A/N: Hello everyone! It hasn't been too long since I last updated but Halloween has passed and I had fun being Danny Phantom at my school. Everyone recognized me! Anyways, I was typing up chapter 28 in Health class and the laptop just spazzed the hell out and I lost it all. I was pretty pissed. But besides that, I'm gonna wish myself a happy birthday because I am turning 16 tomorrow. I'm very surprised that it all happened so fast! Another year gone, and I'm not even old yet, not even close! So here's an update so my readers are just as happy for my birthday as I am. Enjoy! :D


Chapter 28

Dimitri's eyes traveled over the masses of crisp, white sheets of paper, Times New Roman 12 point font, black blotches of ink spelling out long, sophisticated, meaningless words. Bills, job applications, descriptions of said jobs, government policies, awards for having a family member being a positive role in the government...

Dimitri shoved it all aside, gritting his teeth as the papers swayed side to side in the air before crashing to the floor, sweeping away. Dimitri stared at the glossy, maple-wood desk as his head pounded angrily. Jobs, adulthood, future, money. All of it swirled in his head, and he stood up, hands leaving foggy finger imprints on the desk.

He didn't want to follow in his father's footsteps. He didn't want to lead the same, monotonous life he did, mindlessly making money for the family yet never truly enjoying himself. He wanted to provide for Jim, he needed to provide for Jim. He could easily do that with any job, but Dimitri wanted himself to be happy. How could a person live life to the fullest unless they were happy themselves? They could live to make other people smile, but is that as satisfying for them? Every person is different, and Dimitri wanted to make Jim happy, but he wanted to be happy, too. Working brainlessly under a bunch of old men in suits is not what he wanted to do with himself.

Dimitri didn't even know what he wanted to do. He wasn't sure of his interests, even. People may find it disappointing that a 26-year-old man didn't know what he wanted to be yet, but at least he knew what he didn't want to do.

Dimitri grabbed the coat hanging off the back of his chair. He had to get out for a while, at least a couple hours, but it had to be with Jim. It didn't matter if he was cleaning floors or watching a movie, he just needed to be with Jim.


Jim set down the fifteenth clean plate, coated in water and greenish dish soap. He glanced to Dimitri again, who was aggressively wiping circles of bubbles into the plates with a blue sponge. His eyes were hard, his eyebrows scrunched.

"Hey, did you want to take a walk?" Jim spoke softly, and Dimitri set aside the plate, hanging his head slightly.

"... Sure."

Sarah understood, of course, and just piled the plates onto Dr. Doppler's side, who shook his head and sighed in defeat, but took on the task anyways. Jim wiped off his hands and grabbed his coat, walking out the door with Dimitri following behind. They walked along the sidewalks layered in frost. Drops of frozen dew were glued to the sharp edges of cut, dying grass. Jim could see his breath before his lips, and he walked side by side with Dimitri silently. They waited until some time passed before Dimitri expected Jim to speak, and Jim felt it was the right time to speak.

"You seem stressed out," Jim pointed out the obvious, his hands stuffed in his pockets. "I'm... here to listen, you know." He glanced up to Dimitri, then ducked his eyes away embarrassedly. He never really offered to be there for a person before. Nobody ever needed him to be there. But for once, he felt like Dimitri needed him, and it made Jim feel responsible, powerful in a good way.

"The future," Dimitri let out the words, laced with venom. "I wish I could do college over again."

"You can, I think," Jim pointed out.

"But why?" Dimitri continued, and Jim silenced himself, figuring the venting would start. "I don't know what I want to do. I'm done with high school, I went through college with a blank head and now I'm here, happy only because you're in my life." His words softened, and it made Jim feel a little fuzzy. "Though, nobody else is happy. My dad wants me to follow up in his profession. My mother wants me to get married and have kids. And me? I want to be with you, but I want to live with you, not off of you. I want to... have a purpose in life, for myself." He shook his head. "I'm having a major self-identity crisis here. I don't even know if I'm gay."

Jim smiled a bit. He wasn't sure himself, though he couldn't see himself with anyone besides Dimitri, so he hardly dwelled on the topic. It's not like he'd need to state his sexuality for anyone else, as if he wanted to show himself available to other companions in the future.

"I don't know what I want to do either," Jim peeked over to Dimitri shrugging his shoulders and rolling them back. "I mean, I love space, and science, but I have no money for college, and hell, I don't really want to go."

"But you're eighteen," Dimitri pointed out defeatedly, "You're supposed to be confused. By the time you're old, like me, you should damn well know where you're going."

Jim rolled his eyes. "You're not old. Gerascophobic." He noticed Dimitri's hands were hanging out of his pockets. His fingers were red with cold. A silence followed Jim's teasing statement.

"... and just how did you learn that?"

"I blame your oh-so-tempting Book of Phobias in your pompous library," he cast a smile towards Dimitri, "I'm starting to enjoy rich-people hobbies."

"You refer to us like a race," Dimitri let himself laugh. "If that's true, then I'm the black sheep."

"You are," Jim slipped his hand out of his pocket, playfully grabbing Dimitri's hand, which was- contrary to Jim's observations- very warm. He swung their joined hands back and forth. "And that's why I'm here, holding your hand. The Prince and the Pauper."

"Prince," Dimitri snickered. "That's what I am. Next in line for the new generation of boredom. Can I just run away with my soon-to-be-princess, to a far away kingdom, to rule our own land?"

Jim was smiling uncontrollably. "It sounds so cheesy. I just pictured myself in a stupid, puffy pink dress that you'd find in the Girl's section of Spirit Halloween, being carried away in your arms on a galloping white horse. Oh, and we're heading towards the sunset, and my arms are wrapped around your neck, and you've got a knight's armor on. This is getting worse, make it stop." Dimitri was laughing, squeezing his hand.

"Halloween next year is already planned."

"Oh god, please don't do this to me," Jim pleaded, though his cheeks stung from the laughter. Dimitri felt lighter, like the wind whisking through their hair. Love could be heavy, damp, passionate, but it was also a pale pink, like cotton candy- airy, soft, warm. For the first time, Dimitri felt like his problems were small, like a dot far away on the horizon. Jim was by his side, and they were watching it get closer, but they weren't rushing to stand and catch it as it came.