𝚡𝚡𝚡𝚒𝚒𝚒. 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎
i was going to just jump into the content, but if anyone at all is going to read this, i feel i need to say something. hey, guys. i guess i did it. i became the author of an incomplete story where you desperately go to see when it was last updated in the hopes that it wasn't too long ago, only to find it's been ages and the story's likely been abandoned. i honestly flat-out REFUSE to believe that it's been close to two years since i stopped writing this story. the date has to be wrong. so does the 'first published' date. i mean, 2019? i was still in high school when i started this! with in person classes and everything! for a few weeks there i was updating every 2-5 days. i have not been blessed with such inspiration since.
it's just crazy. everything is. i started writing this because i wanted a little world my best friend and i could exist in together, our (sort-of) version of a utopia in which record stores and duct-taped boots and young pre-fame rock superstars were staples in our lives. i was alex and she was charlie, and we took on the world together and we shared a shithole apartment and we laughed and cried and then suddenly it wasn't we anymore. it was they and these characters ran away from me and did things i didn't want them to and i mean...in my head, their world is real. i can see certain scenes of the book so clearly. i know their apartment like the back of my hand and i know how long it takes to walk to joey's and i remember being at each party and i remember wishing i could hand my friends tissues when they cried. the snowy nights and pink sunsets...
anyway, welcome to the final chapter of superunknown. i wrote most of it two years ago but just barely found the momentum to edit and post it. i hope it doesn't let you down.
✩✩✩
Still beautiful, Alex noted as they drove into Montana the next day. The first time she'd passed through it on her way to Seattle had been with her mom and she'd been so miserable she'd barely noticed its beauty before looking away, and the second time she'd been so depressed about leaving Seattle that she hadn't bothered to look at all. Now she held her head up with her eyes wide open out of fear she might miss something. She took way too many pictures—of the view, of Charlie driving, of the diner they stopped to eat at, of the food, of Charlie as she tried to eat in peace, of herself and Charlie still just trying to eat in peace...
"You're going to run out of film," Charlie said.
"This is my last one," Alex replied as the held the camera up and took a picture of Charlie again. "I think you blinked."
"I hope I did. I'm gonna start blinking on purpose when you have that out."
"I'll get more film and take a million more until I get one where you're not."
"Sure you will. Anyway, you're out of film for the time being, so I'm safe."
Alex looked her square in the face and blinked hard. "Mental pictures. You didn't blink that time. Nice."
Charlie picked up her mug of tea and sipped from it to hide a smile. "I hate you," she said as she put it back down.
"Aw, I hate you too. Anyway, I think we'll be in Seattle either tonight or early tomorrow. You excited to get home to your parents ready to kill you?"
Charlie laughed. "Oh, yeah." She pushed Alex's coffee mug into her hand and when Alex lifted it and added a thumbs-up with her other hand blinked hard at her. "Worth it."
"Sure it was. Move out. Rent a probably really shitty apartment. Be roommates with me of all people. Yeah, I don't know."
"Shut up. It was my idea and I genuinely really wanna do it. You better not back out on me."
"I'd never." Alex put on an offended look for a second, then laughed. "Where else am I going to go?"
"With Sean...?"
Alex shook her head and took a drink of coffee. "Nuh-uh. Nope."
"What? Why? What happened?"
Alex rolled her eyes as if she seriously didn't want to say but answered anyway. "He said I should stay with my mom. Says he thinks it's for the best that I go back home 'cause 'I don't run with the best crowd' in Seattle. He was talking about Andy and Janet and Maura. I mean, I hate Maura and I actually understand where he's coming from when he talks about that, but I still don't think he has the right to say that stuff. Who does he think he is?"
"Wait, he said that about Andy?"
"Yeah, basically. It was weird. I thought we were all friends. I guess not."
"Huh. That is weird. Well--no offense, but, like...has he met your mom?"
"That's what I said!" Alex couldn't help a laugh. "It didn't make sense. And it's annoying that he thinks I would take cues from people like Maura and Janet."
"Yeah, that's true. If anything, you're a bad influence."
"What? How dare you?"
"You got me to do graffiti with you less than a week into our friendship!"
"I'm sorry, was that not fun for you? Did I not also bring you food and let you go ham with my green paint?"
It was Charlie's turn to laugh. "Yeah, yeah. Still a bad influence. Anyway, just ignore Sean. He can't tell you what to do."
