The next morning, Jeremy got up slowly, not wanting to wake Michael up. Even though the Squip was gone, his bodily clock was still intact.

He felt Michael shudder next to him, probably from the lack of cover Jeremy had given him. That seemed to be enough to wake the boy up.

"Good morning..." Michael said quietly. He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands, lifting the glasses he'd forgotten to take off.

Jeremy's heart fluttered calmly, and Michael smiled at him.

"You're really here... it wasn't a dream," he whispered happily, hugging Jeremy as if he were the most fragile thing in the world.

"I'm here," Jeremy agreed, hugging him back. Their touches were light, simply enjoying each others' presence.

They pulled away from each other slightly, a comfortable red dusting their cheeks.

When they had both gotten up and stretched, Michael's phone lit up. Michael unlocked it and smiled.

"Nica says they all made it back safely. They'll be meeting up with their families. We should go... are you okay with that?"

Jeremy was silent before he nodded. "Yeah... yeah I owe it to them. I was the one who brought them into this whole mess."

Michael squeezed one of Jeremy's hands softly before smiling at him again. "I'm proud of you."

The two walked out of the house, ready to make their way to the Goranski's house. That had been the decided meeting place because Rich had been sent home to recover.

"So..." Jeremy began.

"Hmm?" Michael hummed.

"I guess I should work stuff out with Christine before..."

Michael gave him a side-grin, nodding slowly. "It's Christine," he reminded Jeremy. "Just tell her how you're really feeling."

Jeremy let out a shaky breath. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

The walk to the Goranski's was quiet. Jeremy thought he sensed a bit of nervousness from the way Michael was walking, but if that was the case, he showed no signs of wanting to talking about it. Jeremy supposed it was only fair. He had practically abandoned Michael, so he wouldn't find it shocking that the guy still felt a bit awkward around Jeremy.

But the silence was warm, and it was something Jeremy hadn't experienced lately. His thoughts were quiet, so unlike the demanding voice he'd grown accustomed to. He relished all the little things, like the pattering of Michael's high tops on the sidewalk, like the small breaths they each released, even the sounds of the trees rustling softly in the wind.

He took a deep breath, and before he knew it they had arrived. Adults he'd never seen before were talking amongst themselves outside the door to the Goranski's house. Though they smiled and laughed here and there, there was a large hint of worry hiding underneath.

Jeremy assumed the others hadn't arrived yet. Shaking a bit, he took a bold move, only motivated by his gnawing guilt.

"Um, hello, everyone," he began, trying to gain their attention. They all turned, making Jeremy want to curl in on himself. Michael squeezed his hand encouragingly. "My name is Jeremy Heere. I don't know if you've heard about me, or even know me at all, but I need to apologize to all of you... Your children... my friends... I'm the reason they all left, I take all the blame." Michael stiffened next to Jeremy, but he didn't stop. "I didn't want to hurt them, and I would do anything to take it all back. But all I can do now is to say that I'm deeply sorry, and I beg for your forgiveness."

The group was silent before a woman stepped forward, dropping her cigarette to the pavement and snuffing it out with her heel.

"Well, kid," she began, placing a hand on her hip. "You've got guts, stepping up for something like that. I can respect that. Though I don't know how you managed to pull 'something like that' off. I think I speak for all of us here by saying that you worried us a lot, kid. But you are a kid, so all you gotta do for me is make a better impression the next time we meet, huh?"

She finished her speech, seemingly satisfied, and Jeremy let out a small breath. One down, he thought.

"Jeremy... was it?" Jeremy turned to see a man in a stiff-collared, button down shirt. His raven hair was combed and gelled neatly. He stood next to a woman with long hair, the same color as what Jeremy assumed was her husband. A mixture of worry and pity was laced into her expression.

"Yes, sir," he responded.

"My daughter has spoken about you," he said, smiling a bit sadly. "You had a crush on her, did you not?"

Jeremy's face flushed, but he nodded.

The man nodded in return, continuing. "She would often ask me for advice. She's still finding her place in the world, but she really did want to respond to your feelings with sincerity one day." He paused for a moment, his twinkling eyes dimming a little. "I don't believe you're a bad person, Jeremy. But just being a good person alone isn't enough to ensure you make good decisions. However, you're still in high school, so take advantage of that. Learn from your mistakes while the going's easy."

"Yes, sir," Jeremy repeated, bowing slightly.

"I appreciate your apology. It takes a big man to admit his mistakes."

"Thank you for telling us, Jeremy," the woman beside him spoke up. "We've been so worried about Christine, we're just glad to be getting her back." She smiled kindly and tiredly.

Jeremy lifted his head and nodded once more.

A slightly larger man walked forward. He wore a suit and tie, and his eyes were soft as he looked at Jeremy.

"I'd like to say it's nice to meet you," he began, "But considering the circumstances..." Jeremy's expression was steady, preparing himself. "I have a question for you."

