We went out for beer
And a couple laughs
Knowing full well that every bad joke
Jerome made might be his last

We never thought it could happen. A man from YouTube, called off for war? It should have been impossible.

And yet, Jerome got a letter on his doorstep one day, requesting that he join the forces on their final bout against ISIS. He had told all of us, except Mitch, who wasn't here today. Rob had guessed why (it was a well-known fact the two were together), and had told me not to tell Mitch about Jerome's deployment. It was then that I figured it all out.

So, there we were, August 27, 2018, clustered around a bar table in downtown Orlando. Jerome had flown us all out here at his expense, and when Mitch questioned, he just said he thought it would be fun to do. We'd gone late at night, after Mitch had fallen asleep, and left Jerome to explain in the morning.

So we laughed like the world
Wasn't at war
Told him things
We'd never said before

Vikk had made a pun about Coors Lite (which no one liked), and once the laughter died down, Lachlan looked over at Jerome with a very serious expression. Slowly, we all fell silent.

"Jerome?"

"Yeah, Little Lachy?"

"You saved my life."

Jerome just kind of stared at the Aussie, muttering, "Why?" and "How?" over and over. Lachlan just smiled.

"Before we started recording together... I was a fan of you and Mitch. You know that. Your videos pulled me out of a depression."

"Same here," I murmured, and Jerome turned to look at me.

"Preston... I kind of expected Lachlan, but..."

I smile up at him, holding back the pain.

And he teared up
As he raised his glass,
He said,
"Boys, if I don't make it back..."

Vikk told him that he had always looked forward to recording with Jerome, and that it made his stress a little easier to cope. Rob admitted that he was an open book.

By this point, Jerome looked like he was about to cry. I hadn't seen him this open or vulnerable in a long time, and, in all honesty, it scared me. It was as if he could read the future, and was seeing something bad.

"Boys?"

Rob, Lachlan, Vikk and I all looked up at him in the same motion. He was smiling softly, sadly, and the first tear leaked as he said, "If I don't make it back, there's a few things I want you to do."

"Have a beer for me
Don't waste no tears on me
On Friday night, sit on the
Vistitor's side and
Cheer for the home team,"

We sat in silence as he draws a shaky breath, and says, "Don't cry for me. It's not really helping anyone. If you ever go out drinking, drink a beer for me every once in a while. Any sports, any at all... Be a jag. Sit on the visitor side and cheer for the home team. It'll be worth it."

I know that I wouldn't be able to carry out his first request. Already, I could feel the heat of the tears. Jerome smiled again.

"Purrston, don't cry."

"Then don't act like your not gonna make it!"

"I'm not acting. I have no training. I'm probably not going to come back."

That truth sunk in and I let myself sob. Rob put an arm around me, but I pushed him away.

"Drive my Infinity
90 miles an hour down
Red Rock Road with
ERB blasting on the radio,"

His voice softer now, Jerome kept talking. "Sometime, take my Infinity out and drive it down Red Rock with ERB blasting. Speed, too."

"Why ERB?" Rob chuckled, and I looked up just in time to see Jerome give that dopey smile of his.

"You've gotta bring back the memories somehow, right?"

How was he so calm? He was talking about dying in a war, for fucks sake, and here he was, joking about an old YouTube channel.

People always saw me as happy-go-lucky, but I had nothing on this idiot.

"And find someone good enough
For Mitchell, who will
Love him like I would have
If I don't make it back."

Jerome started up again with that list, but he sounded even more serious.

"And Mitch... I need you guys to look out for him. He'll... He'll move on eventually. Find him someone else, alright? Someone who will love him like I did."

It was Lachlan who nodded this time, and I could just barely see him clenching Vikk's hand under the table. Any other scenario, I would have smiled.

But that felt like a chore now. I couldn't do it. Jerome was sitting right in front of me, but the loss already hurt like all hell. What if he was right? What if he never came home? Mitch would be a wreck, and there was no way I could deal with that, too. I love that boy to death (in a friendly way, of course. I wouldn't want to be the one who got in between him and Jerome), but he's a monster when he's upset.

We said, "Hey, man,
That ain't gonna happen
Don't even think like that
If we know you,
You'll pull through without a scratch."

"Will do, Jerome," Rob said with a smile. Vikk had been silent, which didn't seem to surprise anyone. He'd been the one to most avoid the subject. "But in all seriousness... You'll make it."

"Yeah," Vikk whispered. "You'll... You'll be fine, Jerome."

"I don't think so boys... Not this time."

"Fight for something. You'll have to come back then," Lachlan suggested, and Jerome offered him a half-smile.

"I am fighting for something. I'm going to be fighting for you guys. Well, partially. Mostly for Mitch."

Rob chuckled, grinning. "You two are so adorable it's sickening."

And he pulled me aside
In the parking lot
Said, "Mitchell and me
Are gonna tie the knot."

After a while, we paid our bill and walked outside. Jerome had a dark look in his eyes, and I knew why. He didn't want to say goodbye, because goodbye meant he wasn't coming back. Even if he added "for now," it was still a promise, and maybe one that he couldn't keep.

"Hey, Preston? Can I talk with you?"

I just nodded. Rob nudged me and I glared at him, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

Jerome led me over to the edge of the lot. "I... If I never come back, I wanted you to know... Mitch and I were going to get married."

