Been a while since I updated this. And here's a timeline for it. And this supercedes any previous timelines on account of how I've given their ages wrong in summaries before on account of how sometimes I forgot to account for birthdays. But this should be one hundred percent right.
1. 'Something more than it should be' (Chapter 10) Rusty is ten, Danny is twelve
2. 'Four Day Interlude' (Chapter 5) Rusty is ten, Danny is thirteen
3. 'Remember the first time' (Chapter 4) Rusty is ten, Danny is thirteen
4. 'Walk before you can crawl' (Chapter 2) Rusty is twelve, Danny is fifteen
5. 'Other Nightmares Parts 1 and 2 (Chapters 8 and 9) Rusty is twelve, Danny is fifteen
6. 'The more things change' (Chapter 1) Rusty is thirteen, Danny is fifteen
7. 'Life Lessons' (Chapter 7) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is sixteen
8. 'The lies we live' (Chapter 3) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is sixteen
9. 'This is our decision (to live fast and die young)' (Chapter 6) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is seventeen
10. 'Such a perfect day' (Chapter 11) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is seventeen.
Danny woke up right on time and promptly fell asleep again. That was the first sign of what sort of day it was going to be. He was awoken several hours later by the sound of yelling coming from the hallway, and that got him out of bed fast enough. As he pulled on a t-shirt he glanced at the clock and swore. He was late. More than a little. Which meant that Rusty had probably come looking for him.
From the top of the staircase, he could see his mom leaning over Rusty, who was clutching a large envelope to his chest like it was the most important thing he'd ever held. She was still yelling. "I don't want you hanging around my house, is that understood? Normal people can't stand the sight of you, don't you get that? They take one look at you, and they can immediately see where you came from, you filthy little – "
" – Shut up." Danny said quietly and his voice carried maybe just a little bit further than it ever had before.
They both turned to look at him, his mom wearing the same disappointed and contemptuous expression that he saw every day, Rusty with a look of relief and amused pride. Unsurprisingly his mom said nothing, just pursed her lips and swept off. And yes, there was a small part of Danny that was disappointed; the same small part that had once desperately sought her attention would now quite like it if she would talk to him, just once.
Rusty held up the envelope. "From Columbia. For you. She was standing outside when I arrived, holding it and I didn't like the way she was looking at it, so I offered to take it up to you, and, she threw it at me and then, well, things got out of hand."
The surge of excitement at the sight of another letter from Columbia – his College! – was familiar, even though he knew full well it would just be yet more forms to fill out. "Come on up. I need to get dressed." he said, resisting the urge to grab the letter out of Rusty's hands and tear it open.
While Danny hunted through his wardrobe, Rusty sat down on the edge of the bed and rifled through Danny's nightstand.
Danny sighed. "You ate the M&Ms last week, remember? I haven't had a chance to replace them yet."
"I'm hungry." Rusty said with something that might have been an apology in his voice.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there this morning." Danny said quietly, once he was dressed.
"Never been stood up before." Rusty commented with a grin and Danny reflected that was probably true. Girls were queuing up to try and date Rusty, and if Danny himself didn't do quite nicely, thank you, he'd probably have been envious. "Take it your date with Veronica went well last night?"
Danny smiled. Ohhh, yeah. It had. "Sorry anyway." he said seriously. Because while he'd never missed one of their meetings before, Rusty occasionally had, and they both knew why. And the memories of times when Danny had needed to track him down and patch him up must have been in Rusty's mind while he waited. Making Rusty worry was the last thing Danny had ever intended.
Rusty shook his head. "Forget about it." he said, and Danny knew that he'd been understood and forgiven on every level.
Carefully he opened the letter and was indeed confronted with yet more forms. Who'd have thought that leaving home was this difficult? He sighed and stuffed the envelope in his jacket. They could deal with it later. "Is she still out there?" he asked quietly.
After sticking his ear to the door for a few minutes, Rusty shook his head. "We're good."
Okay then. They could go out the front door. Because while he was almost certain that as long as they were together his mom would ignore them both, he couldn't be completely sure. And the risk was unacceptable.
They wandered into town, Danny feeling in no particular hurry, and said nothing. It was bright and still but their breath hung in the air like mist and Danny resolved to spend no more time than necessary outdoors today. He hated the cold. Shouldn't be too difficult; all they had to do today was finish the Bernie Carbo thing at the pawnshop.
