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[ill-try-to-write-maybe]

Zap

So just a little ‘heads up’(?) this is one of the short oneshot fics that are a part of the superpowered gang AU i was talking about! tell me if you prefer this sort of thing, or if i should try a multi chapter thing! :3

Belmerttons Words: 2.6k Warnings: Angst(?), swearing

Electricity crackled through the air, you could feel it a mile away. You could also smell it, the singed wooden targets bubbled and sizzled in ways that probably wasn’t safe to be around too long. Buttons propped the targets up again and moved back towards the chair a few metres away. He sat down and looked at his hands, a deep frown etched into his face, as he slowly flexed his fingers, watching small bursts of electricity spark from his fingertips. The little bolts of lightning jumped from one finger to another, moving faster, and grouping together until it was one, twisting and winding around Buttons’ fingers at a frightening pace. Then with a sudden flick of his wrist, he shot the burst of light towards one of the targets, hitting it dead centre, sending it flying backward. Elmer watched from the doorway he leaned against and sighed. This was the tenth night in a row Buttons was up, and Elmer was more than a little worried. 

Two weeks prior to this, Buttons and Romeo had been out on patrol when they were attacked, four large men surrounding them, demanding any and all valuables. Buttons had frozen, though he didn’t understand why. Was it shock? That’s what he blamed at least. It only took the split-second delay for things to go horribly awry. The men leapt, three gunning for Romeo, while Buttons got off considerably lighter with only one. Buttons was quick to deal with his assailant, leaving him a singed, twitching pile on the floor. Romeo screamed his name and Buttons turned, ready to continue the fight, just in time to watch one of the figures slam Romeo’s arm down, breaking it almost in two. He shrieked in pain, trying to pull his now broken arm close to his body, and the attacker moved his hands to Romeo’s neck. Buttons felt his heart stop as a wave of anger and fear flooded over him. Time seemed to stand still, and several things happened at the exact same time. Buttons could see out of the corner of his eye, the streetlights flickering wildly as he stared down the man. He felt his arm tingle as he pulled in the current, fear building in his chest. The air sizzled with energy as a small pinprick of light built in his palm, growing and expanding through each of his veins and capillaries, moving up into his arm. Two of the men had realised what was about to happen and began to duck, as Romeo screwed his eyes up either in preparation or in pain, though Buttons hoped it was the former. The light built, forming a lump that was protruding from his hand. And with a shout of exasperation, anger and pain, Buttons forced the light from his hand out towards the man strangling his friend. And the light soared through the air, heading straight for the man and… missing him. The bolt he had shot… missed its target. Buttons, who was one of the most accurate shots out there, missed. While not frying the man, it did, however, scare the shit out of him, and he threw Romeo’s semi-conscious body to the ground, grabbed one of his partner’s arms and took off running.

 Elmer was one of the first to see the carnage as Buttons carried Romeo’s battered body in through the door. He was shaking, cradling his broken arm close to him, and bleeding from a nasty gash from where his head had met the ground. Questions flew through the air, what happened? Who did this? Is Romeo going to be okay? But Buttons said nothing and quickly moved forward, the crowd parting before him, as he took Romeo down to their sickroom. Elmer and a few others followed, watching silently as he handed him over to Blink, exchanging few words in a hushed tone. Blink nodded and Buttons turned and trudged to one of the small unfinished, unused side-rooms where he lit a candle and sat back in a worn-down chair. And that’s where he had stayed for almost two weeks now. He had found a couple of old picture frames in the draws of a desk, and had set them up neatly, before blasting them into next week. People had tried talking to him, Elmer included, but he would just ignore them. They’d bring him glasses of water and plates of food, but he would only sip at the water and pick half-assedly at the food. Elmer would bring it up with the others, but they’d just shrug. “Give him time,” they’d say, giving him a comforting pat on the back, “he’ll come around.” But Elmer had given him time! Almost two whole weeks of time! And nothing was changing! Could no one else see the problem? But Elmer bit his tongue, held his thought to himself, he wasn’t gonna leave Buttons alone to deal with whatever this was, even if everyone else seemed to have. So here he was, leaning against the doorway watching Buttons push himself beyond his limits for hours and hours and hours, only stopping to close his eyes for a few minutes every now and then. Elmer felt tears well up in his eyes as Buttons stood to prop up the targets again, his shaking hands covered in burnt chips of wood and small blisters. He faltered, stumbling as he moved forward, his legs swaying unsteadily beneath him. He grasped the edge of the desk and waited to regain his balance, before setting the targets up and pacing back to the chair to do it all over again. Elmer bit his lip, willing the tears away, then took a deep breath, picked up the plate by his feet and walked in. “Hey.” No response. “I- I made you another sandwich,” he gave a small smile and wiggled the plate slightly in another failed attempt at being cheerful. No response. “It’s ham and cheese this time, seeing as you didn’t like the jam.” No response. Elmer set the plate down, swapping it for the other one. He looked at the half-full cup of water. “Uh, if you need a refill, just let me know!” He beamed. No response. The smile slipped slowly off his face. “..okay.” He cleared his throat and turned, treading lightly out of the room. Elmer cleared the doorway and sighed, rubbing his eyes as he moved through the maze of corridors on his way to the kitchen.  He could feel pressure building behind his eyes again, and he swallowed thickly. He hated seeing Buttons do this to himself, he wanted more than anything to help him, but he couldn’t if Buttons wasn’t giving him anything to work with. He walked into the kitchen, sighing for the millionth time that day, scraped the old sandwich into the bin, then set about to washing the plate. He stood there for a few minutes, lost in thought, letting the warm water run over his hands when a shriek threw him back into reality. Buttons! Elmer dropped the plate and took off down the hall, tearing into the side-room, to find Buttons, hunched over, face pale, and clutching his hand in agony. Elmer flung himself down to Buttons side. “Hey-hey, are you okay? What’s wr-”

“I’m fine.” Buttons growled, heaving himself shakily to his feet. “Just a cramp, ‘s all.” He fell back into the chair, massaging his hand. 

“Are you sure? Maybe you should take a bre-”

I’m. Fine.” Elmer fell quiet. Picking himself back up, and nodding, he moved back to the doorway and sat back down. Under any other circumstance, he would’ve felt some sort of happiness, this was an improvement! He was talking! But Elmer’s heartfelt heavier than ever now, Buttons was causing himself real, physical pain, and still he didn’t show a sign of stopping. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the doorway as the sound of electricity crackling filled the room again.

