𝚂𝚄𝙿𝙴𝚁𝚄𝙽𝙺𝙽𝙾𝚆𝙽 ✩ ɢʀᴜɴɢᴇ

𝚒𝚡. 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍

Late November was very busy. Thanksgiving was an absolute mess; the friends watched TV all day after trying to cook a turkey they'd gotten at a giveaway. It had burned thanks to the extreme lack of cooking skill held by the hostesses (Alex and Charlie), but they'd still eaten what they could. It was okay, they decided, because Thanksgiving was about being thankful for what you had, not cooking the perfect meal or having a not-burnt turkey. (That's pure crap! was Alex's thought on that matter.)

Coming just under a week after that disastrous holiday was a very special birthday. For the few days in between, much of everyone's energy went into planning a celebration, despite the birthday boy himself trying to tell everyone that he didn't need a party (that's pure crap! was the thought of literally every one of his friends).

Matt Cameron was the drummer of Soundgarden. He was one of the best drummers around and everyone knew that. People were always calling him in to do drumming on demo tracks and stuff like that and he was always more than happy to do it when he could. Because he wasn't just a great drummer; he was also a really nice guy, cool to the bone and a good person overall. His friends all loved him a lot. Which is why his birthday was the cause of so much celebration the AIC house was nearly brought down and the friends almost went broke (well, not Alex and Charlie--they were already broke) trying to buy enough food and drinks to feed everyone that came to his party.

And a hell of a party it was. The apartment was once again full to capacity, which made it a great thing that it was a nice night; people were willing to hang out in the courtyard rather than try to cram into the apartment.

Alex and Charlie brought two things to the party: a new cymbal for Matt's kit, and Jo. Matt laughed when the gift was given to him, because they'd wrapped it in thin toilet paper and hadn't even tried to make it a surprise. He also really appreciated them bringing Josephine, who was obviously charmed and very happy to see him again.

That day was a Wednesday and nearly everyone had work the next morning, but no one cared. They all stayed up partying for a very long time. Morning came and most of the guests went straight from the AIC house to their jobs--including Alex, Charlie, and Jo.

Alex and Jo hurried off together, fearing they'd be late for work. They were both tired but each tried to keep the other's spirit up by making jokes and discussing the party. Alex was about to mention that moment of panic when a cop car had cruised by the apartment, but stopped when she realized something was wrong. They'd arrived, but the warehouse doors were closed and there was a piece of paper taped to one of them. "Hey, what's...what's going on?"

"I don't know." Jo moved closer to read the piece of paper while Alex went to see if the side door was open. "Dear loyal employees..." she quickly skimmed the page. "Alex, the warehouse closed."

"What?" Alex yelled, jogging back over. "It's closed? Forever?"

"I guess so," Jo said, stepping back so Alex could read it. "Alex...does this mean we're out of jobs?"

Alex read it slowly, as if she was scared to read each next word. "Yeah, Jo, I think it does." She looked around. "This is so fucking low. I can't even believe it. What the hell are we gonna do now?"

"I-I don't know. I'm gonna have to leave my place, there's no way I can afford it now...and it took me forever to find this job..."

"Aw, well--I mean you can stay with me n' Charlie but I don't even know if we'll be able to keep our place since it takes the two of us to pay for it." Alex's mind was already racing, going through every business in the city that might be hiring.