Jeremy blinked, sluggish. He was a bit panicky so it took him a minute to process what Michael had said. "Y-yeah..", he looked up at Michael and frowned. Michael stared at Jeremy, realization finally hitting him. Of course! He been acting shady since they left the mall! What happened in the hallway.. If the... What was it again? The SQUIP. If it was active was it hurting his player 2? Jeremy looked really scared back there.

"Dude..", he looks down at the steering wheel, the leather was tearing a bit. He'd have to fix it. " I'd say we gotta celebrate, but man...", his eyes seemed to stick to that tear. "What happened back there doesn't really seem worth celebrating.", Jeremy relaxed a bit. "Yeah..maybe not.", the taller boy felt a sharp zap in his back and jerked. Michael didn't notice. He only half heard what he'd said anyway. He wanted to tell Michael it would be okay but he wasn't even sure of that himself right now so he opted for the easier option.

Jeremy grabbed Michael's shoulder. Michael broke out of his sort of entranced state to look at his friend. Jeremy choked back the rest of his fear, he was safe with Michael. "...I can't think straight..", he lowered his hand back onto the console. " Can we go..? To your place? Please?", another zap. "Ngh!", it was much worse this time, all up and down his spine. Jeremy instinctively grabbed at his sides. Michael's expression quickly changed again and he leaned over to help Jeremy. "Jer! Are you ok?",

Damn it! This was ridiculous! Why was the SQUIP trying so hard to keep him away from his best friend. "Because he is a loser, Jeremiah. He will only bring you down.", The curly haired boy ignored the voice, looking back at Michael. "I'm fine. Just drive.", Michael reeled back into his seat and buckled up. "Alright..",

"I'll explain it later, ok Michah?", Jeremy took a deep breath and looked out the window of the P.T. Cruiser as it started. The radio flickered to life as Taylor Swift's "Love Story" began to play. "Michael.. You and your music..", Jeremy thought about how cute it was that his hipster best friend, who loved classic rock and Bob Marley and vinyl… also owned three Taylor Swift CDs. It started up from halfway through the song.

"So I sneak out to the garden to see you...",

It filtered through the car speakers, quiet as Michael made his way out of the parking lot. He started tapping along and humming to the beat as the chorus played.

"Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run",

Jeremy stayed silent, listening to the song in tandem with Michael's humming. It was all he could ask for right now to be here, with his best friend, listening to Taylor Swift, in an outdated car. It was almost like everything was normal, like there wasn't a super computer in his brain telling him that this was wrong. That he needed to get out of the car right now! Go find Brooke and go to Pinkberry! Do you not want to be with Christine?

"Romeo save me, they're try'n to tell me how to feel. This love is difficult, but it's real.",

He thought about that. The whole reason he got this stupid thing was to get with Christine. Oh god...What the hell was he gonna do? "Well, you could listen to me Jeremy.",

"I got tired of waitin'",

"Not right now..", Jeremy mumbled to himself because he didn't want Michael to hear.

"Wonderin' if you were ever comin' around",

"I am telling you. This is the right path.", God, why was this so hard. These feelings made no sense. He didn't want to be an outcast, he didn't want to be…

"My faith in you was...fadin'",

"I said not right now", He felt his stomach churn and his face heat up. He didn't know what he wanted. He spent $300 on an abusive pill because he wanted a girl. "Jeremy..", He shut his eyes tight, still facing away from Michael. "Deactivate.",

"Jeremy",

"I said deactivate",

"Jer-",

"Romeo save me, I've been feelin' so alone. I keep waitin' for you but you never come",

"Just stop!", Jeremy slammed the side of his fist into the car window and gripped the side of his head with his other hand. The SQUIP did what it was told and deactivated. The tears flowed freely. Why did he do this? Why? This was such a bad idea. Why did he do this why did hedo this why di d he doo this whydidd he dothis whydidhedothis?

It was silent now as Michael drove. He shut the radio off. He had stopped humming, stopped tapping. He just...stopped. As soon as he found a place to park he did. It was at a public park. Well, you could call it that, it wasn't much. There was a swing set, a slide and a bench. All three of the fixtures seemed to be drowning in wood chips.

Jeremy hadn't stopped crying and Michael hadn't said anything. "Oh god, he thinks I was yelling at him!", Michael stepped out of the car. "He's gonna leave me here at this weird park.", Jeremy's car door was opened. He was pulled outside (very gently but he didn't notice). "Oh god this is it.", Michael grabbed his hand and started dragging him over to a bench that was absolutely covered in wood chips. He sat Jeremy down, left hand placed gently over the crying boy's back. Jeremy was surprised, shouldn't he be mad?

Michael took off his hoodie and offered it to Jeremy. "Take this.", He reached out to grab it and noticed that his hands were shaking. Oh no. He was having a panic attack. That made a lot more sense. He took the hoodie tried to put it on, but it was futile. He decided to tie it around his shoulders instead. Michael waited for him to finish and then wrapped his arm around Jeremy. The philipino boy pulled his friend onto his shoulder, rubbing circles on his back and whispering reassurances to him.

Jeremy continued to cry, he was trying so hard to stop but that only seemed to make it worse. Michael didn't leave though, even though Jeremy yelled and cried. Michael was smart, he knew that Jer wasn't yelling at him. It would be ok. They would figure this out. He would wait for Jeremy to calm down, then they could go get stoned in his basement.