CHAPTER TWO.

Graham laid on his couch, staring at the ceiling. It was two in the morning and he was meant to be up in three hours to meet Jericho. He should've been sleeping but instead, all he did was stare. The only noise that could be heard in his loft was the rain from outside. Besides the rain, there was a silence throughout the place. Any other time, the silence would have been more than enough to drive Graham mad. Though, he wasn't focused on the silence right now.

Graham had originally gone to bed at eleven that night but was awoken an hour later. Awoken by yet another nightmare. The nightmare being enough to make Graham never want to sleep again. Granted, all his nightmares made him feel that way. He had stared at his living room ceiling for about thirty minutes before deciding to make some coffee and just stay awake. Now, at two in the morning, he found himself doing just what he had been doing earlier. There was nothing interesting about the ceiling in his loft but staring at them proved to be more entertaining than his dreams.

Sure, Graham could have found something more productive to do with his time but his nightmares always seemed to leave him feeling drained. Graham wasn't sure he would even have the energy to go meet with Jericho to do his job. Which is saying a lot seeing as all Graham typically does is sit in Jericho's office and hang out while he works. However, it wasn't like Graham could really call in anyway. He calls in and the next thing he knows, Jericho's dead. But Graham didn't wanna think about Jericho or any form of work right now.

Truthfully, he didn't wanna think at all.

With a quiet sigh, Graham closed his eyes. He didn't wanna sleep but he couldn't bring himself to keep staring at his ceiling for another three hours. Plus, even if he didn't want it, he needed the sleep. Except Graham didn't get the chance to fall asleep. A loud thud coming from behind his couch caused him to shoot up from his lying position. Looking over the back of the couch, he watched as a person stood from his floor. They closed the window before turning to face him.

The person jumped when seeing Graham looking at them, "Fuck, man. It's two in the morning, why are you up?" The person walked over to the couch and sat on the opposite end away from Graham, shoving Graham's legs off the couch.

"You break into my home at two in the morning and your concern is me being awake? Why are you in my house, you fucking freak?"

"Fucking freak? That's rude, dude."

"Fuck you, Diego. Why are you in my house?"

Diego shrugged and shook his head, "Just passing through the neighborhood. Thought I'd stop by. Is it a crime to want to see my friend now?"

Graham took a sip from his cold coffee before looking to Diego, "No, but it is a crime to refer to me as your fuckin' friend." Graham sat the coffee cup down the table. Diego went to reach for the cup before Graham snatched it back up, "I am not drinking after you. You better get up and go make your own coffee."

Diego rolled his eyes, "What? You think I got a disease or som--"

"Yeah, I do."

Diego flipped Graham off before walking over to the small kitchen in the loft, "And you know what? Calling you my friend? Not a crime. Let's not forget I was in the police academy." Diego spoke over his shoulder as he went to grab a coffee mug before moving over towards the coffee machine.

Graham scoffed, "Let's also not forget you got kicked out of the police academy." Diego shot Graham a dirty look over his shoulder. After starting the coffee, he turned and leaned against the counter. Graham took another sip of his coffee before continuing, "And you know what? I think that you not knowing that calling me your friend is in fact a real, legal crime is probably why you got kicked out."

Diego shook his head, "I'd say you're an asshole when you're sleep deprived but you're always an asshole so I don't think it's the lack of sleep."

Graham let out a bitter laugh, "Jokes on you, I'm always sleep deprived so it could be my lack of sleeping causing me to always be an asshole."

"Elaborate?" Diego asked, curious as to why Graham was always sleep-deprived.

"No. And add more water into the coffee machine when you're done," Graham leaned his head onto the back of the couch, closing his eyes for a moment. He brought his legs up, crossing them. He laid his hands, with the coffee cup, in the middle of his legs. He let out a sigh before speaking, "You still haven't told me why you're in my house, you know?"

Diego grabbed his coffee cup and sat it to the side of the coffee machine, "Come on, you really don't believe I was just stopping in to see my friend?" He grabbed a cup to fill the machine back up with water in the back. He dropped the cup into the sink afterward, not bothering to put it in the dishwasher. He grabbed his coffee and made his way back to the couch.

"Why are you in my house, Diego?"

