Disclaimer- I DO NOT own Time Warp Trio

Life as We Know It

JOE's POV

Reaching up I pulled one of the lit torches off the cave wall and taking a quick glance back at my recently awoken….companions, I led the trek through the mysterious caves. As we walked I began to get lost in my thoughts.

Companions?

Is that really what we had become? Thinking back to our younger days I would have never hesitated to call them anything less than friends.

Best friends.

I guess time really does change things. A bitter chuckle slipped through my lips. Funny, I'm supposedly destined to change time itself. Ironically, it never occurred to me that time could change me.

"What…what happened to us?"

I stopped walking and turned my head to Sam. It's like he had read my mind, but only he had the courage to say it out loud.

"Sam, what do you mean?" Fred asked, his face contorting into a familiar state of confusion.

"I mean, what happened?" Sam's voice was quiet, but steady. "Why…why are we like this now? We used to be so close."

"Things change Sam. That's life." Fred said simply, not bothering to go into detail. He turned his head and began to walk farther into the cave.

"That's life? That's life? We were best friends for years and all you have to say is 'that's life'? Are you serious Fred?" Sam's voice was dripping with anger and hurt.

Fred quickly turned around and stared at Sam with glaring eyes.

"What do you want me to say Sam? I'm sorry life happened? I'm sorry we grew up?"

"Well I'm sorry my ex best friend grew up to be a complete asshole!"

Within seconds Fred had traveled back to Sam and stood their faces only inches of each other.

"I'd rather be an asshole then some lonely little loser that no one even likes! At least I have friends! What do you have?"

"A heart." In as instant Sam's body was lifted at the collar by Fred's strong hands and thrown down onto the cave floor.

"What the hell Fred?" I yanked Fred by the shoulder, causing him to stumble back a few steps, but not enough to stop him from shoving me in the chest.

"Back off Joe!"

"Why don't you?" I said shoving Fred back with as much gruff as he had given me.

"What's your problem?"

"At the moment, you Fred!"

Our shoving became more violent with each one. Now, if you were to ask me who threw the first punch I would automatically said Fred. In all honesty, it could have been me. At this point, I'm not too sure it really mattered.

I could hear Sam yelling at us to "stop" and "quite being dumbasses." None of it really hit me until I felt myself being dragged off of Fred by Sam's lanky arms.

o~TWT~o

"Look at them. The way they act is simply moronic." A dark voice said, chuckling. The figure sat watching the boy's misfortunes unravel on a clear crystal ball.

"I think we've seen enough. Go get them." The figure turned its head around to look at three pairs of eyes staring straight back through the dark. In a swift movement the three pairs of eyes quickly disappeared.

"Things are surely about to get very interesting."

o~TWT~o

The three boys stayed slumped against the cave wall, their bodies covered in dust.

"Look at us. We were best friends. All we have to show for it are bruises and cave shit in our hair." Joe said lifting his hand up to feel his bruising eye. Silence lingered.

"We took it for granted."

Joe and Sam turned to Fred, who was sitting in-between the two. His hat in his lap and his eyes staring into empty space.

"What?" Sam asked.

"We took it for granted." Fred repeated. His face blank.

"We assumed that our friendship would always be there. We thought it was set in stone. Like the pyramids or some shit like that." Fred scuffed. "We thought… I thought in twenty years I could call you guys up and we would still meet at our favorite pizza place just like always. I…I thought we'd be friends forever."

Fred let his face look from Sam to Joe's.

"That's why we're not okay now. That's what happened to us."

Joe and Sam sat there, letting Fred's words resonate with them. It took a while. Like a twisted word puzzle. You kept saying the words to yourself until they made sense.

Sam let his eyes linger to Fred's and a sigh escaped his lips.

"Maybe for the first time, you're right Fred."

Thank you!