Prologue

[Home.].

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. "Jerry?" Beth peers her head in her husband's office, her eyes scanning the dimly lit room for a moment - the curtains shut with a ray of sunlight shining through the gap of the untidy office - before she walks in. The television showing a blue screen and a pile of blankets on the lazy chair. She sighs, a soft frown appearing on her forehead, as she moves towards it, finding the man laying with his eyes closed, his mouth agape. Shaking him, she says in an annoyed tone, "Jerry, wake up, I told you we were going to the store today!"

Jerry jolts to the side, his eyes shooting open. He instantly looks into the blonde woman's glaring gaze, his tired eyes widening slowly. "Y-yes, right. Sorry, Beth," Jerry rubs his eyes, feeling uneasy under her deathly glare. She rolls her eyes, holding onto the strap of her bag. Of course he is. He always is, She thinks to herself, upset with the situation. She hates having to remind him of a few things, but never really thought of it his way - he was half asleep, majority of what he heard or saw felt unreal. He pouts softly, yawning as she walks towards the front door.

"You were supposed to be ready a while ago." She folds her arms, glancing at him over her shoulder. With a sigh, Jerry steps up from his seat. He straights his polo shirt and stretches his legs a while, his left shoe laces untied and his hair messy. Beth frowns more furiously at him, her anger escalating. She opens her lips to speak, but has nothing to say to him, shaking her head, she walks out with a grunt. Jerry relaxes his tensed muscles and follows her, not paying attention to his untied shoe. They make their way down the stairs and into the living room, their son, Morty, sits in the middle of the faded pastel green sofa, his grandfather sitting beside him with his arm over the back of the couch behind the teen's head, as they watch a strange show on the inter-dimensional cable the grandfather had set up.

On the white single sofa lays their seventeen year old daughter, tapping away on her phone as per usual. Jerry slouches a bit on his spot, though he knows his family wouldn't care for how he looks without having Beth point out any of his flaws, he still tends to feel uncomfortable in the presence of her father, Rick Sanchez - the most dangerous and smartest individual in the universe. Not only had it been this, but he felt a strong jealousy towards him, one he knew he could never deny. Though, he hates the idea of being the 'man' of the house, the head, strongest and most masculine, Jerry was almost the exact opposite of such; and he envied the respect he watched his family give Rick. He too is a man, or at least he identifies as one, should he not be treated the same as the other men in the house? Or was it a compliment to be treated the way he is? That couldn't be right, everyone belittles his existence.

Rick steals a glance from the two for a brief moment, the dull look causing the brunet a sudden feel of discomfort; once Richard has noticed, he moves his eyes back onto the screen, deciding not to tease him in front of his daughter. Though he's very much aware Beth would laugh along or roll her eyes - depending on her mood - he could tell Jerry would be getting into trouble, or possibly already did. Morty, on the other hand, turns to his parents with a curious look in his eyes, in the corner of his eye, he could see Summer lowering her cellphone for a moment before moving back into her previous position.

"Jerry and I," Beth starts, forcing a smile to her family as she shoots her partner a glare from the side. "will be going grocery shopping, we will be gone for about an hour, if not more. Any requests before we go?" She looks between her two children and the scientist drinking from the martini she had just fixed for him.

Picking out the toothpick from the triangular glass, Rick's eyes fall back onto his daughter, humming. "Wafer cookies would be nice," He bites the olive off from the tip, "Maybe popcorn too."

"I'd like chocolate." Summer says in a monotone without batting an eye to her parents.

"Didn't you eat the last of it last night?" Jerry queries, his voice somewhat demanding. He stands with his hand holding his right arm, this makes him look less serious than he is, hence the immediate lash-out he receives from his teenage daughter.

"Dad, I'm literally shedding the lining of my uterus, let me give into my cravings!" Summer yells with a frown, rising from her seat and storming off into the next room.

"Jerry." Beth says sternly, instantly taking her daughter's side without hesitation - she was her favourite child after all. She places her hands on her hips as she glares at him once again. He bows his head, a wave of embarrassment mixed with guilt washes over him. I didn't know! She doesn't tell me anything anymore... He furrows his brows slightly. Beth scoffs as she rolls her eyes, moving towards the front door. "I'll get some ice cream too. See you guys later, don't cause any trouble!"

"I make no promises!" Rick teases, a gentle chuckle escaping his lips as Morty shoves him playfully - their relationship, Jerry envies this. That's his son he finds spending more time with a person he hardly knows, a secretive individual you may find hard trusting, he prefers spending his days with him rather than his own father. Jerry shakes his head, I just want to go back to sleep.