Diego groaned, "Ran into an issue with some cops and happened to remember that you lived nearby. Figured you wouldn't mind if I hid out here."

"I do mind, actually."

"Well, too bad. I've already made coffee and I'm quite comfortable on this couch." Graham didn't answer, but instead, chugged down the rest of his coffee before standing from the couch. He made his way to the kitchen and put the cup in the dishwasher--making sure to put the cup Diego left in the sink in there too.

"I'm gonna go take a shower or something. Don't break anything or burn my house down," Graham waved Diego off before making his way towards his bedroom and entered quietly. From there, he grabbed his shower necessities and then made his way to the bathroom. Diego had said something as he shut the bathroom door but Graham didn't hear him. And honestly, he didn't care enough to open the door back up and find out.

When Graham finished his shower, he walked out to find Diego watching TV and eating the leftover pizza from Graham's fridge. He didn't acknowledge Graham, but then again, he probably hadn't seen him. Graham set down his stuff back into his room. Then, he made his way over to the couch and sat down next to Diego. Diego nodded his head at Graham as he sat down. Graham looked at Diego and then the pizza he was eating. He opened his mouth to say something but then closed his mouth, deciding to wait. He turned his head towards the TV. The two sat in silence watching an episode of some show Graham didn't recognize.

Once Diego finished the pizza, Graham turned towards him, "You enjoy eating that pizza?"

Diego laughed, "Yeah, I did, actually. What you mad I ate your leftovers?"

Graham shook his head and looked back to the TV, "Nah, that pizza was just like two weeks old. Been too lazy to throw it out so it's just been sitting there." Diego paused, turning to look at Graham. Graham stayed looking at the TV.

"You're lying."

Graham shook his head again, "Nope. You can check the sticker on the box and it should say when it was ordered." Diego looked down at the empty pizza box and then back to Graham and then back to the pizza box. He snatched the box up. "Well?" Graham asked after a moment of Diego looking at the box.

"It's not two weeks old."

"No?"

"Nope."

"How old then?"

"Two and a half. Nearly three."

"Damn, that's fucking gross, man."

Diego threw the box onto the table, "Why didn't you warn me you had old pizza in your fridge?"

Graham yawed, still tired from not getting sleep, "Didn't think you were gonna just help yourself to the food in my house without asking, honestly. You could've knocked on the bathroom door and asked before you ate it. So I mean, really, it's completely on you."

Diego's eyebrows furrowed in annoyance, "My fault? Maybe you shouldn't keep nearly three-week old pizza in your fridge. Maybe you should learn to throw food out!"

Graham turned his head towards Diego, a questioning look on his face, "I'm sorry, Diego, do you pay my bills?"

"No--"

"Then, don't tell me what I should do in my house. If you ain't paying the bills, you don't get a say," Graham stated. Graham looked at the table, noticing that Diego still had some coffee left. He grabbed the cup and downed it.

"So you're gonna give me food poisoning and then drink my coffee? That's how you treat guests? And what happened to not wanting to drink after me, huh?" Diego sassed, annoyance also clear in his voice. Graham rolled his eyes at Diego's dramatics.

"Diego, did you pay for the coffee?"

Diego held a finger up, "That's not how this works. You told me to make me a coffee because you didn't want to drink after me. You don't get to tell me to make me a coffee and then just drink said coffee."

Graham sighed, "Well, I pay the bills in this house and I paid for the coffee so, technically, I can do whatever the fuck I wanna do."

Diego let out a groan, "Hey, you mind if I shower and crash in your room for a bit? I mean, you don't really look like you're going to bed anytime soon." He stood from the couch about to head for the bathroom.

"Showers all yours, but the room is a no-go," Graham shook his head. "My, uh, niece is staying with me for a while. She's taking over my bedroom for now."

Diego stopped at the bathroom door, turning to face Graham, "You like kids?"

Graham's face scrunched up, "No, but she didn't have anywhere else to go."

Diego wrapped his arms over his chest, "What happened? Parents hurt or something?"

"Why are you asking so many questions, weirdo?"

"What I can't ask my friend about his family who never speaks of?"

