Jeremy.

You can't run off on me like that, Sweetheart. You scared me.

I'm so proud of you. Have you shown your dad yet?

See? Nothing to be afraid of. No monsters under here.

Don't worry, you'll feel better soon.

It'll keep you safe. Always. Even if I'm not around.

It's time to wake up, Jeremy. You'll be late for school.

You have to wake up now.

Jeremy.

Jeremy.

Wake up.

It was bright.

His eyes flickered open, slow, heavy. He was hooked up to machines. He didn't know how he got here.

"Jeremy?" He blinked at the person hovering over him, worried, stressed. Glasses. Dark skin. Dark hair.

"Michael." It was a croak, quiet and uncertain. Michael smiled weakly at him.

"Yeah. Hey. I'm... I'm going to get the nurse, hang on."

-No.-

He reached out a hand, grabbing Michael's shirt. He didn't let go, not until Michael sighed and sat down.

"Tell me what happened."

-What happened. What happened.-

Michael pressed his lips together, hands fidgeting.

"You... you had a seizure? I think? You scared the shit out of me, I called an ambulance."

"Oh." He turned his head, staring at the floor. The machines beeped. It was annoying.

"Your, uh. Your dad is here. And my moms. Do you... want me to get them?"

-No.-

"No. I need to leave."

"Jesus Christ," Michael hissed, mostly to himself. He pressed a hand to his face, squeezing his eyes shut. Agitated. Frustrated. "Jeremy, you can't leave. The doctor said something about inter-- intracranial pressure? You could have died."

"I can't stay here." He pressed his lips together, flicking his eyes to Michael. Michael looked back, brows knit, eyes squinted. He stood back up.

"Okay. Sure. We'll leave." He sat up a little, watching Michael grab a cup, pour water, hand it to him. He took it, holding it loosely between his fingers. "You're probably thirsty, though, right?"

-Michael.-

-Trust Michael.-

-We can trust Michael.-

He held the cup up to his mouth. Michael was watching him. He was nervous. He was fidgeting.

-No.-

-Can't trust him.-

"Is... Are you okay?" Michael was trying his best to look unfazed. He held out the cup and poured the liquid out onto the floor. "What-"

"You're trying to kill us."

Michael stilled, eyes widening, fear, surprise. He backed up slowly, pushing the door to the room shut, back pressed up against it. He clenched his jaw.

"I'm not letting you leave until you drink it."

White hot heat. Anger. Betrayal. How could he?

-How could he?-

"I have work to do."

"Jeremy, the Squip is killing you! This isn't normal. None of this is normal! I'm putting my foot down. You have to get rid of it."

He stared, unblinking, watching. Michael was blocking the door. The window was too dangerous.

-Get out. Go away. Leave.-

"If... if you won't drink it on your own, I'll make you." Michael inched away from the door, eyes locked, moving to pick up the cup.

-He wants to kill us.-

-We can't let him do that.-

"I wouldn't do that."

Michael didn't respond. He picked up the cup and uncapped the bottle of Mountain Dew Red from his pocket, pouring it in. Michael held it out towards him. Determined. Defiant.

"Drink it."

"No."

-Escape.-

Michael advanced on him, reaching for him. He moved away. He ripped the wires off of him, the IV. His arm was bleeding, the machines beeped, Michael almost dropped the cup in alarm.

"Jeremy! Don't, oh my God, stop-"

He smacked the cup out of Michael's hand, shoved him away, scrambled off the bed, but Michael was grabbing at him. Michael was stronger than him. Michael had done this before.

-Get off get off!-

"Jeremy, listen to me! Please!" He kicked. He knocked over a cart. He bit. He snarled. Michael gripped him tighter, trying to pin him to the floor. The noise would bring other people, and he wouldn't escape. He stilled. Michael said nothing, just clung to him, but seemed thrown off by the sudden lack of movement.

"Michael, I'm sorry."

-Sorry. So sorry.-

-We can't trust you anymore.-

"Jeremy?" Michael sounded unsure, lifting him up a little. He loosened the hold on him, just a little, just enough. He shifted his weight, pulled away, shoved him. Michael nearly caught him again, by the arm, but he reeled back, lunged forward, fist connecting to skin, against bone, an eye.

Michael was on the floor.

-Run.-

His feet moved. He threw open the door and ran, ran, ran.

-Keep running.-

-Stay safe.-

-Don't stop.-

Jeremy didn't know where he was.

He was walking, or, rather, his feet were moving, but he didn't know where they were going. Squip walked ahead of him, leading, silent. It could lead and he would gladly follow it anywhere; it was easier that way. His head hurt too much to make decisions.

-Where are we going?-

He'd mostly been wondering it to himself, but Squip answered him.

Japan.

-Oh. Cool.-

He'd never been to Japan before. Japan would be nice. What would they do there? He let his mind drift, walking slowly behind Squip, unaware, unconcerned. It felt like he was asleep, drifting through the sea. A boy who lived by the sea, sailing away, far far away... Jeremy drifted until Squip spoke again. He'd been slowing down. He was tired.

We have to keep moving.

