Alright everyone, this is the last chapter of Mr. Brightside. Read the bottom if you would and I'll tell you a little about the sequel!

Mr. Brightside

Chapter 14

The End of the Beginning

"Ugh, what time is it?"

Torn lifted his head up from the mahogany desk and blinked a few times, the early morning sun glaring across his face. He rubbed his tired burning eyes and glanced out the window that spanned the wall to his right. Judging by the position of the sun, which was just peeking up over the horizon, it was still early. Oh, crap, he fell asleep.

The commander stood up and felt his joints pop as he stretched. He must've drifted off late the night before while he finished the piles of papers he had to sign. He had fully intended to get some sleep; he had promised at least two women he wouldn't spend the whole night working. But he had gotten a little off track what with the voices inside his head and all, and still had a lot of papers to go over. You know how it goes. Now he had a back ache from sitting in that position for so long. And his butt had fallen asleep too. Oh joy.

Walking out of his office, he headed towards the elevator. He needed to get his men up and moving at the barracks for a little extra 'conditioning', which just meant he worked them to total exhaustion while he watched. As he shuffled down the hall, he passed the governess's HQ office and got a funny feeling about it. He stopped in front of the door and peeked in a crack between the curtains hanging over the windows. What he saw made him want to dry heave: Jak and Ashelin were slumped on top of each other, clearing sleeping.

It was then that it hit home. Ashelin wasn't his anymore. She didn't love him. He turned away from the grotesque sight and blinked a few times. His eyes felt funny, they were getting cloudy. He rubbed them a few times and looked back at his palms; they were wet. He was crying. For the first time in roughly fourteen years, tears made streams down his tattooed cheeks as he walked down the hallway.

Torn took a detour into the bathroom and locked himself inside. Taking a look in the mirror, he surveyed his face. He looked pathetic, his azure eyes clouded over with pain and angst. He splashed a little water on his face and put on a stern look. To hell with her. He had a job to do.

/AJ/

'Ugh, what time is it?' thought Haven's governess from the floor of her office. She looked down to see Jak still asleep next to her. She smiled a little at how messy his hair was, sticking up all over the place. It looked really soft so she moved her hand up to feel it. Suddenly she froze with her hand halfway to his head; she could hear footsteps coming down the hall. 'Oh shit! I have no clothes!' She frantically looked around for something to cover herself with. Finding nothing, she feigned sleeping, hoping the curtain kept her from being found.

Whoever it was stopped. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. A few moments later, the person started walking again. Quietly, she crept over to the window and peered out the crack between the curtains. She only caught a glimpse of the person's foot, but she could tell who it was. Torn. Damn! It was definitely her second in command; she knew those beat up combat boots from anything, specially made for his big, stupid duck feet.

Why did he have to be such a workaholic? Why did he have to look into her office to check and see if she'd gone home and wasn't lying there dead or something? Why did she want to cry?

"Ash, what are you doing?"

Ashelin nearly flinched at the unaffectionate tone he used.

She turned away from the window and toward Jak. He was looking up at her curiously. There was no loving smile on his face, no shy 'Mornin' Ash' she'd come to expect. How much would she give to hear Torn say that one more time? She knew she'd never get anymore greetings like the ones he'd had for her the few times she'd woken up in his arms. Now she really wanted to cry.

"Uh, nothing," she responded while gathering her clothes.

Jak must have sensed something was wrong, because while he threw on his own clothes, he said, "So, how about we go get some breakfast?" He needed her if he wanted to get over Kiera. He realized he'd been a little coarse to her and felt sort of guilty.

"Sure," she responded with a small smile.

/K/

"Ugh, what time is it?"

A bob of emerald coloured hair popped out from under a ruby red duvet. The owner of the hair, and blanket for that matter, cracked open an eye to peer at the digital clock next to her bed. It read 6:14 am. She groaned and flopped back down under the covers.

"Why did I even wake up?" Kiera mumbled to herself.

Last night she'd gotten home around 11:30, slightly tipsy from the small amount of alcohol she'd drank. Boy was she happy she didn't get drunk like Tess did (or Daxter really), who made a huge fool of herself by stripping for the DJ the night before. Kiera seemed to act a little more...seductive? Sure, why not.

She remembered getting home by taxi; had she winked at the driver? Yick, it must've been the mudslide. Then she slipped out the door and into her flat (not literally, thank gawd!), saying goodnight to her father, who had waited up for her on the couch, before she headed to her room. From there she'd washed off her make up, threw on her pj's, and slid under the cool satin sheets, immediately conking out. But that still didn't explain why she'd woken up at this ungodly hour of the day.

Little by little, she remembered what had woken her up. She'd been dreaming. About trying to fix a refrigerator. She'd opened up the door to the freezer to find Onin in there playing cards with her cactus. For some reason, this made her scream and she slammed the door shut. Suddenly, she wasn't in her garage anymore, she was in the old Underground HQ. It looked the same as always, posters of various figure heads on the wall, their faces scribbled on, old bunks lining the wall, and Torn was there too. Without a shirt. And sweaty. Wow. Then she walked over to him and leaned on him, hands on his chest, their hips touching, and then...

Something had flew into her window, making a 'flump!' sound and waking her up. Dammit! She was so close! Stupid bird, picking that exact moment to commit suicide ! Stupid perverted mind having the dream in the first place!

She stretched a little bit and got up to use the bathroom, throwing a glare at the window the offending chipigeon had ran into. She took a quick shower to rid herself of last nights grime and sweat and threw on a pair of comfy old jeans. Her father was still sleeping when she looked into check on him. This caused Kiera to smile; he had stayed up late last night just to make sure she was alright, even asking if she was hungry before she went to bed. Normally, this action would have seemed suffocating and annoying, but she felt different today. Like something was going to change, something good.

She pondered what it could be as she went out to the kitchen to make her father breakfast. Maybe it was the promise Torn had made her. She wanted to show everyone who thought she was weak that she wasn't a little girl anymore. And Torn had promised her he would teach her how, taking time out of his busy schedule to do something for her. He hadn't laughed at her, that might have been it too. He honestly thought she could be something. This made her feel elated.

'No,' she thought as she poured herself a glass of orange juice, 'I feel so different because I finally don't care about that stupid kiss anymore.'

And this time, she meant it.

I feel really bummed that this story is over. This was the first story I wrote that I let anyone read. Thank you every one who every reviewed! you guys are great for taking time to write something to me about what I wrote! In the past few months, I've really needed a confidence boost a lot and it meant a lot to me that you liked my story.

There's a few things I wanted to say about some stuff. Like the title. This was originally going to be a one shot, but stardust03, my first ever reviewer, told me to write more, so I did. There's other little stuff, a lot of inside jokes, that I don't think you care if I explain of not, so I'll spare you the brain cells.

The Sequel:

So Sick

Warning: Involves confusing humor, irony, hospital trips, hair cuts, and even more dragging on of the inevitable-- Kiera jumping Torn's bones. Man, I'm evil!

Love you all! keep an eye open for the above!

-Mecca-Dog