AN: I thought he was Mexican. There are way too many references to his heritage for it to be just a running joke. I thought the comment in the Road Kill Diaries with the old guy at the caves was just a joke. And yes, in case you were wondering, I am constantly in a haze of inability to decipher a joke from a factual statement. Bah. Anyway, feel free to give me advice on this. Just remember that this is a sequel. My god, I just got the biggest urge to rewrite this whole story. It sucks that much...Wow...Depressing thought...Ok. Mr. Vasquez is getting old. Quite literally, old. He's like...close to 32. Scary...Wow...32 years is a long time to be on Earth. I wonder if he gets scared...I read way too much into old age. lol just read the story.

November Air:

Chapter Three: Techno Tetris:

"Ugh, God! What the hell? What is this?" he said in reference to the music on the radio after picking Alice up.

She was laughing so hard she couldn't breathe. One of the ever-wonderful songs by Serena Paris was blasting away in its entire techno-y splendor.

"Look at us baby, look at us now..." Alice mock-sang along, "Why is this whole song the exact same line fifty billion times over? This is ridiculous."

"I know, but it's the best of three, and I'm not listening to Country." He said, raising his eyebrow. She laughed as they pulled into a secluded road.

"Where are we going?" she asked, as they drove slowly down the winding road.

"Somewhere." He said. She rolled her eyes at his vague answer. Ever-vague and sarcastic, but ever wonderful at the same time. She really did love him. But...There were times.

Like that one time...She walked into his room to ask him what he wanted on his sandwich, and he was sitting on the edge in the dark, just a crack of California light coming through the curtains on his face, hunched over, elbows on knees, staring intensely at the floor.

"Jhonen?" she had asked. No answer. "Jhonen? Are you ok?" She had asked a second time, and walked over to him.

"Go away..." He said, almost in a whisper. He had swallowed, and stood, and walked into the bathroom. She didn't know what he was doing, but she knew he wasn't right somehow.

Those times made her worry. She didn't know what exactly went through his head sometimes. And she knew she was better off not knowing. The mess he looked of that day she first met him... God. Like...Like he went walking through South Central...Screaming 'fuck you' to everyone.

She figured times like these were the product of years of living a solitary life. She knew he was no virgin, but they were just pretty skirts. After all, he was only human. But no real feeling for any of those girls but lust. This situation probably got lonely from time to time. She got the hunch that dealing with all of the emotions that centered around her could be overwhelming at times. But today, he seemed fine. Just fine. Actually, a little more patience than usual. Serena Paris would have been shut off a while ago. A song which was just ending.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she was thrown about. Their serene road became bumpy.

"Where..." she began, but quieted when she saw the sight.

He'd taken her to the ocean. Breezy, and beautiful. Sunny for the most part, but just enough clouds to make it beautiful.

And they did. "I thought you'd like it." He said, and unbuckled and got out of the car, "C'mon. I want to take you to the lighthouse."

"...Jhonen."

"Yes?"

"The lighthouse is on an island."

"I know the people who own the island. My mom-" He stopped suddenly.

"What?" she asked, interested. He never talked about his mom.

"I used to 'play' there sometimes when I was little." He said. She wondered about the way he said the word play. Like it might not have really been playing.

"Jhonen?" she asked softly as they walked towards the dock.

"Yeah?" he asked, casually.

"Why don't you ever talk about your family?" she studied the look on his face, absorbing it, and trying to guess what he was thinking.

"Why do you want to know?" he said after a moment. Something strange about that...

She couldn't place his tone.

"I said why do you want to know?" He asked again, just slightly more forcefully. He stared straight ahead of him as he

"I was just wondering." She said.

"Why?" he asked.

"You rarely, if ever, talk about any family. I was just curious." She said, "But now that you seem to be so defensive about it, I think I shall intrude further into your thoughts."

"I'd really rather you not." He said.

"But I want to kn-"

"No. You don't." he said, and quickened the pace to the end of the dock.

"Jhonen! Why are you acting like thi-"

He stopped dead in his tracks, and glared at her out of the corner of his eye. She quieted, and looked away.

"...Alice. Listen to me: You don't need to know. My childhood was fine," he said, and swallowed the obvious discomfort towards the subject, and continued, "Think of it as classified government UFO files. I will tell you when you need to know."

"Haven't you seen Independence Day? By the time the president found out about Area 51, it was too late."

"No. Humanity won in the end. They learned the hard way how to band together. Just trust me." He said.

"If that's a metaphor for us, then I suggest you explain it better because the way I'm getting it is that you want us to get closer the hard way!" she said, her eyebrows furrowing.

He hated that look. Scratch that. He despised that look. It just didn't suit her.

"Alice! I just don't think it's fair that you're pushing me on this! Not everybody's childhood is filled with a big mini-mansion and cookies from granny!" he yelled.

She let go of his hand, looking shocked. He instantly regretted his words, and his tone.

"...Jhonen. Take me home." She said.

He felt like he'd gotten stabbed in the chest. That hurt. She didn't even yell. She simply stated, and looked down.