Squip had its back turned to him, no longer walking. He wasn't walking anymore, either.

-I know. I'm sorry.-

They were walking again, but Squip kept talking. It raised its arms high in the air, gesturing to the sky, the sunset. He raised his arms, too. Effortless.

Imagine it, Ryoshi. What we can do. It'll be wonderful.

Ư̡̕S҉̶̛̛E̶͜͜L̸̢̡̛Ę̛S͜S̡̛͡ ̷U̢͏̛͟͟S͢͝͡E̸͜͞L̡͢͝͏Ȩ̷͡S̴͢͠S҉̨̛͞

Shattering glass, waves crashing on the shore, sun bleeding into stars, blood red ichor, bleeding down his arm.

-Wait.-

Follow me and we'll achieve anything. We can't stop now, Ryoshi. We have so much to do.

Things weren't so fuzzy anymore. They were sharp, vivid. He could feel panic fill up every part of him, breathing fast, heart pounding. He couldn't stop himself from moving.

-Wait!-

There's no time to wait.

-Squip, stop!-

He struggled, forcing himself to take a step back and Squip stopped, rounded on him, eyes bright.

We've come too far to stop now.

Jeremy forced himself back one more small step, and then he lurched forward, out of his control. He remembered this. He remembered. The play. The stage. Squip manic, unable to be reasoned with, then fading away to dust. Stop, stop, stop he had to stop.

-This isn't you!-

No.

No.

No.

Not again.

He stumbled, tired, so tired, but they'd hurt Michael. They'd hurt Christine. He lurched forward, tried to dig his feet in the ground, anything.

Saltwater taffy. Vienna Waltz. Ferris Wheel. Falling into the sea, drowning.

"Stop!" Jeremy's entire body froze, stiff and rigid, and then collapsed, on his hands and knees, hiccupping. He balled his hands into fists and pressed his face in the dirt, muffling the sound. "Stop. Please stop."

Ryoshi in the dimly lit room, Cho with the gun, squeezing the trigger, turning the gun on himself. He pressed his eyes shut and shuddered, crumpling onto his side, curled up in the grass. There was silence. He was alone. He was so tired. Everything hurt.

"Squip?"

Nothing.

He pressed a hand to his mouth, tried to stop breathing so erratically, ignoring the tears.

-Squip? Hello?-

Jeremy tried to force himself to sit up, but he couldn't.

I'm sorry.

He looked up; Squip was kneeling over him, voice soft, sad. It brushed fingers through Jeremy's hair. Jeremy blinked up at it, smiling, relieved.

Something is wrong with me.

Jeremy reached up a hand, cupping its face, tugging it down toward him.

-It's okay. We'll... We'll go back. To the way things were. To how it was.-

Saltwater taffy. Vienna Waltz. The beach. Icecream. Studying in the library. Secret kisses. Ferris Wheel.

-It's okay.-

Squip smiled softly, eyes crinkling, pressing a kiss to Jeremy's palm. It was warm; the rest of him was cold.

Of course.

Saltwater taffy.

We will, of course.

Vienna Waltz.

Squip kissed his forehead, gently, carefully.

The beach.

You need to rest.

Icecream.

You need to sleep now, Jeremy.

Studying in the library.

He was so tired. Squip rested a hand on his chest, thumb brushing along his collarbone. He closed his eyes.

Secret kisses.

-I love you.-

I know.

Ferris Wheel.

S̛̤̹̱̺͉̕o̢̥̯͓̲͙ ̡͏̴̻̲̬̹̮̩̳ͅp̢̫̬̬̬̪͓͟ͅr͜͠҉̯̭͙͕̭̮͚̮̣̥̪͙̮̮͔͙ͅͅo̼̤̪̳̥͖̻̕͞ư̥͙̖̼̘̞̹̱͞d̷̶̳͉̱̹̜̯̪̖͇͚͕͎͙͈̪͖̼͝ͅ ͏̴̨̠̜̙̬̭̦͖ͅơ̵̸͜͏̭̝͓͓̬̖̣̮̝̳̝͔f̴͏͕̻͇̩͓̫͇̙̮̞̺͢͜͠ ̡͇̙̗̹̦͙͚̱̻̭̘͚̤͙̗̟̕y̢͈̲͍̥͈̟o̵͟͜͏͉̖̰̣̤͎͕̦͓͙͉̝̥̥̠͕ư̶̤͇͓͖̪̪̖͓̮͈̙͙̯͓̲

He was groggy when he woke up. Jeremy sat up slowly, smacking his lips together, grimacing at how dry and stale his mouth was. How long had he been sleeping? He glanced around, taking in the surroundings. He was outside, in what looked like the middle of nowhere, but the sun was setting. That was nice.

"Hello, Jeremy."

Jeremy jumped, almost fell over at Squip's voice, smooth and teasing. He pressed a hand over his heart, taking a deep breath, frowning.

"Jesus." Squip smiled at him, amused.

"You looked so peaceful. I didn't want to bother you." Jeremy sighed and leaned back, scrubbing at his face. Figures they'd be amused at startling the hell out of him.

