In the End

Listen Up, Haley

Andy leaves the party much later than he expected. He had had more fun than he expected. He had said a lot more about himself than he expected. There were a lot of things that had happened that he had not expected.

He still feels his lips tingling, and he doesn't know if it's from the alcohol or from the kiss.

It isn't that he likes Brett. He's only just seen Brett again for the first time in a long time, and when they'd parted ways, it wasn't on good terms. But Brett is the first man he has kissed since he has discovered his personal attractions, and there is something new and exciting about it. Some other kind of passion that also scares him, but unlike the passion he feels when he is near Chucky, this one intrigues him at the same time.

Brett Shelton, of all people, was the one he had kissed. And Brett was not angry about it.

He touches his lips again, rubbing thoughtfully. He is still a little dizzy, but the air is cool, and everything feels so pleasant to him. He does not remember the last time he felt so at peace inside, all the anxiety and conglomeration of emotions silent for once. All he can feel is the way his heart seems to beat in his throat, and the way his hands shake, and shake, and shake.

He tries to think of anything else now, thinking it is shameful and silly to dwell on something so quickly passed for so long. But as he waits to cross a street, or as he passes a closed down shop, his mind wanders, and he thinks of it again. He replays it in his mind, and thinks to himself that it really isn't so bad if he should think of it a lot. After all, it validated much of his feelings that he had been internalizing for the past ten or so years of his life.

He feels so cleansed by this that he almost forgets why he had left in the first place. Almost, but not quite. And as long as he had been avoiding it, he knows that he must face it at some point, and he decides that there is no time quite like the present. He is more ready to die than ever, finally having found peace with some corner of his life.

So he is very expectant to still see the doll there, in his apartment. What he does not expect is how immaculate his apartment looks since he'd last seen it. While this does not mean all too much, seeing as he has not brought himself to fix his apartment in anyway in a very long time, it is still a noticeable difference, the way everything has been moved around to a more presentable manner.

He sees Chucky rounding the corner from the hall to his room towards where the living room meets the small dining area, and Chucky has already positioned himself for a fight. But Andy beats him to his words.

"You cleaned," he says, although that is not what he had wanted to say. But it perturbs him so much that this is what the doll had taken time to do in his absence that it immediately finds its way into the open. Why has the doll cleaned his apartment, of all the options he had in his hands? His simple statement begs the very question.

The doll has the grace to look chagrined. But it's gone with such a quickness that Andy does not know if the look was even there to begin with.

"I know a lot about you, Andy," he says, and he has the audacity to grin, as if he has the upper hand. He leans against the wall, crossing his arms. The smirk reaches his eyes, and it makes Andy feel a growing heat inside, despite himself. "And I know that you're late."

Andy will not allow himself to feel the need to rise to the challenge, and yet his heart pumps steadily faster. A traitor.

His heart had beat quickly like this, but in a different way. Now he feels himself heat up across his cheeks at the memory. He touches his lips, feels the itch of a grin, anger already forgotten in remembering. He forgets that Chucky is there, and it is too late when he remembers.