"Ignore him? He told me to stay in Chicago. I'm going back to beat his ass."
"Well, that too. Whatever works for you, man, I'm just making suggestions here."
They laughed together then, and Alex thanked Charlie before they got back to eating. After that they paid their bill and went back to the truck. It was Alex's turn to drive, which wasn't great for time because she kept going slowly so as to get to look around and stopping to take pictures and pick up souvenirs (rocks, flowers, a single keychain from the convenience store she bought more film at, etc.). But Charlie never complained, even as she put on her biggest smile for the hundredth photo against whatever background Alex had thought too beautiful to pass up.
"Well, we'll be in town tomorrow for sure," Charlie said through a yawn as they drove into some rest stop.
"Yeah. Sorry," Alex sheepishly said.
"Nah, it's all good. Today was fun. And now we get to have one last night as runaways."
"True. We draw close to the epic conclusion of Charlie and Alex's Odyssey. We gotta make it count."
"Hell, yeah." Charlie leaned forward when she noticed droplets of water on the windshield. "Is it...raining?"
Alex turned the truck off and looked around. "Sprinkling," she replied. "Meh. I'm gonna get out and stretch. Do we need anything from the store?"
"Uh...I don't know, but let's both go and see what they have. Lock your door, I'll get the money."
Of course, they were unable to resist buying more snacks and whatever small souvenirs they could afford. But on the way back to the car Charlie suddenly said, "you go ahead. I forgot something."
"Oh, okay. Hurry up."
"Yeah."
Alex went back to the truck, hurrying to unlock it and get in before the rain ruined the paper bag of donuts in her hand. She set that down on the dashboard and put the radio on, then got out her pocket notebook and a pen and started to write something down. She was in the middle of doing that when there was a heavy knocking on the passenger door. Her heart nearly exploded but she calmed when she saw Charlie in the side mirror. She opened the door and said as her friend climbed in, "Jesus Christ, you scared the living--"
"Here." Charlie gestured for Alex to give her her hand. Alex did so, slightly suspicious but trusting that it wouldn't be a fly or anything of that sort. Charlie took her hand and with a big smile on her face lowered something into it. Something small, cold, and heavy for its size. She closed Alex's hand around it and pushed it back towards her. "Happy last trip night."
"What...?" Alex opened her fist and then a smile as big as the one Charlie had appeared on her face. In her hand was a pink Zippo, cool and lit with a metallic shine. "For me?"
"Yeah. I got a matching one, see." Charlie took an identical one out from her pocket. "They're full, I asked the guy to put lighter fluid in them 'cause I don't have enough left."
"Nice." Alex flicked hers open and lit it, then closed it. "That's such a nice sound."
"Right?" Charlie opened and closed her twice. "I feel like I'm in the middle of a press conference."
At the same exact time they both put on their Elvis faces, but before either could do the voice they burst out laughing. When they finally stopped nothing more was said; Sam Cooke's It's All Right was on the radio and both wanted to turn it up and listen. Stand By Me came on after that and they stayed quiet through that as well, both committing the moment to memory.
Outside, the rain was beginning to fall a little heavier and lighting occasionally flashed in the distance. The next day would prove trying; Charlie's parents weren't exactly pleased about her disappearance and Alex's cousin's welcome was less than warm. As a matter of fact, he would tell her that he strongly disapproved of her return and cut her out entirely, which made the already embarrassed girl feel like such shit that she wouldn't even tell Charlie about it. But that was tomorrow. Today...today, everything was all right.
✩✩✩
"This..." Alex trailed off as she looked around the new apartment. It wasn't the unit they had been shown by the landlord, and the reason for that was obvious--it wasn't as nice. The paint on the walls was peeling in places and the carpet looked like a mechanic had come in and put a bunch of oily parts down on it. There was a TV, but it was small and looked older than the girls themselves, and the shelf it was on looked fit to fall apart at any moment. Not helping matters was the hour of the day; the sun had just set and everything looked dim and ugly. But Alex put down the box she was carrying and straightened up with a smile and finished, "is awesome!"
"It...is?"
"Hell, yeah! It just needs some cleaning. And if we save we can get a TV that isn't from, like, the fifties or whatever. It's not as nice as the one we saw before, but come on, it's an apartment all for us!"
"Yeah, that's true." Charlie walked into the living room (divided from the rest of the apartment mostly by the couch) and looked down at the carpet and its odd stains. "We can scrub this out..."
"No doubt." Alex found the door to the balcony and said, "hey, come here."
