This chapter... oh my...
It was difficult to write... it's 4,000 words, too... had to make it right, which is why it's so long...
It jumps from where we left off, to what Jerry was doing in those three months... poor Jerry, I just want to give him a hug!! 🥺❤️
Btw... Susan Silver is Alice In Chains' manager.
On to the story...
***
June 2, 1994: Seattle, WA, USA
Jerry can't believe what he's seeing.
After all this time... there he is, right in front of him.
Layne.
Without saying a word, Layne frowns, raising his eyebrows as he throws the door open so that it hits the wall; he then turns and walks inside, as if just expecting that Jerry will follow him.
And, well, he's not wrong...
Closing the door behind him, Jerry walks tentatively after Layne, wanting so much to talk to him- and he's about to, when Layne just goes straight to his bedroom and slams the door.
Taken aback, Jerry stands, dumbfounded, in the middle of Layne's living room.
Something brushes past his leg; looking down, Jerry sees a small Siamese kitten.
He bends down to pick it up, holding it against his chest. He runs a hand over it soothingly as a purr erupts from its little body.
Seriously... Layne got a cat?!
That's so unlike him.
Mewling from across the room grabs his attention.
Two cats?!
He must have been feeling so alone...
He sits down on Layne's couch, cringing as he lands on a wrapper of some sort.
God... what a pigsty.
Setting down the kitten, he decides to help Layne clean up a bit.
He's going through a rough time... I really can't blame him for letting the place go like this.
There are takeout containers everywhere... random candy wrappers... at least, that seems to be the main source of trash.
Thai food... I've never, ever seen him have that before.
Strange...
He feels his heart sink with everything he sees lying around... it has all the telltale signs- if Layne's appearance and reclusiveness weren't telling enough.
He's relapsed.
All Jerry needs to do is check the bathroom... but he can't bring himself to do it.
That night, Jerry decides to crash on Layne's couch.
No way in hell was he going anywhere now.
He was going to talk to Layne... even if it took him weeks to come around.
I've waited this long...
***
March 1994: Seattle, WA, USA <— three months ago...
Jerry waited around his apartment for a few days, wondering when, and if, Layne was ever going to call him.
He hated knowing that Layne was in that house with Demri, wasting away under the weight of his grief... he perfectly expected Demri to be making him feel even worse, and the knowledge of that hurt Jerry more than anything.
YOU ARE READING
Even Now
Fanfiction**Discontinued :( The year is 1993. Heroin addict Layne Staley of Seattle rock band Alice In Chains has just had the fear of God put into him following a bandmate's overdose. When faced with a simple decision, the butterfly effect comes into play...
