Andrew didn't have a very eventful life.
He was a product of the hell hole called Jingletown and never left the city once. Father was a drunk. Mother a druggie. But did Andrew care? Nope. He didn't give a fuck.
That was until Johnny came into the picture. To be honest, Johnny bugged the crap out of Andrew but he had to admit that the guy was full of ideas. The "Jesus of Suburbia", as his friends called him, was leaving the city and anyone was welcome to join. Well, Andrew liked Will and Tunny and meeting up with other friends couldn't be too bad. So he hopped on the bus, against his mothers wishes and headed to the city. Once reunited with his friends, things seemed to get better. Getting away gave Andrew the time to reflect on how shitty his life actually was.
Wearing only his favorite shirt, jeans and shoes while carrying only his old backpack, Andrew stepped into new territory. The others were equally in awe. He hated Johnny but his ideas were spot on. Will had dropped out of the plan cause his girlfriend was pregnant. Andrew took an offer given by Van and Miguel to stay with them in a run down apartment. Then one night, after hitting the bar, they ran into the one and only.
St. Jimmy.
Andrew wasn't a stranger to drugs but he wasn't a fan either. Yet he hopped on the bandwagon with all his friends as St. Jimmy shot them all to paradise. Johnny returned stating that Tunny had joined the army. Theo became a loyal servant to "The Saint" along with Gerard and the two convinced Andrew to stay with them while some of the others began to leave, almost afraid of what would happen if they stayed under the Saints rule. His phone was filled with messages from his mother and threats from his father which gave him more reasons to stay in the city. He had to admit the lifestyle was fun but it wasn't one he'd want to be stuck in.
Andrew stayed till the end. He watched as slowly all his friends trickled away. Some died from an overdose, others got themselves in trouble and were arrested. The rest left the city life behind. Ben and Declan begged Andrew to come with them but he felt safe and smart enough to stay. The two boys knew Andrew still had a good head on his shoulders and would be smart around St. Jimmy. Gerard and Theo were long gone and everybody knew that. They were past a point of no return.
It wasn't until Andrew was holding a dead St. Jimmy in his arms did he realize that he had stayed too long. Delirious, Theo and Gerard disappeared and Johnny was nowhere to be seen. Andrew left the body by the bay and bought a ticket for the first bus coming home.
His parents never took him back in but Andrew was okay with that. Instead he stayed with his buddy Chase. There he spent long days on the couch and occasionally spent other days on Will's couch which was always open for a friend since Heather had left him. Not long after he came back, Johnny returned which caused a big commotion down at the 7-11. Andrew forced himself to go down and check it out. Besides the few who had failed to return, everyone was there. A couple of new faces like Heathers weird boyfriend had also appeared. It was quite a sight to see how the journey had changed everybody. Nothing could make life be the way it was before but Andrew didn't care. The city had changed him in ways he never thought were possible. Its a good thing he took that risk to follow Johnny's plan.
He reminded himself to go and shake that bastards hand.