–

Elmer’s eyes snapped open to the sound of screaming. He looked around blearily, his heart racing. What time was it? How long had he been out? He grabbed onto the doorframe and hauled himself to his feet, looking into the room where Buttons was curled up in a ball, shoulders and legs spasming as he struggled to contain his cries. Elmer raced over, kneeling beside him, he could see light pulsing under Buttons’ skin, electricity circulating through his body, and he reached out to grab Buttons’ arm. “No!” He was stopped by a cry through gritted teeth. “D-don’t touch me!”

“But I can help!” Elmer pleaded.

“I don’t need help.” Buttons’ words were muffled by his arms as he caged his head between them. He cried out in pain again, spit flecked his face that was red with strain. Elmer sat back on his heels, rubbing his eyes, the first inklings of defeat beginning to creep its way into him. “Please, let me-”

“I said I don’t need help!” Buttons roared, his muscles twitching. Elmer closed his eyes, feeling the tears forcing themselves back up. “okay.” He whispered, padding back to his spot by the door. He checked his watch, 2:08 am. He nodded to himself, breathing deeply. This was hour thirteen of consecutive target practice. Monotonous and repetitive. Shoot, set up, shoot, set up, shoot, set up, so on and so forth. He looked over to the sandwich, still untouched, and smothered his face with his hands. Did he even bother continuing to try? He didn’t want to leave Buttons alone, but he was running out of options. He was being forced to extremities, an option neither he nor Buttons would like. Another few minutes passed, and Buttons forced himself to quivering feet, then back into the chair, his muscles still seizing and pulsing with excess power. He drew a long breath and raised his twitching arm, palm lighting up again. He screwed his eyes tight against the horrible discomfort as the light balled together, speeding electricity fizzing around his fingers. Buttons sunk his teeth into his lip in an effort to contain his screams of pain, and with a small shout, he flicked his fingers and jutted out his palm, two jets of light hit two frames, the splintering wood blackened and fried. Buttons slumped back in the chair, gasping for breath, blood from where he’d bit down beginning to trickle down his chin. Beads of sweat slid down his temples and back, he felt too hot and too cold at the same time, nothing was comfortable. He shook with effort as he raised his hand again, aiming for the third target. With another cry, he shot another bolt, sending the third frame to join the other two. Buttons fell forward, shaking arms holding up his shaking head as he took sharp, ragged breaths. After giving himself a moment to recover, repeated his task of setting them up again. Elmer sighed. Looked like he had no choice. He ran a hand through his hair and stepped back into the room. Right as Buttons stumbled, giving Elmer an excuse to grab his arm as he helped steady him. He felt a sharp twinge of pain spread through his hand and up his arm, as Buttons tugged himself free of Elmer’s grasp, stumbling backward. “Let me go!” he croaked, tripping over his feet. Elmer held up his hands in defeat as Buttons turned to continue firing. He flexed his fingers, lining up the shot and-

Nothing.

Not a single thing happened. His arm dropped and Buttons stared at his hands in confusion. He flicked his fingers out. Nope. He twisted his hand in wide circles. Nada. He clicked his fingers frantically. Not even a spark. Buttons spun around to face Elmer, a panicked expression engraved on his features. “My powers…” he whispered, staring horrified at Elmer. “They’re not working!” Elmer swallowed thickly and nodded, wrapping his arms around himself. “I know,” he said quietly but firmly. “You were going to hurt yourself even more if you continued, so I took them away.” Buttons blinked slowly. “You what?”

“I had to, you left me no-”

“You. WHAT!?” Buttons’ look of panic morphed into one of fury.

“You left me no choice!” He threw his hands in the air “Can’t you see what you’re doing to yourself?” Buttons pushed himself up onto shaky legs, a sneer carving across his pale face.

“How dare you,” He snarled, sweat dripped down into his sunken eyes. “You have no right-”

“No right? No right!? What the fuck was I meant to do? Let you overwork and watch as you fry yourself to death?” Elmer gave an incredulous laugh. “Look at yourself! You can barely stand! Just please, please, take a break!”

“A break,” Buttons spat, words trembling as he spoke. Elmer couldn’t tell whether the wet beads rolling down his cheeks were sweat or tears. “Why on Earth do I deserve a break?”

“You are hurting yourself!” Elmer screamed.

“I hurt Romeo!” His voice broke off in a strangled cry of pain and anger, and Elmer’s expression softened as a silence filled the air. He took a tentative step forward, legs still twinging. “That wasn’t your fault, you know? You guys just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time…”

“Don’t!” Tears streamed down Buttons’ face, his chest heaving as he fought to keep his breathing under control. “Don’t give me that horseshit!” Elmer held his hands up soothingly and took another slow step forward. “Look,” he murmured, his eyes beginning to water too. “You can’t help Romeo if you’re a burnt-out husk on the floor.” Buttons opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Instead, he mustered the last of his strength and stepped forward. Staggering and stumbling over his own feet, he came crashing down to his knees. Elmer gave a small shout and rushed forward, trying to steady Buttons, or at least cushion his fall. Elmer wrapped his arms around Buttons’ waist and cradled him as Buttons buried his head in his hands, sobbing. “I-I’m sorry!” he hiccoughed as Elmer held him gently in his arms. “I’m so, so sorry!” Elmer ran his hand, still twitching with excess energy, through Buttons’ hair. He shushed him softly. “It’s okay, you’re okay.” Buttons pushed his head into Elmer’s shoulder, his tears dampening a small part of the shirt. “It’s my fault,” he whimpered. “It’s all my fault.” Elmer felt his own tears spill down his cheeks and he pressed a soft kiss to Buttons’ temple, holding one of his hands and smoothed a thumb over the back of his palm. “No, no,” Elmer whispered, shaking his head. “It’s not.” Buttons sniffled into his shoulder, not being able to find the strength to respond. Elmer wiped his tears away, as he began rocking side-to-side slowly, humming a slow tune that Buttons faintly recognized as he started to drift off. They stayed there for a few minutes, Elmer continuing to gently rock Buttons, whose eyelids began to droop. He stifled a yawn and nuzzled himself closer to Elmer’s warm body.

‘You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.’

The soft tune filled the air. Elmer traced patterns on Buttons’ back with his fingers, dragging them in circles and long swirling lines that spiralled up across his shoulders. Buttons’ breathing was starting to slow, a sporadic sob interrupting occasionally, but Elmer continued to sway and sing.

‘You make me happy, when skies are grey.’

He ran his hair through Buttons’ hair again as he felt the other boy relax against him, falling into a hopefully peaceful sleep.

‘You’ll never know dear, how much I love you.’

He continued cradling Buttons’ delicate form, still running his thumb over the outside of Buttons’ hand soothingly. The fizzing and sparking from the built-up energy had stopped now, and Elmer made sure Buttons was really sleeping before grabbing his wrist, feeling a warm energy flow from his chest, down his arm and out through his hand, restoring Buttons powers. He sniffled quietly and placed a gentle kiss to Buttons’ hairline.

“Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

(@cutesiewoojin)

[ill-try-to-write-maybe]

4450

ldkfjslkdgaslkg okay so I know I haven’t kept any of my promises for my writing yet, but look! a thing!

Words: 3836 Warnings: needle mention, character death, there might be a few swears?? also my garbage 3 am coffee-fuelled writings (please let me know if theres anything else)

“4450, 4450, are you clear?” Jojo grabbed the radio that had flickered to life and leaned in as his partner, Eliot, slid into the driver’s seat. “Yep, just cleared, both baby and mum are healthy, we’re leaving them with Alpha 437.” The radio crackled again. “Okay, we’ve just sent you case 7-0-9, calls from both civilians and police requesting ambulance service for a possible deceased male. His roommate found him unconscious and unresponsive, CPR has been administered, going on six minutes now.” “Alright, we’re on our way.” Eliot pulled out of the driveway as Jojo slung his seatbelt over his shoulder. Eliot glanced across to him. “How’re you holdin’ up?” Jojo slumped back in his chair and rubbed his hands over his face, stifling a yawn. “Good, good, just tired.” “Okay then.” Eliot reached up and flicked on the lights and sirens. “I have a feeling this is gonna be a rough ride.” Jojo hummed in agreement, resting his head against the cold window and shut his eyes, readying himself for their up coming patient. He took a deep breath in, and- “4450, 4450,” he cracked open an eyelid. “Just asking for an ETA on 7-0-9.”  Jojo reached forward. “This is 4450, ETA, three minutes. Do we have any other units arriving?” the radio fell silent for a few seconds before the voice on the other end answered. “8085, 7364, and specialist paramedics are heading to the scene, but so far I believe you are closest.” Eliot clicked his tongue. “Alright lovely, thank you.” Jojo cracked his knuckles and shook out his hands, making Eliot cringe behind the steering wheel. “Do you have to do that every time we get a new patient?” “It helps me warm up.” “Well, could you warm up without snapping your fingers in half?” Jojo rolled his eyes good-naturedly and rested his head against the glass. “No promises.” Back to gazing out the window again, watching the scenery flicker by was oddly calming. Jojo hated to admit it, but whenever they got a new call, he could feel his heart speed up as his imagination would run wild, conjuring the most gruesome and gory extremities of what they’d find. “Always best to prepare for the worst!”  he’d chuckle in a nervous singsongy voice, hoping no one would see the anxiety that lay behind those words. But, the steadily flowing landscape was a nice distraction from those thoughts. Currently, they were passing a small playground. Jojo squinted at it. “Huh.” He cocked his head as Eliot threw him a sideways glance. “What?” “No, no, it’s just… déjà vu, I think…” Eliot gave a slight nod, as Jojo went back to staring. ‘Please turn left.’ They rounded a corner, following the GPS, as a park flew past the windows, a small grey car swerved onto the side of the road to let them pass. Eliot held a hand up in thanks to the driver, while Jojo stared out at the swiftly moving grass of the park, and scrunched his face up even more. This all seemed so familiar. The playground, the park, that twisted old tree, even some of the people on the street. 'Continue straight for 500 meters.’ They passed a road sign. Jojo’s stomach dropped, he blinked several times and swallowed thickly. His imagination was going haywire again, it had to be. “Hey- uh, El?” “Yeah?” “What’s the- what’s the uh, patient’s current situation?” “Possibly deceased, CPR going on eleven minutes.” Jojo took a deep, shaky breath. “Alrighty.” 'Please turn right.’ They rounded a final corner, a set of apartment blocks loomed towards them. Very familiar looking apartment blocks. Oh. Oh god! He dug his nails into the sides of his seat, gritting his teeth together. He was spiraling, overthinking, but he had to keep it together. Come on, of all the people in the apartments, what were the odds? Fate wouldn’t be that cruel. It was okay, it was fine! He was fine! Everything was fine! He just had to relax, deep breath in, deep breath out… Deep breath in, deep breath out. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself to remain calm. Another breath. He bit his lip and forced his eyes open, just as Eliot pulled into a parking space, right next to Jojo’s own car. …shit. He felt the sweat on his palms seep into the car seat. 'You have arrived at your destination.’

The sound of Eliot’s door slamming shut thrust Jojo from his shock directly into panic. “Jo?” Eliot called, moving around to the passenger door, equipment slung over his shoulder. “You alright?” Jojo tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he unbuckled his seatbelt. “Yeah, ’m coming.” He opened the door and stepped onto the concrete with numb legs. He landed on the pavement, and like lightning, realization hit him. He was in the middle of a job. He had a patient. A patient who was dying, if not already dead. What was he doing?! It felt like he’d been hit with a sack of bricks. He could feel his heart beating again, his legs regained feeling and suddenly the lump in his throat became a lot smaller. Jojo snatched his own equipment from the back of the ambulance and turned on his heel, jogging to catch up with Eliot. Stay focused, alright? No matter what happens or who it is, stay focused, you’re here to save a life. He picked up the pace, finally reaching Eliot who’d made his way inside the building. “Where’s the patient?” “Outside apartment fifteen,” Eliot responded, eyes scanning the small brass numbers on the doors. Jojo took a breath. “Uh, up the first flight of stairs, I think.” He moved ahead of Eliot, steering him towards the staircase. With every step he took, Jojo could feel his heart beating louder and louder and his stomach dropping lower and lower. This is just another job. They reached the top of the stairs and already Jojo could hear concerned voices and slightly muffled sobs. The voices grew louder as Jojo and Eliot rounded a corner, Jojo sucked in a breath, sharp as glass, as the scene came into view. Turns out fate really is that cruel. A throng of people stood around a body that lay in the middle of the hall, Elmer and Buttons were leaning up against the wall, wrapped in each other’s arms, Elmer’s head pressed tightly into Button’s shoulder. Spot, Katherine, and Crutchie were huddled together looking at the body in utter fear, while Romeo clutched desperately at Katherine’s sleeve. Race sat against the wall, head in his hands, while Albert looked like he was about to throw up. And Jack had taken Les to the side, trying to calm him down while simultaneously blocking his view of the hallway. Finally, Jojo’s attention moved to the center of the crowd, where Skittery lay, pale and lifeless looking. Davey was hunched over him, phone pressed tightly to his ear as he administered CPR. Eliot broke into a jog. “Heya! Ambulance!” All heads turned to them, and Romeo burst into tears. Jojo rushed to join Eliot, who was now crouched next to the body while Davey was profusely thanking the person on the other end of the phone, as Jojo took over CPR. Eliot placed his fingers on Skittery’s neck. “Can’t find a pulse,” Jojo swore under his breath, and for the millionth time that day, felt the panic start to set in, cold as ice. But he couldn’t give in, not yet. He continued with compressions, counting along in his head. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. Jojo kept his eyes locked firmly on the ugly, stained carpet, a few paces ahead of him, hoping to god that if he wasn’t looking, it wasn’t happening. That if he ignored the body long enough, it would become the training dummy he’d spent years practicing on, and not his best friend, his boyfriend. He couldn’t look. Because he knew if he did, the looming wave of anxiety and fear would come crashing down, causing him to run the risk of… well, he didn’t want to think about that. He had to treat like every other patient. He couldn’t look. 1, 2, 3, 4. Focus on the counting. 1, 2, 3, 4. He was dimly aware of Eliot going through the standard questions. “What’s his name?” “Does he have any previous or existing health issues? Has he had any drugs or alcohol?” He was readying up an adrenaline shot, holding the needle up to the light, checking the measurement. Jojo could feel the worry pooling in his stomach again, as Eliot held Skittery’s arm down, administering the first shot. This would work, it had to. It would work, and Skittery would wake up, and everything would be okay. He bit his lip and blinked away the tears he could feel pricking the back of his eyes. 

