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--- The state of being in between ---
-- Snow began to pour down once again, coating the salted streets until the black tar roads were covered completely. The two snowmen that had begun to melt were forever in a state between melting and freezing. A time in which there was no beauty, or ugliness, just preparation for the unspoken outcome.
Three men waltzed into the living room, their voices boomed as they argued over last night's hockey game, and the fight that broke out. Avril was pulled away from her drowsy daydream, her eyes forced to pull away from the blinding snow. Brad kept his eyes off of Avril, his mind clouded with the unspoken words of his friend. Michael, however, was the first to find her eyes. "I talked to Lest," Mike informed the woman. "He's concerned about this one."
Lester has never once failed the group when telling them their job wasn't going to go smoothly, but something had changed. "I don't blame him," she admitted solemnly. "Look, Michael-"
"Don't 'Look, Michael' me, A. Everything's gonna be great. We're just gonna do it like we always do." Trevor laughed while slinging his arm around Brad's shoulder. "Right guys?" The other two men nodded with a bright grin. Even with the constant reassurance of everything turning out fine, Avril had her doubts. "Can you make us breakfast?"
"Can I talk to you alone, Michael?" Once the question was brought forward by the woman, Trevor let out a low toned 'ooooo' followed by Brad. Mike immediately nodded before following behind the woman until they reached Michael's bedroom where he slept with his wife. "Where's Amanda?"
"Shopping with the kids. Said they needed new winter boots, and gloves," Michael said. She wasn't wrong, Avril had noticed the holes in Tracey's gloves, as well as the obvious tear in Jimmy's jacket. "What's this about?"
"I am worried... about you, and your kids-"
"But not Amanda?" Tension intoxicated the air between them, ridding Avril of her ability to breath properly.
"Mikey, what if you die and-and we can't help? What happens then? What happens when you die, and it's up to us three to- I won't be able to live with myself if something happened to you, M." Michael stepped closer to the woman, his hand gently placed upon her sorrowful face. "I don't know if I am gonna be okay with-"
"Don't worry about it." Mike's hand grabbed onto the back of her neck, and gently pulled her in for a swift hug. "Everything's gonna be fine, promise. Like T said, faith, right?"
Avril followed behind Michael as they entered back into the main room where T, and B were snacking on a bag of airplane peanuts. "-and his brains went all over the fucking wall," Brad boasted through a smile. "Man, that was awesome." Once Avril entered the kitchen, her eyes connected with Brad's, yet he didn't hold contact. He frantically looked away until she was no longer in his peripheral vision. "I uh, gotta go get the new ski masks." Brad left within seconds, his feet hurried, and his wallet still sitting on the island.
