Dave: Hey, You still up? 5:43am
Yeah... You need something? 5:44am
Dave: I was out with a few friends and they left without me. I hate asking but is there anyway I could get a lift home? 5:48am
Uh... Yeah... Gimme a minute to get dressed... Where are you? 5:49am
Dave: I'm at the apartments on... Aripiece Island? 5:54am
Lmao... It took you 5 minutes to figure out where you were and you got the name wrong... It's Arapice... 5:54am
Dave: (ノÒ益Ó)ノ彡 5:54am
Hey I'm the one picking you up, Don't make faces at me. I'll be there in ten minutes... 5:56am
Dave: :-3c 5:59am
Stop. 6:00am
I picked Dave up around 6:15am.
He smelt of booze and cigarettes and it became rather apparent to me that he was drunk.
I drove, and gagged, back to his apartment, with the windows down as far as possible, and came to the stop light just three streets down from his place.
" Are you okay?" Dave asked, staring rather curiously at me.
" I'm fine- I'm fine..." I choked out through a few raspy coughs, " Cigarettes smell like shit- Make me sick. What were you doing around Arapice? Partying, I'm assuming?"
" Yeah... My friends offered to take me out and around the town for a bit... I figured- 'hey, Why not?'... It would've been all good if they would have remembered I was with them." He laughed to himself stupidly.
Everything about him was stupid.
Stupid face, with his stupidly gorgeous eyes and his stupidly adorable laugh and stupidly perfect white teeth and-
Wow, I'm gay.
Deja vu.
" Take you 'out and around'? Why?" I asked, my curiosity now getting the better of me.
" I just moved in here a little bit ago."
" You did? Where'd you live originally?" I scratched my head and focused back on the road. I moved here only a few years ago so I wasn't too surprised when I first met him that I'd never seen him around town before- Even though he lives maybe 10 minutes away from me.
Now I knew why I never saw him before.
And why he didn't know the name of the Island he was on.
Then again he could just be bad at spelling.
Please, God, don't let him be bad at spelling.
" I use to live in Las Angeles... Well- For a few years... I grew up in Tennessee."
" Really? You went that far?" I asked in shock, " How old were you when you moved?"
" Seventeen..." Dave shrugged, looking out the window as we drove. He said it so casually however I nearly had a heart attack. Seventeen? To move that far away?
" What about your family?" I began to laugh awkwardly, my eyes now focused on him as we came to another red light. " Didn't you miss them?"
" Yeah... but... Moving to LA was for the best- I got a lot of stuff done there."
" You went for?"
" College..." He replied stiffly, his eyes still fixated ahead of him.
" That's... I-I mean that's great and all... So then... Why'd you move all the way back here to Steelport now?" I stammered, looking back to the street quickly once I noticed the green light. " I mean- Steelport is probably about... what, 13 hours from Tennessee? Closer to it than you were before in LA. Are you slowly making your return or?"
" N-No... I don't think I plan on going back there." Dave laughed, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. " I like the city life. LA was just too big for me. Steelport is the perfect size and perfect kind of crazy."
" If you say so, Country boy." I laughed, pulling up to his apartment. As he began to step out of the car I raised my hand rapidly and snapped my fingers to grab his attention. " Hey- Man, Don't hang out with any assholes who are gonna ditch you- There's a lotta dicks here in Steelport, if you haven't caught on yet. Keep around Hayley and me and you'll be set, You don't need people like that."
A soft smile grew over Daves face which disgusted me. I wanted to slap it.
I wanted to slap the smile right off his face why did he have to be like that?
" Thanks, Jack. I'll keep that in mind."
" Alright... Have a nice.. uh.. day? Night?"
" You too-" He paused and quickly shot the biggest, fakest smile. " And buh-bye now y'all I'll speak to ya real soon." He squawked out with the worst Southern accent I ever heard in my life.
" Never mind- I changed my mind- You're not welcome anymore!" I called out with a heavy laugh.
I watched as he went inside with a small grin.
My window rolled up now, I began to drive back home.
My face actually almost hurt from how long the grin had been plastered on my face. It felt like it was stuck that way- I'd never be able to be my favorite shade of piss-baby blue again because of Hick-ass Dave.
