In the End

Fannie Lou Hamer

"Andy!"

Andy feels his heart fall through his feet. Chucky sounds angry; the power in his voice as he says his name seems to fill the alley. It's enough to make him stop, and turn, despite every part of him not wanting to at all.

"I can't fucking lie to myself about it anymore, Andy, I..." Chucky pauses for a moment, and then for a moment, it appears as if he will continue – but nothing except a whimper comes out of his mouth instead, and Andy feels sick to his stomach.

"In the end, it's always you," Chucky finally chokes out, and Andy almost swears he can hear Chucky's voice shake. He does not know if it is from anger, or something else. He forces himself to assume the former. "It's always fucking you. I hate it. I keep running, and running, and I always end up right back here, with you, standing right in front of me, and I...I can't run anymore, Andy. I'm so fucking tired of running!"

Andy swallows. Something grows inside of him. He wipes his hands on his jeans. Suddenly, suddenly, his throat hurts, and he's covering his mouth, and he wants to vomit. But he doesn't.

"You can feel however you want, but I won't lie about it anymore. I can't. I fucking can't..." Chucky is looking wildly everywhere, as if wanting so badly to look anywhere else, but his eyes keep landing on him, in the end. Always back to him. Wide, wild blue eyes against brown, and it's too intense, it's much too much. "Don't you get it by now?"

"No, don't..." Andy tries to stop him, because the moment Chucky starts, he knows everything will come crashing down, and he will not have control anymore.

But it's too late. Much too late.

Charles Lee Ray, also known as Chucky, his betrayer, his nightmare, his adversary- has fallen to his knees in front of him. And, as he tries to bury his reactions into a cold and numbing silence, Chucky speaks, his voice so shaken it nearly brings Andy to his own knees, to join him in complete surrender, cold and numbing silence be damned.

"We need each other, asshole."

And he says the things Andy has always and never wanted to hear, all at the same time.

"I ... I need you."

And so Andy does the only thing that he knows to do in a situation such as this.

He runs away.