"I need to swing by the bank first." Rusty said suddenly, and he should have known there'd be something else.
The branch that they were keeping under the impression that Rusty was Daniel Ocean was a little out of the way, so Danny kind of hoped that it would be something he could take care of. "Is it – "
" – No." Rusty shook his head. "My dad's bank. Power bill."
Oh. He grimaced. "Can't it wait till he gets back?"
"Third red letter. Don't want them to cut us off again." And Rusty sounded tired and there was some awkward hesitation in his voice.
"What?" Danny asked, knowing there was something more.
Rusty paused. "I need ten dollars."
Danny gave him a look that hopefully reminded him that he only ever had to mention and handed over the ten bucks. Then he frowned, because even though most of what they made went in the bank account they'd set up in Danny's name, by unspoken agreement they both kept some back and Rusty should have had enough. "You had – "
" – landlord came round – " Rusty explained.
And Rusty's dad hadn't been there for over a week now. " – he must have noticed – "
Rusty shrugged. " – he doesn't care. Just wanted the rent." And so he had paid the rent and would pay the heating bill out of his own pocket (Well, okay, technically other people's pockets) and Danny was somehow suddenly aware of just how wrong their life really was.
"You should take the Bernie Carbo money." he said firmly.
"No." Rusty said, equally determined.
"Rus' – "
" – Danny."
They paused outside the bank door, staring at each other, neither willing to back down.
"Look." Rusty said finally. "You're the one who said that we needed to make sure we didn't get too caught up in worrying about money to have fun."
"Rent and heating come first."
"But they'll be paid." Rusty said patiently. "Which means that I won't need to worry about them for a while, and dad will probably come home at some point and he'll probably remember to pay next month. You know he normally does."
Except for when he didn't, and as far as Danny could tell he'd never even notice or care that his son was paying his debts. "I don't – "
Rusty sighed. " – You want to take Veronica to the Formal, right?"
"Yes." he agreed.
"And so we set this up so you'd have money to do it properly. Just like we set up that pigeon drop last month to get me money for the field trip."
"We did that because it was fun." Danny corrected.
Rusty grinned. "True." He paused. "It can't be all about the money, Danny. That's not who we are."
"And being who we are involves taking Veronica to the Formal?" he asked, amused.
"Uh huh." Rusty grinned wider. "And while we're at it, it involves taking Alice to the movies on Friday, so I think I'd like to get some cash too."
And he'd been hoping that they wouldn't have to spend too much time outdoors. Still, the movies wouldn't cost too much. One quick lift, in all probability. "We can get one on the way back from the pawnshop." he suggested.
"I need to get some shopping as well." Rusty said casually.
In other words he needed to buy enough food and supplies to last until his dad came back. (Whenever that would be. They still had a few weeks before they'd start having the conversation about what they'd do if this time he just didn't come back. And Danny was keeping his fingers crossed.) Okay, maybe they'd need to get a few wallets then. He nodded, and Rusty disappeared into the bank to pay the bill. Oddly, they'd probably be less suspicious of a fourteen year old than of the pair of them; Rusty was good at the whole 'My dad just sent me in to take care of this' lie.
Rusty didn't take more than a couple of minutes, and when he reappeared he had a worryingly wide selection of complimentary pens and stickers.
"Overdo it?" Danny asked.
"Maybe a little." Rusty admitted. "I was hoping they gave out lollipops."
"Think that's the dentist." Danny mused.
"And that's just a ploy to force you back." Rusty frowned slightly. "I didn't include medical stuff on the budget."
"So we won't get sick." Danny answered immediately. Problem solved.
Rusty didn't think so. "We might need to think about – "
" – Insurance fraud?" Danny suggested. "Yeah, I know." He'd been turning the idea over in his mind for a while.
Rusty nodded and Danny knew that now they were both thinking about it. They'd get it figured out eventually. Pausing, Rusty pulled out a battered pack of cigarettes and stared at them in surprise.
"What?" Danny asked.
"Didn't include these on my budget either." Rusty said in consternation.
Danny blinked. "Well – "
" – How much are you smoking these days anyway." Rusty asked, not listening to him.
