Badges Of Honor

By: Seraph-Anaesthesia

Chapter Three: Staring Out A Broken Window- Jeremiah Slaughter

Why did his head hurt so bad? He could of sworn he had been hit by a gynormous truck. Maybe the world was out to get him! After all, that stupid friend of Van's...Oh! NOW he remembered! Man, was he going to get that girl for doing that to him. He sat up in the bed he was in, lazily making his way over to a near-by hanging mirror. He about feel over when he saw his jumbled appearance though.

He had a shining black eye the size of a full grown squash!

Muttering something about evil girls in Nazi uniforms ready to kill him, he opened the door out into the light. Dilandau had to shield his eyes with his hands and arms as he walked out into the living room. It turned out that he was in Van's house now, he remembered the pale green walls and white furnishing. Dilandau saw Van sitting on the couch, sighing as he flipped through the channels. He stopped on some gory horror movie when he saw Dilandau.

"How ya feeling? Better, I assume...," Van took in a sharp intake of breath as he turned around to stare at Dilandau's eye. Van merely winced and got up to get him some ice to hold on the swelling black and blue bruise.

"Where. Is. That. Girl..?! I am going to murder her. Or better yet, burn her." Dilandau's eye twitched like whenever he got mad, making Van laugh slightly as he motioned for Dilandau to follow him. The albino could faintly make out the words to the song that seemed to be blaring from the door next to Van's room.

'This is a debate against matters of the heart

You're always teething, seething, tearing me apart

It's getting old now, I'm tired of picking up shards of glass

I'm getting so familiar with staring out a broken window'

Van opened the door next to his that had been painted black and green, contrasting to his black and red. The door was covered in Branded By Angels posters along with Jeremiah Slaughter and Brand New posters and pictures. Hanging off of the knob was an evil bunny that said, 'MY room. Get it?' on the front.

Van opened the door anyway, as Dilandau eyed him skeptically, noting the sign as he walked into the room with Van. The walls were painted also a pale tea-green color, but most of the furniture was black. Even the velvet comforter and sheet set was black velvet. There was a huge stereo on one side of the wall, and there were posters everywhere. Dilandau glared hard at the humming figure that was rummaging through the closet, as if trying to see through the wooden door.

Van walked over and turned the stereo off with one hand, flipping on the light switch near the closet, only to have a pale hand reach out and flick it back off. There stood Hitomi, dressed in baggy black jeans and a green T-shirt. She had mini barrettes in her hair, pulling part of it away from her ears. Green earrings, eye shadow, and nail polish completed the look, along with some shiny lip gloss. Hitomi was smiling slightly and poke Dilandau in the eye. He just started complaining to Van about her.

"Van! What is SHE doing HERE? In your HOUSE? In this room?! Who's room is this?!" Dilandau was looking around furiously, his eyes scanning the area for any sign of ownership. Hitomi smiled at him and took a seat next to Van on the un-made bed that was next to them. Dilandau had his arms up in the air with "rage" while Van was smirking. Hitomi was just blinking with an expression that rivalled the word, "Crazy."

'We fight, then fight some more, fingers torn and getting sore

Just stand there for a second, let me look at you for a while

Poor child, where did you get that beautiful black eye

You cannot take your eyes off that pretty little shiner'

"This HER room."

Now, obviously, Hitomi thought the expression on Dilandau's face was quite humorous, because she burst out laughing and had to lean on Van's shoulder to keep from falling over with giggles. Dilandau's eyes were wide open and resembled the size of cherry tomatoes and his mouth hung open loosely in surprise. He took one look at Van and questioned the obvious.

"H...her room? Does...she..." He gulped loud. "Live here?" That question even made Van shake in his shoes with only barely contained laughter. He clapped his hand onto Dilandau's shoulder and pretended to not laugh.

"Of course not." Van grinned at Dilandau as Hitomi just smiled happily as she curled up next to Van, while Dilandau sat in the chair in front of them. He now had on a curious expression and slightly weirded out, but Van and Hitomi just looked at each other and decided that they ought to tell him anyway.

Van spoke first. "Hitomi spends so much time here, and neither of us know why. I spend time at her house too, but not as much as she spends here. I don't have parents, so we're allowed to use the entire house. We're good friends, though we don't show it, and we've been there for each other."

He took a deep breath.

'Another wasted bottle, I'm living with your spoiled milk

These eggs are rotten, we'll all die of starvation

You aren't making a very good role model

Oh darn, there goes another bottle down the drain'

"When Hitomi was little, nobody liked her at all. She was the strange new kid, and she always had this weird necklace that she carried around. She was only twelve back then, and I was here alone. I was smart back then, and for Hitomi's 13th birthday, I made her a room of her own. She's been staying over here ever since." Van grinned at Hitomi with light eyes. Hitomi seemed content and just grinned right on back.