"What?" Charlie went around the couch and over to where Alex was now working on the door's lock.
"We gotta see the view. Together, since it's the first time." She finally got it unlocked and opened the door and they stepped out onto it.
"Oh, wow," was Charlie's almost inaudible reaction.
Who cared about the walls? All of the paint could peel off of them. The carpet and its stains weren't so bad, really, and maybe watching TV on a set that old would be fun. That view, that incredible view of the city they had traveled for days to get back to and found awfully mundane jobs to stay in made that one seem like the best apartment in it.
"Yeah." Alex stepped back and touched Charlie's shoulder. "Let's go get the rest of our stuff."
"Right, okay. Then we can go to the grocery store you saw. Bring back some tea or hot chocolate or something and then come out here with it."
"Sounds like a plan to me."
And to the grocery store that Alex had seen they went. On the way there, Charlie tripped on something sticking out of the ground and hurt her foot, so Alex suggested she sit in the cart while she pushed it. Maybe next time I'll trip and get to the be the one in the cart, she said, to which Charlie responded with a bitter yeah, and you'll also get to be the one experiencing the worst damn pain ever.
But she couldn't deny that riding in the cart had been fun and was a bit reluctant to get out of it once they were done shopping, even though her foot had mostly stopped hurting by then. On the way home she suggested they make it a sort of grocery store tradition in which they took turns being the one in the cart, and of course Alex agreed, and it stuck.
They made it back to the apartment soon enough and immediately set about making hot chocolate and dragging chairs out onto the balcony to sit and drink and look at the stars. And that bred yet another new tradition--probably the best one they had.
The next night, they invited Stone and Jeff and Andy over. They ate cheap pizza and watched a movie on the girls' ancient little TV and then stayed up listening to the radio way too late without worrying about anyone's mom saying it was time to go to sleep.
"But maybe having an actual adult around is a good idea," Stone said as they were discussing just that, "because I'm tired."
"Don't be so weak," Alex said. She picked up a can of soda and held it out to him. "Here, maybe this will help."
"Help with what? Increasing the chances that I'll have a heart attack before the night is over?"
Jeff laughed. "You can't get a heart attack from drinking soda." He seemed to think about it then and stopped laughing and sat up. "Wait. Can you?"
"I think you can get a heart attack from too much anything," Charlie said. "You can die from drinking too much water."
"Yeah, but that's something else, isn't it?" Alex chimed in. "It's not a heart attack. It's...something else."
"Heart attack or not, you still die," Andy said, now staring at the label on his own can of soda. "But you have to drink, like, a metric shit-ton, don't you?"
"Yes, that precise amount," Alex replied.
"You know what I meant."
"So..." Stone opened the can and hesitated. "This will be my fourth can. Am I gonna die if I drink it?"
"Possibly," Jeff said at the same time Charlie assured, "of course not."
"Four cans isn't even a lot," Alex said. "Just drink it--if you want to, I mean."
He shrugged and finally began to drink the soda. "Alright. I feel no closer to dying and I'm still tired. Now what?"
"Oh, wait, before you fall asleep, you guys have to look at the view," Charlie said. "It's really nice. Come on."
They all stood up and shuffled over to the balcony. Once Charlie had gotten the shitty door to open up they all stepped out onto it and crowded the railing, the guys each eager to point out a different place they recognized. "You can see the water from here?" "Hey, look, it's Donna's!" "There's Jack's!" "Damn, you can see everything!"
When they had listed everything they could see they shifted their attention to the balcony itself. Andy tapped the Christmas lights Alex and Charlie had put up out there and said, "you guys realize it's not Christmas, right?"
"They're not just for Christmas. We like how they look."
That was a moment Alex would look back on quite often in the following years. And though she wouldn't quite remember what it was that Stone (or was it Jeff?) replied with, she would remember that as he finished saying it, some old song by The Beatles came on the radio. She had not thought all that much about the song before, but at that moment, it was the best song she'd ever heard. Her new favorite, in fact, and that it would remain for a very long time.
✩✩✩
Hey again, friends. Wasn't that kind of fun? As much as I love the 90s, I do enjoy thinking about the 80s. Unfortunately, it's time for us to leave them. Back to the future we go...
May of 1993 was the first time in a long time that everyone in the old group had coinciding time off. All of the bands' 1991 albums had taken off, and they were, well, really fucking famous. Pearl Jam had just finished recording their second album and Alice In Chains had a month off before they were to get back on the road. Soundgarden was about to hit the studio to record the album they'd started working on during their last tour.