A short car ride later, containing a bit of scolding from the blonde woman, the couple climbs out from the car and make their way into the local grocery store. The store was quiet with a few workers wondering around, either helping customers to their needed isles or restocking the produce. With the nice, warm feel of this, the soft chattering behind the calm music playing in the background, Beth grabs a shopping cart and leaves it for Jerry to push.

Jerry, pushing the cart, follows Beth as she navigates herself into different sections of the store, ticking off the shopping list as they wonder around and place various items into the trolley. "Okay, where to next?" Jerry asks as he pushes the filled cart, raising an eyebrow whilst watching Beth place the list in her hand bag. She refuses to face him, almost embarrassed by the way he looks, or at least she believed he looked too untidy.

"Jerry, it's only been like twenty minutes, we're not going home soon if that's why you're asking." The woman folds her arms whilst they walk towards the tills.

"No, I'm just curious, honey! Just curious." He attempts to assure, failing by a long shot - he knows this by the expression she gives him. Shameful, he lowers his gaze onto the floor. She sighs, rolling her eyes.

"Before I forget, could you get some sugar, Jerry?" Beth asks, her tone changing ever so slightly. With a nod, Jerry leaves the short line, a frown forming. Why is she so upset? I don't get why she's so mad at me all the time! He scoffs under his breath, eyes glued to the floor as he stomps through the shop. unfocused, he trips over his laces, falling halfway into a tower of soup cans. Bracing himself for impact, he shuts his eyes - but instead, feels a firm grip on his wrist, and his body gets pulled away from his painful fate. Bumping into his savior, he slowly opens his eyes once the noise had calmed. Raising his head, he locks eyes with the man, his left eye aqua blue and the right dirty green, round blue-light blocking glasses on his nose. His loose hair long and curly, a dark shade of brown, stubs on his chin. With a tawny brown sweater over a dark pair of jeans, he wears a pair of dark brown ankle boots, small patches of dirt on his jeans and buttoned shirt under his jersey.

"Are you okay?" He asks, scanning his features for a moment.

"Oh, yeah, I'm-" Jerry mumbles out, but almost instantly gets cut off by the man with a quick gasp, his eyes lightening as they widen slightly.

"Wait! No way- Jerry?" The man asks, curiosity and joy crossing over his face, "Jerry Smith?" He lets go of his arm and gestures to himself, having to bow his head slightly to look into his doe eyes. Jerry watches his movements, connecting the dots slowly. "It's me! Kurtis Fisher, that forest kid! Friend of the wilderness, remember me? 'Friends for a hundred years'?" He asks with excitement in his voice, and a tiny flush of pink spreading across his freckled cheeks. With a soft gasp, Jerry's eyes widen as well, a glint shining across those doe orbs.

"Kurtis?!" Jerry grins, all the moments they had spent together, the memories, come rushing through his head, nostalgia and elation filling the two of them. He couldn't believe that he didn't recognise him, perhaps he'd been stuck in haze from his tiredness? He couldn't tell. "It's been so long! Where have you been?" He asks, his figure being lifted as his childhood friend wraps his arms around him and lifts him into a hug - his slim figure almost hiding his strength.

"Dude!" He calls out before setting him down, arm moving around his shoulders as he pulls him into a side hug, "I'm still by the woods, bro, never left. What about you? I see you're still as clumsy," Kurt teases, snickering to himself whilst letting go of the man. Jerry laughs nervously and rubs the back of his neck, eyes falling onto the pile of soup cans lying on the tiled floor. Three workers walk towards the pile, the one giving Jerry a sincere look.

"I-I'm fine, sorry, I really didn't mean to," He shakes his head with a sigh, ashamed of himself for being so careless. Kurtis places a hand on his shoulder as he leads him away from the mess, they lock eyes again, this time Kurt gives him a genuine stare - empathy, an emotion he hadn't seen in years.

"It's okay, Jer, everyone makes mistakes, you know?" He lifts his shopping basket off from the floor before walking further, heading towards one of the many isles.

"I know, I know..." Jerry trails off, a soft smile appearing on his lips at the thought of someone, anyone, not blaming him for a genuine mistake. He looks down at the ground for a moment, unable to look Kurtis in the eyes anymore; a paining feeling in his chest. He'd let him down more often than he'd ever wanted, and still, Kurtis remains patient. It boggles his mind. "Thanks for catching me, I didn't think anyone would, to be honest."