"Couple of packs a week." he shrugged. "But – "
" – And I'm on about half a pack a day." He ignored the disapproving look that Danny gave him. "So that means that it costs - "
" - Rus' -" Danny interrupted quietly.
Rusty continued, frowning. " – Actually, how much does a pack sell for these days?"
"Rusty." he said, a little louder and this time Rusty actually paid attention.
"What?"
"When's the last time you bought cigarettes?" Danny asked patiently.
"Oh. Oh." Rusty grinned. "Well, I should just forget the whole thing, shouldn't I?"
"Yeah." Danny said and maybe it was just a little patronising. But honestly, they never bought them. Because if they were going into people's pockets and purses anyway, why not take what they wanted?
After that they walked the five blocks to the pawnbroker in silence, and once they were just round the corner, Rusty smoothed down his hair and turned to Danny with a frown. "How do I look?"
Danny inspected him. Clean and neat, but dressed in shabby clothes; probably ones that he'd bought from the Goodwill in order to keep up the pretence to his dad that all he had was what he was given. Which, Danny thought was probably straining credibility a little, as the last time that Rusty's dad had given him money to buy clothes Rusty had been twelve. Still, Rusty knew best how to avoid any triggers and it wasn't like the clothes didn't come in handy. "Same as last week." Danny assured him. That was the point after all; consistency.
Rusty grinned and disappeared round the corner. Danny hung back, fully aware that they couldn't be seen together, but still hating this bit. While he was waiting he smoked a cigarette and thought about the Bernie Carbo card scam.
It was simple enough. A week ago Rusty had pawned a baseball collection that they'd scraped together by asking around at school for people's duplicate and unwanted cards. He'd spun a hard luck story and got a grand total of three dollars. Three days ago, Danny had gone into the shop and spied the collection and made a huge fuss over an 'autographed' 1975 Bernie Carbo card. (Rusty had spent nearly three hours painstakingly tracing the signature from Jon Oatman's prized autograph book and Danny had needed to try really hard not to react when, after barely forty five minutes, Jon had leaned over to him and whispered; "He's a bit of a geek, isn't he?") But he'd insisted that this card was exactly what he needed to complete his collection, and in his best spoiled rich kid impression, had demanded that the guy sell it to him. And he'd offered first twenty, then forty, then a hundred dollars. Of course, the guy wasn't at liberty to sell, but Danny could see that it was driving him crazy and when he'd left a phone number and extracted a promise that the guy would call him if the card became available, Danny was sure that they had him. Now Rusty was going back in to get his cards back, and the guy was bound to offer him at least forty dollars. After a certain amount of haggling of course. Simple and with an elegance that pleased him. And if it worked with baseball cards, then when they got to New York they could work on doing it with things that might actually be thought to have value.
He was in a good moment, right up until Rusty came back round the corner, holding the baseball cards and shaking his head.
"What happened?" Danny asked, reading the defeat immediately. Also the amusement.
"We must have found the only honest pawnbroker in the state." Rusty said cheerfully.
Danny blinked. "You're kidding."
Rusty produced the scrap of paper that Danny had written the fake number on. "He even gave me this. Told me that I should sell to you. Said you'd give me a hundred."
Oh, this was ridiculous. He'd been so sure that this play would work. "Think he suspected?"
"No." Rusty shook his head firmly. "I think we just didn't have a contingency for honesty."
Danny pulled a face. "Well, it's not like it's that common."
Rusty shrugged. "I say we find another pawnshop and try again."
Brilliant, except that it would have an impact on his plans for Veronica. "But we won't be in time for – "
" – So we spend today getting a few more wallets than we'd planned. We can deal."
And as soon as Rusty said that, the sky opened and the rain came down in sheets. They looked at each other for a long moment and then, in complete agreement, made a run for Mabel's.
The diner was nearly deserted and as they stood in the doorway, trying not to drip too much on the floor, Mabel came running over with a couple of towels. "Come on, dry yourselves off. What are you doing out in this anyway? Didn't you listen to the forecast this morning?"
"No." they said in unison. "Sorry." Rusty added, and Danny shook his head at him.
"Well, come in and sit down anyway." She ushered them to their usual booth. "Now, coffee? Hot chocolate? Something to eat?"
"Coffee and a club sandwich please, Mabel." Danny said immediately.