I made my way back home, now about 6:40 am, and saw Hayley and Sierra making breakfast through the window.
The two of them had been getting along fairly well since last week when they first met, And Sierra had hardly left our house since.
I was beginning to wonder about how long she would be staying and if I, God forbid, saw another straightening iron in the bathroom I would call up the church and have everyone make it official because Sierra is totally living here.
I got out of my car, locked it and made my way to the door.
I guess I looked as though I was on cloud nine when I walked into the apartment because Hayley stared back at me rather suggestively.
She raised the dripping spoon, which was being used to mix what looked like eggwash for french toast, and shot a wicked grin at me.
" What're you up to, Mister?" She called over from the kitchen. Sierra stopped and looked over in my direction now.
The blonde raised a hand and waved to me before going back to her cooking.
" I just got back from dropping Dave back home."
" DAVE?! " Hayley shrieked, dropping the spoon into the bowl. She nearly shot over the counter and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, The eggs on her hands dampening it. Sierra became more alert and looked over, wide-eyed, at us.
" Yes, Dave. Why is that such a big deal that you had to stain my favorite shirt?"
" You two finally went on a date?!" She cried cheerfully, hugging me so tight It felt as though my ribs were going to collapse.
" No-No we did not. He's still straight and I'm still very gay. He needed a ride home because his friends left him at some party."
" Oh... And he didn't happen to call his friends? The only person he could think of getting was you?" Hayley grinned rather sharply, nudging her elbow into my side to add more effect on to her 'wink,wink, nudge,nudge' moment.
" Hayley- No. You're wrong. I found out on the way home with him that he just moved here. He doesn't know a lot of people so I was probably his only option."
" Double-Oh with raspberry jam..." She turned away and then walked back to her eggwash. " I'm surprised... But he did seem kind of out of place when I met him at the mall." She shrugged. " Where's he from anyway?"
" Well he moved here from LA, But he's from Tennessee."
" He moved here from Las Angeles? Is he stupid? Why was he in LA?"
" For college." I shrugged, dropping all my body weight onto the sofa.
" For college? But he couldn't get a job in Las Angeles?"
" He just moved here a little while ago- Maybe he got transferred?"
" How? Las Angeles has more ground to cover and more tourists. It's way more populated than Steelport- If they wanted to be effective they would've just transferred him somewhere else in Las Angeles- Not outside of it. Besides that, What does Steelport have that would even be in LA? We literally have like nothing- At least nothing that would require transferring someone to a city you move to just to die in."
" You know, I wish you would've given me that description of Steelport when I agreed to move here with you." I laughed, looking back at Hayley as she dipped the bread into the wash.
" I'm serious- That seems so... weird. I mean- Of all things, why wouldn't he move back home after college? Why would he keep moving around- and HOW can he keep moving around?"
" I don't think it's that weird..." I retorted, " He told me he just didn't wanna go back home. I guess he doesn't like it there."
" He's gay." Sierra shrugged. She didn't even bother to look at us, She just kept cooking away.
" You think so?" Hayley asked. I perked up now on the sofa, turning fully to face the two of them.
Sierra took the pan off the oven-top and moved one piece of french toast onto the plate and dropped an uncooked one into the pan.
" Of course." She shrugged, " He moved to Las Angeles for 'college' and then moved somewhere that costs like twenty bucks rent? And he refuses to go back to his home because he 'doesn't like it there'? Sounds like it to me."
" Who made you queen of the gays?" I laughed and walked into the kitchen to grab a glass of water.
" Baby, Who didn't?" She laughed back, flipping the toast. " Look- I'm not saying he's totally gay- I know it's a CRAZY assumption to make but... He didn't hang out with me or Hayley. He talked to you the entire time we hung out BOTH TIMES. He gave you his number."
" Maybe he just needs guy friends?" I shrugged, taking a sip of the water.
" For what? Guys only need guy friends so they have someone to suck them off when they can't get it."
" I seriously doubt that, Sierra." I stared back.
I took my drink with me back into my room and looked through my phone at the texts from earlier.