There had been a few changes in the lives of the friends, but none so big as the one scheduled to take place very early that May. This one was big--no, huge. It was life-changing, it was the single most important thing to happen all year, or in the last twenty years, as a matter of fact, and only on so prime a day could such carefully chosen words be uttered:
"You look like shit, dude."
Layne stared at Jerry with a flat expression until they both had to laugh. "Shut the fuck up," he said through a chuckle. "Help me with this thing--" he pulled at his tie "--instead of just standing there looking like a...a fuckin'...Martian..."
"You are a Martian," Jerry grumbled as he reached over and put a clean knot in Layne's tie. "So, you nervous?"
"Not really. Hm. Not at all. I kind of can't wait. I thought I'd be scared or whatever, but I'm just not. I feel like, I don't know, like it was meant to be, or something."
"Aw, listen to you, getting all sappy." Jerry put a hand on his friend's shoulder and smiled. Then he reached up lightning-fast and smacked the back of his head. "Shut the hell up. I hope you get nervous later on."
"Bitch," Layne said, trying to get him back but missing. "Let's go already. I'm sick of being in this room with your musty ass."
"You could never. But yeah, let's go before everyone thinks you bitched out."
"We're on schedule, shithead."
"Asswipe."
Not being half as hostile were the girls, who were on their way to the church in a King family limousine. They played card games and enjoyed drinks and talked about this and that as they went. Occasionally they dared each other to open a window or the sunroof and stick an arm or a head out.
"I hope I don't trip while walking down the aisle. That's definitely something that would happen to me," Charlie absentmindedly said as she looked through her cards.
"Yeah. I'm paying someone in an aisle seat to make sure it does happen," Alex replied.
"You're so mean," Rhea said with a laugh. "I bet you really would do that."
"Keep talking and I'll pay them to do it to you, too."
Rhea and Charlie laughed and Alex grinned and shook her head as if to confirm that no, she wouldn't do that.
They got to the church right on schedule (as Jo, who was checking an actual physical copy of the schedule every five minutes, made sure to point out). Rhea and Jo went inside to make sure everything was in order.
As they waited on the steps Alex turned to Charlie and said, "this doesn't feel real."
Charlie smiled. "I know, right?"
"Yeah, it's weird. I mean, you guys are meant for each other for sure, but I still can't believe this is happening." She turned to her and said, "you gremlin. I'm so happy and excited for you and proud of you but most of all just filled with love for you. I don't know who I would be without you. I hope he gives you the world, 'cause you deserve it."
And Charlie opened her arms and hugged her friend so tightly Alex almost had to ask her to loosen her hold but didn't.
A few moments later Jo and Rhea came back, bringing the groomsmen (Mike, Sean, and Jerry) along with them. "Alright, you guys," Jo said. "Let's get this show on the road."
"Good luck. Don't trip," Charlie said to her bridesmaids.
"I will. I'm determined to steal your spotlight in any way I can," Alex joked.
"I won't help you up if you do it," Jerry warned. "I'll keep walking. Or I'll also trip and steal your spotlight."
"And then I'll walk in and step on you guys," Charlie interjected. "Now hurry up or I'll knock you down and step on you now."
"We're supposed to wait until the music starts," Alex grumbled, but right as she finished her sentence the mentioned music started up and Charlie made a face at her. And the procession began.
No one tripped on the way down the aisle, and Layne never did get nervous. The ceremony was beautiful, the kind that everyone would remember for years and years to come, the kind you would find at the end of a movie or telenovela. It was simply perfect.
The reception lasted until about 9 at night, and then the inner circle of friends (our friends) headed to Layne and Charlie's place for a little after-party. Jerry and Stone (who almost always had a guitar in his car for some reason or another) played ballads while the others sang and danced around, still all dressed up in their wedding day best. They drank champagne instead of cheap beer for once and laughed about how fancy they were now, even though there were some of those cheap beers in the back of the fridge. As the night went on they sang a little louder and a little more off-key; they were all just so happy. Layne and Charlie were, of course, the happiest of all, and this was made obvious by the way neither seemed to ever stop smiling.
Like many if not all of the parties that had been held there, this one lasted through to the morning. Well, sort of. Everyone stayed there, but not everyone stayed awake. Typical. Not that that wasn't okay, of course, because it always would be. Always.
