Before The Beginning

Chapter 1: Old Friends

Ok, we're going to TRY this out. I can't guarantee it'll work, and if it doesn't then I won't continue, but let's see where it goes.

Before we start I need to tell you, there will be mention of spoilers for All The Wrong Questions. I can do virtually nothing to avoid this, at least for this first part which is the only place it's important; read at your own risk. If you haven't read ATWQ but don't mind spoilers then you'll be fine. Otherwise, I would highly encourage reading them first, if you can.

With that out of the way, multiple POVs will be used throughout this; begin!

~Moxie's POV

"Dad, have you seen my hat?"

I heard my dad answer from the other room, "You left it on the rack!"

I turned around and grabbed it. "Thanks," I replied.

I sat down on the couch and began stuffing my worn news reporter hat with my business cards. Each card read simply, "Moxie Mallahan: The News." I fancy myself to be an exceptional journalist, though for a while now the news has been something of a strange topic. I continue my reports without question, but sometimes my mind drifts back to a boy I knew several years ago. One who left town only a few months into our friendship.

Lemony Snicket.

He was an odd boy. He was strangely monotone and most things seemed anti-climactic to him. I assume that's because of his work in a secret organization he was in called V.F.D. He was also caring, nice, loyal, and particularly salty on occasion. Nonetheless, there was a charm about him that I rather liked. He was a good friend, but somehow he managed to get under my skin and elevate himself to "more than a friend" status. Unfortunately, I never told him my secret, though I'm not sure I was subtle. After all, I was the one who kept telling him to stop hanging around Ellington Feint. (Something he should have done anyway regardless of my feelings.)

I sighed, "Stop that. Ellington isn't all bad... well not anymore. Besides she'd never want him back after what he did to her. Hell I'm surprised at the level of forgiveness I apparently have to still think of him in a positive light." I finished putting my cards away and put my hat on over my blonde hair.

Things in Stain'd By The Sea have been good for the past several years. I'm 21, and with Cleo basically in charge of the whole town she's letting me run the newspaper. It's like my dream job; though for a while I've been continuing to live at the lighthouse with my dad because he has trouble taking care of himself. Cleo finished her invisible ink formula a few weeks after Lemony disappeared, and it's brought the place back on its feet in ways I didn't think possible. More businesses had opened here again and the place had been cleaned up a lot. Cleo still lives with her boyfriend Jake and I may have heard a rumor that he's going to propose soon. (Jake and Cleo were 23 and already living together in a house close to her new laboratory.)

Then there was Kellar Haines, a boy my age who I called my best friend, who had shockingly fallen for Ellington Feint of all people. I was still getting used to this, but they seemed happy together. They started dating about a year ago when she came back to town and I respect his happiness. Even though Ellie and I still have our disagreements, his friendship with me keeps us from getting too unreasonable with each other. I don't want to separate him from a girl he loved, and she didn't seem to want to separate him from his close friend. It was a mutually beneficial relationship.

Knock knock

Speaking of Kellar, that must be him to take us to lunch. However, what I got when I opened my front door was a small smile from a boy my age I hadn't seen in years. His black hair was the same, though in a much better haircut than the one I once gave him, his brown eyes were warm and seemed to light up a bit upon seeing my own grey eyes. He was taller than me, but now much more handsome.

"What's the news, Moxie," Lemony asked.

I wasted no time in responding, "You tell me Snicket, you're the one showing up at my doorstep at 11 in the morning out of nowhere."

I also noticed that he looked rather sad despite his smile. His eyes were a little red. I couldn't stop myself from worrying that something horrible had happened, but he interrupted my assumptions by explaining.

"The train is under maintenance so I had to drive all night to get here." He pointed behind him to his car. "I didn't get much sleep." Something about the way he said this assured me that his observational skills had not deteriorated, he could tell I had noticed his change in emotion.

I nodded, "So why are you here then?"

"I... need a place to recuperate for a while. Things in the organization have been changing a bit and I took a short leave to get over some things. I was hoping that I could spend my break here in Stain'd By The Sea."

I blinked curiously at him. His way of talking about V.F.D. has never been so dour. He usually speaks of them positively.

"And you came to me first because?"

"I wanted to let my prime associate know I was back."

Prime associate... He still thinks of me as that? Even now?

"Do you think Lost Arms has any rooms available," He asked.

I snapped out of my brief trance, "Oh yeah they should have one. But unfortunately I don't have time to catch up. Kellar is supposed to pick me up for our lunch soon."

I held back a slight snicker; he looked a little jealous at this information. "Oh, calm down, Snicket. We're just friends; Kellar is with Ellington."

He seemed just as shocked about this information as I was when I was told. "Huh... well good for them."

A small part of me felt satisfied that he wasn't jealous of Kellar for being with Ellington. That meant he was over her.

"Speaking of which... you might want to not alert Ellington to your presence here. She would rather like your head on a silver platter."

Lemony nodded in understanding, "I figured that would be the case... You don't seem disturbed by it."

"Armstrong Feint was a terrible man, he deserved it. The fact that she's his daughter doesn't change that. She knows he was cruel and evil, but she stands firm that what you did was still wrong. I can't get her to change her mind, but if you do run into her, you should try to have it happen close to Kellar. He'll at least keep her from hurting you, but that's the best you can hope for."

"Well there's that to look forward to at least. Anyway, I just wanted to see you again, I'll go see if I can get a place to stay."

He turned to walk back to his car and I decided to stop him to get the answer to my first question, perhaps it was the wrong question to ask but it was the first that slipped out.

"What made you need to come here for a 'break?'"

He contemplated my question for a moment and then simply replied, "My girlfriend broke up with me."

With that, he got into his car and drove off to find a room at Lost Arms. Come what may, I could tell he was going to be here a while. She must have been special, but somehow my instincts tell me he'll move past her with time. Maybe I can help him too.

~End of Chapter!

Here's hoping this goes well. I wanted to start with a short Lemoxie scene before moving into the other characters since Lemoxie isn't the focus of this story. They'll come back, but they're not that important to the plot. This story will go back and forth between multiple budding relationships and things happening. I hope it works out!