Take a Chill Pill - Assorted Be More Chill Stuff

Jeremy Heere Can't Drive

Hey, so I've moved pretty much entirely to AO3. Um, sorry? Please come check me (ScripStrel) out there. I've got a nearly complete celestial au fic over there if you're interested. It's also where this was originally posted and where I'll post pretty much all new stuff.

Jeremy Heere can't drive. It's just a fact. Michael's given him rides everywhere since he got his license Sophomore year (was it legal? No. Did that stop them? Absolutely not). Not exactly a problem because they spend all their time together anyway. Just a fact.

Jeremy Heere doesn't want to drive. That's what he says, at least. He's had his permit for over two years now and has actually tried to get behind the wheel maybe half a dozen times, one of which was when the Squip convinced him to steal his dad's car to go to Jake's Halloween party, and it did all of the actual driving part. Yeah, that probably doesn't make Jeremy want to drive more. He says he just doesn't care. He says he doesn't like being in everyone else's way. He says it doesn't matter because public transportation is a thing and he can just take the bus everywhere if he has to. Which is bullshit. Jeremy hates the bus.

Mr. Heere is sick of it. It's probably based on the whole "try harder to be his dad" thing he and Michael agreed on. He's starting to take responsibility for his son growing up. Good, parent-y things. He sits Jeremy down and tells him that until he learns to drive, he isn't getting a job, and if he doesn't get a job and start saving, college expenses will bite him in the ass. He can't just mooch off his friends for rides for the rest of his life. He's nearly an adult. He should learn to act like one. Starting with the age-old right of passage.

Of course, Mr. Heere isn't the best teacher. When Jeremy runs over the bushes for the third time just trying to pull into the driveway, Michael gets roped in. It's no one's fault that Jeremy's naturally antsy and nervous and will panic before literally anything else. It's just that his dad isn't exactly helping him stay calm because he's too busy freaking out over the car skidding through every turn. Michael's a bit better. For one, him being there can help stop the part of Jeremy's panic that's rooted in "the only time I've driven anywhere was when the Squip was telling me exactly what to do," which makes it really hard for him to listen to any instruction anyone gives him for fear it's the return of the electric Tic-Tac. If he can hear Michael, the Squip can't possibly be around. Michael also just knows how Jeremy ticks. He knows how to get Jeremy to relax, something not even Jeremy can really do. It's a gift.

A gift that's got him stuck playing backseat driver for fifty hours, which is a lot more than it sounds like. Whatever. Anything for his player two. It really wouldn't be that bad, except Michael has nothing to do except watch Jeremy. When they play video games or smoke or sit through the school day or literally anything else, Michael can distract himself. Can pretend he's not staring at Jeremy's little smiles. Can pretend his mind doesn't zoom in on Jeremy's voice and on every little point of contact. He can pretend that he's not in love.

But fifty hours with nothing to do except make sure his best friend doesn't crash the car leaves him with fifty hours to think about how much he never wants to do anything else, and also how much he wishes the car will crash just so his heart will stop eating him alive from the inside.

Michael's crippling crush aside, Jeremy is a fast learner. He can drive the highway in the dark. He can perpendicular and parallel park and do so without having to start over ten times like he used to. He can merge lanes like nobody's business, and by all accounts, he's probably a better driver than Michael, at this point. More careful, at least. They're still working on that. The only thing Jeremy really lacks anymore is confidence.

That doesn't stop him from biting the bullet and taking the test, because "I can't be the only senior on the bus, Michael." So, Michael wishes him good luck and promises they'll celebrate afterwards, provided he hasn't died of old age via the DMV.