"Could I get the meatloaf? And a double order of fries? And a hot chocolate, and a banana milkshake, and a piece of cherry pie to follow? And a muffin?"
They'd been coming here for seven years; Mabel didn't even blink. "Sure you can, honey. Be right back."
As she walked away, and as rubbed the last few drips of rain out of his hair, Danny leaned back and prepared to have the conversation that they'd been putting off since that morning.
Rusty interrupted him before he'd even opened his mouth. "It's not important."
"It's a little important." Danny disagreed.
"You're not responsible for what your mom says." Rusty pointed out calmly.
Danny stared at him intently. "My mom's an idiot. Always has been."
"Yep." Rusty nodded and Danny took no offence. Because it was true.
"I hate that she said that to you." he said quietly. Mabel carried their drinks over, and, seeming to sense the tension, left them alone with only a few fond smiles. There was a long silence broken only by Danny stirring his coffee and Rusty slurping his milkshake. And Danny knew he only did that to be annoying.
Finally, Rusty looked up at him. "I get worse at – "
" – Really not the point, Rus'." he interrupted
Rusty shrugged. "Yeah. I know."
"She won't even talk to me and she's yelling at you? What's that?" Danny went on.
"Idiocy." Rusty answered promptly
"Right." Danny paused and stared out of the window at the rain. "You know that she's wrong." he said, casually, hoping that was enough to get it by Rusty.
He could feel Rusty looking at him, but he didn't – couldn't – look round. There was a brief silence. "You tell me everyday." Rusty said finally and entirely offhandedly.
Danny relaxed and Mabel brought the food over. Rusty immediately tore into it and Danny turned to look at him thoughtfully.
After a few moments, and when half the fries were gone, Rusty noticed and looked up. "What? I'm still growing." he pointed out defensively.
"You'd better hope so." Danny said absently, because that wasn't it. "When was the last time you ate?"
"Yesterday." Rusty admitted after a long moment. "Lunchtime. Didn't realise that there was nothing in the fridge until after dark, and there's been a lot of stuff going on in my neighbourhood lately. Guy got stabbed. I was being careful."
Danny closed his eyes and tried not to think 'You were scared'. Because right now he himself was terrified. "Eat up." he said, finally. "You're still growing."
Rusty grinned and they finished their meal in silence.
After lunch they divided the forms between them to fill in. It was a little amusing to watch Rusty write in his handwriting. Because Danny recognised that he changed the way he held a pen to the way that Danny did. Even his facial expressions reflected the ones that Danny saw in the mirror. It was a little odd, but Danny was comfortable with it. Just another aspect of Rusty.
"These ones need your mom's signature." Rusty announced, waving a thick pile. "This would be so much easier if you were going to be eighteen."
"Forgive me for having the wrong birthday." Danny said. "Go ahead."
Rusty scrawled Danny's mom's name across the papers. And Danny did the same, and sometimes they had to sign Danny's name instead. And not for the first time Danny felt an irrational gratitude that he didn't have to do this on his own.
Of course, what with the power bill and the Bernie Carbo being a complete wash-out, and them not having had a chance to lift any wallets yet, lunch was most definitely on Danny. Which made it doubly awkward when he stood in front of Mabel patting his pockets frantically.
"Left your wallet at home?" she asked, sympathetically.
He turned to stare at Rusty. "You did have it." Rusty told him. "Remember? You gave me that money."
Right. So he'd had it then. And it couldn't have fallen out of his pocket; he just wasn't that careless. "You didn't – " he began hopefully. Maybe this was just a practical joke.
" – No." And Rusty wasn't lying and was sympathetic and a little worried. "Danny I don't – "
" – Have any money, I know." Danny tried to smile reassuringly at him but it was a little difficult through the mixture of panic and embarrassment he was feeling. He turned back round. "Mabel I am so, so sorry."
"Oh, honey, don't worry. This area's had major problems with pickpockets for years now." Yeah. They knew. "You just forget about it, and go tell the cops. Maybe someone will hand it in."
He doubted that. "We'll pay you back." he promised.
She smiled at both of them. "You don't need to bother. Such good boys. The two of you are my very best customers."