After what felt like an eternity, but was closer to about five minutes, muffled footsteps sounded down the hallway, and Jojo looked up to see four other paramedics half-jogging towards them, chattering away quickly, and staring solemnly ahead. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! Back-up had arrived. Eliot began to fill the other paramedics in as they moved around the body. “How long has resuscitation gone on?” One of the paramedics, with an accent that Jojo couldn’t quite put his finger on, asked. Eliot checked his watch. “Fourteen minutes.” The paramedic nodded. “Time to break out the defib.” Eliot nodded, pulling out a pair of medical shears, and shifted around to remove Skittery’s shirt. Kind of a shame really, that was his favourite, it brought out his eyes. Jojo paused as Eliot snipped the last of the cloth away, and the other paramedics placed the pads on Skittery’s chest. “When was the last adrenaline shot?” One of them spoke up. “Two minutes ago.” She nodded. “Okay, tell me when a minute’s passed and I’ll give him another.” “Will do.” Eliot shot her a thumbs up. Jojo went back to compressions; now that other paramedics were here, he felt somewhat calmer. There was a small shout from behind them, as the specialist paramedic arrived, Jojo let out a sigh of relief, there was someone else to take charge now. He could deny it all he wanted, but he was absolutely drained, and seeing someone who was going to take the reins, seemed to only make him more tired. The specialist paramedic dropped to his knees. “Has he been shocked yet?” “No, we’re just about to give him a second adrenaline shot,” Eliot replied, looking up at the paramedic from earlier. “Minutes up.” The specialist placed a hand against Skittery’s neck. “No pulse, give him that second shot, then we’ll shock him.” Eliot held Skittery’s arm down as the needle was inserted into the crease if his elbow and the specialist paramedic moved around to Jojo’s side. “You doing okay there?” he asked. “I can take over compressions if you want, you look like you need a rest.” Jojo swallowed the lump in his throat that was starting to form again, and nodded wearily. The specialist counted down from three, then swiftly swapped places with him. Jojo stood up, letting out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, and shook out his arms, his legs felt like jelly and as he stood up, the hallway spun. He staggered his way over to one of the other paramedics, who was checking over Spot and Katherine, with a hand placed comfortingly on Katherine’s shoulder. Jojo shot him a nod as a greeting. “Need help with anything?” The paramedic glanced around, sizing up the room. “There are a few more people to check over, so far no one’s got anything major, they’re just distressed. Start with the two over there.” He nodded towards the wall where Race and Albert sat. Jojo pressed his lips together in a sharp line, biting back his worry, and made his way across the hall. He could hear the defibrillator charging as the other five paramedics surrounded Skittery. As he reached his friends, Jojo could clearly see tears in Race’s eyes, while Albert bounced nervously on his heels, he took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak when- “What’s happening?” Albert blurted. “No one’s giving me answers, but god, Jo, I need to know.” Jojo chewed on his lip, willing his voice not to quiver, as he prepared his most professional answer. He sucked in a deep breath. “At this stage, Skittery is in cardiac arrest. We’re not quite sure what’s caused it, possibly a seizure or an undiagnosed medical issue, but that’s the hospital’s job, we’re just here to stabilize him.” His words hung thickly in the air, and Race nodded slightly, trying to suppress the tears that were beginning to slide down his face. Jojo put a hand on his arm comfortingly. “Right now,” he spoke quietly, looking into Race’s eyes. “I need to make sure everyone else is safe.” Race sniffled and wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve. Jojo scanned over the both of them, looking for any obvious physical signs of shock. Both looked relatively fine, Race seemed a little more pale than usual, but that was to be expected, while Albert was still bouncing. “Do either of you feel sick, or like you’re gonna pass out?” Albert gave a soft 'no’, but Race scrunched his face up and made a so-so gesture. Jojo turned to him. “Okay, do you think you could sit down for a sec?” he nodded and slowly slid down the wall, bracing himself on Jojo’s arm, while he looked around for another paramedic. Not like that should’ve been hard, there were six others. Jojo glanced up and made eye contact with the lady with the cool accent, and nodded towards the blood pressure monitor, lying a few paces away. She spoke quickly to the man beside her and slid backward, away from Skittery. She grabbed the monitor and walked quickly towards Jojo. She passed it over and gave him a look of offered help, which Jojo turned down with a small flick of his hand and a smile. Race’s grip on his arm started to tighten and Jojo turned to him with furrowed brows. He was breathing heavier now, and beads of sweat had begun to form around his hairline. “You feelin’ dizzy?” Jojo quizzed, cocking his head to the side. “Y- yeah, a little.” He was starting to pant now and Jojo delicately moved Race’s arm to place the cuff on him, starting to coach him through breathing exercises. Jojo could hear that the defibrillator had now fully charged, and his nerves started to act up again. He closed his eyes and focused on breathing with Race. “Clear!” Jojo flinched as the sound of the shock rippled through the crowded hall, and he felt Race stiffen beside him. “It’s alright,” he coaxed. “He’s gonna be just fine.” Race gave a shaky nod and rubbed his hands nervously over his jeans. Jojo could hear the faint whining of the defibrillator charging again, and busied himself with checking Race’s blood pressure. “Okay, you’re gonna feel a slight squeeze..” he turned to watch the monitor as Albert grabbed Race’s free hand. Jojo squinted at the screen “one-forty-two over ninety-one.” He turned to face the pair. “It’s a little high, but I’m sure that when all this,” he paused, gesturing wildly around, “is over, you’ll be fine.” He delicately removed the cuff from Race’s arm. “I’m gonna stay and do some more breathing exercises with you for a few more minutes, and just make sure everything goes smoothly.” “Thanks.” Race mumbled, staring down into his lap. Jojo nodded. “Clear!” Another shock resonated through the hall, and Jojo silently bit his lip, focusing on breathing in sync with Race. “Pulse!” came a cry from across the hall. “We have a pulse!” Jojo let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. Race rested his head against the wall, looking up into the burning fluorescent lights, tears of relief falling rapidly down his cheeks. Jojo gave the tiniest smile and shook himself out. “See?” he gave Race a small nudge. “Told ya everything was gonna be okay.” He whispered, more to comfort himself than Race, who sniffled and wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve, shooting back a smile of his own. Jojo looked over to Albert who was wiping away tears of his own. “D'ya mind grabbing him a glass of water?” Jojo quizzed, nodding towards Race. “Yeah,” he rubbed his hands across his face. “I’ll be right back.” One of the other paramedics was removing the electrode pads while Eliot was gathering the equipment together. Jojo made eye contact with him and motioned to the rest of the mess. 