Frowning, Kurt takes a bag of sugar from one of the stands, holding it under an arm as Jerry takes one in both his arms, "I try to help anyone in need. Sorry you feel that way though," The two men stand in the isle, facing one another. "It's great seeing you again, Jerry, I thought you were gone for good." He lets out a quick, soft laugh as he looks away briefly, biting his bottom lip slightly. "I mean, ever since that one night, you just disappeared, well, I mean, stopped talking to me... for a while..." He drops the slight smile, biting on his lip again. Jerry looks away too, an expression of guilt on his face.

"I'm sorry, Kurt. I guess I just got caught up in being with the popular girl," He pouts, sighing, "Well, and I also was forced to stop hanging out with you. Mom said you were a bad influence, blamed me getting my wife pregnant on you." He laughs nervously, Kurt raising his eyebrows as he stares at Jerry. That... is so sad... But he did well without me at the very least. He thinks to himself, pausing his happiness for a moment, He's always been better off without me... "Remember Summer? She was a baby when you last saw her."

"Yeah- Wow, I'm happy for you, Jerry," Kurtis starts, his gaze on Jerry's hunched figure. "But I'm sorry about your parents. In all honesty, I never really thought of that, thought I did something." A smile forms on his lips. "Um, how was it though? Raising the kid? That is if you stayed in their life," The duo slowly move their discussion towards the tills, both being more careful about their surroundings.

"It's fine," Jerry forces a smile, "I have two kids now actually, Summer and Morty." He states, walking to his wife slowly. "They're great, I'm doing great, everything's just so great!!" Jerry forces a laugh at the end of his sentence, feeling a sudden ache in his chest, his head feeling as if it were floating away from his body. But was everything great? Of course not. Not only had his days become more dull, more empty, but the existential dread knowing this was his life, how it could possibly be for the rest of time - forever going to be in a failing marriage, have two children who both hate and easily get annoyed with him, not to mention don't take him seriously - and his wife's father, a man he had admired for a long time as a teenager, teasing and shaming him for his feminine personality.

This wasn't what he wanted, this was never his dream, what he wanted to be - who he wanted to be. Jerry slowly comes to a stop, his legs becoming weak as he begins to sway slightly, was this his fate? Stuck in an endless cycle of blame and on the other end of chaos? He attempts taking a deep breath, but fails, feeling a heavy weight on his shoulders as his throat begins tightening. He tends to be called a coward, but it was never his fault, always being threatened or attacked emotionally, he tends to cower and avoid certain things, but only to try and protect himself.

The sound of a far away voice calling his name distracts him for a moment, though doesn't help his state in any way. He shakes his head, shaking as he walks towards the counter. Lifting his arms to set the bag of sugar down - his arms feel lighter than before. He looks down, curious and lightheaded, he finds his arms empty.

He feels a gentle, yet secure hand be placed on his shoulder, looking at it, he finds black nail polish with a few rings on the fingers. His gaze following along the arm, he locks eyes with Kurtis once again, coming back to the present, to where he stands, in front of Kurtis and next to counter seven, concerned eyes coming from his childhood friend. "Hey, are you okay, Jer?" Kurt asks, moving his hand to his back as he moves the man's arm over his shoulder.

Jerry looks around quickly, vision blurring slightly, "Wh-where's my wife?" He asks in whisper, leaning into the farmer, who scans the surroundings.

"Okay, buddy, what does she look like? I'll help ya find her, okay?" Jerry nods in response, his eyelids becoming heavy as his breathing becomes manual and heart begins pounding in his chest.

"Sh-she's blonde, blue eyes, red shirt..." He trails off, walking along with Kurtis as he finds her almost instantly by till number one. The distance wasn't far, but sure felt this way for the brunet.

"Hey, uh, Mrs. Smith, right?" Kurtis asks, helping Jerry with one arm as he holds the sugar he had taken with his other hand. Jerry exhales heavily, sweat forming on his forehead as his hearing fades away, Why is this happening? This never happened before! What's going on?! He opens his eyes, his hearing fading back. A blinding light makes contact with his face instantly, instinctively, he covers his eyes with an arm and takes a deep breath; the sound of a slow, repeated beeping drowns itself behind the noise of a pair of feet shuffling towards the bed. "Jerry? Are you there?" Kurtis calls out, his voice soft and caring. "Please, talk to me, Jer..."

"K-Kurt?..." Jerry questions in a groggy voice, lowering his arm. The lights sting his doe eyes, but slowly, they adjust to this. Kurtis smiles, relieved, he wraps an arm around Jerry's shoulders as he pulls him into a gentle hug, the other hand holds onto the railing of the bed; trying not to harm the weak figure.

