Angst!!! I'm sorry kiddos we've been on a happy streak (except pink berry I guess) but I needed to balance it with angst. I had to use the script. Oh no I'm so illegal. Anyways. Dw. Happy ending. Is that a spoiler? Idk. Eh. Enjoy???
-May <3

Michael was feeling anxious. This happened frequently ever since the squip had come and gone. But tonight he felt sick to his stomach. It didn't usually get to this point.

He'll go away... at some point... won't he?

He knew these thoughts were wrong. Jeremy had proven this many a time through his actions. But his trust had been lost once... and once seemed to be enough.

It could happen again... it's not really alright now... is it?

He felt his head swim as his mind brought him back to a couple months before...

"Hey, Jeremy!" Michael called out, seeing him walking to his morning class. Jeremy gave no response, not even acknowledging Michael's presence beside him. "Jeremy...? C'mon, man, funny joke, but seriously... Jeremy?"

Don't go away yet...

Michael felt like crying. He had tried getting Jeremy's attention almost all morning, but to no avail.

Suddenly... "Michael? Where have you been all day?"

What...? "Really? So you're not the one who's been avoiding me?" Michael asked, sounding more bitter than he intended.

Jeremy looked as though he was thinking very hard for a moment, shaking his head every so often. Michael felt sick.

"Jeremy...? Why are you standing there all creepy and stuff?" Jeremy was staring at him, as if he could see right through him. Michael continued, not even sure Jeremy could hear him anymore. "Seriously, what's up with you? You've been acting shady ever since... since..."

Realization crept into him, remembering just the other day. No way...

"It worked, didn't it...?" Despite himself, Michael grew excited. "Jeremy! That's amazing!" He laughed in disbelief. "We gotta test it out, we gotta celebrate! We gotta... GET STONED IN MY BASEMENT!"

Jeremy held a far-off look once more, causing Michael's initial adrenaline to die down, replaced with a returned feeling of dread.

"Jeremy?" he tried, tentatively. "Are you coming?"

He seemed to be coming to a decision before saying, "Optic nerve-blocking on."

And he walked away, no trace of explanation on his face, no indication that he had even heard what Michael had said.

"Jeremy...?" Michael called out to Jeremy's swiftly retreating form, knowing he'd get no response.

Please don't leave me...

Michael felt his eyes getting wet as he held back tears. He was brought back to reality with a sharp pain to his skull. He had been pulling his hair without even thinking.

Releasing his hair slowly, he hissed in pain, recognizing the soft red liquid that now thinly coated his nails. He hugged his knees to his chest. Jeremy would be coming over soon, and Michael didn't want to be seen like this.

He struggled to calm his breathing, holding onto his ankles to ground himself. After taking a few, shaky deep breaths, he stood up gently.

I can keep up my facade... right? I don't want to hurt him... I have to hold it in.

He exhaled decidedly and made his way to the bathroom. He splashed a little bit of water on his face, feeling his breathing clear at the coldness.

Michael heard his front door creak open, followed by a hesitant, "Hello?"

"Hey, dude, I'm u-upstairs!" He cursed his wavering voice.

"Michael? What are you doing in the bathroom?" Jeremy appeared in the doorway, his expression slightly worried.

"Just brushin' my teeth," he lied, grinning.

"Dude, it's like two in the afternoon," Jeremy replied, chuckling a little.

"Oops?" Michael shrugged. "C'mon, let's go play some games or something." He slipped past Jeremy, looking back at him every few steps; as if one of these times he'd look back, and Jeremy would be gone.

Jeremy seemed to notice, but didn't mention anything after seeing the subtle hint of sadness in Michael's eyes.

They both reached the basement. They usually played in Jeremy's basement, but Michael still had a decent setup of his own.

Jeremy flopped down onto a beanbag chair, seeing Michael space out as he stared at the menu screen of Apocalypse of the Damned.