Danny looked at her and thought about how she always insisted that it was perfectly normal for dessert to be free if they finished up their main courses - including their greens –and reflected that she was probably the only reason that Rusty's diet could be considered remotely healthy. And he thought about how she'd gone to the bother of making him homemade vegetable soup specially, when he'd been recovering from appendicitis and that had been what he'd been craving. And he thought about how she'd baked that cake for Rusty's ninth birthday, and Rusty had told him later it had been his first ever birthday cake. And he didn't know if she knew, but she'd never missed making a cake for either of their birthdays after that. She'd done so much for them over the years, and her place never did good business and in just a few months they'd be gone and they'd never see her again and they'd never be able to repay any of the important things. "We'll pay you back." he promised again and he let the gratitude bleed out into his voice and his smile and his eyes.
"We will." Rusty said sincerely and Danny didn't have to look to see the same gratitude, the same thoughts and feelings.
She seemed to get some of it at least and she smiled back at them. "If that's what you want to do."
"Thank you, Mabel." they said together, low and sincere and for once they meant it.
She shook her head and stared at them. "Such good boys." she whispered as they headed out the door. The rain had stopped at least.
They stood together and looked round and Danny casually rested his elbow on Rusty's shoulder and they felt happy and said nothing.
"So, cash?" Danny asked eventually
"Park?" Rusty suggested.
Danny nodded. After the rain it wouldn't be too busy but there'd be some people there and it would be easy enough to make a couple of lifts. "Sure." he agreed.
They started heading over. "I don't believe that you didn't notice someone stealing your wallet." Rusty said, and Danny had known that he wouldn't let that one go.
"You checked your pockets?" he asked. After all, if it could happen to him . . . He was amused by the sight of Rusty quickly patting himself down, but less amused by the triumphant production of Rusty's wallet.
"Just you." Rusty told him happily
"Probably figured you have nothing worth stealing." Danny said nastily but Rusty just grinned.
"Did they get anything important?" And Danny knew he didn't mean money.
He thought for a few minutes. "One ID. Brian Harris. I'll need a replacement. Couple of phone numbers – nothing that you don't know, but I'll need you to write them out for me again. Oh, and a condom."
"You can replace that yourself." Rusty said immediately.
He was about to give a snappy answer when he caught sight of a well dressed man a little way ahead of them, shaking out his umbrella. Perfect target. "Would you get a move on? You heard what mom said." he snapped at Rusty immediately.
"Yeah. She said you weren't to be mean to me anymore." Rusty immediately answered back and Danny had to choke back a laugh. He really wished Rusty wouldn't whine when they did this bit; it was just too distracting.
"No, she said that we were to hurry back. Now, what, do you want to get caught in the rain again, moron?" They drew level with their target and he swerved one way and Rusty swerved the other and for a second the man must have thought that they were going to bump into him and then it was over and with any luck it would be hours before he realised he was short a wallet.
"That's it. I'm telling mom!" Rusty yelled immediately and started running off down the path.
Danny swore loudly, and was amused to catch their mark giving him a sympathetic look before he took off after Rusty.
They stopped running once they were absolutely sure that they were out of sight and headed away from the path and behind the band stand. Danny pulled out the wallet and flicked through it. Thirty dollars. Not bad. And there was the man's driver's license – his name was Joseph Marsh – and there was a picture of his family. Danny stopped for a long moment and stared at it and he remembered the other thing that was in his wallet. The thing that he would never, ever, even under pain of death admit to out loud, even to Rusty. The photos they'd had taken three years ago at the fair. Him and Rusty, sticky with cotton candy, giddy with laughter. Now those were irreplaceable.
"The guy will have other photos." Rusty said quietly.
Danny didn't say anything. Because he didn't.
Rusty sighed. "Pass it here." Confused Danny complied and watched as Rusty removed the cash and stuffed it in his pocket. "Get ready to do some yelling." Then he stood up and started running back to where they'd lifted the wallet.
Danny started yelling before the man was back in sight. Just because he had no idea what Rusty was doing didn't mean that he wasn't going to back him up. "Come back here you little runt!"
And then the man was right in front of Rusty, and Danny watched as Rusty looked back at him, and he winced as Rusty banged into the man and crashed to the ground. He ran up hastily. "Jamie! Are you all right?" He actually felt relieved as he watched Rusty pick himself up and dust himself down.
"I'm okay." Rusty promised.
The man – Joseph – stood rubbing his arm and both Rusty and Danny immediately turned to him.
"I'm so sorry." Rusty said, wide eyed.
