I ahem, I finished the story. It's horrible. Made me cry. It's done. Oh and I know everyone was a little shocked with the whole Dylan dying thing. So I'll fix that up as well. Read on my lovlies. My self esteem has been brutally shot down. So erm. Ja.

Chapter 22: Remember Me, Jakey

"You're a fucking cheater" Brian snaps and Alex frowns down at the paper on the foldable table. They were playing tic tac toe while Ryan and Marco fussed over Michael's frail body and Robert sniffed in the corner, switching from news station to news station. Andy bit into some chocolate and let it swish in his mouth.

"The X thingy can't fucking eat a white dot, this isn't pac man!" Alex snaps back and Brian was quiet for a moment. " It isn't?"

"You can't play pac man on paper!" Alex sighs out and Michael cracks a little smile," Yeah Brian, you should know that"

"Whatever" Brian frowns, but smiles quickly since Michael is actually talking again. The room is a little quiet for a while when the telephone rings. "Hello?" Michael whispers into the phone," Room 210"

"Hello love"

"Jake?" Michael is beyond devastated at the voice and the room is filled with silence.

"Yeah…."

"Where are you?"

"I don't know" Jake's voice is so broken," A hotel room floor….I ah…had too much to drink last night and um, haven't been able to get up yet"

"Do you know how worried I've been?" Michael's voice rises," How could you go and do that to me, to us, after everything? Don't you love me enough to figure out that it's enough? -"

"I tried to kill myself Michael"

"Wh-"

"I tried to kill myself and I fucking stopped because our engagement ring was hanging around my neck in the mirror like a noose and I realized if I killed myself I killed you. So I didn't." Jake's words are broken up and shaky," It's raining outside where I'm at, it's so still Michael. Too quiet. Now I know what it feels like to be in the hospital all the time alone like you are. "

"Jake" Michael says as he sits up in the bed," Come home"

"I can't. I'm afraid" Jake cries a little on the phone," And you're in the hospital again…Michael….I can'- I can' t keep doing this anymore. We've been through too much….too fucking much. And god….I threw my pills down the drain…I mean Michael did, I didn't do anything, and its so hard to see….to breathe….and I just want you with me Michael, please-" Jake's hysterical now and Michael can't help but tear up himself. " Tell me where you are love, I'll find you-"

"You can't find me!"

"We always find each other" Michael's words fall from the phone like lead and Jake sniffs a little," I don't want you to find me"

"You just said you needed me-"

"I do-"

"You're such a fucking hypocrite!"

"….you loved me for that."

"I did" Michael sounds dead now. "Come on, come on Jake- Jakey. Jakey. Tell me that you love me. Wake up. Wake up and tell me that you fucking love me, okay, and then we'll all be better, so that- tha- that way we can get marr- married"

"I'm awake. M' room 324" Jake's groggy voice says other wise and he frowns," How much did you drink?"

"I don't remember….he….he brought me a bottle…."

"Jake, you're not making an sense"

"Mmm…not feeling well now…."

"Jake, Jake don't fucking fall asleep on me …."

"I'll….see you, Mikey…." Jake whispers and there's breathing on the phone, but he doesn't hang up. Michael listens there in silence for a while, the uneven breathing and he can picture the jerky rise and fall of his chest and how his hair and probably pitched to one side of his face, or how is neck is probably red from wringing the necklace around his neck too much. And then he thought for a second before saying quickly," Get me a wire and a calculator…"

Ahh…Jake, has it come down to this? Are you that fucking weak that you have to resort to trying to hang yourself with your own wedding ring necklace? How sad, yet still amusing.

Jake's still on the floor of the hotel room, his breath is harsh and uneven and he hears Michael's taunting voice in the back of his mind egging him on. Sometimes having a schizophrenic counter part is not as amusing as it seems. " Shut up Michael."

Oh, you ruined your wedding. I can't believe that crack head was right, you are a failure, a wonderful fucking train crash and you know what? I enjoy every minute of it. Why don't you go and shoot yourself Jake, end it all now. Wouldn't that be wonderful, you know it would, it'd be the best fucking thing in your life. Ha, you could even say it was the first day of your life.

"I'm not doing anything….ah…" Jake trails off as he lifts his arm off the floor and bushes himself up to the bed before walking ashamedly towards the mirror and looking at himself. Without realizing it he pulls back his finger in a trigger motion and puts it towards his head.

Bang, bang . Michael coos out and Jake automatically drops his hand down. " Don't do that"

You are so. Fucking. Dull. I'm really mad that you proposed to that ass Michael. Bad enough he has the same name as me. I don't want you thinking about me while him and you are doing the dirty.

"Just stop talking" Jake groaned out, placing his hands on his head and closing his eyes," Your voice gives me migraines"

I have the same voice as you.

But that's all Michael says before Jake tips his head back and screams as loud as he fucking can. Doesn't know weather it's a scream for help or not yet.