'need any help?’ he mouthed. Eliot waved his hand dismissively. 'get back to your patient, I’m fine.’ Albert had returned with the water, that Race was gripping with unsteady hands. He rose the glass to his lips when- “Oi!” "Hey! Hey!” “Ah, shit!” without warning, commotion rose from across the hall. Jojo’s head snapped in the direction of the noise, and Race’s cup clattered to the floor as he sat bolt upright. Skittery was flat-lining. Jojo felt all the air leave his lungs. Just when everything seemed to be looking up, of course it just had to crash and burn. Of course. The icy claws of terror clutched at his heart, sending shards of frost through his veins, the scene in front of him swimming in and out of focus. Bile rose in his throat and Jojo fought to keep his dinner down. He could hear the electrocardiogram wailing in the background mixed with the muffled cries of Race who had buried his face in his hands. Jojo couldn’t take it a second longer and choked on a sob as his own tears spilled down his cheeks. Through watery eyes, he watched Eliot start on CPR again, as the defibrillator was brought back out. The paramedic who Jojo had been helping out was now supporting Romeo who looked as if he was about to lose consciousness, while shooting glances between Jojo and the group around Skittery. All previous breathing exercises flew out the window as Race began hyperventilating again. Jojo tried to swallow the lump in his throat and turned to him, and shakily croaked a few words to try and calm him down. “Skittery’s-s gonna be okay.” He hiccupped. Race just shook his head as Albert knelt down beside him. Jojo grabbed his hand as the whining ECG continued flat-lining, and the defibrillator charged once more. Albert rubbed his thumb comfortingly over the back of Race’s hand, silent tears rolling down his face. “Clear!” Jojo flinched. The charging resumed. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from Skittery’s face. “Clear!” He blinked away tears as Skittery seized again. More high-pitched whining. He sobbed while Race buried his face in Jojo’s shoulder. “Clear!” He couldn’t breathe, the walls felt like they were closing in on him, and Jojo dug his nails into his palm. He whimpered and screwed his eyes shut, trying to block all the horrible thoughts swirling around his head, tormenting him. The sharp, clawing sounds that rung in his ears, making his pulse pound like a drum through his head. Jojo gasped, struggling desperately for air, and oh god the room was spinning, and his vision was going dark, and Skittery was to make it, he had to make it, because that’s how it was supposed to go. People would be in danger, Jojo and Eliot would show up and work their magic, and their patient would get up like nothing was wrong…. But now.. it was quiet, the silence tearing Jojo out of his own head. Why was it quiet? It shouldn’t be quiet! There was no more charging hums, no more “Clears!”, no more vital sign checks, just the choked, twisted sobs of his friends, and the incessant cry of the flat-lining heart monitor. He looked up, scanning the room frantically. Eliot was wrapping up the ECG again, meeting Jojo’s eyes, he shook his head softly. Elmer lifted his head, glancing over to Skittery, and yelped as if he’d been punched in the face, before squishing his face back into Buttons’ shoulder. “No.” Jojo whispered. “No, no, no, no, no!” he shook his head and fell to his knees. Race was scream-sobbing into Albert’s chest, who was slowly rocking him side to side, biting his lip, trying to hold back a flurry of tears. But despite the cries of anguish, the only thing Jojo could hear was a sharp buzzing that rung in his ears. No! This wasn’t how it was supposed to go! Skittery had to pull through. He-he had to! Cause Jojo didn’t know what he’d do without him! How could he keep going about his day-to-day life? How could he come home from a long shift, and walk through his door to silence? To an empty house? An empty bed? He couldn’t! So Skittery had to be okay, this was just some wild nightmare he was about to wake up from, wrapped in Skittery’s arms, and he was going to be okay. Jojo took a deep, slow breath, and closed his eyes. 3…2…1… open. He was still there. His heart plummeted. Why was he still here? He shut his eyes tight again, 3…2…1… open! Jojo swore under his breath, his heart racing now. He was still kneeling on the stained carpeted floor of the hallway, Skittery’s pale body lying deathly still, just ahead of him. He opened his mouth to cry out, but he couldn’t make a sound. it felt like he was suffocating, stuck to the small, sticky, square of matted rug, unable to move or breathe. Jojo clawed at the ground desperately trying to pull himself from the nightmare in front of him. Skittery’s face was tilted up towards the ceiling, glazed over eyes rolled back in his head. Jojo took a deep breath, gathering all his strength, and hauled himself to his feet. Dragging one foot in front of the other, he staggered his way over to his boyfriend. Grabbing Skittery’s hand, Jojo fell to his knees. “No.. c'mon, please!” His shaking hand still fit perfectly in Skittery’s cold one. He ran his other hand through Skittery’s hair, pressing a kiss to his forehead, hot tears splattering onto his cheeks. “…Please.” By now, the ECG had been packed away as well. The deafening silence rang through the hallway, only broken by the quiet shuffling of his colleagues packing up, or the intermittent sobs of his friends. Jojo clutched at Skittery’s hand desperately. He was faintly aware of the Specialist Paramedic flicking his wrist over. “…please..” his eyes were blurred with tears, and he brushed his hand through Skittery’s hair again. He heard the Specialist suck in a breath, as Jojo pressed one more kiss to Skittery’s head. “Time of death, two forty-three am.”

