turps | Final Part of AU

Okay, this is it. The last part. Imagine this as the end of The Making of Pop and the videos about to go to be edited, well this is what's going to happen to this story. I'm taking a risk with the end, I won't say more because I'll spoil but I if anyone wants to know why I did what I did, feel free to ask.

I'll be honest. I'm freaking nervous about posting :(

I want to thank you all while I'm here. Some of you have commented on every part for this, and man, that's blown me away. When I started that ficlet for

krabbypatty I never thought it would escalate to this. The longest story I've ever done. It's been a blast you all.

The story will probably change a bit when it's edited. I know all the terrible grammar will be gone *g*

Thank you again. You all rock, and now I go to hide from the rotten fruit thats going to get thrown.

“I don’t want you to go.” Joey says, he doesn’t look at Chris, just keeps folding and refolding the same two t-shirts before putting them on a shelf.

“I know.” Chris replies tiredly, they’ve repeated this conversation over and over and it never gets any easier. Joey is standing, head down, so Chris goes to him and holds him round his waist, head pressed against Joey’s chest. “Me and JC need to do this, we want to swim in the ocean and watch sunsets, see all the things we’ve only heard about. There’s so much to see out there, Joey.”

“I’m scared.” Joey whispers the words, and Chris tightens his grip. “What if I fail again?”

“You won’t. You’re strong, Joey. Look around you. Look at what you’ve achieved, you’ve been dry for a long time, have a job and a flat. You did that.” Chris falls silent, he’s so proud of Joey, more proud than words can ever convey.

“You can stay here, you and JC can have the bedroom and I’ll take the couch. I’ll get you a job, we’ll be good.” Joey sounds desperate and Chris hates saying no, but he has to.

“I know you would, but no. JC wants to find himself, and where he goes, I go.”

“Why can’t he find himself here?” Joey protests, but Chris knows he understands, Joey’s been there when JC talks of finding the beauty in the world, seen the way JC’s face lights up when he talks about capturing the good things on paper. “You’re coming back?”

“I promise.” Chris says then gasps when Joey hugs him hard, squeezing all air out of his lungs.

“I’m going to miss you both so much.” Joey pulls back from Chris and looks down at him. “First Lance and Justin, now you and JC. You’re all leaving me behind.”

“For now, but me and JC will be back. You’ll see Lance and Justin again too.” Chris says, then smiles at Joey before going to the window, pushing aside the yellow fabric JC has hung. The sun shines brightly in the sky and the heat makes the ground shimmer in waves. Chris can feel the sweat pooling on his back already, and he knows it’ll get worse when they start hitchhiking, where the fumes of the traffic would heat things up even more. But Chris is eager to go, he wants to see some of the world with JC at his side, to be shown that life isn’t grey but a kaleidoscope of colours.

“You think they’ll come back?” Chris takes a few seconds to realise that Joey means Lance and Justin but when he does he nods his head and lets the make shift drapes fall back into place.

“They’ll be back. You’ve got their stuff haven’t you?” Chris indicates Lance’s case which stands in the corner of Joey’s flat with Justin’s bag lying on top. The painting JC did for Lance’s birthday is leaning against it, a burst of colour against the drab walls and Chris stares at it, remembering Lance’s face as JC presented it, and his face the next day when he was given a round of applause after crawling out of his and Justin’s box. “We did the right thing right?”

Joey’s quiet for a long time after the question, and Chris imagines he’s remembering the days after the kids went home too, dark painful days that Chris tries to forget. “You saw their faces, what do you think?”

Chris sits on the couch, careful to sit on the seat with no springs poking through, and remembers waiting in the park, Joey and JC wrapped around him like human blankets. Justin and Lance had walked out of the station many hours later, hand in hand, their moms at their sides. They’d looked tired but happy, and it’s their faces Chris pictures now, the smiles and hugs as they climbed into a car before driving out of sight. “We did the right thing.”

“We did.” Joey sits next to Chris, laughing when the couch wobbles alarmingly. “You sure you don’t want to leave a letter, you know, if they do come back?”

“They’ll be back, and no, it’s okay. JC’s took care of that.

“Okay.” Joey looks puzzled but doesn’t ask more. “Talking of JC, where is he? I though he was coming here before you go.”

“He is, he’s outside, he needed to finish something.” Chris grins then jumps to his feet. “In fact, he should be done. Come on.”

Grabbing Joey’s hand, Chris pulls him up then goes outside. JC’s sitting cross legged on the sidewalk, in front of him is a large painting and Chris hears Joey gasp as he looks at it.

“It’s for you, for your flat. Me and Chris did it.” JC says, and Chris laughs.

“Yeah right, I coloured some parts in, that’s all.”

“It was still done by me and you.” JC says, then he turns to Joey who’s staring at the painting with his mouth open. “I thought you could look at this and remember how far you’ve come. It’s done with love, Joey, every stroke.”

Joey says nothing and Chris understands why. The painting is magnificent, starting colourless on one side then merging into brilliant colour. Chris, JC, Joey, Lance and Justin stand in the foreground, grinning at some private joke. JC has his arm round Chris and Lance is holding Justin’s hand, but they all touch Joey in some way, who stands in the middle, arms draped over their shoulders.

“I love it.” Joey says then hugs JC and Chris, pulling them both close so they stand in a tight group. “You’re the best friends I’ve ever had.”