I still hated the stupid emjoi's he sent me.
Even if they were kind of cute.
Now I knew I was in Hell.
At first when I thought it was bad because I was with a straight guy I was totally exaggerating- Now, I'm being played.
If you're listening, God, I don't appreciate you playing these games with me.
I was fine being alone, angry and angsty.
I didn't need any of this.
After that morning I went to another slow day of work which proved to, once again, be completely uneventful. I promised Hayley I would be going to the party tonight- And although I didn't want to go at first, The more I thought about the Saints being in Steelport now the more I wanted to go.
I hadn't seen any of my old friends in a long time and the invitation Hayley had showed me earlier this morning to the party seemed to be a Saints one.
I got ready and drove off after work to where they party was.
It was at the Penthouse by Sunset park.
I made my way there and parked on the street. The party was loud and I could already hear it from my car. I could even see a few tiny, little speck-people dancing all the way up at the penthouse.
There was no point in staying down here.
The elevator door opened at the top floor and as I stepped out I was greeted with loud music and purple tinted lights.
I was spun around quickly by someone I couldn't entirely make out at first but once my eyes got use to the lighting I realized it was only Hayley, Sierra standing beside her.
" You made it!" She cheered.
" Yeah- Hey have you seen anyone from the Saints?" I yelled over the music, curiously.
" The Saints? Yeah... I think Boss was upstairs- You could head up and check. Why?"
" Just wanted to say hi!" I shouted again. The music was unbearably loud. I could hardly think. " I'm gonna go look for them."
" Alright have fun!" Hayley waved me off as I started towards the stairs.
As I walked up the steps I already saw familiar faces- And once of them looked completely ticked.
" Johnny's dead and you're throwing a fucking party?!" Shaundi sneered at Pierce.
" Well... When you say it like that, Sure it sounds bad..." He shrugged. A man stood behind him who I couldn't entirely make out- But his purple pimp attire with gold chains and a gold microphone-cane certainly implied he was a Saint.
" I was saddled up in a human pony show. You see me cryin' about it little girl?" He asked- his voice sounded hollowed, frail and- honestly? Autotuned?
" I swear to God, I will shove that thing down your throat-hole." Shaundi's face contorted more in anger. Her hand raised at the man before Pierce stepped between them.
" Woah, Woah Shaundi- We can't mourn Gat forever. Eventually you gotta get back on the horse." I saw him quickly turn to the pimp beside him, " No offense, Brotha."
As the three continued I now finally saw who I had been looking for.
The long haired, blonde walked up quickly and placed a hand on Shaundi's shoulder, Her other hand shoved in the pocket of her black skinny jeans as she pulled out her cellphone. Her black tank top she always wore seemed to be more torn since the last time I saw her. In fact her hair, posture- everything about her seemed a little different.
The only dead give away I had was the heart pendant that dangled from her neck.
" You know he's right, Shaundi." She spoke, looking rather empathetic. However, Shaundi didn't seem to want to hear it. The brunette stormed off angrily.
" Whatever." She sneered, shoving one of the dancers out of her way and to the floor.
" DAAAAAAAAAAMN." Pierce exclaimed in shock, " Girl, Life is for the livin' and shit! You know what I'm sayin'?" he sighed and turned to the balcony.
I made my way over, making sure to keep out of Shaundi's way and I felt a large grin grow over me.
" My, my, Miss Nicole I see you guys are doing as well as ever." I spoke sharply.
The boss spun around and greeted me with a huge smile. She pulled me into a hug and tussled my hair.
" Jack! I knew you moved off here to Steelport but it's crazy I can't believe you came here! You never were much of a party goer back in Stilwater." Nicole laughed, crossing her arms.
" Yo! Jack, My man." Pierce smiled now noticing me. He shook my hand viciously and then the two turned to the pimp beside them.
" This is Zimos. He's one of our new Lieutenants from here." Nicole noted to me, " Zimos, this is Jack- He was a Saint back when it was still all of us in Stilwater. When it was Johnny, Aisha, Carlos, Alex- Hell you name 'em. Jack's been around since the very beginning." She looked back to me.
