Marv Merchants used to be a happy man, a carefree kid at heart who enjoyed his life. That was because he had Harry Lyme, his partner-in-crime since the day they met. Harry was more than just Marv's partner though; he was his friend and Marv thought for sure he was Harry's friend too.

Oh, how wrong he was.

One day, Harry and Marv met a gang of criminals who were a lot smarter and more competent than they were. The gang only liked Harry and when they invited him to join them, they made him choose between them and Marv.

He chose them.

To say Marv was devastated was an understatement. He got down on his knees and begged Harry not to go. He desperately told him he'd do anything to change his mind. He even went as far as to say "you're my best friend and you're all I have", which was true.

What Harry did next hurt Marv more than all the pain that was ever inflicted on him.

Harry berated Marv. He told him they were never friends, that Marv was stupid and all he ever did was annoy Harry, that Harry only tolerated Marv because he was a tool to help him commit his crimes and now that he found better partners, he didn't want him anymore. He even jabbed him in the chest several times just to add injury to insult.

Marv stood there in shock after Harry ranted at him. Harry turned away from Marv, not caring if or how he reacted to it.

Marv weakly extended his hand and placed it on Harry's shoulder. "Harry..." he said with a crack in his voice.

Harry immediately slapped Marv's hand away and shot him one last glare. "Save it, Marv," he spat. "We're through."

And just like that, Harry ran off with his new gang and left Marv stranded.

A dam full of sadness and anger broke inside Marv that day as he stormed into the apartment that he and Harry used to share. He grabbed a wanted poster with pictures of him and Harry on it and ripped it in half. He crushed the half with his own picture into a ball and threw it aside. Then, he took a piece of gum and chewed it and when it was sticky enough, he spat it back out and stuck Harry's picture onto the wall.

"You jerk!" Marv screamed, throwing an empty beer can at the picture and pretending it was Harry. "I never cared about the crimes or the money! I only cared about you! You were the best thing I had in my life, Harry! I'm sorry I wasn't yours!"

Marv was so overwhelmed by the pain of losing Harry that he threw himself onto his couch and cried until he was physically and emotionally drained. Then, he laid there miserably, not knowing what to do next.

Harry was gone and wasn't coming back. Marv was alone now. He didn't have any other friends or even a family. The only family he had was a cousin he hadn't seen or heard from in years.

Marv started thinking about finding his cousin. Maybe, if he found him, he could help him turn his life around. Luckily, he knew where his cousin lived and he still had the van that he and Harry used to travel around in.

Marv pulled himself off of his couch, left his apartment with a sack of money, and entered his van. He was in Chicago and his cousin was in Los Angeles. It was going to be a long drive.

It took three days for Marv to get to his cousin's house. He spent his entire trip being depressed, eating junk food he bought with the money he had, and listening to sad songs on the radio and at night, he slept in the back of his van and thought about Harry.

It was mid-afternoon when Marv arrived. He hoped his cousin was home. He left his van, walked up to the porch, knocked on the front door, and waited for an answer.

A minute passed and he didn't get one.

Growing impatient, he banged on the door and waited again for an answer.

Another minute passed and he still didn't get one.

Marv felt a chill down his spine. He went to check if there was a vehicle in the driveway or in the garage. To his horror, there wasn't one in either. He took it to mean one thing.

His cousin didn't live there anymore.

"No!" Marv cried in despair. He groaned as he slowly made his way back over to his van. "Damn it!" he cursed, placing his arm on the van's wall and resting his head on it.

Marv felt defeated. First, his only friend abandoned him. Then, he traveled halfway across the country to meet his cousin, only to find out he wasn't where he thought he was. Now, he was stuck in L.A. with nothing else to do and no one else to turn to for help. Sure, he could just go back to Chicago but it wouldn't be any different except he was a wanted criminal there.

That last part made Marv think maybe, he should consider starting a new life in L.A. It'd be hard for him to do that without his cousin or Harry around but he'd figure something out eventually.

"Marvin?" a deep voice called out, startling Marv from his thoughts. He turned towards the voice and saw the person he thought was gone.

His cousin, Erwin Sikowitz.