"Y-you do?" he stumbled. "I mean-"

The man held a small smile that dissolved slowly. "What was your reason for it? Where did you get such an enormous idea?"

The rest of the parents all shifted, clearly wondering the same thing themselves.

"I-" Jeremy looked down before taking a deep breath and lifting his head again. "I guess, someone mentioned that our town was small so..."

"IT'S NOT JEREMY'S FAULT!" someone yelled, cutting Jeremy off. All eyes turned to see someone being wheeled down in a wheelchair from the door of the house.

"Rich?" Jeremy breathed, a flurry of emotions coursing through him before settling on relief to see his friend was alright.

"Yeah, hey, tall-ass," he responded, grinning fondly. "Anyways! I heard Jeremy trying to take all the blame. It's not his fault! ...Well. Not all of it is his fault."

"Then whose..." the man from earlier started, frowning.

"I could go on explaining, and it still wouldn't make complete sense," Rich confessed. "I'm going to start by saying that I really am going to be saying the whole truth, everything that I know." Everyone held their breaths as he began. "The night of the school play, a pill was being passed around that plants a supercomputer into a person's brain. I can say this with confidence because I was the first one of the group to have one. What we all didn't know was that the bot was toxic. It started sprouting dangerous ideas into our heads, and we all were, quite honestly, bullied into accepting them. It began changing us all for the worse. It promised us popularity, whatever we wanted, telling us the things it told us- no- commanded us to do would help us achieve what we asked for."

Everyone stayed quiet, signs of recognition showing on some of their faces. Jeremy could only assume that they'd seen a change in their child that helped to prove this point.

"I know it's hard to believe, but I don't think it's fair to dump all the blame on Jeremy. He's a good kid, and I'm pretty sure he never would've wanted something like this to happen."

"But... What happened to them?" A woman who hadn't talked yet asked. "The computers, I mean."

This time, Michael stepped up to respond. "My sister... she lives in Elizabeth... where they all went. I asked her to find them and give them a drink that would shut the computers off. She played a huge part in getting everyone home and saving them all from that thing in their head."

"This is all so strange," Christine's mother remarked.

"Jeremy?" the man in the suit said. "Is this true?"

"I-" Jeremy stuttered. "Yes, I suppose the reason I took the blame is because... I helped in getting them all a pill."

The man's shoulders stiffened, but nodded. "I see..."

Suddenly, a loud voice interrupted them once more. "MOM!" a familiar voice exclaimed. Everyone turned yet again to this new disturbance.

"Christine!" her mother exclaimed.

"Mom! Dad!" she cried, running to them and hugging them tightly. Tears began streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry, I don't know how it happened, the only thing I remember is waking up with everyone, and-" she was cut off by her hiccuping as she began to sob. Her parents simply murmured soothingly, tears forming in their eyes as well.

"GOD I'm so done with cars," Chloe commented, walking over to her mom. "Wait, what are you doing here?"

"Coming to pick you up, you ungrateful thing," her mom responded in a joking tone.

Chloe's lips quivered, forming a small smile. "I- thanks, mom." Her mother simply gave her a noogie, causing Chloe to protest loudly.

"RICH?!" Jake yelled, sprinting over to where Rich's wheelchair was parked. "You're out of the hospital?"

"Hell yeah I am. If I had spent any longer there, I'd have blown up or something," Rich responded.

"Hello, Jake," Mrs Goranski said, smiling.

"Hi, Mrs Goranksi," Jake answered, hugging her as intimately as he would his own mother.

"Brooke," the man in the suit said. The girl he spoke to hung her head, ready to be scolded. "Thank you for coming home." Brooke's head snapped up before her eyes welled, slowly beginning to cry as she ran to her dad, hugging him tightly.

"Jenna, thank God," the final woman exclaimed. Jenna hugged her mom, her breaths shaky.

"I'm home," she said quietly.

Jeremy looked at everyone and couldn't help but smile as he exhaled one last time in exhaustion.

"Hey," Michael said quietly, squeezing his hand again. "I think we're gonna be okay."

Jeremy nodded, feeling himself on the verge of crying as well.

"You both did good," a voice behind them said. They both felt their hair get ruffled before they turned to see Nicola, smiling softly.

"Yeah," Jeremy agreed slowly. "I know I'm not off the hook yet, but... I think we'll be okay."

And that. My friends. Is the end. This was honestly so refreshing for me to write. I'd been doing small things here and there, but I think this reminded me what writing lengthy chaptered stories was like. And I enjoy it.

I'm so so grateful to all of you who have followed this miniseries. It really means the world to me. I hope you enjoyed it!

I think I mentioned this, but I originally posted this on tumblr, and I gotta say?? When I started uploading on here, I made a couple adjustments, but I think it made it flow better. So LUCKY YOU, WATTPAD USERS! ♡

Again, thank y'all SO SO MUCH for reading!! I'll see you all hopefully soon when I can kick my imagination back into gear after this giant thing. We love you guys so much!! -May ♡

Bonus: aka my outline