"Where are we, anyway?"

"I don't know." Squip closed its eyes, legs crossed, hands resting in its lap. It lifted its head, as if enjoying the fading sunlight, smiling. "But it's nice."

"Yeah. I guess." Jeremy leaned carefully against Squip's shoulder. It opened its eyes slightly and glanced at him.

"Jeremy."

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to apologize for hurting you."

Oh. Right. That'd happened.

"Don't worry about it. It's over now, right? We'll just pretend it never happened." And he'd have to apologize profusely to Michael for socking him in the face.

"I like your optimism."

"Thanks?"

They sat in silence, Jeremy staring at the grass, picking at a few blades, Squip smiling in the dying sunlight.

"I understand now, Jeremy." He looked up. Squip slowly pushed itself up to stand.

"Understand what?"

"What it means to be human."

"Oh." He had no idea how to respond to that. Even he didn't think he'd be able to answer that question and he'd been human his whole life. "So... what is it?"

Squip extended a hand out to him and he took it, helping him up to stand. It laced their fingers together and pressed the back of his hand to its lips.

"This." Jeremy flushed a little and looked away.

"Uuuh, hand holding?" It rolled its eyes at him.

"No."

He shrugged his shoulders a little, giving Squip's hand a squeeze. He felt embarrassed, unable to look it in the eye. Squip sighed.

"Love, Jeremy."

Oh. Duh. That made sense. Love was the answer.

"I knew that." He smiled a bit, and the Squip pulled its hand away, stepping away, facing the sunset again.

"I didn't understand it before. That's why I failed to help you." Squip had its hands in its pockets now, which was surprising and uncharacteristic. It looked a little hunched over now. Jeremy found it a little unsettling. "But it's also why I have to go."

"Go? Go where?" He stared at Squip's back, uncomprehending. It was a computer in his head; how could it go anywhere?

"I mean, I need to be destroyed, Jeremy."

"This again?" He frowned, stomach churning, blood rushing in his ears. Why did it keep bringing that up? He thought they were past this. "No. We made a deal. I'm not getting rid of you."

"You don't have a choice, unfortunately." Why wasn't it looking at him?

"What the fuck, yeah, I have a choice. I'm not drinking the Mountain Dew Red. I told you, you're stuck with me." Look at me, damn it.

"I believe I told you once that your stubbornness will get you killed." Jeremy crossed his arms, glowering at the back of Squip's head. It finally turned to look at him. It was smiling, tone light, but its eyes were red. He squinted at it, mildly alarmed, almost dropping his arms.

"Y-yeah, but I'm fine." He spun around, as if to show it... something. Squip chuckled softly. "See? Fine." He smiled nervously, chest fluttering.

"You aren't fine, Jeremy." It stepped toward him, resting both hands on his shoulders. "You're dying."

"N-no." He shuffled his feet, chewing on his lip. "I feel fine. But I'll go back to the hospital if that makes you feel better." Squip leaned in and nuzzled into his hair.

"You're dreaming, Jeremy."

He froze, a cold chill running up his spine. The sun should have set by now, but it was still in the same low, burning place in the sky. There was no breeze. No sound. No one else. He wasn't awake right now. He pushed Squip roughly, away from him, breath catching in his throat.

"No. Stop it."

"You've been unconscious. I contacted Michael and gave him your coordinates. There's nothing you can do, Jeremy."

"No, you— you... You can't." His fingers were freezing, trembling, heart racing. He grabbed at Squip this time, by the arms, pulling it back in. "Th-this is stupid, no."

"Jeremy..." It was still smiling, but its face was a little more serious, a little sad. "My quantum processor has malfunctioned to the point where it's hurting you physically. So long as I exist, you will be permanently damaged, even if you survived. You have a life to live."

"Shut up. There's something else we can do, something-" He stopped. Squip tilted its head down against his shoulder, crumpling, caving in. Jeremy wrapped his arms around it quickly to keep them from falling, clutching them close, bringing them to their knees. "Squip? Squip? Hey!" It pressed a kiss to his ear.

"You will have an incredible life. You have the capacity to succeed in anything you do. You never needed me for that." Jeremy clung to it, hands fisted in the back of its shirt. It felt like nothing, weightless. He could see parts of it fading away now, breaking off, chipping away, drifting. He just held it tighter.

"I won't let you. We— we had a deal." He sounded like a petulant child, having a tantrum. His voice was shaking. He didn't want this. He'd never wanted this. It was disappearing into nothingness in his arms and he couldn't do anything to stop it. Squip pulled away, just enough to press their foreheads together, hand cupping his jaw, thumb brushing away the tears he hadn't realized where there.

Don't go, don't go, I want to go back.

"Jeremy Heere, you wonderful human being, thank you." It kissed him, just the ghost of lips against his. He was too overwhelmed to move. "You almost convinced me I'm real."

He shook his head, over and over, crushing Squip's weightless, fading form against him.

"You're real to me."

It laughed, sounding distant and far away until there was nothing left, just air, a fading wisp of red smoke disappearing into the eternal sunset.