Marv was shocked and relieved at the same time. "Erwin? Where were you?" he asked. "I thought you moved."

"I was at work," Sikowitz stated like it was obvious.

Marv mentally slapped himself. He never had a job so it didn't occur to him that Sikowitz had one. "Oh, yeah," Marv drawled. "I forgot."

Sikowitz felt annoyed, thinking Marv should've realized he had a job like most adults his age, but he brushed it off, knowing the lanky man wasn't that smart. "It's fine. I know it's been a long time since we last met." Sikowitz noticed Marv was a mess. He looked tired and dejected, his hair was all over the place, his clothes were dirty, and he hadn't showered in days. "Are you alright?" Sikowitz asked, concerned. "You look like crap."

"I feel like crap," Marv replied. "Can I stay here?"

Sikowitz was reluctant to answer that, knowing Marv was a burglar, but he could tell Marv needed a shoulder to cry on. "Sure," Sikowitz agreed. "Get yourself cleaned up and you can stay in my guestroom."

Marv was now sitting on the bed in Sikowitz's guestroom. Marv had just taken a nice, hot shower and was wearing some clothes Sikowitz had lent him. He found them more comfortable than his own clothes and found himself better off now than he was in his apartment.

Marv felt better physically but not emotionally. He appreciated Sikowitz's hospitality but he didn't know how long it would last. He missed Harry a lot too and couldn't stop thinking about him.

Marv turned on a TV that was in front of him and tried watching sports and cartoons for a while, hoping it would get him out of his funk, but even after several hours, he was still in it so he finally gave up and turned the TV off.

Marv sighed heavily as he laid on the bed. Soon, he drifted off to sleep and slipped into a dream. It started out good but then, it went downhill.

It started on the day Harry and Marv first met. Marv was all alone in the world. No family, no friends, no one wanted him. Then, Harry showed up and they hit it off. It was the happiest day of Marv's life.

He then had flashbacks of all the things they did together like doing robberies and heists, eating at some fast food joint, and hanging out in their van or apartment. Marv enjoyed every one of those flashbacks. Not the living a life of crime parts but the spending time with Harry parts. The latter outweighed the former. As long as Marv had Harry by his side, everything was right with the world.

Until one day, something went wrong.

Harry and Marv were at McDonald's. Marv ordered their food while Harry waited at their table. Marv got the food but when he returned to the table, Harry was suddenly gone.

"Harry?" Marv called out. He didn't get an answer. Marv looked around the restaurant. Harry was nowhere to be found. Marv dropped the food onto the table and left the restaurant in a panic. "Harry?" he called out again.

Marv looked around outside and saw Harry in the far distance. He was walking down a long street, away from him. "Harry!" Marv yelled loudly. The shorter man ignored him and kept on walking.

Marv ran towards Harry as fast as he could. He ran for what felt like forever, yelling his partner's name and begging him to come back, only to still be ignored.

"Harry," Marv said when he finally caught up to Harry and grabbed his shoulder, startling him and causing him to turn around and face Marv.

"What?" Harry asked, giving Marv an annoyed glare.

"Where ya goin'?" Marv asked.

"Away from you!" Harry snapped.

Marv was taken aback. "Why?"

Harry answered that with pure venom in his voice. "I want you outta my life, Marv. I hate you."

That was when Marv woke up. "No!" he screamed in despair. "Don't hate me, Harry! I'm sorry for whatever I did to make you hate me! I'm sorry!"

Marv took several deep breaths and looked around. He realized it was just a dream and saw that he was back in Sikowitz's guestroom.

Marv felt even more depressed now. He was scared of having the dream again and didn't want to go back to sleep. He got out of bed and left the guestroom. Then, he walked into the living room and slumped on the couch.

Marv replayed the dream in his mind. He remembered what Harry said to him right before it ended. He started to think it was true, that Harry actually hated him. That thought made his heart ache so much he started to choke up.

Sikowitz entered the living room shortly after Marv did and walked over to him. "Marvin, your screaming woke me up," Sikowitz said. He sat down next to Marv on the couch. "No harm done though. It reminded me to check on you." Sikowitz stared at Marv and saw how miserable he looked. He was hanging his head and his eyes were red and flooding with tears. "What's with the waterworks?" Sikowitz asked, placing his arm around Marv's shoulders.

