stupid and silly, which were actually the most meaningful.

"I miss him."

It was cold, winter actually, and Mike and Tyler stood in front of a grave at the local cemetery. Tyler had a thick blanket wrapped around him, as his body had a hard time maintaining it's warmth. Though Tyler was the youngest one of the two, Mike actually looked younger by a few years. But this was because Mike had to keep up appearance for his job. Tyler didn't care at all for keeping up his appearance. He had other things to care about.

Mike's hand gripped Tyler's, sharing what warmth they had between them.

"I do too..." Mike sighed.

The wind picked up, and Mike wrapped his arms around Tyler. There was a light snow fall, and there were claims of a blizzard later that night. They stood there, Tyler's eyes not leaving the grave in front of them, no matter how much fog clung to his glasses. There were flowers, purple flowers, on the grave. They were actually taped down so that they didn't fly away.

"Come on" Mike tugged lightly on Tyler's hand after Tyler sneezed. "I don't think he'd want you to get any sicker standing out here."

Tyler gave a sigh before his eyes left the grave, turning to Mike.

"Okay..." He said in a weak voice.

"We'll come back tomorrow morning if the snow doesn't prevent us, okay?" Mike asked.

"Okay." Tyler nodded his head.

The two walked away, a small whorl of wind appearing over the grave, one of the purple flowers being lifted into the air, and then after a few seconds, the wind died, and it fell back down, landing on top of the stone tomb. The frost that once clung had melted off from something, later to appear once what warmth that caused it left.

-...-

He was 67 years old.

Tyler only lasted another seven years. It was unexpected too, his leaving. A heart attack, landing him in the hospital, where he didn't make it out. Mike got a call while working, not at all taking a second to even tell his boss he was leaving. His hands were sweaty, and he hardly gave any attention to how good or bad his driving was. All that was on his mind was Tyler. The man on the phone didn't sound at all promising, and so the man feared the worst.

He didn't really even get a proper goodbye either. Tyler wasn't in shape enough to give one. Mike was allowed to hold his hand and stand next to the bed, but really, that was it. Neither of them were ready to part, but with Onity long gone, each passing year began to feel more and more like the end of a movie.

"Mr. Schmidt."

Mike turned to see a doctor walk into the room.

"Is there anything we can do to help you?" The doctor asked, referring to his loss.

Mike just slightly shook his head. The doctor nodded and then turned to leave the room, setting down a clip board with Tyler's information on it on a side table. Mike's old eyes looked down at the fragile body in the bed. Mike realized he was still holding Tyler's hand, even after he'd stopped breathing. Well, there was no sign of breathing. He placed Tyler's hand on his chest, and then took a step away. Their story was ending.

His story was ending.

Tyler was buried next to Onity, and every day, the two were visited. Every day, without fail.

-...-

He was 68 years old.

Mike lived in that house alone for a year. He walked the halls, looking at the pictures on the wall, thinking back on the memories he had. He missed cooking for more then himself, and he missed having company at the table. His bed was always cold, and always too big for him. He only ever watched cartoons now too.

Work was no longer as necessary as before. He had enouph in his savings to keep him on a good level for a year. But he'd been working all his life, and it was hard to stop. He just told himself that he was still needed by these people he worked with. He did have friends, and he did know friendly faces that would he sad if he left them. His work helped someone, did it not?

But being alone was probably the most work he'd ever been through. It was hard to live when there wasn't much else to live for. He'd lived a long life, he'd done it all. He had jobs, friends, got married. He never had kids, but it wasn't something that he needed to feel complete.

"That'll be 14 dollars and 67 cent, sir."

The young cashier girl told Mike. He was on his way home, but stopped to get bread and milk and whatever small things he needed for dinner. Mike turned to the little device infront of him, taking out his debt card.

"There's a senior citizens discount. 20% off. Would you like to use that?" The young lady asked, in a tone that made him realize she'd almost forgotten to ask. "I'm sorry, I'm new here."

"T-That's alright." Mike replied.

"Have a good day!"

When Mike paid, he left, his bag in hand. He never really felt old, and that was the first time he realized he qualified for, for old-man discount. Maybe it was because he wasn't taking care of his appearance as much as he used too. Ever since Tyler left, he didn't feel like he had to anymore.

Mike got home, placing the things on the kitchen counter, and then getting to work on his dinner. He made himself a ham a cheese sandwich. Nothing special. That night, before bed, he stood in the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. The counter was covered in toothbrushes, brushes, pills, small towels, everything. He never cleaned it. Never had to now.

His eyes looked down at the pills, and he sighed. A thought appeared in his head, but he told himself not yet. Not yet.

The next day Mike went to work, but left half an hour earlier. He said goodbye to his co-workers and his boss, and then was out the door. He didn't drive straight home though. He stopped by the cemetery. He spent the next few hours there, sitting in front of the graves of his loved ones. He placed more flowers on their graves.

"I miss you guys..." Mike's voice broke the silence.

"I've been thinking...." He said. "And I'm ready. I'm ready to met you guys, wherever you are."

It was eight at night when Mike got back home. He ate a small dinner, watched a little bit of TV, but it all bored him. By nine, he walked into his room, and stopped before walking into the bathroom. He walked to the dresser, pulling out one of the drawers and finding a book. He pulled it out and flipped through it, it laying on top of the wooden dresser.

Inside the book were pictures. Tons of pictures, taken throughout the years. There were pictures of Tyler and Onity and himself, all from different years and events. Their wedding, their trip out of town, when Onity wanted to dress up for a convention, even birthdays. There were pictures of their old cat, which Onity had convinced them to get.

He spent the longest time looking at them, and remembering each one. When he reached the end, he stared at the back page. There was no more room for pictures. He left the book there and turned to walk into the bathroom, leaving the light off. He poured himself some water into a little paper cup, and then turned to the bottle of pills.

Mike was satisfied with is life. He might have had rough moments, but he couldn't have asked for a better ending. He spent more then half his life happy, which was alone a gift. He knew there wasn't much else to experience, so he was satisfied. And now, he wanted to with his trio again.

Mike poured out a handful of pills out onto his hand, and he swallowed them down with the help of the water. He was already tired, so with that done, he placed the paper cup down and turned to walk back to bed. He yawned, getting into the middle of the bed, pulling the covers over him. He stared at the ceiling, the last thing he'd ever see. That was okay with him. He fell asleep before his body shut down, and he passed away at the age of 68.

-...-

Fin.

-...-