"We're not friends," Graham stood up from the couch, "And you also do not speak about your family. I'll grab you some sweats to change into. You can crash on the couch when you get out. I'm probably gonna go for a run or something." Graham made his way into the bedroom as quietly as he could so that he didn't wake Fern. He grabbed a spare pair of sweatpants and an old shirt before leaving the room. "Hey," Graham called, causing Diego to look up from his phone. He tossed the clothes over to Diego.

Diego caught the clothes and muttered out thanks before heading into the bathroom. Graham walked over to his kitchen table, grabbing an old piece of mail and a sharpie. He wrote a quick note to Fern telling him that he was going for a run and he would grab some breakfast on his way back. He also let her know that the "dude sleeping on the couch is an idiot who claims to be a friend and that she is more than welcome to kill him if she pleases." He walked back into the bedroom and sat the note on the stand beside the bed.

࿏

Graham walked back into the apartment after his run. Fern was sitting on the couch watching the TV. She didn't look up from the TV as Graham made his way towards the island in the kitchen. He sat a bag of food onto the table.

"Foods here. Come eat," Graham spoke before walking to the fridge to grab some sodas. Fern stood from the couch and jogged over to the counter. She grabbed the bag of food and went back to the couch in a hurry. Graham turned, throwing his arms up, "Hey, dumbass, my food is in there too!"

"So come get it, dumbass," Fern muttered out, pulling food from the bag. She began unwrapping a sausage biscuit but before she could take a bite Graham yanked it from her hands. "Hey!" Graham sat the sodas on the table in front of them.

"That's mine," Graham said before taking a bite from the sausage biscuit. "I got you pancakes and bacon."

Fern pulled the pancakes from the bag, "Why?"

Graham sat on the couch, taking another bite from the food, "You said you wanted pancakes yesterday. So I got you pancakes. You're welcome."

Fern scrunched her face up in disgust, "Yeah, I wanted pancakes yesterday. And these," she wiggled a soggy pancake in front of Graham's face, "look like ass." She threw the pancake back into its container and grabbed the bacon, "I want a sausage biscuit now." She took a bite from the bacon.

Graham took another bite from his sausage biscuit, "Tough shit."

"You're a terrible parental guardian."

"You're more than welcome to find someone else to take care of you." She finished the bacon in silence. "Where did Diego go?"

"Who?"

"The dude that was sleeping on the couch."

"Ah, the one I was given permission to kill. He said he had to go to work or something. Told me to tell you thanks for letting him crash here and he'd bring the clothes back later," She spoke as she grabbed the small butters and syrups from the bag. She began preparing her pancakes. She looked to Graham for a second, "So how long have the two of you been friends?"

Graham shook his head as he grabbed one of the sodas from the table, "I am not friends with that fucking idiot."

"He said you guys were."

"He likes to piss me off," Graham opened the soda and took a drink before continuing, "We've known each other for a little bit now but we are not friends. Never met someone who gets on my nerves more." He paused for a moment before letting out a joking scoff, "Though, you are a close second contender."

Fern sent Graham an annoyed look before throwing an empty syrup container at him, "Could say the same about you."

He grabbed the syrup container and tossed it into the food bag, "We gotta go pick Jericho up soon and take him to work. Finish eating."

"Maybe if I was eating a sausage biscuit and not pancakes, I'd already be done eating," Fern joked.

"I'm on the verge of making you fend for your own food."

Fern laughed, "Alright. I can't eat any more of these pancakes. I'll just take the drink to go." She grabbed and waved the soda can in Graham's direction. She stood from the couch with a sigh, "Just gotta grab my shoes."

Graham stood from the couch and grabbed all the trash. He threw it into the kitchen trash can before walking back to the living room and grabbing his soda. He took a drink from it as he walked into the kitchen. He sat the soda inside the fridge and began walking towards the door to grab his shoes. Fern leaned against the front door as Graham put his shoes on. As he was putting his right shoe on, he paused to grab his phone from his pocket.

He handed the phone back to Fern, "Call Jericho and let him know that we're on our way to get him." Fern hummed in response as she grabbed the phone. Graham tied his shoe as Fern stood up off the door. Graham grabbed his keys, opened the front door, and walked out. Fern followed and moved out of the way so Graham could lock the door. They made their way out of the apartment complex and down to Graham's car. Graham turned and looked at Fern walking behind him, still on the phone with Jericho.

"Everything good?"