"Harry left me," Marv said in a low voice.

It took a moment for Sikowitz to remember who Harry was. They only met one time after Harry and Marv met and that was years ago. "He's your partner, correct?"

"Not anymore."

"What happened?"

Marv explained the events of that day; him and Harry meeting the gang of professional criminals, them trying to steal Harry away from him, and Harry chewing him out and abandoning him for them.

"I'm sorry he did you that way," Sikowitz said, feeling bad for Marv. "Is that why you're here?"

"Yeah, I drove all the way here from Chicago," Marv continued. "Then, I had a dream where I relived all the time I spent with Harry. He left me again and this time, he told me he hated me. Now, I think he really hates me and..." He stopped, hesitant to say what he wanted to say next. "I'm scared of you hating me too."

Sikowitz was shocked that Marv would even think that. "I don't hate you, Marv," Sikowitz said in a serious voice.

"Harry was the only friend I ever had and I lost him. You're all I have left and I don't wanna lose you too."

"You're not gonna lose me. I'm here now if you need me."

Marv was so touched by Sikowitz's words that he broke down, unable to hold it in anymore, and pulled him into a hug while crying loudly. The bald man returned the hug and stroked his hand up and down the taller man's back, comforting him. They stayed that way until Marv was done crying and then, they broke apart.

"Thanks, Erwin," Marv said. "I needed that."

"Feel any better?" Sikowitz asked.

"Now that I'm with you, yeah," Marv replied. "But I still miss Harry. I dunno what I'm gonna do without him."

"Well, now that he's gone, you're free to do what you want," Sikowitz pointed out. "What do you want?"

"I don't wanna be a burglar anymore," Marv answered. "I only did that 'cause Harry wanted me to."

"You'd be doing yourself a favor if you quit," Sikowitz commented. "He strikes me as a bad friend."

Marv would've been offended by that if he and Harry were still on good terms but since they weren't, he started to agree. The more he thought about it, the more he realized their friendship had always been one-sided. Marv bent over backwards trying to please Harry and show him how much he liked him but Harry never thanked him or did anything to reciprocate. All he ever did was insult Marv and beat up on him whenever he did or said something stupid.

"I guess you're right," Marv admitted. "I guess he's not as cool as I thought he was."

Marv started to feel some resentment towards Harry (and his new partners to a lesser extent even though he barely knew them) for hurting him so badly. He wanted to be mad at Harry, to beat him up, to chew him out, to even hate him but he didn't have the heart to do those things nor did he have any way of doing them. Even if he did, he'd be just as mean as Harry was for doing those things to him.

Marv felt his resentment melt away. Even if Harry was just using him, at least he was nice enough to want him around and work with him for years. To Marv, that was better than Harry ignoring him.

"But I'd rather him be a bad friend to me than us not be friends at all," Marv continued. "I just wanna be his friend too. Maybe someday, I can figure out a way to make that happen."

Marv knew it was easier said than done. Maybe someday, he'd cross paths with Harry again and they'd repair their friendship. For now, Marv just had to move on and let Harry be happy even if it wasn't with him.

"For now, I wanna get a job," Marv said. "I dunno how to get one though."

"I can help you with that," Sikowitz offered. "What kinda job do you want?"

Marv thought until he remembered something. "Are you still a teacher? Do you think I could get a job at that school you work at?"

Sikowitz was unsure of how to answer that. "Uh...I can help you get a job. I can't promise it'll be at Hollywood Arts. I doubt they'd want someone with your criminal background around children. What would you do there?"

"I could be a janitor. Do they get paid?"

"Yes, more than teachers."

"Alright! If I get the job, we can be work buddies!"

"That would be great."

Marv smiled at Sikowitz and placed his arm around his shoulders. "Thanks again, Erwin. I dunno what I'd do without ya."

Marv felt happier than he'd been in the past several days. He had a long road to recovery ahead of him but now that Sikowitz was by his side, Marv knew he'd be okay.

Sikowitz was his new Harry. Sort of.