Athazagoraphobia (Squip x Jeremy)

12. The Other Squip

Rich and Michael nodded at each other, expressions grim. They were in Michael's basement with the lights off, his moms out grocery shopping. I

 "You got the stuff?" Rich asked, voice whistling slightly.

Michael nodded, jaw set firmly. "Yes."

After a brief silence he added, "You know you can't go back from this, right?"

 "It's the only way to save Jeremy, we know how to get rid of it when we're done." 

He knew that Rich was right, but he couldn't help but think that this would only make things worse. Fighting fire with fire may seem like a good plan, but water was a much better alternative. But they had no choice, Michael knew. 

He carefully set down the red Solo cup, never taking his eyes off Rich. Then the blue beverage of doom. He unscrewed the lid, sizzling bubbles breaking the silence. 

Foam erupted inside the cup as Michael poured the Mountain Dew Revolution, filling it halfway before setting the bottle down, handing it to Rich.

 "Before you go and drink it," he said, staring at Rich shyly, "I wanna tell you something."

 Rich set the glass down. "Yeah?"

 Michael bit his lower lip, telling himself over and over that it didn't really matter, that he should just go for it. And he did. Quickly and briefly, he pressed a kiss to Rich's mouth. He pulled back almost instantly, looking down at his hands. "You can drink it now."

 He nodded, face red, fingers shaking. He lifted the glass, staring at it for a moment before chugging down the contents as fast as possible.

Rich smacked his lips loudly, slamming the cup down. "Well that wasn't too bad."

 Then he passed out.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Squip was angry. 

He'd been so distracted with Jeremy that he hadn't kept an eye on Rich and Michael. He could feel the Squip, the... other Squip come back into existence, their minds still connected from the last time they synced. 

They'd gone too far. He knew Michael hated his guts, but bringing back Rich's Squip was just hypocritical. 

He glanced at Jeremy, who was sleeping peacefully on his blue sheets. His legs were wrapped around Squip, head tucked into his neck. He sighed, trying to detangle himself from the small, dangerously small, boy. His body was becoming increasingly frail, his complexion becoming sickly. 

But he still managed to be the same old nerd he always was. Squip ran a hand through his white hair, sighing, relaxing his tense muscles. Jeremy was fine, he just needed time to mourn the loss of his friend. He would see in time that it was for his own good, Michael was toxic. There was never a good time to be a loser; the boy's philosophy would be the death of him.  

With that, he dug around for a clean shirt, shaking his head at Jeremy's clothes laying on the floor in small piles. Having a talk about proper hygiene was definitely in their future, he prophesied as he picked up a pair of dirty underwear. Tossing it into the laundry bin in the corner,  Squip finally found a clean shirt, pulling it on and buttoning it as he walked out the door, sparing Jeremy one last look. 

Biting his lip, he headed back to Jeremy and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead, pulling the covers over him and closing the door as he left. 

-_-_-_-_-

He was alone. 

Jeremy awoke a short time later, sitting up as sweat ran down his face. He'd had another nightmare. "Shit," he whispered, squinting in the afternoon light. 

He glanced around, seeing Squip had left. 

I love you.

Don't say that. 

He sighed, slowly pushing the blankets off of him and setting his feet on the cold floor. He shivered, wondering where Squip had gone. Looking out the window at the white sky, hoping it would snow, he stood, digging around his piles of clothes for a pair of socks. Pulling them on he turned to look in the mirror, taking his shirt off and running a hand down his bony side. 

That's the kid who almost destroyed the school. 

He looked down at his feet, holding his stomach and screaming. "DAD?!"

No response. "SQUIP?!"

Again, nothing. 

He headed out of his room, silent and gloomy. His throat was dry and crying out for water. He slumped into the bathroom, staring at his face. His cheeks had hollowed out a bit, but he couldn't bring himself to care. 

How could you be with that THING?

He shuffled through a few drawers until he found what he was looking for. He held it up into the light, sun reflecting through the blinds and onto the shiny metal. 

A tear traced down his cheek. Michael was gone. He'd driven his best friend away because he loved Squip. And Squip would never love him.

And he was alone. 

----

READ MY STORY RAVEN COMPLEX IF YOU LIKE MYSTERIES AND MURDER AND GAYNESS. IT'S A LIT PLACE DOWN THERE. GO CHECK IT OUT!