— @orollyitsracetrackhiggins @all-the-lovely-newsies (thanks for helping me pick the ship, and sorry for not giving you your happy ending :p) probably doesn’t live up to the expectation, but :ppp

[ill-try-to-write-maybe]

Okay screw consistency I'll get around to shit eventually :p

Anyway, due to unforeseen circumstances (ie. Me having a sudden burst of the dumb), i cant even try to keep up BUT i will continue to work my way through the holiday things :)

[ill-try-to-write-maybe]

Kekwkskrmtrk okay!! So!! I'm finally on holidays, which means I have free time to start writing! So im gonna try and compensate for the the 7 days I've missed so far :p i know i keep saying "I'll try to keep up!" But im like 87% sure i can actually do it this time :)

[ill-try-to-write-maybe]

Lights

Hello hello!! Im back and almost 4 days late! I know i literally just promised to try and keep on top of things but that flew out the window almost immediately :p i will try and do better though, anyway, enjoy! :)

Words: 554, surprisingly short

Warning: theres a swear word, and that's pretty much it

“It’s just a big tree, I don’t get what the big deal is.” Jack stumbled over his own feet as he let himself be dragged through the busy street. A sea of people moved around him and he found himself caught up in the swell of it. “It’s a big tree with very pretty lights.” Crutchie corrected as he tugged on Jack’s wrist, leading him through the crowd. “Now come on, we need to find the perfect spot.” The wall of people was starting to compress now, forming a barrier of bodies that Jack was dreading wading through. He took a deep breath as Crutchie charged into the throng, still dragging Jack behind him. He jumped out of people’s paths, ducked stray flailing arms, and dodged stumbling strangers, by the time Crutchie slowed down and let go of Jack’s wrist to gaze at the stupidly big, currently unlit tree, Jack was very slightly annoyed and very slightly ready to go home. He stared at the floor, lost in his own thoughts, only to be pulled back to reality by a tug on his sleeve. He looked up to see Crutchie slide his hand down from Jack’s sleeve to his hand. He was counting down with the rest of the crowd, which Jack had totally realised already started, and turned to give him a wide grin. “Three!” Jack smiled back. “Two!” Crutchie squeezed his hand and Jack felt his heart melt, he couldn’t take his eyes off of his gorgeous boyfriend. “One!” An explosion of light swept over them and a cheer went up. "Ah, fuck!” Jack squeezed his eyes shut tight, and brought his hands up to shield himself from the sudden burst of light. He blinked several times, slowly regaining his vision, and was just able to make out the hazy image of Crutchie standing next to him. Jack rubbed his eyes and the world came back into focus. He glanced up at the tree that had nearly blinded him, and was surprised to find that it was indeed, quite beautiful, but nowhere near as beautiful as what he was about to see next. Jack turned to look at his boyfriend and he felt his soul leave his body. Crutchie’s face was illuminated by the millions of lights shining down from the tree in front of them, the soft light reflected off of his lips that were curled into a sweet smile, and golden hair that shone with a brilliant radiance. Crutchie looked up and met Jack’s eye. “They’re really pretty aren’t they?” Jack pulled Crutchie into his arms. “Not as pretty as you.” Crutchie snorted and rested his head against Jack’s shoulder, intertwining their fingers. “That was so cheesy.” Jack placed a light kiss on his forehead.

“I know. The lights are very nice, though.”

“See? I told you you’d enjoy them.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jack rolled his eyes affectionately, and they stood there wrapped, in each other’s arms as music played over the loudspeakers. Crutchie gazed at the tree, but Jack could only look into his eyes which seemed to glow just as bright, he could see every speck of wonder reflected in those eyes, every drop of joy, and every ounce of love. He smiled to himself. Maybe coming to see this stupid tree wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

[ill-try-to-write-maybe]

Tinsel

I'm back again! And still late as ever :) exams are kicking me and i have no time management skills. BUT!! I promise i will try and keep up with these :) it's 800ish words and Ralbert. Enjoy :) @suddenly-im-respecsable (idk if you wanna be tagged in these or not so please let me know)

“Okay, see, now you’ve just made a mess.” Albert knew Race had planned on decorating while he was out, but he certainly wasn’t expecting this. Race tugged on his hoodie strings defiantly and peered up at his boyfriend. “No, what I’ve made is art.” He clarified, carefully unfolding the paper snowflake and holding it up for him to see. “See? Art.”

“I see a piece of paper with slightly rounded edged and,” he paused. “twelve holes in it.” Race narrowed his eyes and clutched the snowflake back to his chest. “You just don’t appreciate art or my hard work.” He stood up, brushing scraps of paper from his lap that floated delicately down to the floor, joining the other pieces that formed piles at his feet. He twisted a piece of blue tack off a large blob on the coffee table next to him, and stuck it on the back of the snowflake. Albert looked at the walls that were covered with about eighty other snowflakes. “Was this the only thing you did while I was out?”

“No.” Race stood facing the wall, scanning it, trying to find the best spot to place his newest creation. “I’ve also put some lights up, tinsel too.” Albert blinked.

“Really? That’s what you call ‘putting up’?” He looked at the strings of lights that had been haphazardly stuck halfway up the walls with the snowflakes, and the piles that had been casually draped over the sides of the couch tables and the TV cabinet. “I thought you’d tried to put some up, then gave up halfway through and threw them around the room. And don’t even get me started on the tinsel” He glanced at the silver tendrils that had lay in sad heaps at the bottom of the table legs, then leaned forward and grabbed the piece that dangled over the back of the couch, twisting it between his hands. Race, who had finally found the perfect spot, pressed the snowflake to the wall and turned around and snatched the tinsel from Albert’s hands, placing it around his neck, and brought his hand up dramatically over his heart. “Why do you hate my decorations?” Albert scrunched his face up.

“I don’t hate them, actually I’m kind of impressed with the amount of snowflakes that you made, but they just need to be moved around a little bit. Seriously, I was only gone for an hour and a half, how did you get so many snowflakes done?” Race shrugged.

“Talent.” Albert smiled.

“You are very talented.” Race curtsied.

“Why thank you.”

“But can I pretty please fix up the lights and tinsel? It’s starting to annoy me now.” Race sighed and nodded reluctantly. “Okay. But snowflakes are off limits!”

“Deal!” Albert walked over to the dining table and grabbed a chair and placed it against the wall. He grabbed one end of the lights and stood up on the chair, moving them up to the top of the wall. Race had taken another chair and was working on the lights on the other side, copying Albert’s movements, and soon enough the lights were hung perfectly. While Race worked on the ones on the cabinet, Albert swiped up the stacks of tinsel. “This stuff has to go.” Race turned to him in shock. “What? Why!? It’s so pretty and shiny!”