Fern nodded, holding the phone away from her face a bit, "Yeah, he said he's ready whenever. We're just chatting now. Wanted to know more about his job and stuff. Being a hacker sounds cool." Graham nodded as he unlocked the car doors.

He got into the car and motioned at Fern, "Seatbelt."

Fern shook her head, "Don't like seatbelts." She waved Graham off and continued talking to Jericho on the phone. Graham grabbed the phone, ending the call. She scoffed, "I was in the middle of a conversation, dude."

"You like dying too? Put your fuckin' seatbelt on," Graham spoke sternly. He shoved the phone into the cupholders in the car. "This car isn't moving until you put a seatbelt on. And the bodyguards at Jericho's place leave in twenty minutes. Which is how long the drive to his place takes. They're not gonna stay there just because I don't show up on time. The longer Jericho's there alone, the more time people who want him dead have to kill him. You wanna be the reason he dies?"

"Are you trying to inadvertently tell me that if I don't put a seatbelt on I'm gonna kill Jericho?"

Graham shrugged, "Kill yourself too if we wreck."

"Well, then don't wreck, Mr. Dramatic."

Graham inhaled sharply, "Put the seatbelt on, Fern. I'm not kidding."

Fern let out a dramatic groan, "Fine. Since you wanna be such a crybaby, I'll put the seatbelt on, weirdo." She grabbed the seatbelt and put it on as obnoxiously as she could. She huffed afterward as Graham started the car, "Why are you such a stickler for seatbelts? I mean, Jericho said you bodyguard for him and that you've hunted people down before and hurt them, why do seatbelts matter to you?"

Graham scrunched his face up, "I've hurt bad people. Seatbelts keep good people alive. And anyway my job doesn't have any actual correlation to seatbelts. It's called driving safe and being responsible."

Aside from the radio, the drive to Jericho's home was mostly quiet. Occasionally, there were miniature arguments between the two about song choice or volume. Graham wanted the music up somewhat loud, Fern wanted it quiet. Of course, the volume argument sparked back up when Jericho got into the car. Fern wanted the music even quieter so that she could talk to Jericho. Graham still wanted it loud. Jericho didn't bother to join the argument.

࿏

The door to Jericho's office swung open causing heads to turn. Graham entered the room, sitting a bunch of bags down on the ground by the door. He kept one of the small bags in his hand. Jericho was sitting at his desk. Fern sat next to him in a chair she had moved from the opposite side of the desk. He shut the door and turned to look at Diego who was sitting on the couch in the office.

"Thanks for coming to watch Jericho for me for a bit so I could get this shit done," Graham muttered.

"Didn't realize that I was watching him so you could go shopping," Diego joked, pointing to the bags by the door.

Graham rolled his eyes, "Told you I had some shit to pick up. Same thing, no?"

Jericho interrupted, "Hey, can we not talk about me as if I'm being babysat?"

Diego's eyebrow furrowed and he looked to Jericho, "Are you trying to tell me Graham isn't a glorified babysitter for you?"

Jericho was about to say something when Fern put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't even fight it, dude. Graham's a glorified babysitter and you're a glorified baby." She pat his shoulder in an attempt to jokingly comfort him. She laughed before looking to Graham, "So what all did you get? And why was it more important than hanging out with us?"

Graham tossed the small bag in his hand on the table, "Sausage biscuit." He pointed a hand behind, "Grabbed you some clothes, a couple of pairs of shoes, shower stuff, and some school stuff. Figured you would need it."

Diego chimed in, "Shouldn't you have taken her with you for the clothes and shoe stuff? What if she doesn't like what you got her? I mean, I've seen some of your clothes, you're not really a style icon."

Graham flipped Diego off, "It's just basic shit for now. Jackets, sweats, and whatnot. I figured she could go and get more stuff she actually liked later. Just don't have time for a full shopping spree right now, dumbass. I figured I'd just grab some simple shit for now."

Diego shrugged, confused, "How come you didn't bring any clothes down here with you?" Fern's mouth fell agape for a moment while she tried to think of something to say.

Finally, Jericho answered hastily, "It all burnt in the fire."

Diego's eyes widened, "Fire? Graham didn't mention anything about a fire."