"...Alice. Please. I didn't mean that. I know you didn't have a pretty childhood either, ok." He said, and tried to take her hand again. He was going to do this if it killed him.

"I don't want to do it the hard way. And I didn't mean to pry. I was just concerned about you." She said, and began to walk down the dock alone.

He followed her.

Oh, God! Why today? Why did our first major argument have to be today! Right now, of all times! Why would I say something like that? But still...Why would she pry? What're her real intentions in prying in my private life? My past is none of her concern! It doesn't affect us now, and I don't think it will...I hope not, anyway...

"Alice, please," he said, "Don't walk away from me. I hate that." He said, almost in a whisper.

She stopped, and he slowly caught up with her.

"Don't yell at me, Jhonen. I'm not a dog. I'm your girlfriend. Yes, you have to share your life with someone else. I love you, and you know that. It's no longer all about you and how you feel. Someone else has feelings, too." She said, looked away.

He took her hand. "I know, I know. Don't take that 'you're selfish' tone with me, and I won't yell at you. It's just...I just...I don't know. I just don't like to talk about it." He said, and put a finger under her chin, and made her face him, "I love you. You should know that. I just have..." he trailed off, but then chose different words, "My problems, in every sense of the word, aren't completely resolved. I have to sort it out. I only became aware of them a few years ago. Three to be precise." He said, smirking. She smirked back.

"Alright," she said, "Forgive me?"

"Of course. Like I could stay angry with you if I wanted to, anyway. Forgive me?"

"Hmm..." she teased.

"Hey!" he said in a play voice.

"Of course, silly." She said and gave him a peck on the lips.

"That doesn't exactly do it for me, but I'll take it." He said, smiling.

"Be grateful." She said.

"Grateful? You're the one who begs for it."

"What! You're insane! I'm not the one who pleads and pleads for kisses on an hourly basis." She joked.

"We're here." He said and looked at a row boat tied to the post.

"...We have to get in a rowboat?" she asked.

"Yes. I'm going to row us out to the light house."

"Ok. Won't it be dark when we get there, though? In just a rowboat?"

"That's the point." He said, hoping she wouldn't catch on, but knew she was smart enough to pick up if she really sought an answer.

Johnny walked into a 24/7 and made eye contact with the clerk.

"Hey, kid. It's close to three. What are you doin' out so late?" he asked.

His mild and polite concern for Johnny almost knocked him backwards. Johnny stared wide-eyed.

"...I, um...Thank you for your random concern, sir. But I am no child." Johnny said, hoarsely, making his way to the Brain-Freezy machine in the back of the store. He filled a cup, and went back up front to the counter.

Spiritlessly, he poked the straw in the opening and put a five on the counter. The clerk extended a hand of change, but then pulled back. Johnny looked up, mild question in his eyes.

"Listen, I'm not supposed to do this, but you look like you've had a really, really rough night. Your drink is on the house." He said, giving Johnny a kind smile.

He didn't know what to say. Running a gloved hand through his hair, he looked around nervously.

"Um, thank you, sir. I guess..." he said, and walked towards the door. The store still felt cold, so the spark of warmth this man had shown felt...awkward. Strange. As though it weren't supposed to be. Nny wondered if the man could feel the awkwardness of it all, too. But no, probably not, as the man worked here, it was probably like home to him. It wouldn't bother him like it bothered Johnny.

"No prob, just remember, I never did this, ok?" he said, chuckling slightly with a half-smile.

At any rate, that was a nice gesture. I must remember this man. Johnny thought to himself.

"Move out of the way, fuck-bag." Some burly, portly woman said in a smokers-voice.

Johnny shivered. He hated people. He always had.

He should stop thinking that there's nothing to live for. He needed to stop breaking down, stop crying. Stop killing. Devi still cared about him. She proved that coming up to the cliff to talk to him. At least she was coming outside now.

"Yo, Dr. Doom," a group of people screamed as he passed a small café. Not the one he usually had problems with. But still.

People make jokes...Because they don't understand me.

It didn't matter whether they understood him or not. He needed to stop watching the world pass him by, stop letting these people keep him from what he wanted.

Why am I here? Am I just wasting my time? These are the answers I should've let Senior Diablo tell me! How did Jhonen get it? How did he find a way out of his little pit of loneliness? Ugh. I really thought that guy wouldn't be able to find his way out of that little world of delusional fakeness.

He'd seen that happen to people before...

A sudden flashback led him to remembering his friend Phlegm...

Shaking it off, he pulled his coat a little tighter around him. Memories of Phlegm and his personality swing from so many years ago, before he went crazy, before he even nailed Nail Bunny to the post. He couldn't even remember...Remember when he moved into that house...Just remembered when Phlegm started coming around. How he murdered him.

He remembered why he hated guns.

He found himself standing on the sidewalk, staring at his house.

He decided to make a Noodle Boy comic. A good one. A funny one.

The ones he used to make.

And it'd be good.

And then they'd turn his heat and lights back on, and he'd make them available to more than just the homeless insane.