Shark clawed at the door as Jade turned her key in the lock, begging to be let in. He bolted for his favorite toy as soon as the door opened wide enough to let him through. "I'm back." She announced to no one in particular, unsure if anyone was even home. "Drake? Noel?" Drake's door was shut, but Jade could hear soft thumps and bitter groans coming from that general direction. She checked her watch. Half past midnight. Too late to care, not that she ever did.

She ran a hand through her dark hair, vibrant blue streaks jumping out as it fell over her shoulders. Her puppy looked up at her expectantly, so she took a moment to scratch behind his ears. "You really are cute." She mused. "Too bad. You're supposed to be a killer." He rested his head on her leg, his big brown eyes looking anything but deadly. Jade gave him another scratch before heading back into her room.

She changed into something she could sleep in, black shorts and one of Beck's dark shirts. She pulled her hair up into a messy bun. The absence of the dark tresses gave her a new appearance.

Jade slipped away into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Shark rested on the floor, nearly asleep, his ears still perked up, catching every movement and every sound. Rustling still came from Drake's room, accompanied by the occasional crash. Jade thought nothing of it. Drake's problems were his own, and whatever was going on in there wasn't going to be important enough for her to care about.

Yet, when he emerged with a trash bag filled precariously close to its bursting point, she couldn't help but arch her pierced brow.

"You have a minute?" he asked through the open bathroom door.

Jade returned her yet-to-be-used toothbrush to its place, throwing a hand on her hip and an unwilling expression on her face. "If you're going to ask me to help you bury a body-"

He kept his hand on the bag as he yanked it across the floor. Jade noticed the stench of alcohol in the air before she saw the clouded look on his face. His eyes were bloodshot, heavy in his face. He seemed worn, as if this day had been ten for him. He shook his head clumsily, his ragged hair falling jaggedly across his face.

"There's no body." Drake's words were slow, as if each one took immense effort. His mind lacked clarity. "I didn't kill anyone. Yet."

Jade's eyes fell to the trash bag. "What exactly do you need, Parker?"

"I need to get Noel's crap out of here."

She picked up on the slur in his words. It wasn't hard to do. One would have to be drunk themselves to miss it. "Trouble in paradise?"

"Are you going to help me, or not?" snapped Drake. "I don't have time for your sassy quips, miss sass."

"I'm impressed you could use the word 'quips' properly in a sentence." Jade retorted with a smirk. "Fine. I'll meet you in your room in a moment."

Drake didn't bother answering. He hauled the trash bag to the door, throwing it outside as Jade finished brushing her teeth. In no hurry to help Drake, she took her time before coming into his room.

Three trash bags remained. Each had Noel's name scrawled on them in silver Sharpie. Drake's ripped apart room was in chaos. His things were everywhere. The guitars hanging on the wall were about the only things left in place.

He noticed her staring. "I wanted to make sure I got everything."

"Oh, I think you have that covered." Jade grabbed the tied end of the bag closest to her. Hiking it over her shoulder, she frowned. "What happened?"

"She's a bitch, actually." Drake shook his head, trying to get some kind of sense into his mind. The combination of exhaustion and alcohol pulled on him, making everything harder than it had to be. He found a can of beer on his nightstand and tipped it over his mouth. When nothing poured out, he crushed it, cursing as he did.

"Hey." Jade had never seen him this upset. "There's more in the fridge. Relax."

"Schnnoope." Drake protested. Only then did Jade notice the multiple cans littering his room. "I drank them. I drank all of them. Drank by Drake."

"Gross." She kicked a silver can out of her way. It clattered against the wall before spinning under the bed. "Whatever. Let's just get this done." She grabbed another bag, desperate to just get out of there and get to bed. It was slightly heavier than the first. She guessed it was mainly clothes. Noel hadn't exactly been a light packer. The two bags found their way into the night faster than Drake could send the third on its way. The four bags took up most of the space in front of their place, but she was too tired to care.

"Daaaaaamnnn shit." Ripping open a bag, Drake rummaged through the contents, tossing bras and other articles of clothing all over as he did. "I think I didn't get her key back. I gotta find it so she can't use it!"

"Get a hold of yourself!" Jade locked Drake's wrists in a death grip. "It. Doesn't. Matter. She can't come back if you don't want her to, key or no key. Stop being such a little bitch about it."

She kept him imprisoned in her clutches until she could see that he had calmed down. Drake blinked, hard. Fuzziness radiated from him. He looked back at the door, then the bags, then Jade, as if he couldn't quite remember why they were out of the house in the first place.

"Okay. That's over now." Jade let go. Shutting the door and taking care to lock it, she shoved him in the direction of his own room. "Get away from me, now. I've had enough. Talk to me again tonight, and I'll make sure you wake up tomorrow in seven different pieces." His horrified reaction as he disappeared into his own space was all the assurance she needed that the rest of the night would be calm.

Shark slept in her room that night, a bit miffed that he had been booted from his fluffy mattress in the other room. Curled up next to her bed, he was just close enough that Jade could drape her arm over the side to pet his head as she got comfortable. Within minutes, both were in a peaceful sleep.

X

Morning's light brought a soft brightness to Jade's room. Managing to take away her perfected total darkness, the sun fell across her face, waking her from her slumber. She rolled over, planting her face against her pillow, but it was no use. She was up, ready or not.

The actress fumbled for her phone, knocking it off her nightstand. It startled Shark. He yelped and jumped into her bed, snuggling up against her. "Some guard dog you are," Jade muttered, squinting. Her eyes hadn't quite adjusted to being open yet. She turned down the brightness on her phone, refusing to allow the bright screen to add to her eye's morning issues. Opening the first app she saw, she scrolled through her feed, only halfway paying attention.

Oh?

Oh.

Now she was awake. Jade pushed herself up into a sitting position. She stared at her screen, her features twisted into an expression that could only be described as devilishly overjoyed.