✩✩✩
Because of how hard it now was for all of them to get together, they all decided to go on a vacation together a week after Charlie and Layne returned from their honeymoon. They argued for what felt like forever until finally settling on Santa Cruz as their destination. Apparently too many of them found the opportunity to ride some rickety old wooden roller coaster too good to pass up, so down to California they went. Things were going great right up until they actually got in line for that roller coaster...
"Oh my God! How long does this line go for?" Alex asked when she realized that entering the building did not mean they were now at the front of the line. The reason for which the majority of their group had opted to wait to get in line for the coaster was now extremely apparent.
"Have some patience," Charlie said. "This is what you wanted, isn't it?"
"Hell, I would have agreed to go to Vegas instead if I had known about this. I'll listen to you guys next time."
"Excuse me," a wonderfully familiar voice said from a few people behind them. "Excuse me. That's my wife. Her, right there. Sorry. Excuse me."
When he had finally squeezed past all the people in line behind Charlie, Alex, and Jerry, Layne held out what he'd been sent off to get: a big piece of cotton candy on a stick. Charlie took it with a big smile and Layne grabbed her free hand and kissed her head. "You wanted pink, right?"
"Yeah. Thanks, babe."
Alex turned to face Jerry and said, "see, that could be us."
Jerry made a face of pretend disdain and replied, "what, being all gross in public?"
Alex hit his shoulder. "No. Married."
"Oh. Well, I can ask you to marry me right now, if you want."
Alex laughed but quieted back down when she noticed the confused look on Jerry's face that revealed him to be oblivious to what it was that she found so funny. "Wait. Are you being serious?"
"Yeah...? I mean, I'm not carrying this around for nothing," he said as he opened his jacket and proceeded to withdraw a ring-box from one of the inside pockets.
"Hey, are you proposing? Because you gotta give me a second to put more film in the camera if you are," Layne said.
Jerry laughed both at what he was saying and at Alex's dumbfounded look and shook his head, lifting the lid of the box with his thumb ever so slightly before putting it back in its pocket. "Not yet. I don't think this—" he gestured vaguely at their surroundings "—is the time or place for that."
"Right. Because, of course, you're a real romantic and you have to get the details just right," Alex said.
"Maybe I am. Maybe you don't know me that well. So maybe proposing isn't such a good idea. Hm."
"Yeah, right. Who says I would say yes anyway?"
"Who says I'd be proposing to you?"
"Keep talking and you'll never get the chance to propose to anyone," Alex said with a throat-slashing motion.
Charlie lowered her cotton candy and started, "can you guys act normal for, like, five seconds—"
"Ignore 'em," Layne said. "They're just jealous."
"Of you?" Jerry asked. "Don't make me laugh, Cotton Candy Boy."
"Get married already. Bringing cotton candy to your wife is what makes you a real man."
The group melted into laughter, which eventually became nervous laughter as they approached the front of the line and soon after screams when the coaster began its big descent.
They were awake so early the next morning the sun had yet to rise; they wanted to take advantage of their hotel's free breakfast and it was only served at that time. After eating Alex and Jerry went back to their room, where they hung out for a while, milling about the room itself and then the attached balcony until the sun began to rise.
"Man, this is a nice view, isn't it?" Alex said as she looked around. "Look at that. Look at all those colors. This is so..." She trailed off when she turned to see that Jerry, who had only seconds ago been standing next to her, was now on one knee before her, holding out the box he'd shown her yesterday with a big nervous smile on his face.
"Alex," he started, then stopped to clear his throat and open the box. "Alex," he said again, "a few years ago, we had our first conversation about as early in the morning as it is now, and I told you some time after that that I knew from that first morning that I was going to fall in love with you. Let me tell you—I could never have imagined all this. You have made me realize that I didn't have a fucking clue what love or happiness could be before I met you. You are so beautiful, smart, funny, talented, and all-around amazing and I don't know what I would do without you. You are...everything. I am so, so in love with you and I need you with me, always. I can only hope that the man I try to be for you is worthy of that. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I promise I'll make it worth your time to spend yours with me. Alex," he said once again, his voice dropping, "will you marry me?"
Alex could barely see him through the tears in her eyes at that point but she nodded and sniffed and confirmed "yes" aloud and almost immediately he got back on both feet and wrapped both arms around her and lifted her off the ground and kissed her with an intensity reminiscent of the first time he'd ever done it. "I love you," she said to him when he'd put her back down, and he brought a hand up to wipe a tear off her cheek and said, "I love you, too," and then kissed her again before finally taking her hand and putting the ring on her finger.
