A/N: Response to the first las challenge prompt, "Be Careful What You Wish For."

Disclaimer: Just playing in the DLM sandbox.

No Fine Line

There's no fine line between what you need and what you want. And yet people still fucking insist that it's oh-so-easy to jump from one to the other—to wish for one thing means to wish for both. After a few dozen shots of vodka I stumbled through the darkness of Seattle streets to Der Waffle Haus. If I had to go home and watch Daisy and Mason making nonchalant googly-eyes at each other I was going to shoot one of them. Not that it would've solved my problem, but it would've hurt like a bitch for a while.

Shit.

Waiting in the pliable, pleather booths was an empty space where Rube should be. The fluorescence of the diner did nothing to brighten my mood, and I slumped into his old seat, hunching into the corner he used to occupy. The buzz of the lights did funny things to my brain and I shut my eyes.

I wish Rube were here.

My fist tapped a rhythm on my skull, trying to make the thought disappear. Rube was gone, and wishing wouldn't do a goddamn thing. Besides, what kind of a dick would I be to wish him back to this kinda life? Bringing him back would be something that I would want not something I would need. Right? A selfish impulse that'll disappear like it does every night since the moment I knew he'd left me alone here.

But for now, sipping on a cup of hot coffee, I really wished he was here. Today's reap had been ten kinds of fucked up, and Roxie didn't do the sharing our feelings thing. She generally kept her wisdom to herself and now it felt like I had nothing left. I'd lost my life, my family and my Rube and I'd gained the responsibility of managing this small group of reapers for God knows how long.

A sound of rushing air made me open my eyes to a hallucination. Rube sat in the booth opposite me, his expression simultaneously frightened and angry.

"What did you do?"

I reached out and the feeling of his skin under my fingertips solidified him as more than just a drunk's illusion. "Rube?"

A/N: Reviews are love.