"You good, Michael?" Jeremy's words broke through his trance.

"Y-Yeah, man! Just thinking about something..." Michael replied, knowing he wasn't hiding himself very well.

"What 'something'?" Jeremy asked carefully.

"What, am I supposed to tell you everything I'm thinking about?" Michael asked, letting out a shaky laugh.

"No, I just... you usually say whatever is on your mind so-"

Michael cut him off quickly. "Are you sure, Jeremy?" He flinched at the harshness in his own words, cowering slightly as he lowered his voice. "There's a lot of things you don't know... a lot of things..."

Jeremy's eyes filled with worry. "Okay, you don't have to tell me, but if I guess what's bothering you, we're talking about it, alright?"

Michael looked up in confusion, a small tear having already made its way down his cheek.

"Is that... okay?" Jeremy asked, wanting to be sure he wouldn't be forcing something uncomfortable onto Michael.

After a few moments, however, Michael nodded, pulling his knees to his chest.

Having gotten confirmation, Jeremy turned himself to Michael and looked into his downcast eyes. "Is it the squip?"

Michael squeezed his eyes shut, a few more tears slipping past his eyelids.

Jeremy sighed deeply. "I figured that'd be the case. That asshole of a computer didn't just mess with me. I wish that had been the case."

Michael hadn't responded. His throat felt tight, but he managed a small, "How... do you always know?"

Jeremy smiled sheepishly. "Intuition?" he guessed. "I've known you for a long time. When something is bothering you, you tend to try and cover it up. But when you want to talk about it and just don't want to bother anyone, you don't do as well to hide it. I know you don't talk when you don't want to, so I've never pushed if you were acting a bit off, but..."

Michael exhaled deeply as he let out a sob. Jeremy smiled sadly. "I... can't imagine how it must have felt. I... I was so horrible to you." His expression changed to one of deep regret. "You never deserved anything like that. You of all people." Michael hiccuped as Jeremy pulled him into a hug. It was by no means the perfect hug, but it was Jeremy, and that was enough for Michael.

He exhaled once more, his breathing slowing to a more steady pace before he muttered an, "'m tired."

Jeremy smiled, a relieved sigh escaping his lips. "I thought you hated me..."

"The only thing I hate about you... is my inability to hate you..." Michael murmured, his voice getting quieter.

Jeremy laughed softly. "Sorry I'm so likable."

Michael slid more into his lap. "Shut up and let me sleep on you," he insisted sleepily.

"So... we're good? I know I've got a long way to make it up to you..."

"For now," Michael confirmed. "... love you too much to..."

Jeremy's face heated up at Michael's statement that went unfinished. "W-wait, M-Michael?" His voice cracked as the boy under him slipped into deep, easy breaths.

Happy ending. I promised. Heere y'all go. Jeremy voice crack is the ending. Yep.

I,,, was working on this over the summer, but I thought to myself. "This just feels like something I've written before. I probably won't finish it." Then I was going through my notes and was like, "Wtf. I liked this. I'm finishing it." AND HEERE IT IS.

I've been. Exhausted today. But I went to see the new Star Wars movie. I'm not a fan of Star Wars by any means, but this one kept me interested all the way through, so kUdOs, Lucasfilms.

That's off-topic. And so is this! It's almost Christmas!!! AND I HAVE!!!! AN ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

Becca's dad contacted my mother. They had a conversation. I might go to Arizona in January, y'all. I might meet Becca. I also might cry. Maybe.

MERRY CHRISTMAS INDEED!!!! I love y'all!! I hope your Christmas is aMAZING. We might try to post again before then, but... yep! That's that! We love y'all dearly and are so glad to have you in our lives. You mean the world and then some to us. Thanks for being such giant beacons of light for us in our lives. <3333

Stay lovely!!! Hope you enjoyed this update! We love you!!! See you soon! Now I've gotta go babysit!!! For the second time this week :'))))

-May <3