"Please forgive my little brother sir, he's . . . an idiot." And that was said with a little more meaning than anyone else would ever notice.
"Yes, well." They were both frowned at. "Just try to be more careful in future."
"I will be." Rusty promised and Danny nodded. They would be. Because this was ridiculous.
They stood on the path until the man had strode out of sight. Rusty stared at his grazed hands ruefully. "Could have done that more carefully."
"You shouldn't have done that at all." Danny corrected. "It was far too risky."
"But he's got his photos back." Rusty answered. "And that's good."
"But he got a better look at us. And as you said, he has more photos." Danny shook his head slowly. "Just don't do it again. Please."
Rusty shrugged. Awkwardly, nervously "We can get more pictures. If you'd like."
And the denial that was automatically on the tip of his tongue melted away in the face of Rusty's simple understanding. "Yeah. Thanks."
He cleared his throat and they smiled at each other like summer and then Veronica came round the corner, walking hand in hand with some guy he didn't know.
She stared at him aghast and he stared back. Now this was awkward. "Hi there." he said finally and levelly.
"Danny." she said, and smiled uncomfortably. "This isn't how I wanted you to find out."
"Hey, who's this punk?" the guy said. He was a few years older than Danny, with long hair and a pierced ear and expensive enough clothes that the sight of him made Danny's fingers itch.
"Oh, um, Paul, this is Danny Ocean. Danny this is Paul Hogan." She didn't introduce Rusty. Probably a good thing.
"Right, the high school putz you're taking to that stupid dance?" Paul said dismissively.
It was on the tip of Danny's tongue to point out that he'd also taken her to the drive thru yesterday evening and they'd stayed for a long and marvellous hour after the movie stopped rolling, but Rusty's warning glare prevented him. Though honestly, he was pretty sure that he could take this guy if he had to. "The guy who was taking her to the Formal." he corrected instead.
Veronica flushed angrily. "Can I talk to you for a couple of minutes, Danny?" she asked sweetly. They stepped away from Rusty and Paul. "Listen, Paul's in college. He plays in a band. Lead guitar. You understand, right? I mean, I like you, but he's in college. It's completely different."
"Fine." he assured her and paused. "We're still through though."
She glared at him. "Oh, two weeks and you'll be begging for me to come back."
"Doubt it." he answered flippantly. He didn't beg. Not like she meant.
"Come on." her voice was wheedling. "You can still take me to the Formal. It'll do wonders for your reputation."
"Not the sort of reputation I'm interested in. I'd be more worried about yours." He wasn't exactly planning on making a secret of who did the dumping.
She seemed to take it a different ways. "You haven't told anyone that you and I . . . " Her eyes widened and she trailed off panicked.
Okay, that he could reassure her on. He wasn't a complete bastard after all, even if she was. "No, no-one knows except you and me." And Rusty, but that didn't count and it would just confuse her. "And it's going to stay that way."
"Thank you." she said in a small voice and he nodded and walked away and after a few seconds Rusty fell in step beside him.
"No more dates with Veronica, then." he stated and Danny shook his head.
"No chance." He paused. "Need to get a new date for the Formal."
"Pat isn't going with anyone." Rusty said very, very casually and Danny glared at him. Because Rusty had understood full well why he'd broken up with Patricia – he liked her far too much to stay with her through everything he was doing, and he didn't like her nearly enough to change his plans – but he'd never agreed and he'd never approved.
"No." he answered shortly. "Not going to happen." He thought for a few moments. "Think Ami would go with me if I made it clear it was just as friends?"
Rusty shrugged. "Maybe. But she just broke up with – "
He nodded. " – I heard. That's why I – "
" – Well, she might be more in the mood for ice cream and bitching, that's all." And unfortunately, Rusty tended to know what he was talking about.
"I'll ask her." Couldn't hurt, after all. He sighed. "You know." he began conversationally. "This has been an awful day."
Rusty smiled. "If it helps, Paul and Veronica aren't going to have a good day either." Danny raised an eyebrow and Rusty held up two bulging wallets. "Oops."
Laughing, Danny reflected that there was something to be said for always having someone prepared to go out of their way to make your day that bit better.
If he had to have a bad day at least there was always good company.
So there you go, that was fairly long, I thought, and I hope you enjoyed it.