Trigger Warning: Mentions of suicide

Though Juliet's words had soothed Remington over dinner and for the hours after, their effect began to wear off in the late evening, as he lay in bed starkly awake and aware of the painful distance between him and his house, as gone as it now was.

He sat up and, bringing the blanket with him, crossed the room to open the bottom drawer in the chest. Inside, he kept the clothes he had been wearing the day he met Andy, and the things the two had collected from his house before it was knocked down. Taking out a water-damaged, badly bent book, he sat on the carpet and opened it. It was something he read often, something he could recite paragraphs from with ease, but more importantly, it was something that looked the way it was supposed to; the house had given it tears and smudged ink and a missing back cover. 

This time, reading the first page, he no longer felt the use of it. In the past, alone in the house, it had cured hours of boredom and pointless walking back and forth, up and down the precarious staircase. But now, there was no need for it. He knew all it had to say and there were so many other books in Andy's house that he could have entertained himself with them for years. Something he had found such comfort in, something he had held and looked at when he was sick and unhappy, was not what it was meant to be, not anymore. It could have been anything. 

Releasing the book from his hands like it was suddenly burning hot, Remington got to his feet and took steps away from it, as though it might burst into flames, alighting him with it. He pulled open the bedroom door and marched out, passing Andy's without slowing. 

"Missing your house too much to sleep?" 

Remington spun around and stared at Juliet, blinked, thought for a moment he was creating the image of her in his mind. 

She had come from Andy's podcast room and was holding an empty mug. "He said you like hot chocolate. How about I make you some?" 

"No," Remington said, a sharpness to his quiet voice. "I go." Moving his hands, his eyes widened and he said, "Chain. I find chain," before turning and walking back towards his room. 

"You left the chain downstairs I think, honey," Juliet said after him. 

He halted.

"Come down with me." 

"No, I go. I find chain then I go." He continued to his room, Juliet following, standing in the doorway as he searched for the jewellery. "You not tell Andy I go, it will make him sad. Andy's too good to be sad. You promise, not tell him?"

"Where are you gonna go?" 

Throwing the covers on the floor, Remington checked the bed. "I go with my house. I always know, when my house is gone, I go. Like when sun is gone, light is gone, too. House is like sun to me, I not live without it. Too dark, like long night, never ending. I not like night, it's when everything turns evil, even good things." Not finding the chain among on the bed, he tore open the drawers of the bedside table, started routing through them the way a dog would dig a hole in the dirt. 

"You know, you can find a new sun. It doesn't have to stay the same." 

Not looking at her, he said, "No, only one sun, and the evil people knock it down and take me to evil place. Everything goes dark even when lights are on. I think the whole world is evil without my house. Nowhere safe anymore, I not like being here." 

"It's okay to be scared, but that doesn't mean you don't still have things worth staying for." 

He pulled out a drawer until it came free, tipped its contents onto the ground, pushed them around, and when he still couldn't find the belt chain, he covered his face with his hands. "I stay for my house all my life, even when I get sick and my tummy say no to everything. Even then, I stay because my house stay, but now my house not stay. My house gone, and I not even sick no more, I not even sick, but I go anyway. Even though Andy says I need to let my house go to be happy, he's wrong. I not happy, I not let my house go." The unsteadiness of his voice told Juliet he was struggling to keep himself from crying, and so quietly she barely heard, he added, "I not know how." 

Andy was stood just behind Juliet, having heard the crash of the drawers, and put his hand on her shoulder to let her know he was there. She sent him a mournful smile and he spoke over her shoulder, causing Remington to look up at him. "Why don't you come lie in bed with me?" He suggested. "Or with Juliet. Whichever. I don't think you should be on your own tonight, hm?" 

Dropping his gaze and returning on his search for the chain, Remington froze at the sound of metal, looking towards Andy again. This time, the man had a belt chain in his hand, was holding it just above Juliet's shoulder. He stared at it, his eyes glimmering with a sad sort of hope at the sight. "I hold," he said in a questioning but desperate hold. 

"Well, you'll have to come over here," Andy told him. 

He rubbed his eyes and yawned, got off the floor and approached the doorway, reached for the chain, which Andy dropped into his palm. He pulled it into his chest and said, "Okay. I lie in bed with you." 

Andy smiled. "I'm glad." 

Wrapping his arms around Juliet, Remington yawned again. "You good like Andy says. Thank you. I think you the moon." 

"The moon?" She asked, returning the hug. 

"Yes. Moon stops night being too dark." He looked at Andy, as if waiting for his agreement. 

"Juliet is definitely the moon," the elder said. "That's a beautiful way of putting it. You're really quite remarkable." 

To Juliet, Remington said, "He use so many long words. He knows everything." 

"Yes, he does." 

"I learn to be that way." Stepping back, Remington yawned a third time. "Okay. Sleep now." 

Moving away from the door, the two ex-lovers nodded, and Andy took Remington into his room, told him to make himself comfortable. Lying beside the younger, he murmured, "You know, it took me months to feel okay after me and Juliet divorced. Don't let yourself think that just because it's hard now, it'll be hard forever. You're gonna be fine. I promise." 

"You wanted to go, too?" Remington asked, a hopefulness to his voice that made it seem as though he really did believe he was all alone with how he was feeling. 

"Yeah. It took me a long time to get past it. But I kept going each day and each night, and here I still am, see? It's gonna be okay. If I can do it, so can you. You're much stronger than I've ever been." 

"What if I can't no more?" 

"Me and Juliet will help. Knowing you're not alone goes a long way." 

Turning onto his side, Remington pushed his head into Andy's shoulder, exhaled. "You be like the sun," he decided sleepily. "Juliet makes night not too dark, you make night not too long." 

Andy hummed. 

"And I be..." 

"You're the sky. Can't have a sun or moon without the sky." 

"Okay. I be the sky." 

"The sun is very tired." 

"So is the sky." 

"Sleep well." 

"I try." 

"You wake me up if you need sun, okay? Sun is always here for you." His voice melted away. 

Remington wrapped his arms tight around Andy's shoulders. "You help me. Thank you." 

"You're welcome, my love. Shh now. Sleep." 

"I be your love," Remington whispered, a smile in the words, before they both slipped off into much needed sleep.