hellkitty22
(this cover is so original ToT)
A The Amazing Digital Circus AU - The Golden Arches
"They say there are five stages of grief.
I say there are ten."
At twenty-two years old, Jax Kerfew has already lost more than anyone ever should. After his best friend Ribbit is killed in a tragic car accident and Kaufmo, unable to bear the loss of the person he loved, takes his own life, Jax's world collapses around him. Two deaths. Two people gone in ways he never saw coming. Two reminders that no matter how hard he tries to hold on, life has a way of ripping everything apart.
Now living alone in a run-down New York apartment, working exhausting closing shifts at McDonald's for barely enough money to survive, Jax hides behind sarcasm, anger, and emotional walls built from years of abuse, abandonment, and heartbreak. He keeps people at arm's length because trusting them only means giving life another chance to take them away. Every joke is a shield. Every insult is a warning. Every moment of silence is another way to keep the world from seeing how badly he is falling apart.
Then Pomni starts working beside him.
She's kind. Awkward. Patient. The sort of person who keeps trying even after Jax pushes her away over and over again. She doesn't demand anything from him. She doesn't try to fix him. She just stays, offering small acts of kindness and quiet understanding in a world that has taught Jax to expect neither. Slowly, late-night shifts turn into conversations, conversations become friendship, and friendship begins to feel like something Jax thought he'd never deserve again.
But grief doesn't disappear. It changes.
Sometimes moving forward doesn't mean letting go.
Sometimes it just means taking one more step.
"I will make friends again. I will feel love again. I can fit in again. I just need some time. And the real friends will understand that."