Throughout It All

7 | We're Here For You | July 19, 1914

Oh, the feels that will be in this one.

Enjoy! :)

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Race wraps his arms around Mush tightly, as if Race is the only thing in the world that can keep Mush grounded.

Slowly, but surely, Mush hugs back.

For a few moments, the other three just stand there, surprised, not knowing what to do. Then Spot wraps his arms around Race and Mush. And then Jack comes over, and then David, and then they're all wrapped in a tight embrace.

They don't know how long they stay like this.

Though really, actions speak louder than words. They all could have told him whatever fake-sounding sympathy that they wanted, as if that's what Mush wanted to hear and that's what they wanted to say. They could have talked about the letter here and now. But with the embrace, it's a way of saying I'm sorry. Saying I'm sorry for not being here for you in the past year. Saying I'm sorry for all that has happened. 

Saying I'm sorry for letting you go in the first place.

It doesn't matter how long they stay here. They all need it. They didn't know it before, they didn't realize it, they didn't want to admit it, but they all needed this. To feel close to one another, physically, mentally, emotionally.

Finally, once they're all standing apart, Mush gestures inside. "Come on in."

Race puts a hand on Mush's shoulder silently. Race didn't truly realize how much he missed Mush until now. And now letting go of him seems so big. But he still has to relucantly remove his hand as Mush closes the door behind them.

"I was wondering when you all would come," Mush says in a small voice as they all sit down. "When someone would finally want to come find me. It's been 365 days. But that doesn't matter. I'm seeing you now."

Maybe to some, it would be unsettling how he counted 365 days since they last saw him. But to them, it was his tone and his way of talking that really unnerved them. It's like everything that made him Mush had been sucked out of him, leaving him as someone with a huge hole where their heart used to be.

It's like he was reading their thoughts. "I'm not broken," he tells them, with a little bit of indignance, but with no real fight. "Just numb." He's quiet for a moment. He just seems so, so tired, all his movements are lethargic.

"Just numb," he repeats softly.

And somehow, that's worse.

For a moment, no one knows what to say. Do they talk about Kid Blink? Or do they ask Mush how he's been? What he's been up to since they last saw him? If he remembered the good old days? Any conversation starters they can think of fall flat, tactless, irrelevant, useless; better to just let those sentences stay inside instead of say any of them out loud.

Finally, Race has found something to say. "It's been a really tough year. I mean, really tough."

Not entirely specific, but enough for everyone to nod empathetically.

"How are you feeling after a year?" Race asks quietly.

And that's the big question, isn't it?

Mush hesitates before answering. Race and the others wait patiently.

"I can't believe it's been a year," Mush says finally. "Last July ... time just ... stopped. I-I, I, ... To me, it doesn't feel like it's been a year. It feels like time stopped then, and this is just some timeless twisted version of reality, too fake to be real, too real to be fake."