Rattlebones (bxbxb)

Talking

I try to pull myself into some semblance of order once Iggy's gone.

I couldn't believe that I was weeping over a boy. Such a pathetic emotion was useless in the long run. Crying wouldn't bring Igor back, and neither would stabbing myself through the heart in order to end the desolation that his absence had left behind. 

"Why?" I moan, "Why must I be forsaken?" 

"Does he always act like this?" Rishi asks Eugene from where they stand over by the wall, watching me as if I'm some painted animal performing in a circus for them.

"Pretty much," Eugene replies, "You should see him when he's having a real meltdown. That shit's wicked, man. It's like he's ushering in the apocalypse." 

I hear him come over to me and then he stands right next to my head, his dirty sneakers nearly touching my nose. "Yo, Darcy. Are you okay, man?" He questions. "Do I need to call a paramedic or something to come and get you?"

"I'm fine, Eugene," I mumble from where I lay face down against the dirty floor. "I'm just regretting the fact that I woke up this morning and decided to subsist." 

Eugene sighs deeply and then he crouches down beside me. "Don't say that, Brown." He says, and I feel him rest his hand between my shoulders. "Plenty of people care that you exist." He reassures me. 

"Really?" I muffle, just the barest bit of hope entering my voice. "Who?"

Eugene is quiet for a long few seconds, obviously trying to find an actual person who cared. "I care about you." He replies finally. "And Rishi and James care about you. Right, guys?" He turns to look at them. 

"Can we leave or something?" Rishi questions, looking uncertain. "This is kind of freaking us out, and James doesn't handle anarchy well. It triggers his anxiety."

"I break out in hives," James informs us, just for good measure.

Eugene rolls his eyes and then he turns back to me. "Look, Darcy. You know how some girls get mad when you don't pay attention to them? That's kind of how it's like with Iggy. Only, he's a guy, so he's not going to make it obvious. You can't just show up on his doorstep and expect him to take you back after what happened."

I glare up at Eugene. "You cheated on him too," I remind him. "How come he's not mad at you?"

"What? Are you kidding?" Eugene smirks, and then he holds his chin as if posing for a photoshoot. "Who can get mad at a face like this?" 

"Do I need to write you a list?" I question.

"Come on," Eugene says, and then he helps me up from the floor. "Iggy's going to come around eventually."

"It doesn't matter," I grumble as I dust the front of my jacket off. "We have other, more pressing matters to attend to rather than the terrible state of my love life. Your murderous relatives are still on the loose and now we have two more people who know about our secret." I look over at Rishi and James, who stare back at me like two terrified owls. 

"We don't even know what's going on," Rishi protests, and he holds up his hands defensively. "Why are you two suddenly enemies to lovers? Why is Eugene Wilder standing in a janitor's closet, alive and well? James and I went to his funeral, we both saw his coffin ourselves. There's no way that it could have been staged."

"It wasn't," I reply, rubbing my temples out of sheer frustration. "I kidnapped his body during his Wake and put it in my trunk before his funeral."

"Wait. You shoved me into your fucking trunk?" Eugene questions.

"Pretty sure that's illegal." Rishi adds in.

"It wasn't for nefarious reasons, Rishi." I assure the terrified boy, "I was going to try to bring him back to life so that I could give him a chance at finishing high school. And if it didn't work, he was going back into the ground. It wasn't like I was going to chop him into pieces and feed him to alligators."

"That's so hardcore," James says, sounding mildly impressed. 

"So what happened?" Rishi asks hesitantly, "How did you bring him back from the dead?"

"That's what I'm still trying to figure out," I say, and then the bell dismissing class cuts into our conversation.

"We better go to class." Rishi sighs, and he checks the time on his phone. "James and I have a math quiz in half an hour that we need to prep for, and neither of us has had lunch."

Eugene steps in front of the door and then he crosses his arms, looking large and intimidating as usual, which was great. It meant that I didn't have to do any of the work. "How can we trust you not to tell the school about me?" He asks the two boys.

"Who's going to believe us?" Rishi replies, and then he glances at me again. "Besides, Darcy knows I'm not like that." 

I blush a little in response.

Despite the fact that I had totally rejected Rishi in middle school, he was still incredibly handsome. He had dark hair that curled over his ears and large brown eyes, so looking at him was like stepping into a warm house on a cold day. It was no wonder James had decided to hook up with him.

"Let them go," I tell Eugene after a moment, and all fight drains out of me. 

"What? Why?" He asks, sounding surprised. "I thought we were going to interrogate them."

"No, we're not. I trust them," I go over to him and I tug him away from the door, my smaller hand slipping into his. "I have to believe that not everyone's out to get us, Eugene," I explain quietly. "Even if I do want to ascend to the throne of Hell, take my rightful place by bringing death and destruction to those who have wronged us, I need to see the good in humanity. Maybe Iggy's right about me growing up. Maybe it's time for a change."

Rishi and James slip out the door as Eugene and I are talking, and they vanish down the crowded hallway. 

"You don't need to change for anybody. You're fucking fine the way you are." Eugene tells me, and he looks away as if his own words embarrass him. 

I'm shocked into silence. "Do you really mean that?" 

"I mean, yeah. If I didn't like you, I wouldn't be here right now."

"You could be here for other reasons." 

"Name one."

I reach up and bring him down, my mouth pressing to his. And we're kissing there, in the dusty old storage room, my hands coming up to slide into Eugene's curls before he's pushing me up against the wall. 

I bury my fingers into his big shoulders and tilt my head back when he bites my neck and then soothes it with his tongue. "Eugene, please!" I gasp, "Eugene!"