"I didn't mention anything about anything," Graham spoke, "Just said she was staying down here for a while." Graham turned his back to Diego as best as he could where Jericho could still see him and shot Jericho a 'what-the-fuck' look.

Diego inhaled quietly before turning his attention to Fern, "Did your parents, uh, you know? Is that why you're staying with Graham?" Fern opened and closed her mouth, eyes shooting to Graham for a moment before going back to Diego. Diego hadn't taken notice of her glance at Graham and was waiting on an answer.

Fern nodded slowly, "Yeah. Uh, sensitive topic, really. That's probably why Graham didn't mention it much." Her voice was shaky and Graham could tell that while lying was easy for her, she didn't appear to enjoy it. She rubbed her hands together, "Not an easy thing to talk about. I lost my parents, he lost a sibling. Hard stuff."

Diego stood and approached Graham, who instinctively took a step away from the man, "I'm sorry for trying to pry. That was insensitive. Losing a sibling is hard. I know what it's like and we might hate each other but if you wanna talk about it, you have my number." Internally, Graham grimaced. He had forgotten that Diego had lost a brother when he was younger. For once, a lie about his past hurt him. He knew if Diego ever found out they were lying, he would be angry and betrayed. And maybe they weren't friends but he knew that a lie about a dead sibling hurts. He had gone through it with Melody. But it wasn't like he could go back on it now. He wished that he had talked to Fern and Jericho about it beforehand and figured out a better story.

Realizing Diego was still standing in front of him, waiting on him to say something, he scowled at Diego, "Blocked. I have your number blocked." He attempted to joke in order to change the subject so the feeling of guilt would leave.

Diego rolled his eyes, "Whatever, dumbass." He threw a hand out in Fern's direction and faced her, "Sorry to you too. I'm sure losing your parents is also hard. You can always steal Graham's phone to call me if you ever wanna talk too."

"Thanks," Fern muttered quietly, forcing a smile. Graham could tell that after hearing that he had lost a sibling too, she also felt bad for the lie. Graham looked to Jericho, whose eyes were trained on his computer trying to hide the guilt he felt. In the moment, Jericho also had forgotten about Diego's brother. They all felt bad for the lie, but they all knew it was too late to backtrack now. As if a lightbulb went off in Graham's head, he let out a loud inhale causing everyone's attention to turn to him.

"Diego, I'm glad you mentioned phones again," He pointed to Fern, "I got you a phone. Figured you would need a way to contact me or Jericho when you're at school or out and stuff. Or you know, if you make friends, you can contact them. I also got you a laptop cause I thought you might need one for school work. Thought that getting you your own would be easier than sharing with me."

Fern grinned, "For real? Sick, I've never had a phone or a laptop."

Diego laughed, "Seriously? You're seventeen! Your parents never gave you a phone?"

Fern shook her head, "Um no, mom was strict about phones. She considered it a distraction and stuff. Said I couldn't focus on school as much if I had one. You know, all that junk."

Diego nodded, "That makes sense, I guess."  A goofy smile appeared on Diego's face, "Hey, that means you don't have to steal Graham's phone if you wanna call and talk. You can just save my number!"

"Or you can do the correct option in this situation and block his number as I did," Graham said as he walked over to the bags on the floor. He searched through the bags for the phone.

"Oh, come on, Graham! You don't have my number blocked," Diego laughed as he made his way back to the couch. "I called you a couple of days ago and you picked up."

Graham pulled the phone from the bag and tossed it over to Fern, "Nah, wasn't me. Must've gotten the phone number wrong. 'Cause I certainly have your number blocked." He pointed a finger at Fern with a stern look on his face, "There are some cases and shit in the bag for the phone. Take care of the phone."

Jericho looked up from his computer, making a face at Fern, "Or you'll get grounded." He sang 'grounded' out in an exaggerated tone. Fern laughed back, rolling her eyes.

word count. 4329!
I like lost motivation on this chapter for awhile tbh so I apologize for that!! But the beginning part of this chapter was originally chapter three but I decided to make it chapter two because chapter three is going to be episode one of TUA. This chapter was originally only around 3k words but I decided I wanted more Diego in the chapter so I ended up writing some more and adding to it!! I hope you guys enjoy it and I hope to get another chapter up soon!!

posted. january 5, 2021
hexgiris.