"You mean you're not smart NOW?" Now, THAT wasn't the kind of answer they were expecting. Mostly just an odd look or an, "Ok." Dilandau just glanced at them with a kind of longing in his eyes. Was it that...he was lonely? Hitomi couldn't make out the expression too clearly, since his head was turned to the side. Then she popped up, remembering something.

"Oh, I forgot! I'm really sorry about hitting you earlier. I just have this weird thing about perverts... You should have seen me when I first met Van! I sprayed him with pepper spray!" Van face-faulted as Hitomi told one of his secrets, and he blushed lightly. She smiled playfully and punched him in the arm. It was quite easy to see the way Van leaned into her.

'Pour out all of your alcoholics, I don't want to clean it up

There's retching in the bathroom, I think I might throw up

Won't you look at me like that, you're just not dangerous

Don't even pretend that you don't care about it, 'cause you do'

Dilandau grinned in spite of himself, laughing along with them. For once, maybe he had found friends. Not the kind of friends that he used to have, like Folken or some of the other creeps he had the displeasure to come in contact with. Suddenly, another thing seemed to pop into Hitomi's mind as she remembered another thing. (Geez, how many things does this girl hafta remember?!)

"Oh! Guess what Van! Allen's coming to visit!"

Sudden death in Carolina. Van face-faulted so hard that he almost fell over, getting a kind of 'kicked puppy' look in his eyes. Her straightened himself out, getting up. He walked out of the room completely, just leaving Dilandau and Hitomi to gape at each other. Hitomi was the first one to get out and run after him, and Dilandau was as confused as hell. He called after Hitomi, "I'm gonna go ahead and go now!" All he heard back was a short, "Okay! Bye!"

Van was on the roof, his knees pulled loosely up to his chest, his arms resting out over his kneecaps. A scowl seemed to be perfectly painted on his handsome features, wind blowing his black hair into his red-brown eyes, and he didn't even bother to brush it out of the way. Hitomi came and sat down next to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "What's wrong?"

"Everything." Van ran his fingers through his hair, looking at Hitomi. She gasped at the sorrow and despair his eyes were filled with. Hitomi looked down sadly, playing with her pink-red pendant that hung around her slender neck. She let go of him sadly, recoiling into a small bundle. Hitomi's own eyes filled with guilt.

"I'm sorry, Van. I should have told you sooner. I should have broken the news gently..."

"It's all right Hitomi, I just hate Allen's guts."

'I won't ask you how I'm supposed to beat you, I'm not interested in victory

I've seen too many guts exploding, I've got a colourful history

It's getting cold now, I'm tired of picking up shards of our shredded family

I'm getting so familiar with staring out a broken window'

"He's just so annoying. With his girly hair. He's always trying to take you away from here. I'm just worried that someday he will."

'This is for you, darling, this is my future seeing

I would never wish you anything but bad luck, I know you know I suck

I'll never make a very good role model, and that's okay

Because a little is a little too little is too much so much'

"Van, you know I'd never leave you behind. And...wow...That was...deep."

'This is a debate against matters of the heart

Watch me party because you're sobered up again

While your awake, won't you buy me a brand new car

I'm getting so familiar with staring out a dirty windshield'

"Yeah, yeah...I'm a sucker for anything romantic."

'Everything's never been better, never been better, never been better...'

A/N: Moo! Man, that chapter was a beast to tame! I gotta get this off my chest now... Go read Darkcherry's Amicitia!! I just wrote this thing for that story. I'm reading it right now...and totally spazzing out! Read below! It's my...um...thing...for Amicitia! Read and review, my little darlings!

Kind of sad now, kind of mad now. There's something in the water and it's poisoning us all. We're being torn apart, the loss of innocence goes on forever. We're rotting here, sweet love bathed in complete misery. They're gone, and he just won't stop running. They're gone, and she's hurting so bad. My best friend has never been this sad. I don't wanna give up now, but the bottle is already half-way empty, and there's bruises everywhere. I'm sorry, I just don't trust you, mother. I'm sorry, am I any safer with father? Everything's gone wrong, and I'm running out of make-up. To cover up the scars. God's on vacation, up in Heaven. Our world is being torn apart. It's getting late, a debate simply covered in despair. Every time you touch the wound, or think about it, you wind up getting burned. Wait, it's getting better. But nobody knows, could be the calm after the storm. You're finally getting it together now, what a great life you'll have. Wait, no, my love is speaking. We'll all have a great life together, because best friends are forever. Just 'cause we won't be in school together doesn't mean this is all over. It's just beginning, I think. "Yeah, it' just the beginning."