Author's note: This was an interesting chapter, because I really had to consider what Cedric's life would be like if his background was basically the same, but he didn't have a tower to hide out in or a title to stick around for. And I think, he probably wouldn't feel comfortable anywhere, and maybe he'd just keep looking for somewhere to call home, so that's what I wrote.

Also, I hope to use his band mates again some point later on, so they can start to feel more like the versions we know. I wouldn't say they're OOC, because I feel like this is them younger than we see on the show, but still...

And I am so not a song writer. I have this idea in my head of how Cedric's songs sound but writing them just kills me. :P

And no one was gonna come and get me
There wasn't anybody gonna know
Even though I leave a trail of burned things in my wake
Every single place I go

In Corolla - Mountain Goats


"This place is such a shithole! Why are you still hiding out here?" Cedric rolled his eyes as he marched to the back of the room, taking up the acoustic guitar and lifting the strap over his head.

"Don't be stupid, Gary. Why else would he be here?" A second voice called out from behind him, accompanied by the sound of the door shutting. "Why does Cedric ever stay anywhere for more than a few days? There's a girl, of course."

"Number one, don't call me that! I told you, it's Greylock." The first man argued, running a hand through his short, sandy hair. Greylock had to be the single dumbest stage name in history, but Cedric didn't voice his opinion on the matter. "And second... seriously? Not another one." He shook his head in disapproval as he turned his focus to Cedric.

"There's no girl." He insisted, trying to ignore them to tune the instrument. "Besides, I'm leaving soon."

"Oh, so there was a girl, and you blew it already." He shot an annoyed glare at the both of them and took a seat on the battered sofa, the only decent place to sit down in the hired practice space, which was technically the basement of the town's only law office. It had a separate entrance, a concrete staircase that led directly downstairs, and there was no one upstairs on the weekends, so it really was the best he could have hoped for, despite being drab and depressing, with a complete lack of air conditioning to counteract the insane heat outside.

"I'm telling you, there is no girl." He bit out, trying to end the discussion quickly. He'd been doing his best not to think about her for days now, and the last thing he wanted was for them to come in here and dredge everything up again.

"See. The more he denies it, the more obvious it is." The drummer, Billy Grimtrix, though everyone simply called him by his last name, gestured to Cedric, and Greylock shook his head. He went back to ignoring them, playing familiar chords on the guitar in a vain effort to drown them out.

"Nah, I think he's just still moping over that Morgan chick." Cedric struck a sour note, sorely missing his mark, and frowned at his lack of concentration.

"Can we not talk about that?" He questioned, returning to his song.

It didn't escape him that he'd nearly forgotten all about her over the course of the summer, and as much as he hated to admit it, the fact could most likely be attributed to a certain young redhead that he was definitely not falling for. With a groan, he leaned back and dug his beaten up notebook out of his jeans pocket, flipping through it for even the slightest scrap of inspiration as the other two made sarcastic remarks and set up the drum kit.

"Where are you going after this?" Greylock asked when they were finished with the drums, sinking into the low cushion beside him and producing a red and white pack of cigarettes, which he offered to Cedric.

"Haven't decided yet." He shrugged, accepting one and the bic lighter that followed. "Anywhere but here, I guess."

Anywhere but here. It seemed to be his motto. Wherever he went, whatever he found there, he always ended up longing to be someplace else. Since the day he left home, his life had become a montage of highways and rathole motels. It would have been nice to put down roots, for once, but he ruined any chance for it on that day at the creek.

If he were being honest with himself, which he was trying hard not to be, he might admit that he was scared. He was terrified of Sofia, or rather the way she made him feel when he was with her. He was selfish and greedy, and he'd never exactly been a model of self-control, which is what it would require to stick around without doing something that would be both immoral and illegal. So, that was it, he was done with this town. Time to move on to another place, and then another, and so on. He'd get back on the highway and pretend he liked things better when it was just him and his bike, until he found somewhere else to hole up for a while. The concept never seemed quite so lonely before.

"Just come back to New York. Driving across the country for your ass is getting real old." Grimtrix griped as he took a seat at the drums, but Cedric shook his head.

"Hard pass." He hissed out, the words accompanied by a plume of smoke. "He's in New York." His band mates exchanged knowing looks.

"So is your mother. She calls me at least once a week, you know." Greylock countered, standing to grab his own guitar. "She's worried about you."

"She has Cordy to fret over." He replied bitterly, taking another slow hit off the cigarette and lolling his head onto the back of the couch.

"You could at least give her your number so she can call you, instead." Greylock suggested, but Cedric merely chuckled. "At this point I have a better relationship with your mom than you do."

"Phone doesn't work out here." It was an excuse. He could get a half decent signal so long as he didn't stray to the outskirts of town, and his motel room had a perfectly serviceable phone in it, but they didn't need to know that.

The truth was that if it was just his mother, he would be happy to pass along a way to contact him. He couldn't imagine that she wouldn't share the information with her husband, though, so he hadn't spoken to her in a couple years even though he adored the woman. Leaving people behind is just a part of life.

He tossed the cigarette onto the concrete floor and stubbed in out with his boot, positioning his fingers on the guitar again. He played the same four chords that he had a tendancy to default to when he was working on a new song, to the point where his band mates liked to tease him about it.

Taste of copper, murky water

Drowning in cloudless eyes

I will gladly destroy us both

If only you'd let me try

Greylock shrugged and joined in, but Grimtrix simply shot Cedric a smug glance from across the room, taking the words for what they were - confirmation that he'd been right.

I'm moving on

No time to say goodbye

I'm already gone

Won't let you pay my price

Please forget my name,

Lose the details of my face

Forget that day spent in the water

When I tried to steal your grace