A Few Years
By EclipseKlutz
Drama/Angst/Romance
Hints of Grim/Mandy… kind of. Can be interpreted into any relationship you want.
Disclaimer: I don't own Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, I simply meddle with its universe and fix what I don't like… or make it worse, you know. In laments terms: me no own, you no sue.
A/N: First Grim ficcie and my pet project, so if you've nothing good to say of it then say nothing at all. Thank you. However, I will warn you in advanced that this is slightly AU as the characters in the original Grim could hardly be expected to do some of these things…
"…Some days I cry alone
But I know I'm not the only one…"
Lacuna Coil: Falling Again
On the few occasions he found himself with a chance to look back, he'd find himself wishing for the days he'd, at the time, prayed would end. The world was just so much simpler before Billy and Mandy reached puberty, stopped talking, and entered high school—so much easier to comprehend when his companionship wasn't being fought over by the two former best friends. And, despite all of their misadventures, it'd also been less hectic as it lacked the persistent interference of dates, drugs, social crowds, and the pressure of achieving the attention of a desired college.
Naturally, it'd all taken its toll on him, forced him to shove one of the two out of his life forever… it might have been difficult back then (although he would have never admitted it), but at the time the decision had been welcomed and he'd waved goodbye without a second thought. Although now… well, now his choice presented a few problems.
The room he sat in smelt heavily of smoke, submitted to the air by both the putridly scented incense and the several empty packs of cigarettes scattered across the stained blue carpeting. Upon noticing several yellow blotches on his bones and assuring himself it could never be jaundice he'd begun to suspect that the smoke was the cause—it seemed to have done a marvelous job in ruining the furniture. Of course, he was under the impression that the inhabitant's constant vengeful tantrums might have also contributed to the worn accommodations.
The Grim Reaper sighed, leaning his cloaked head back against the wall wondering how he ever could have landed in a situation like this as another random, horribly easy, math question was shot at him. His voice was tired to his own ears as he answered, "Forty-two squared."
His alleged best friend shot him a look of pure confusion as he reread the question both out loud and silently. Finally, Billy shook his head, rubbing hard at the matted clump of hair above his upper lip, "It's thirty, dumb ass."
Grim simply nodded, not seeing the point in pressing the case further.
"An' why're you still sittin' there?" Billy demanded, looking up from his hated homework once again. "Go clean—do my chores, make yerself useful. Cook somethin'. Irwin'll be here soon."
With mumbled submission, Grim climbed shakily to his feet and exited the room, his fingers unconsciously grasping for something they wouldn't find. His scythe… missing for two years due to Billy's newfound arrogance and need to be in charge. His precious scythe was sitting chained in a broom cupboard, collecting dust—the only reason why he remained with the insolent fool.
Yet as he walked out of the room, crossing into the hallway, he didn't see why. He'd lasted long enough without the damn stick… was the torment of playing maid and slave to a mortal teenage boy and his even more (if it was possible) grotesque friend worth it? Before, well… before "friend" had been in the contract, bold print and all. Now it was nowhere to be seen—another pointless word amongst many.
Without so much as glancing over his shoulder, Grim wandered down the staircase, careful to skip the creaking steps, and headed out into the cold air of the night.
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The next morning found him holding two steaming caramel mochas and standing uncertainly beside a rather familiar locker; he'd begun to haunt it after Billy became enticed with substances that would easily butcher his health just to speak and complain to its owner, although he'd been banned from such communication when he'd said "goodbye" several years prior.
Now, however, it seemed fair to rewrite this contract—she knew very well herself he preferred to stay by her locker during the day instead of Billy's, in fact, he wouldn't doubt it if Billy was highly aware of this fact as well and yet simply failed to acknowledge it. She would take him back… she had to.
The she in question arrived several moments later, looking rather worse for wear. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail; her clothes were disheveled and oddly resembled the ones she'd worn the day before, save the addition of a worn, oversized green jacket; and the dark shadows beneath either of her eyes were currently the prominent features of her face. As she saw him, she pulled her coat tighter around her small form and inhaled sharply, shaking her head, "You can't be here, Grim."
He frowned as he handed her the mocha that had slowly begun to scorch the bones of his palm. This was a common greeting nowadays—her telling him off, claiming something about Sperg and jealousy issues before rushing off to her first period class with an armful of secondhand books. Today, however, he wouldn't let her continue this ritual.
"I have to be here," he answered solemnly, taking a sip from his own paper cup as she dumped her faded black backpack unceremoniously to the floor of the locker and hung her coat.
She offered him a sidelong glance and knelt down to pick through the contents of her bag, placing the mocha he'd offered her on the floor so she could easily fish out her calculus book. "Why do you 'have' to be here, then?"
Her tone was void of emotion, save the small hint of bitterness underlying its edges; just enough to inform him that she already knew his reasoning.
"I'm so sick of Billy ordering me around, intoxicating himself with those damned plants. And Irwin… oh, I never want to seethat boy's ugly face again… I'm done being used. Done being forced to serve his every need. Even you didn't do this to me," he vented, his voice growing more angered with each word. He stood there for a moment, breathing heavily, thoroughly enraged, before finally drawing in a deep breath and grabbing her shoulders, turning her to face him. His expression and voice pleading, he finished, "Please, Mandy, help me."