“It’s also messy and tacky.” Race dropped the bundle of lights on the TV cabinet.

“Tacky?! How dare you!” Albert rolled his eyes.

“It’s shiny plastic that falls apart at the drop of a hat and is a pain in the ass to clean up, what’s there to like?” Race moved towards him and gestured to the tinsel still hanging around his neck.

“Uh, it makes for a gorgeous scarf?” he tossed a loose end over his shoulder with a flourish.

“At least six pieces just fell from that,” he pointed to the floor. “it’s messy.” Race looked down and slowly moved his foot over the shredded plastic littering the floor. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Albert looked away, trying, and failing, not to smile.

“Well, a scarf isn’t good enough I’m afraid, it’s still gotta go.”

“No, no, no, no, no wait! I’ll think of something! Gimme a second.”

“Alright.” Albert shrugged and picked up the last roll of lights and got to work on untangling them.  They stayed in silence for a while, it was only when Albert was halfway through unravelling the lights that anyone spoke. “I’ve got a reason.” Before Albert could realise what was going on, the tinsel from around Race’s neck was thrown over his head and secured around his waist. “Wh-” There was a tug on the tinsel and Albert stumbled forward as Race pulled him into a soft kiss.  They broke apart and Race gave a sweet smile, while Albert blinked himself back to reality. “… Yeah, we can keep the tinsel.”

[ill-try-to-write-maybe]

Hot Chocolate

(I know, creative right?) Jdjdjdjskdf okay im back, ive decided that im gonna try and be consistent with these. So this is Dec. 2nd's one (also written at 2 am cause i have no time management skills, and is also late) and is just as bad as the first. Also the spacing/paragraphing got a little messed up again. Enjoy :p

Winter had always been Davey’s favourite time of year. For him, nothing could beat curling up by the fireplace, cocooned in blankets, and a hot chocolate in hand. But this winter was gonna be better than any other winter he’d had, because this year, he was spending it with his boyfriend, Jack Kelly. And there they were now, bundled up together on the couch, TV playing in the background while Jack played with his hair. They stayed like that for some time, just enjoying each other’s company, drinking in the moment. Speaking of drinking, Davey had been dying for one of the classic winter drinks, hot chocolate. He stretched his legs out, yawning as he did so, and brought their intertwined hands up so he could place a kiss on the back of Jack’s knuckles. “I was thinking of making a hot chocolate, you want one?” Jack sat up, moving his head from Davey’s shoulder.

“Oh, I can make one for the both of us.”

“You sure? I don’t mind doing it, really.”

“No, I got this don’t worry.” He squeezed Davey’s hand “I’ll only be a minute.” Davey nodded.

“Call me if you need anything.” Jack stood up, tucking the blanket they were sharing tightly around Davey, and moved towards the kitchen. “Will do.”

Okay, okay, this is fine. It’s fine! Everything’s fine, don’t panic. The second Jack reached the kitchen, he let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. Why? What made him volunteer to do this? Davey already offered to make it himself, why couldn’t he have just accepted the offer? He took a deep breath to calm himself. He’d be fine. He could do this, hot chocolate couldn’t be too hard to make, right? He shook out his hands, okay, first things first, he needed a mug. He knew where those were. He walked over to one of the top cupboards and pulled out two mugs. Cool, this is good, that’s one thing he could check off his list. Next thing, cocoa powder, that’ll be in the pantry probably. Jack flung open the doors to the pantry, maybe a little too aggressively, and scanned the shelves for it. Nothing. He looked again, still nothing. That wasn’t good. He closed his eyes for a second then opened them and looked one more time, looking slowly and carefully. Oh. There it was. Staring him in the face the entire time. Okay cool, crisis averted. He gave himself a silent fist pump for his success. Yeah, he could totally do this.

Davey stared at the drink that Jack had placed down in front of him. At least it was vaguely hot chocolatey looking. He was aware of Jack watching him keenly, and he smiled up at him. “Thanks, babe! Everything go okay?” Jack nodded and grinned back, twisting the handle of his own mug between his fingers. “It was fine.” Davey picked up his own mug, it was only mildly warm. He raised it to his lips and took a drink. Wow. That wasn’t what he’d been expecting. The cocoa hadn’t properly dissolved and small clumps of it floated around the lukewarm milk like tiny powdery icebergs. Davey definitely hadn’t expected it to be salty, but there was no denying it. Jack twisted the mug handle faster. “How is it?” He sounded apprehensive. Davey took a second to think about it. “It’s alright,” he spoke slowly. “Definitely not the worst I’ve ever had.”

“Really? That was- that’s actually a lot better than what I thought.” Jack smiled and took a sip of his own drink. Only to immediately spit it back out, coughing and sputtering. Davey stood up, concerned. “You okay?” he asked as Jack continued to cough.

“No!” he gasped. “I just poisoned the both of us!” Davey chuckled. “How did you even manage to keep that down!?” Jack pressed.

“Really, it wasn’t that bad!”

“Wasn’t that bad!?”

“Well, it was pretty bad, was this your first time making hot chocolate?” Jack rolled his eyes god naturedly. “Is it really that obvious?”

“You could’ve asked me to help.” Jack shrugged.

“I didn’t want to bother you.” Davey shook his head.

“How about I teach you how to actually make hot chocolate? It’ll help us wash this taste out of mouths.”

“I’d love that.” Davey smiled and grabbed his cup, leading Jack back into the kitchen.

Jack stood over the kitchen sink, mugs held out in front of him. “Goodbye, worst hot chocolate on Earth.” He tipped the cups dramatically down the sink. “I won’t miss you.” He whispered as the contents swirled down the drain. Davey boiled water as he watched his boyfriend, smiling at his antics. Jack walked over, drying off the empty mugs. “So, how do we do this?” Davey clapped his hands together. “Alright! So we start by boiling some water and putting some cocoa powder in our mugs.” Jack nodded.

“Okay. Boil water, cocoa in mugs. Go it.” He turned to the mugs, and picked up the cocoa, putting a spoonful in each mug. “Great!” Davey smiled. “Now we put a teaspoon of sugar in.” Jack sighed.

“I’m assuming that’s next to the salt?” Davey smirked.

“How could you have possibly guessed?” Jack stuck his tongue out at him as he placed the sugar into the mugs. “They’re pretty much the same thing!” He said defensively.

“Sure they are.”

“They are!”

“Of course.” Davey grinned and Jack rolled his eyes.

“What’s the next step?”