" Shaundi's taking Johnny's death pretty hard, huh?" I frowned.
" Yeah. I mean- I doesn't help that Alex is gone too. Between Alex and Johnny- There's really no one left Shaundi really could relate to."
" You remember when Alex first canonized us?" I laughed.
" Trust me- I remember all too well." She laughed, " I remember everything that happened back in Stilwater like it was yesterday. But things change, time goes on. With Alex gone, We needed a new leader-"
" And everyone trusted you to lead?" I smirked at her.
" You say that like it's a bad thing." She laughed back, " I think the other Saints trusted me to lead it because I grew up with Alex and the others- I was around for Julius and Lin and Dex- Even if I wasn't a Saint back then. I had the most training from Alex so I guess it seemed like it would be the best fit for me to be leader next."
" So first Julius, Then Alex- Now you." I grinned, " Hows it feel to be leader? Feel powerful? Feel like you're on top of the world?"
" Come back to me with that question after a few drinks." She laughed, " I'll letcha know how I'm feelin after... I'm really glad you could make it, Jack." She began, looking to me now more seriously, " But you gotta know- With you leaving the Saints and us going after Steelport now- It's might not exactly be the safest for you to be hanging around here..."
" I know." I replied, a weak smile on my face.
" If you ever wanna come back to the Saints, I'd be more than happy to have you again- But it's not the safest to be hanging around us right now. There's been a lot of shit happening since we got here- Not even just Johnny's death. More and more, we get screwed over and I don't want you or Hayley getting caught in the crossfire. You guys might have been Saints back in the day but you haven't done much fighting in years- And the people we're up against could take out Johnny... "
" So you gotta understand why we don't want you guys hanging around the wrong crowd like us, Right?" Pierce continued her thought, looking at me hastily.
" Yeah, I understand. If I need jobs, I'll let you know."
" If you need jobs, you got jobs." Nicole smiled, playfully hitting my shoulder.
" It was good seeing you guys- I've missed this...Oh-And uh- It was great meeting you too Zimos!" I smiled, shaking his hand. I walked down the steps quickly- The look Nicole had wasn't a normal Nicole look. She never looked so worried in all the days we use to roll with the Saints. I mean, I can't blame her either- Alex lead us back in Stilwater and he kept us all relatively safe. He was a good leader- and Johnny as a second in command made things even better. With both of them gone, The Saints took a hard hit.
I wasn't gonna stick around. I didn't like the idea of it.
I'd rather just head home and sleep anyway. There wasn't much else I could think of doing here in Steelport anyway.
I made my way back to the elevator. As I stood inside waiting for the doors to close I looked around to see if I could find Hayley and Sierra.
I couldn't.
Maybe they got bored of the party?
They probably left.
The elevator dropped me off in the garage which wasn't where I parked so I had to walk my way out- However between the garage and the street, I didn't see Hayley's car.
I got in my car and sped off home. I was happy I got to see them all before anything else happened.
I had been gone so long- I hadn't even had a chance to see Alex or Johnny one last time.
I parked my car and walked over the the front door to my apartment but I couldn't make myself go in. I stared at the walls and the windows, my eyes shifted and glossed over everything on the building until there was nothing.
You know, when you stare off into space- You're looking at nothing, You're seeing nothing but there still is something there.
I stood there for what felt like hours but only really for minutes- maybe even less.
I saw my friends again. I was back home- and I had a pretty easy day. To be honest I had a pretty easy week in general- and I felt pretty good about it. However, I still couldn't shake the feeling that I had last night. I struggled with depression a lot in my life but I hadn't had anything like that in years. I hadn't felt alone, I hadn't felt that sad- and it was so odd to me.
Why was I feeling that way?
And what about today made me feel different than yesterday?
The door opened and Hayley popped her head out. She stared at me quietly for a second before clearing her throat.
" Are you gonna come in?" She asked softly.
" Yeah..." I answered rather stiff.
I don't remember walking inside that night. I don't even remember what I did once I got inside. My mind was clustered and confused and I couldn't figure how to clear it. I vaguely remember something about a shooting on the news that night and a commercial for that crazy cat scientist's show.