"You bastard," someone inside the room said. "You were supposed to warn me so that I could take pictures!"
"Shut the fuck up," Jerry said to Layne through breathless laughter. "How did you even get in here, you freak? How long have you been there?"
"Just a couple seconds. Your door was open. I was coming to offer you some of the bacon I took 'cause I can't eat anymore. But, hey, congratulations." He put the Styrofoam bowl full of bacon down and went to hug Jerry, then Alex. "Finally, man! What were you waiting for?"
Jerry shrugged and jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the view from the balcony. "Had to get the time and place just right."
Alex laughed a little and said, "good, because if it had been anywhere else I don't think I would've accepted."
Jerry and Layne laughed as well and then Layne suggested going to tell everyone else, so they did exactly that.
They rented a private room at a restaurant that night to celebrate. It was chaotic and hard but eventually they managed to get everyone settled and soon they were all talking and joking like they always had.
"If you have a kid," Mike Starr said to them, "name it after me."
"What if it's a girl?" Sean asked.
"Name her Michaela."
"Name her Alice," Jo piped up.
"Wouldn't that be weird?" Matt pointed out. "Because of the whole 'in chains' thing?"
"Maybe. Yeah, never mind. Don't do that."
"We appreciate your input," Alex said, "but in the event that we do have a kid, we're gonna put a list of horrible, unpronounceable names on a wheel and spin it and choose that way."
Everyone at the table laughed. "You would," was the general agreed-upon response.
"So," Eddie started, "where are you gonna have the wedding?"
"My basement," Alex replied at the same time Jerry said, "we haven't started planning anything—what?"
Alex laughed and shrugged. "Yeah. We don't know yet. We're going to try to have it in as inconvenient a location as possible so none of you can make it. Also, what dates are you all definitely unavailable?"
"What is your problem?" Charlie asked through a laugh. "Oh, wait. Hey, everyone. I wanna say something."
"Whoever interrupts her dies," Stone said.
"Thank you for that endorsement. Anyway, I just wanted to say congratulations to you guys. It's not every day that two of your best friends get engaged and I wanted to tell you I love you and I'm so happy for you both. Alex, you're not just my friend; you're my sister. We were little girls together and I will always treasure our memories. And Jerry—I have never doubted that you are the absolute perfect guy for Alex. I've never seen her happier than when she's with you, and I thank you for that. I hope you two never find yourselves wanting for anything, and that life is good to you. Congratulations."
Nothing else needs to be said about the rest of that night except that it was so full of happiness it felt like a blanket over everything bad that had ever happened to them. None of that mattered anymore; that was over now and this, this insane amount of love and joy they were feeling felt strong enough to last a lifetime.
✩✩✩
"Don't you...forget about me!"
"We're gonna see you in a week!"
"I know, but still!"
"Alright. Call us when you land, okay?"
"We will. Thanks for coming with us, guys. We'll see you when we get back."
Alex and Jerry were headed off to their honeymoon, and of course, Charlie, Layne, Sean, Mike, Jo, and Rhea (who was now dating Eddie, by the way) had gone to the airport to see them off.
"Yeah. You owe me a coffee date," Rhea said to Alex.
"I know," Alex said with a grin. "We have to talk about all this new music!"
"Definitely. Now go. Have fun!"
"We will! Alright, guys. Don't you..."
"Forget about me!" they all sang together. They all laughed and hugged and then Alex and Jerry left hand in hand, still singing as they went.
Alex kept her job at Rhea's music shop for a while. She wanted to buy a 379 with the money she was supposed to be saving up for a daily, but Charlie and Jerry helped her come to the realizations that 1) she didn't need one and 2) she had no place to keep one. So she bought something a little more reasonable: a '79 Trans Am. She'd meant to go for something newer, but that '79 was just sitting in some far corner of the lot looking all lonely and in need of love and there was no way she could just leave it there. So she didn't.
As a joke one day she started working on a mini-comic starring that car, and it ended up rekindling her love of art and she finally decided to give a career in it a real shot. She found a job illustrating for an indie comic company and taking all kinds of other commissions. Sometime later, she took her work to a much bigger comic company and ended up getting hired as an artist for one of their famous comics. And--spoiler alert--she kept that car for the rest of her life.