She frowned, slipping out of his grip. Letting her gaze drop to the floor, she said sadly, "I… I can't, Grim. I'm sorry."
With this, she cradled the calculus book in the nook of her arm as she knelt down and picked up the mocha and turned to leave. He reached out as she walked past him, wrapping his bony fingers around her wrist, preventing her departure. Not gently, although not roughly either, he pulled her back around, again to face him, and not releasing his grip on her wrist he inquired softly, "Why not?"
"A million reasons," Mandy offered, her voice just as quiet, as dangerously gentle as his. "One of them being the contract… the other being—MOVE!"
She shoved him into her locker and closed the door before he had time to respond. He heard the small thump as she fell back against the metal of the door, breathing heavily, and he heard the loud tap of approaching footsteps… footsteps that stopped directly in front of the place she was standing.
Billy's voice; loud, clear, and angry through the vents in the locker: "Where is he?"
Mandy's breathing instantly slowed and he could easily imagine her straightening into perfect composure, "Who?"
"Oh, don't play dumb--"
"I'm not, that's your job, remember?" Mandy interrupted him, a snarl fringing the edges of her voice. "So, Mr. My-Vocabulary-Consists-of-Two-Words, what brings you to talk to me on this once fine morning?"
Billy actually sounded moderately convinced that she had no idea what was going on as he rambled, "Grim's missing. He likes you. He's with you. Somewhere… where is he?"
"Missing, huh? This is a surprise to you? I'm rather disappointed he didn't run away sooner," Mandy said, her tone mildly cynical. "Well, I really don't hope you find him, but I've got to get to calculus—you know, the twelfth grade math that kids who can't get past ninth grade don't get to take. See ya."
There were the sounds of feet shuffling as Mandy shoved Billy out of her way and walked down the hallway, abandoning Grim in the very confined space of her locker. Billy lingered in the halls a moment longer, apparently still processing the previous conversation, before turning and walking away as well.
Grim allowed a relieved sigh to seep from his throat and let himself relax. Mandy had just as well as saved him… but she wouldn't take him out of this wretched, unfair contract with Billy. Why? She would have before. Had these past few years truly changed her so much that she would no longer challenge obstacles that were just a tad trickier or more demanding than her homework?
For what felt like hours he sat there, dwindling away the time as his muddled thoughts chased each other through his head. Finally, the door to her locker swung open to reveal her standing there, exhausted.
"It's safe now, Grim," she told him quietly, her gaze slightly unfocused. She yawned as he climbed out of her locker and stretched his aching limbs, looking at her with a bit of concern.
"Have you not been sleeping, child?" he inquired after a moment as she unloaded several books into her locker (how she'd gotten them without returning here he'd never know).
She frowned, rubbing at her eyes with the back of her sleeve, "Is it that obvious?"
He nodded, "Why not?"
"A million reasons, Grim," she said sullenly, her speech broken by the persistence of another yawn. "None of which you need to know."
His mouth formed a grim line as he watched her pick various other books from the locker, and watched her small form seem to struggle with the weight. As she straightened herself and closed the locker, he inquired, "Where's Sperg?"
Her form went rigid yet she offered no response other than looking inside her locker.
The line of his mouth sloped downwards on either side, "What did he do?"
She continued to busy herself with something in her locker, pretending she hadn't heard him. Yet this didn't disguise the way she tensed even more.
His frown deepened further, "What did you do?"
She dug deeper in her locker, apparently very determined to find something.
He leaned over, grabbing her shoulders and turning her to face him for what felt like the millionth time that day. "Mandy, what happened?"
She shook her head furiously, placing her palms flat on his chest in a feeble attempt to shove him away. Her eyes began to water and he gently wrapped his arms around her, holding her close as she began to sob into his shoulder, her fists tightening around his robes.
Resting his head in her hair, he bit back the sigh that fought to escape his throat. Maybe he wasn't the one that needed saving after all…
He remembered Mandy to be strong—to hold her own even when on the verge of breaking. He remembered her to press on even if she had nothing left to fight for. He remembered her to have a strict sense of values, and occasional times in which she displayed emotions that nearly resembled compassion. He remembered everything; a trait he had always prided in, and this very trait told him that he had never seen Mandy cry.
They stood there for a while, even as the bell rang and a horde of late students rushed to their next class. He held her, gently caressing her hair, until she ran out of tears and gently pushed him away.
She wouldn't meet his eyes for a minute or so as she stood awkwardly before him, finally mumbling a weak, "Thank you."
He responded with a curt nod.
"You… you can come back," she continued after a moment, wringing her hands nervously. "I only said you couldn't earlier because… well, I guess I still worry. Worry about things that I shouldn't… like, like Sperg and…"
Her voice faded, and he leaned forward, gently kissing her cheek. "Then don't worry. If anything, I owe you some protection… although I never thought you'd need it."
She offered him a small smile, "Amazing what can happen in a few years, huh?"
"Truly."
A/N: Again, if nothing good to say then say nothing at all, although you probably shouldn't have read this far if you didn't like it. Got distracted near the end so I apologize if it's sloppy. Meant for more but I wanted to finish this before I started on other projects… maybe someday I'll add to it. T'ill then, see ya.
Once again, because I feel the need to repeat myself, this is my pet project,so please resist temptation to flame. Otherwise, please, please review.