"I was wondering what that ring was," I joked, knowing full well Mitch had a silver band on his left ring finger. "How long's it been?"

"A month or so."

"And you're my best man
Just wanted you to know that,
Just in case
I don't make it back."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

I keep quiet, because Jerome looks embarrassed enough.

"I was going to the... the night I got the letter. Mitch and I were going to call you guys, but I just... I just made an excuse. And besides... I wanted to tell you privately that you were going to be my best man."

He was finally breaking, and it hurt like absolute hell.

"Thank you, Jerome."

"I'm really happy I got to know you. There was a time... There was a time when I wouldn't have. Mitch finally convinced me, and--"

"I get it," I cut him off, smiling half-heartedly.

"Have a beer for me
Don't waste no tears on me
On Friday night, sit on the
Visitors side and cheer
For the home team,"

We started walking back, and I saw him swallow hard, looking around at the three other boys.

I knew why Jerome asked us to do those things. He'd done all of them, and with at least one of us. I'd been lucky enough to be there for most of them. He and I had gone out and gotten drunk, back in 2016, and Mitch drove us home, complaining the whole way.

Whenever he and Mitch went to a hockey game (or any sport, as he'd said, but it started with hockey), they'd always sit on the opposite side they were cheering for. It pissed off so many people, and they'd loved it. I had heard most of the stories, Jerome having been more quiet about it while Mitch would rant.

I didn't think Mitch would be ranting for a while.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Mitch went mute.

"Drive my Infinity
90 miles an hour down
Red Rock Road with
ERB blasting on the radio,"

And... As for driving like a maniac...

There was this one time, before the 2016 ArcadiaCon, where he and I had gone out to get a few drinks. Mitch had stayed behind, joking about playing housewife. I had gotten completely wasted, and Jerome thought it would be hilarious if his sober ass took the back roads and sped down the twists and turns.

I swear, it made my hangover worse.

Before it shut down, he'd had this obsession with ERB. He'd quote it off-camera, and if was kind of creepy, after a while, but it was funny as all hell

Those were the memories he wanted us to have. The ones where he joked around and made us all laugh.

The good memories.

"And find someone good
Enough for Mitchell who will
Love him like I would have
If I dont make it back."

What if he didn't ever tell Mitch? It wasn't like him, but...

He hadn't ever been able to say goodbye to us. Though, it turned out, he had told Mitch, the night before he was deployed. Mitch cried the day he left, and, since we were all still around, we tried to distract him, but the inevitable happened.

Mitch took a break from YouTube, and quit The Pack.

The rest of us kept up our channels, but very few fans stayed. None of us were that preppy and happy in our videos anymore.

Jerome was gone, after all.

"If the good Lord calls
Me home, I'd like to think
My friends will think about me
When I'm gone."

I remember, standing around the cars, Jerome leaning on the roof of his sleek Infinity. He gave a smile, and simply said, "I guess I'll see you sometime."

I guess that was his way of making a promise he could keep.

Watching him drive away that night, and again, two days later, was probably the hardest thing I could have done, thinking about it now.

I'd been sending him away for the very last time.

And Jerome knew that.

Well, Miller Lite ain't my brand
But I drink one every
Now and then
In his honor

To this day, December 13, 2028, more than ten years later, I still drank his favorite beer. Mitch, Lachlan, Rob, Vikk and I would get together every once in a while (The Pack was no more, and, for that matter, so was YouTube), and catch up. Talk.

It was those times I'd drink, and though I used to hate Miller Lite, I'd get drunk off it now. When one of the boys questioned, I'd just joke and say it was "in his honor".

We never had to say his name. They always knew who I meant when I said "he" or "his."

Besides, his name was a trigger for Mitch's depression, which he was quickly recovering from. That had all started when someone knocked on his door, a folded American flag in hand.

And we ain't missed a
Home game yet
Had that Infinity at 110
On Red Rock Road
When the speaker blowed

In the end, we had gone to every local game we could, whether it be all of us or just one. We'd all been complete jags, sitting on opposite sides, just like he used to.

I think Mitch did it most often.

In the earlier days, whenever we got together, we'd take that old Infinity and speed it down Red Rock. Mitch had the ERB downloaded onto his phone, and had hooked it up to the Bluetooth, playing it as loud as possible. I'd sit in driver's, because I was the most reckless driver, Mitch would sit passenger, and we had thrown Vikk in back the time that the speakers finally gave out.

Mitch had laughed for the first time since his death.

And I introduced Mitchell
To a friend of mine from Huston
But y'know...
He just ain't ready

As for Jerome's final wishes, I tried to carry them out. I introduced Mitch to a good friend of mine, whom I'd met in Huston, but he'd just walked away (figuratively, at least). He said he was over Jerome, but just didn't want to get involved with anyone else.

I knew that was a lie, but I never called him out for it.

After all, it wasn't in my best interests to admit that I'd caught Mitch crying at Jerome's grave.

All I can say to finish this off is that no one has ever forgotten him, nor will we ever. He made his mark on all of us.

That was for sure.

····

I cried while writing this.

Multiple times.

Not even gonna lie.

So call me out on any mistakes, because in all honesty, I'm to lazy to read through 2200+ words again to check like I normally do.

Anyways.

See ya next chapter?

Baiii