Be Somewhere

”What do you mean he left?” Danny wasn't sure quite how to answer the question. After Ricky had shown up covered in blood, Danny had tried to calm him down. The only words he had been able to pry from his friends confused mind were: 'she's dead'. This had only served the purpose of putting Danny's mind into a whirl so that neither one of them had any idea what they were talking about.

“I mean he left. He was ranting like a lunatic, and then he booked it out the door,” Danny replied into the receiver calmly. He could hear Brad cursing over the phone and a crash as a chair was kicked across the room. Somewhere down the street kids were playing and laughing. A sigh escaped his lips as he wished for those old days, before they all lost their minds.

He agreed to meet Brad at the park so that they could start searching for their friend. On days where he was like this, it was dangerous to let him wander around alone. Danny stepped out of his house and glanced down the street to see kids playing a sad version of soccer. The goalie continuously let the ball roll past him and the other kids either giggled or screamed in frustration.

The walk to the park took a short fifteen minutes, but Brad was still in near-hysterics by the time he got there. A breeze blew in the trees and the scent of wet earth was being blown about with it. It would more than likely rain again if the weather held. Brad's ranting brought Danny back from his thoughts.

“Maybe we should call Lily and them? With more people we have a better chance of finding him and getting him to calm down,” Brad muttered more to himself than Danny. Drops began to hit the pavement and they sighed. “We better find him quickly before he does some serious damage.”

“To himself or others?”

“Does it matter?” Brad replied with another sigh escaping through his lips. He started to pace and Danny couldn't think of anything to say to comfort him. Neither of them had any idea where they would go to find their friend. While trying to decide a location to head to they called Lily and told her to meet them where they were in fifteen minutes.

Tears started to make their way down Brad's cheeks and he hiccuped. A few moments passed where Danny just stared at him; unsure of what to do. Finally a thought occurred to him and he walked over and grabbed the boys hand. There were a couple of seconds where he didn't dare breathe. Brad glanced first at the hand, and then up at Danny; as if he were unable to make the connection between the two.

“You're holding my hand?” The statement came out as more of a question and Danny simply nodded in response. Another scrutinous look was given to the clasped hands before Brad once again raised his eyes to meet Danny's. “Why?”

“You seemed sad. I thought it was the right thing to do to make you happy,” Danny replied without conviction. For a short while neither of them spoke, but Brad found his voice before long. He removed his hand from Danny's and glared at him while speaking.

“If it's for pity, then don't waste your time. I only want you holding my hand if you actually like me.”

“I do, it's just...” Danny looked up at Brad with pleading eyes, but Brad wasn't having any of it. He wanted a full answer and wasn't willing to hand out mercy or forgiveness before he was given one. “Why the fuck does it matter anyway? And do you really think this is the time for this? You're being so immature!”

“I'm immature? At least I can admit I like you! Not to mention have an important conversation without resorting to having a temper tantrum! When will be the time for this conversation, then? Because according to you, it never is!”

“God, you're as emotional as a girl!”

The argument escalated quickly and by the time Lily arrived Brad was screaming and crying. She held Tucker and Morgan back. The trio looked between the screeching pair with their eyebrows raised. Finally, Lily decided that she had had enough of the bickering and spoke up.

“What the hell happened to the new couple?”

“Fuck you,” Brad spat. Lily was taken aback and started in on a lecture about how they wouldn't ever have gotten together if it hadn't been for her. “If you haven't noticed, we aren't exactly together. God, you're a dumb bitch!”

“And you're a dumb fag!” She replied with malice. Silence fell around them and she turned away from him with a smirk on her face, only to notice the murderous intent on Danny's face. It was unclear to her whether or not she was being glared at, or if Brad was the object of anger at the moment.

“You will never talk to him like that, again! Do you understand me?” Danny screamed at her. A few cautious steps back were taken and she bumped into Tucker. All three of the filmmakers nodded vehemently. The angered teen stepped over to Brad and wrapped him in hug. “Are you okay?” Brad nodded and smiled at him.

“Are you two bipolar possibly?” Tucker asked carefully. A couple snickers were tossed to him from his friends and he received a couple of glares from the two he wasn't quite as close with. “Now back to the original topic: what the hell is going on with Ricky?”

“How do you know this has anything to do with Ricky?” Brad asked with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

“He was down at the police station with who I assume were his parents. Something about his sister? And even if I hadn't, he always seems to be in trouble.” Tucker started to speak more slowly as the colour drained from Danny and Brad's face as a realization dawned on them. “What's going on, guys?”

“Oh shit,” Danny whispered. “No wonder he was so fucked up. If he meant Aggie died when he said 'she died' then we better get to him quick. You said he was the police station?” They started to walk towards the downtown area with Tucker still asking dozens of questions regarding the situation. When they arrived they saw Ricky sitting on the curb smoking something with a bottle in his hand.

“Something tells me that thats not a cigarette,” Tucker mumbled to the four people around him. They simply nodded in agreement before approaching the huddled form. He was humming something and they couldn't quite understand what the tune was.

They shook his shoulder and he raised his glazed eyes. Danny gasped and the others simply averted their eyes. Not a single spark of life resided in his eyes which had now dulled to a black instead of their usual emerald. If it wasn't for the steady rise and fall of his chest, they would have thought him dead.

“Are you okay, buddy?” Danny asked him softly. Ricky just smiled up at him before taking another swig from his bottle. “I think you should stand up and get away from this corner. We need to sober you up and then we'll talk, okay?” He shook his head and laid down on the sidewalk. Danny groaned and tried to lift him, but his attempts were swatted away by Ricky's hands. It wasn't long before he had passed out and Danny just sighed for the umpteenth time that day.

“What's going on?” Tucker asked.

“It was his little sister who died,” Brad replied quietly “She was his only reason to... to do anything, really. And she kind of just... isn't there to save him anymore. We're going to have our hands full with him for the next little while, I can promise you that much.” They all took one more glance at the sleeping boy before helping to lift him and bring him to the park so that when he awoke they could talk privately.