Shenanigans

Jimmy's POV
This feeling... The power, the mobility...
I stood on the dock by the bay, staring down at my hand - my hand, in flesh, opening and closing as my mind told it to.
Oh, it's been so long.
They thought they were rid of me, they thought I was gone. But no – oh, no – I'm back and meaner than ever.
I turned on my heel and walked quickly towards the city with an extra spring in my step. I was
enjoying being back in this body, able to move about freely without my dear friend, the Jesus of Suburbia, to control my mind.
I stopped abruptly at the edge of town, and looked up at the night sky splattered with white stars.
I outstretched my arms, took in a deep breath, and let it out with a smile plastered to my face. I let out a soft laugh of joy.
"I'm back." I whispered. "I'm fucking back!"

Mike's POV
I started fucking running as soon as my feet hit the ground. I ran and ran through the cold February night air. My battered Converse hitting the pavement and my heavy breathing were the only sounds I heard as I ran. Where I was going I hadn't been since... Since the first time I had taken Farore there. I slowed when I reached the park. It was dark out, and any sane person would be paranoid as hell, but I just walked slowly to the center of the park, then the trees. I took a deep breath and made my way through to the other side – to the serene stream flowing quietly into the lake. I stopped short when I saw something I wasn't expecting. She sat at the water's edge, tossing small stones into the water. Her reflection in the water showed a face full of immense sorrow, only to be broken by the ripples. It pained me to see her like this.
I knew I had to talk to her.
"Rory?" I said quietly, approaching her with caution. She gasped and jumped out of fright, then turned around to see me.
"Oh. It's just you." She sounded disappointed, upset. She turned around and grabbed another stone, throwing it into the water.
I knelt down beside her, and tried to look her in the face.
"Is this seat taken?"
"No."
I sat down besides her and took to throwing my own little rocks. After sitting in silence for a
moment, I took a deep breath and opted to speak.
"Rory, I... I'm sorry." I shook my head and looked down at my feet.
"Sorry? What for?"
"For everything I ever did that hurt you, for ever making you feel that I wasn't here for you..." I
began. She stayed silent and just stared into the water. "I'm sorry for ever making you think for just one fucking second that I didn't care for you, because I do care for you, Rory."
"I know." She said quietly, and I knew she meant it.
"Look... I... I made a mistake."
"People make mistakes, Mike. They happen every day. We just have to live with them. A little
disappointment is always healthy." Now that, that I wasn't sure if she really meant it.
"Rory, I-"
"Save it, Mike."
"I don't want to fight with you again. I think we really need to sort this out."
"We do, we really do. I don't think what's happening is supposed to be happening. Like... Nothing feels right anymore. We were best friends, Mike. We hung out every day; we talked on the phone every night for hours! How could something as strong as that be snuffed out just like that," she snapped her fingers, "in a matter of one week?"
"I have no idea. Things just got out of hand."
"You're telling me." She shook her head and chuckled. "Hey," she turned towards me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You showed me somewhere important to you, I think it's time I showed you something as well."
"What is it?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.
"My home."

Billie Joe's POV
"Because you're a fucktard, that's why." Tre spat, sounding angry as ever.
"Tre-" I began.
"Stuff it, Beej. Happy fucking birthday. I hope it was worth it in the end." Tre opened the door,
stomped out, and slammed it shut as hard as he could to emphasize his anger.
I shook my head, unable to grasp what just happened. My eyes averted over to Jason White, the only one still there besides Rory's other two friends, but he just shook his head. Haushinka placed her hand on my shoulder.
"It's okay, Billie." She whispered. I pushed her hand off of me and turned to her.
"Shut up, Haushinka. You don't know me. You don't know what's been going on lately. It's not okay, nothing will ever be okay." And with that, I stormed off down the hall to my room.
It was then that I remembered Rory was in there, so I knocked softly. When there was no answer, I opened the door. My room was empty, and the window was open. I walked up to the window and looked out at my backyard. Nothing. I shrugged and sat down onto my bed and stared up at the ceiling.
'Way to go, Billie, you fucked up again, it's all your fault,' I thought, running a hand through my
hair.
Everything was going terribly wrong, and I felt it was still only the beginning.
***
Jason White's POV
Walking home from Billie Joe's house gave me time to think about things. Adrienne took the car we had come in, so I had no other way home, either. Adrienne and I were together now, and I was glad about it. I really like her. She loves Billie still, I can tell. It was so obvious in her face when Billie and Haushinka came back into the room how jealous she was. I could tell she wished it was her back in the kitchen with him, not this random girl from England that Rory knew half a year ago.
It wasn't fair, it just wasn't fair. The one relationship that went well for me and it's going down
the drains.
I sighed heavily and shoved my hands in my pockets.
But, I might as well make the best of what I've got before it's too late.

