Even Now

Chapter 8: Fallen

Let's backtrack a bit...

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1987: Nearly seven years before Jerry kissed Layne.
He had seen Layne perform for the first time on stage with his crappy high-school band. Layne had blown him away with his vocal talents, leaving Jerry shocked and astonished when he heard the voice of a 300 lb biker come out of such a skinny little dude.
He'd known immediately that he needed to be in a band with the intriguing man on stage.
Later, at a party, a mutual friend had introduced them. Layne had asked for a beer. Jerry obliged, surprised when Layne thanked him by offering him a place to stay. Being practically homeless, there was nothing prohibiting Jerry from accepting.

1988: Nearly six years before Jerry kissed Layne.
The night before Layne's 21st birthday, the two had drunkenly gone to a tattoo parlour together. Layne had suggested they get matching "brother" tattoos, an idea Jerry was all for... until the needle came down. Layne had told him it was all going to be fine, as the tattoo was going to look "fuckin' sick".
And it did. Still does.
Since then, even when emotionally distant, they'd always been physically bonded.
Later that year, Layne met Demri at a party. Demri was a friend of Layne's girlfriend at the time.
Some friend Demri turned out to be...

1989: Nearly five years before Jerry kissed Layne.
At first, Jerry liked her.
Demri was fun. She always acted like "one of the guys" whenever she was with them. She talked a lot, but nobody really felt bothered by it.
As a joke, Jerry had actually bought her a pair of chatty pet birds for her birthday, which she'd adored, according to Layne and the ecstatic reaction she'd had when he'd given them to her.
She'd been really great... until she'd cheated on Layne during the summer of 1989.
It was with some guy named Paul... Layne was distraught over it, always wondering what he was doing wrong...
Eventually, Demri ended it with Paul.
In Jerry's opinion, if she was going to end it with anyone, she should've ended it with Layne.
Layne was too head-over-heels for her... he couldn't have broken up with her if he tried.

1990: Nearly four years before Jerry kissed Layne.
This was the year Alice In Chains released their first album, Facelift.
There were rumours that Demri had started using heroin.
After the rumours started, Jerry got the sense that they were true. Layne was always paranoid, and kept talking about the possibility of Demri 'dying'... especially after the death of Andrew Wood in March.
Andrew was a close friend of Layne's. Jerry knew him well, too. So, when he'd died of a heroin overdose, they'd gone to the funeral, then to the memorial.
Jerry had walked in to find Layne crying alone on the staircase. He'd immediately rushed over to give Layne a hug, shocked that not even Demri was trying to comfort him.
He'd felt an instinctual need to protect Layne... Jerry knew what it was like to grieve, and didn't want his best friend to go through his grief alone.
Layne confessed to Jerry that he was afraid of going to Demri's funeral, because she was using, and would probably die just like Andrew had. He blamed himself, though didn't specify why. He'd just said that if they weren't always performing, then Demri wouldn't have met "that drug dealer."
And then, of course, Layne started using a few months later... and Jerry swore it was part of Layne's need to self-sacrifice for Demri so she didn't have to go through that crap alone. Whether she introduced it to Layne or not, Jerry's honestly not sure... though, he'd heard that Layne and Demri had been strung out on cocaine one night, and Layne had asked Demri to go and get more... and she'd come back with heroin instead.
Slowly, the man Jerry knew and loved started to wither away, dissolving into his addiction, obsessed with the relationship that was tearing him apart.

1991, nearly three years before Jerry kissed Layne.
For a reason Jerry would never understand, Layne had decided to propose to Demri.
It was like he wanted to lock her down, before a conquest of hers swept her away. A good example would be when the band was filming some scenes for the movie Singles, and Demri had a random, long-lasting affair with one of the guys the band had met on set.
Layne was livid, but Demri kept 'putting him in his place', using his past one-night-stands to justify the 'relationship' that she'd
continue to have with this guy.
Layne always shrunk when he was around her. It pained Jerry greatly, watching his favourite person in the world get knocked down again and again and again...
Jerry always knew Layne could do better... he'd always hoped he'd someday find the strength to leave her.