Charlie went back to school to get a degree in education. And, again, spoiler alert--she made an amazing teacher. The kind of teacher that was every kid's favorite. The kind of teacher that helped everyone as much as she could. The kind of teacher whose classroom was welcoming and warm in the winter and cool in the summer and the place to go before school, during lunch, and after school, and the kind of teacher that kids would come back to visit years after they'd passed her class.
Joey eventually retired and left his club to Alex, Charlie, and Jo, and since the former two already had jobs that demanded a good chunk of their time, Jo took up most of the responsibilities. Now and then she asked the other two for business-related advice and always made sure to get their opinion on whatever big changes she might make, but for the most part it was all her. She ran the place much like Joey had, greeting everyone with a smile and always ready to lend an ear to the occasional loner at the bar.
Rhea's parents also retired and left her in charge of just about everything. She gave half of the estate to her brother and then bought an RV and took off. It wasn't a meltdown kind of thing, just a bucket list item she finally felt the freedom to do. Because only Rhea could suddenly inherit a crap ton of responsibilities and feel...relieved. Anyway, she came home tired, well-traveled, and ready to focus on work. So that's exactly what she did. She took Alex's old job at the music shop, finding time here and there to manage everything else but mostly focused on personally making sure the shop was clean and pleasant and, of course, always stocking her friends' records.
It could get difficult to find time to get together, but the friends always did it somehow. They still threw parties and hung out when they were in the same city and called each other when they weren't. Most importantly, they never stopped being there for each other.
The AIC house was vacated, as was Alex and Jerry's place. It happened over the same weekend, actually. Saturday was spent clearing out the AIC house and Sunday the other. When it was empty at last, Alex and Charlie took a good long look at the place, both hoping to never forget it though they knew there was no way they ever could. They went out to the balcony and looked out over the city like they had done so many times before, though this time the lights seemed to shine a little brighter and the horizon seemed to have moved farther away, and they both knew it was because they were viewing it from that one spectacular angle for the last time.
When it was time to go, Alex put her arm around Charlie's shoulders and they went back inside, crossed the tiny shithole they had grown so fond of over the years, and walked out together. They shut the door, gave it a firm pat, walked down the stairs, and that was that.
✩✩✩
i THINK i explained everything? did i? if there's something i forgot lmk and i'll just explain it in the comments because i have zero writing energy left, it's a miracle i even finished this
OH also i know i cheaped out explaining the alex and sean drama--originally i was going to add a couple more prequel type chapters at the end of this book that would've made some things make more sense but that's not the plan anymore. this is it.
so...you probably noticed that everyone seems mostly happy during those flashback scenes. like nothing could ruin it. like change is the worst thing that could ever happen. and i don't think that that's an uncommon struggle. but, of course, things do change. not always for the better. they just...change. whatever happens, though, you have to remember that you'll get through it. however it may come and whatever it looks like to you, good change will come, and it does get better. maybe things won't be like they were before, and if they aren't, that's okay. maybe what comes won't be what you once imagined. that's okay, too. that's life. that's just how it is. you will find change everywhere, whether it's immediate or eventual, whether it's major or minor. it's everywhere. you might not be ready for it when it comes. you might think you can't get through it. but you will. no matter what happens, you were made to make it through. and you'll be alright. everything will be alright.
and so, for the very last time, i'm reminding you to please: have as much fun as you can. enjoy things while they last, and find new things to love when they end. stay safe; look out for yourself and yours. it's a big world full of all kinds of thrills, and you have to know which ones are also dangers. listen to your favorite songs. turn the volume up just a little more and dance like no one's watching. just remember to turn it down after a while and listen to those around you, too. and drink water. not too much. just enough that you can stay hydrated and healthy. be what you wanna be—don't ever let anyone tell you that you can't do something you wanna do. if you really want something, go after it. seriously. life is too short to let things stop you from achieving the things you want to achieve. and, of course, stay sober for layne.
special thanks to -sbocciare , without whom this book would not exist. you are the real-life charlie to my alex and i'm glad to have such a good friend that i'd make up an entire little universe we could do fun things in. thanks for the memories :')
thanks also to not_in_chains for always leaving the nicest comments--they always made me feel so great about my writing and lent me the will to keep going. <3
thanks to everyone else who ever read or voted or commented on this book. i know i'm being a little dramatic but it's been a journey--this was the first book i've ever finished and even if it is just a silly little fanfiction, i'm proud of it.
until we meet again :)
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