Mike's POV
"So... Here we are." Farore stated flatly.
We stood before her front door. She was fumbling nervously with her keys.
"Don't worry." I said quietly, placing my hand on hers, the one with the keys in them, in attempt to ease her worry, though I left it there without noticing. She looked down at our hands, and I pulled away quickly, blushing, and looked away.
"Well... Uh... L-let's go in, then." She stammered, shoving her key into the keyhole, almost missing it, and slowly opening her door in an almost dramatic fashion. When I stepped through the front door, my eyes were initially drawn to a mirror on an otherwise bare, white wall on my left. On the right was a few feet of wall that led to a large arch entering what
must've been the living room. Further down on the left was a doorway to what was probably the kitchen, and a few feet from that was an opening to another room and a stairway. Photos lined the wall to the right. She led me into the kitchen, which was generally large with a round white table in the center with four chairs around it. She grabbed something from the fridge.
"I'm thirsty." Rory stated, as if to make up for what she was doing. "Want one?" She held up a can of Coke. I nodded, and she tossed it to me. Then she hurriedly led me to the stairs and I followed her up them. When we reached the top, there was a wall with four doors; one was open to reveal a bathroom. She grabbed me by the wrist and brought me to the door to the furthest left. It was a wooden door with caution tape taped on it and a dry erase board nailed to it, the half-erased words reading, 'Rory's Room. Enter and Perish.'
She opened the door and I stepped in.
"Well, here's my room." She said quietly, walking over to her bed and sitting upon it.
"Okay..." Was all I said. Her room was fairly large, as if it were the master bedroom. There were two large windows on the far side of the room with black curtains. The walls were painted a shade of purple and had posters and signs and stickers of bands and random newspaper and magazine clippings taped all around her room. On the far wall, there was the full-sized bed with a black comforter and dark purple pillows that Rory sat on. Sitting on the bed was a black and white electric guitar covered in stickers plugged into an amp which sat on the floor besides the bed. There was an open notebook on the bed as well, and a few picks. There was an oak dresser on the wall to the right with a large mirror lined with photographs and covered in clothes. A closet was on the wall the door was on. It had a black curtain separating it from the room, but the curtain was half-open. Besides that was a cherry wood bookshelf lined with all sorts of books and magazines. Some shelves were besides that, housing all sorts of random objects.
On the wall to the right was a small wooden desk with a laptop computer resting closed on it. Pencils and pens and papers and notebooks were strewn across the top as if someone had been searching for something. A couple feet from that was a TV stand with a small TV on it and video games below it. Next to that was, well, the wall with the door.
"Come in." Rory motioned for me to go over to her, so I did. I stood in front of her, and she looked up at me.
"So... This is your room, huh?"
"Duh."
"Well, yeah... I knew that." I knelt down before her. "Why were you at the park today?"
She sighed heavily, looking down at the wooden floor. "I... I just needed to think. Mike, I think I
made a mistake."
"With what?"
"I... I don't love Jason. I don't even really like him all that much." She finally looked up at me.
I looked into her now grey-green eyes. They shone with unshed tears.
"Then... Then why are you with him?" I asked her.
"Why are you with Whatsername?" Rory shook her head and looked away again.
"You don't understand..."
"Bullshit. Like fuck I don't understand," she spat, though her eyes remained fixated everywhere but my face.
"W was having a hard time dealing with her life. J was in the facility, and she was depressed, so-"
"So you decided to pity-date her?"
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!"
"You felt sorry for her, you felt bad for her, and she liked you. So you decided to waltz into her
life like her 'knight in shining armor' and make it all better?" She made some wild hand motions, and then stood angrily.
'That's not true."
"Don't lie to yourself, Pritchard." I cringed at the use of my last name. "And you say I can't face
the truth? You can't, either."
"You never answered my question."
"What question?" She snapped, turning back to me.
"Why are you with Jason if you don't like him?" I walked up to her. She turned away, remaining silent. "Why?"
"You don't need to know."
"Yes, I think I do."
"All right already... It was because you were with W."
"But what about you sleeping with him at Billie's that night we were drinking? I wasn't with her then, was I?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"We were fucking drunk, okay?! And I didn't sleep with him, anyway."
"Everyone says you did... And you never denied it."
"Maybe because I thought you wouldn't care either way."
"Why would that make a difference?"
"Because."
"Could you possibly be any more vague?"
"Do you love her?"
I grew silent, and took in a deep breath. Turning my back to her, I sighed heavily, and shook my head.
"Do you?" Rory repeated.
"No."
"Then why are you with her?"
"Because you kissed J."
"Why would that make a difference?" She repeated just what I said.
"It shouldn't, but it does."
"And you call me vague."
"Why did you stop talking to me after I went with W?"
"Because you hurt me, especially after what I heard you tell her."
"Maybe I was lying to her."
"About what?"
"About... About everything. But I don't think that matters now."
"Of course it does, Mike." Rory slowly walked over to me, placing her hands on my shoulders as she reached me.
"Rory, I... I need to tell you something." I took in a deep breath. Examining her face, I noticed
the confusion on her face. She looked anxious and confused.
"What is it?"
"I... Uh..." I laughed at how hard it was to say something so damn simple.
"Say it already, I'd like to know before my funeral, thanks." She smirked, twirling around on her heel and almost skipping over to her bed. She plopped down onto it and looked up at me expectantly.
I walked up to her, kneeling before her like when I first got here. I took her hands in mine and
looked into her eyes.
"Farore Alyson Pierce, I love you."
She looked as if she were about to cry, but she smiled a smile that lit up her face and eyes, and I smiled back.
"Oh, Mike." Rory laughed and hugged me. "Mike, Mike, Mike..."
"Yes, yes, yes?"
"I love you, too."
I'm not sure who made the first move, but a moment later I found myself kissing her, her arms draped around me, mine around her, my heart beating faster than it ever had before.