A/N: This is the end! I think this is the best fic I've ever done so please R&R!
"You're going to be ok."
2-D didn't know if it was true, but hearing it, and knowing someone cared enough to tell him, helped. He didn't want to be lied to, but he wanted someone to care. Ace's words were like a gift that he wanted to reach out and take. He opened his mouth to thank his friend, but was stopped by the feeling of a buzzing mobile in his back pocket.
Stu reached back and took out his phone, which was covered in an enormous plastic case. He figured he would glance at a presumably meaningless message before returning to talk to Ace.
But it was Noodle who had sent him the messages, and he wanted to be sure she was ok.
The first thing he saw was a picture of a yak. "Oh, what a cutie!" he said, and smiled. Then, he squinted, and read the messages, smile turning into a grimace. "It can't be…"
2-D passed the phone to his curious friend. "What does that say? That can't be real. I got it wrong, tell me that, yeah?"
Ace scrolled through the text, which took a minute as the font was enormous. "Oh man, Stu...no, he's back.
2-D already had his hands balled into fists, pressing the heel of his palms on his temples. This wasn't right. This wasn't happening. He didn't know whether to push away his emotions and retreat into a numb shell, or to scream.
Then, he heard Ace's low voice. "D! It's ok! Look, you're right, this isn't great, but I mean it when I say you're gonna be ok! The new you can handle this!" Stu took a shaky breath, and Ace continued, setting the phone down to his side. "Look, you don't have to go back. You're not going to. Maybe Murdoc will be different now. And you're different now!"
2-D didn't move, and spoke lowly. "We're different when we're apart. It will be more of the same terror when he's back. What's to stop us from going back the minute he gets back? What's the difference?"
Ace reached his hand out to 2D, leaving his palm right in his field of vision. Stu jumped slightly and lowered his arms, then cautiously put his hand on Ace's. "Let me help you up," said Ace.
2D looked at the offered hand cautiously, and reached out to clasp it, slightly trembling. Together they stood, pulling on each other to rise to their feet. They stayed hand-in-hand, chests close. 2-D could feel Ace's breath on his forehead and the warmth from his body, jacket still on his back, face still pointed down.
Ace continued, soft and low.
"The difference is you have me now."
2-D narrowed his eyes and looked up, meeting Ace's gaze for the first time that day.
Not warmly, though. Skeptical.
"Thanks," he murmured. "But I know you're gonna leave as soon as the tour is over. Then I'll just be a character in your memoir."
"No, I won't," Ace replied with conviction. "Because I'm not just a band member anymore. I'm your friend, and I'll be here for you. I'll be here with you. I'm staying long after the tour is over. We're together now."
2-D wanted so badly to trust him, their eyes locking, their words connecting their souls together. It was as though Ace's emotional embrace was a net, catching the singer before he could descend into free-fall. "Promise?"
"I swear, I'll stay."
2-D didn't know much, and he often wasn't sure what was and wasn't real. But in that moment, he was more sure of Ace's words than of anything else in his life. He knew that Ace's friendship was real.
He knew that Ace would stay.