“Pour the water into the mugs and stir them ‘til everything has dissolved.” As Jack began to pour the water, Davey turned to the fridge and grabbed the milk. He filled up the first mug as Jack turned to the second one. After both the mugs were full of proper hot chocolate, they were placed into the microwave and Davey grabbed a packet out of the pantry. “And the last step,” he said dangling the bag in front of Jack. “is to add marshmallows.” Jack grinned and pulled Davey into a hug.

“Thanks for this.” He murmured. “It’s really nice.” Davey buried his head in Jack’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it.” He pressed a kiss to his shoulder. The microwave beeped, Jack untangled himself from Davey and grabbed the hot chocolate, holding them out to Davey who sprinkled a few marshmallows into the cup.

They brought their hot chocolate into the living room where they curled back up together, sipping quietly. “How does it taste this time?” Jack asked after a while. Davey smiled.

“I think this the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had.” He rested his head on Jack’s shoulder. Jack beamed. “Well the real credit goes to you, thanks again for teaching me.”

“My pleasure.” He placed a small kiss on the underside of Jack’s jaw, and they sat there together for a while in a comfortable silence, just enjoying being together. Yeah, this was definitely the best winter Davey had had.

[ill-try-to-write-maybe]

November

Hi! This is the first piece of writing I've shared cause i wanted to participate in the writing thing created by @suddenly-im-respecsable i know this is like almost 2 days late so sorry about that. Also sorry for any spelling and grammar mistakes and the spacing/paragraphing that's kinda messed up :p

The sky was stormy grey with air that was crisp and cold and blew in large blustery gales that chilled to the bone. Jack Kelly pushed himself against the large glass door that stood between him and warmth, he was cursing himself for not bringing a thicker jumper, not that he’d ever admit he was cold, but god, it was cold. The door cracked open and he practically tumbled into the foyer, sighing in relief as the wall of warm air hit him. Making sure the door was closed properly behind him, he began the climb up the stairs, warming his hands inside his sleeves. As Jack approached his apartment door, he fumbled for the key, fingers still frozen solid. His evasive key stayed buried the bottom of his pocket, slowly annoying him, his patience already worn thin by the cold (it wasn’t even December yet!), but then he heard it. A sound that he had been dreading the whole day. Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’.  Jack sighed, pulling his hand from his pocket and instead pinched the bridge of his nose. Race was home. Opting not to dig through his endless pockets again, he pounded on the door and waited for his roommate to answer, bracing himself for what was to come. Don’t get him wrong, Jack was all for a little holiday cheer, and loved to listen to the carollers down on the streets below, but after listening to Race sing along to the same song for almost a week now, the opening notes sent pure terror into his soul. Race opened the door and the music got louder. Jack had to resist the urge to block his ears. It had started with Race singing quietly a week ago, and even Jack joined in, but that slowly built up to singing louder and louder, then eventually adding the backing track and ruining the song for Jack permanently. Race stood there, singing into a half empty pack of oreos “I won’t even wish for snow! And I-"

“No. No! Not again!” Jack pushed the door open wider and barged past Race desperate to get to his room and try to drown the noise out with headphones and literally any other song. As he speed walked past the lounge room he caught sight of another person, he backed up and saw Albert sitting rigid in the couch staring blankly at the wall across from him. “Four... Four… and a half hours.” Albert’s gaze was unwavering, “He has been playing this on loop… for four and a half hours.” Jack nodded sympathetically.

“I know, I know. There’s nothing we can do but wait for him to get bored.” Albert turned to him.

“But it’s the middle of November…” he whispered.

“I know… I’ve tried to get him to stop for the last week, but nothing works.” Jack sighed, “He can’t keep this up for too much longer.” As if on cue, the music got louder. Albert whimpered. Jack took that as his cue to leave.

It was now 6:42 pm, three and a bit hours since Jack had gotten home, and the music hadn’t stopped. Jack was surprised they hadn’t been kicked out of the apartment by now. Albert left shortly after the fifth hour and Jack wished he could do the same. He even ordered a pizza for himself just to get away from the music for a few minutes. What would it take to make Race stop? Jack was willing to do anything at this point. As he was considering maybe selling soul to make the music end, there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it!” he hollered, already sprinting out of his bedroom door. He bolted down the hallway and skid to a stop at the door. He flung it open and there stood Elmer, wide eyed and with the same hazy look Jack and now Albert had. “Please.” Elmer said. “Please change it.”

“I’ve been trying-“

“It needs to stop. That song has been playing for the last week-“

“I know! I’m living in the same apartment as him! At least you’re down the hall!”

“That doesn’t make it any better! It has wormed its way into my head. I can’t go anywhere without hearing it! It’s bad enough that I hear it almost all day, but when I try to sleep and all I can hear is that damn song, I need it to end! It’s November!”

“I know what month it is!” the door was pulled open wider and Race stuck his head around the side of it.

“Oh hey Elmer! What can we do for ya?” he smiled. Elmer turned to him eyes wide and pleading.

“The music. Please, I can’t take it anymore. I can’t hear myself think, I can’t sleep, I can’t go anywhere without hearing it in my head.”

“Oh!” Race smiled. “Not a problem, why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Jack narrowed his eyes.

“Wh-"

“Thank you! Thank you so much!” Elmer gave a tired smile and walked off down the hall.

“Have a good night bud!” Race called after him before closing the door. Jack stood there in shock. That’s all it took? Really!? “What’s the matter Jacky-boy? You frozen to the spot or something?” Jack blinked. “Are you still hungry?” Race pressed, “I can cook you up something if you really want. Actually, you look a little pale, are you feeling sick?” Jack shook himself out of his stupor.

“No… I’m just gonna head to bed, maybe listen to some music. See ya in the morning.” Race shrugged. “Alright, good night.” Jack turned and made his way back to his room both annoyed that that was all it took for Race to stop, and thankful that it was finally over. He lay in bed listening to some calming music and trying to get some sleep, but he couldn’t. There was a voice in the back of his head that started to pester him. He screwed his eyes up. No. he thought. Please not another one. But ten minutes had passed and the voice wouldn’t leave him alone, so against his better judgement, he rolled over and changed the song. ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’. He lay back and closed his eyes and felt his body relax as the song filled the quiet room. About halfway through the song, there was a knock on Jack’s door and Race cracked it open. “Hey, I brought you some water.” Jack sat up as Race walked over and took the glass from his hands. “Thanks.” Race shrugged.

“You looked like you’d seen a ghost, can’t have you getting sick on me.” Jack put the glass on the nightstand. “I’m feeling a little better now, Thanks Race.”

“Don’t worry about it. G’night” He walked over to the door. Then turned back and cocked his head. “Really Jack?” he asked. “Christmas songs? It’s only November.” He smiled and closed the door as the pillow Jack threw at his head bounced harmlessly off the doorframe.