"How is this supposed to help?" Alex asks as he holds the wire still outside the window and Michael balances the calculator in his hands. " You see, all phones carry out wave signals, like cell phone incept without the risk of cancer…" He bites his lip as he counts the beat on the phone and punches the numbers into his calculator. " So it's almost like bugging a phone. If I count the number out beats or signals that the phone puts out, then I can figure out where the fuck he is. Like, if he's in new York or something, there'd be exactly 12355 beats."

"And isn't that going to take forever?" Robert shifts, moving the other wire around.

'Yeah, so uh, that's why I'm a genius, I worked out a system a long time ago when I used to hack into Marco's computer while me and Jake were….separated. Sorry Marco, so there's a way of shortening the lengths, you just have to be patient. I just hope he doesn't realize he hasn't hung up the phone yet"

Marco walks out of the room and towards the bathroom before locking the door and pulling out a picture of Dylan. A old one, freshly wrinkled due to the way he shoved it in his jeans pocket the following morning and covered with tears. How did that get there? Didn't he rip and burn and tear them all up? Oh no, not this one. His second date with Dylan at the dot, he remembers the picture well. Dylan has his arm snug around Marco's slender waist and had two straws up his nose, Marco like wise grinning like an idiot.

He almo- almost missed him.

But then he remembered how he had stumbled into the bar.

How Dylan had been there waiting on the bar, drunk off his ass and how his eyes lit up at the sight of Marco there, teary eyed and sick, wanting to sit down anywhere and everywhere, but not wanting to pass out. How he wrapped an arm around him and snuggled in close, inhaling his scent. He remembers the way his fingers graped the buttons of his shirt and how he pulled Dylan down in for ruken kisses and sly touches under the shirt.

Remebered the look, the feel.

Loved all of it.

Made sure to forget about Ryan and just enjoy Dylan like he used to before Ryan came.

Everything was better before Ryan came.

So he giggled against his strong mouth and asked quietly," Your place or mine" and it was set.

Until they got on the road, both drunk and both a little too dizzy on whatever lust had built up between them over the years. Especially when Marco slipped a hand up Dylan's shirt making him shiver slightly. He was going to make him love him. He was going to fucking make it happen. Make Ryan feel bad for being disappointed with him.

But he stopped and Dylan looks up with hazy eyes disappointed.

And Marco is just confused.

Where did he go wrong?

He shouldn't be doing this.

"What's the matter?" Dylan looks so hurt that Marco reaches out and places a palm against his face and you can taste the cigarette remains on his lips as he leans in and kiss him one last time before whispering, " Love you Dylan" . Close his eyes and throws up a little into his hand, because the car is turning around the corner and up the block.

"I want you to believe me" Jamie frowns out as Rory waves his arms and takes Michael's hand while Jamie takes Jake. " Stop fussing, you can't cross the street alone" Jamie hisses and Jake quiets down. They cross the street quickly so Rory starts up again, complaining while Michael looks up at Rory and asks," What happened to Jamie?" He sticks a thumb in his mouth and Rory glances over at Jamie's black eye and cringes.

"He slipped"

"He slipped on a fist" Jake snorts and Rory stops and hits him in the head," That's not funny Jake, say sorry"

"Ohh, that hurt!" He snaps, rubbing his head gently Michael gently takes his thumb out his mouth and smooths Jake's head back down before taking his hand instead of Rory's and frowning a little. " Does it hurt a lot?"

"Well yeah" Jake frowns but blushes when Michael kisses his head and sighs," I think that Rory's a little tied"

Jamie doesn't look amused," You didn't have to hit Jake" He hisses and Rory can barely control himself as he grits his teeth and blows some hair out of his face," I know…it's just ahem….sorry Jamie, really I just-" He stops and closes his eyes for a moment and Jamie feels so heart broken he takes his hand and guides him along closer to the boys," It's okay"

Because everyone knows that Rory ofically has a anger problem that needs to be checked.

Maybe if they had realized that earlier they would've realized that there may have been a way tp prevent Jake from turning out the same way.

Marco remembers everything a bit more clearly now.

And if he hadn't gotten out the car with Dylan, maybe he still would've been alive.

It's just pure confusion now that he thinks about it, pure confusion. It would seem that everything in his life had a chain reaction.

Look at it this way. Dylan was on the phone with Marco when he died….he…he didn't see the other car coming around the corner because he was crying into the phone how he didn't understand why he and Marco had ended so abruptly.

If Marco hadn't have gotten out of the car Dylan wouldn't have called him, he wouldn't have crashed into the other car, and he wouldn't have died.

So in a way, Marco killed Dylan.

Why was he mad at Dylan in the first place?

How did he leave Dylan in the first place?

Ryan.

Ryan.

Marco seethed.

He didn't eat any food today.

But that didn't stop him from sticking his finger down his throat.