“Ditto.” Says Chris and JC agrees by kissing Joey’s cheek, then they separate, and Chris knows it’s time to go. He tries to find the words, but Joey understands.

“I’ll be waiting for you all.” Joey kisses Chris on his forehead and does the same to JC, then picks up his picture and walks to his door. “You’d better go, gather some memories for me okay.” Then he turns and walks inside, bright blue chalk handprints of different sizes clear on the back of his t-shirt.

Chris reaches for JC’s hand and holds it tight, fingers entwined. They’ll be back one day, but there’s a long journey ahead, and he knows JC is going to be at his side every step of the way.

Epilogue

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come?”

Justin shakes his head at his mom in irritation, stopping when Lance digs him in the side. “We’ll be fine. You can meet them after, we just want to see them alone first.”

Lyn still seems unsure, but slowly nods her head after looking at Diane who’s standing next to her. “Okay, you can go. But I don’t know what you’re so worried about, I’m not going to attack them or anything.”

“That’s not what you said at the time.” Justin says as looks at his mom. “You were going to gut them all and hang their entrails on a tree if I remember rightly.”

“I was mad, honey. You’d been gone for so long, and all we’d had was a postcard and a few messages passed to us. What did you expect me to do? Thank them for keeping you?”

Justin feels bad as he watches his mom, how sad she looks as she remembers the time he and Lance were gone. “I’m sorry. It’s just. They saved us, mom. Lance and me would have been dead within a week if it wasn’t for them.”

Lance nods in agreement and Justin sees both moms shudder at the thought of their children being dead. “Okay, you can go, we’ll wait here for you.” Diane says and Justin jumps on the balls of his feet, wanting to yell and cheer. But he doesn’t, he has to prove to his mom he’s mature. But still, he’s going to see Chris, JC and Joey.

“Come on, Lance.” Justin yells, he can’t wait any longer and pushes Lance to get him moving. Lance grumbles, but Justin knows how eager he really is. It’s all they talk about at night, when Lance sits with Justin watching TV and talking about everything they did and the three people who became as close as family.

“I’m coming.” Lance says, and he runs after Justin. The shelters are just around the corner and Justin imagines how Joey will be sorting his magazines, and Chris lying next to JC until they stumble out with mussed hair and sleepy eyes.

They reach the loose fence section and Lance pushes it aside while they crawl in. Justin can feel the excitement build up in him, he imagines Chris’ face when they tell him that Lance’s parents are setting Lance up with his own small apartment in the city, somewhere he never has to worry about small town bullies. The way JC’s eyes will light up when he’s told Justin and Lance have seen each other every day since they left and their love grows each one. Then the grin Joey will have when Justin says he’s moving to the city too with his mom, and he’s going to school so he can make something of himself.

Justin’s about to yell when Lance puts a hand over his mouth. “Let’s surprise them.”

It’s a great idea and Justin nods, he grinning so much his face hurts as he walks around the corner, bracing himself for yells and hugs. But the grin slips from his face as he looks around.

There’s obviously no one there. The shelters still stand, but they’re dark and empty inside. The CDs still chime together, shining in the morning sun, but nothing can disguise how empty it is. Justin’s legs shake and he reaches for Lance, holding his arm in a desperate grip.

“They’ve gone, Lance.” Justin can’t look away from the empty shelters, then another thought fills his mind. “Elroy! What if he, they could be…”

“No. Look.” Lance interrupts and points to the wall opposite the shelters. It used to be filled with JC’s drawings, but now there’s only one. It looks fresh and Justin runs a gentle finger across it, half smiling as his skin gets covered in blue chalk.

Lance touches it too, then looks at his blue palm before linking hands with Justin. They look at the picture, a golden phoenix rising from the ashes, while in the background five figures watch, highlighted against a blazing sun. Justin reads the words that are written underneath, tears streaming unheeded down his face.

Justin, Lance. I know you’ll see this, because I know you’ll come back one day. The ties that bind us are too strong to break.

You’re probably be sad now, don’t be. We’ve all moved on, like the phoenix we’ve risen from the ashes, all in our own special way. Joey has his own place now, he has a job and everything. Lance, ask Heather at the magazine place where he lives, she’ll tell you. He wants to see you both so much, we all do.

Chris and I are on our own journey now. He needs to see that beauty is real, not just something that lives in my head. Chris is my inspiration, the reason I keep on going, and I want to prove to him how beautiful he is. We’re going to find ourselves but we’ll be back, never forget that. We love you all too much to keep away.

I won’t say goodbye because it’s not. Hug each other for me then go and hug Joey.

See you soon, JC.

Justin wipes his eyes with his fists then rests his head against Lance’s shoulder. “They’ll come back, right?”

Lance kisses Justin’s head. “JC said they would didn’t he?”

Justin doesn’t reply, he doesn’t have to. They know they’ll come back, it’s just a case of when. But they can wait. They’re not kids anymore. Until then, there’s still Joey to see.

“Come on.” Justin touches the picture once more then walks away. They’ve got a lot to tell Joey.

Current Mood: terrified.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

patchworkdragon.livejournal.com

*gives you a basket of fresh fruit* Sorry, no rotten fruit for you.

I love it. Leaving it open ended like this is just right. Giving them all expensive apartments and high paying jonbs would be too much, too fast. This is real, but so full of hope.

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