"Thank God you're okay!" He yell-whispers, not wanting to be too loud. Jerry rests an arm on his back, limp hand gripping onto his sweater. He almost remembers this, a parallel to their past. Only it feels... different.

"Where... am I?" Jerry asks, shutting his eyes as he holds on tighter; he hadn't been hugged in a long time, and knowing his nature, Kurtis tend to give Jerry hugs regularly whenever he seems uneasy, or just whenever he can. Kurt pulls away from him enough to continue having their hands on each other, but also enough to be face to face.

"You fainted, Jer, you're in the hospital." Jerry looks around once again, shuddering slightly from the cold breeze coming from the air-conditioner. "Beth's dealing with the doctor, the rest of your family didn't-..." He pauses, pulling away from Jerry as he bites his lip, wanting to be as polite to the patient as possible. "They're busy. Sorry."

A hurt expression falls onto Jerry's face, turning away immediately. Even when I have to be rushed to the hospital, they don't care... Kurtis sits a hand on his shoulder, giving him a sorry expression when he looks at his tanned face. Jerry sets a hand on his, "How long was I out?"

"Like twenty minutes," Kurtis glances over his shoulder at Beth, finding her still speaking to the doctor. "Doc said you'd be out for a few hours though. I'm glad you woke up earlier." Kurt moves his gaze back onto Jerry, a smile on his lips. Jerry, a soft shade of crimson on his cheeks, smiles back.

"I'm sorry, Kurt." His friend raises a thick eyebrow, his smile dropping slightly.

"For what, man?" Man? Jerry feels his rosy cheeks darken softly, had he ever even been called that unironically? Without any form of sarcasm? Yes, by Kurtis when they were younger, but had he been called a 'man' by anyone else? Never, this felt special to him, brought back a few lovely memories of the two - from children wondering around in the woods and starting mud-ball fights to two teenagers camping under the stars, telling ghost stories as they roast marshmallows together.

"Well, for this, I'm sorry for the whole inconvenience. You could've been home already, but here you are, in a hospital room with a stranger." Jerry lowers his gaze, a bit embarrassed. Kurt rolls his eyes.

"Dude, if I didn't want to stay, I could've left before you woke up. Or I could've just dumped you onto you're wife and left," Kurtis tilts his head slightly to the side, his face gentle and understanding, "But I didn't." He says softly, falling silent as he begins to wonder - what had caused this? He was alright before he began speaking of his family, was this caused by anxiety? But Jerry never had anxiety attacks this bad before... Kurtis takes one of Jerry's cold hands in his own, his eyes on the thin sheets, had it gotten worse because of his family? Was it Beth who was causing this? She showed little to no care when I told her about him... "I care about you, Jer. I never stopped. For the past, like, seventeen years, I've been wondering where you were, if I'd see my best friend again..." Kurt locks eyes with Jerry again, his face gentle, yet serious. "I'm honestly just so fucking glad to see you again, bud. Thing's aren't the same without my best guy, you know? I miss you, Jer."

Jerry's smile grows wider, the thought of someone caring from him, especially after so long - it makes him melt. He squeezes Kurt's hand weakly, "I miss you too, Kurt." They pull their hands away from one another when the door opens, Beth and Dr. Deern walking towards the bed.

"Afternoon, Jerry," The man starts, Beth standing beside him as she folds her arms, a blank expression on her face. "How are you feeling?" Jerry remains silent for a moment longer, gathering all his thoughts and feelings whilst he sits up straight, taking a deep breath.

"I'm feeling better... What happened?" Jerry asks, looking at his wife.

"Well, Jerry, you just had a very low amount of sugar in your system. I've told you before about this," Dr. Deern sighs, clutching his clipboard. "Have you had any sugar today? Like cereal or jam on toast?"

"Well, um, no," Jerry lowers his gaze, "I thought I'd be fine if I waited a while longer, to get cereal and stuff." He explains, Kurtis watching his subtle movements whilst listening to his words carefully.

"Jerry," Beth starts, raising a hand to cover her face. "We can't just be rushing you to the hospital each time this happens." But... it's never been like that before... Jerry thinks to himself, knowing the daggers she'd glare if he spoke his mind. She shakes her head with a sigh, moving to the door as she drops her hands to her sides. "I'll be in the car, I don't have time for this." With a sigh, the doctor gives the two a nod before exiting the room, Kurtis going to one of the tables.

"Is... she always like that?" Kurt asks, setting Jerry's clothes on the bed. Jerry, seemingly uncomfortable, grabs his clothes from the edge and pulls it to his lap.

"Most of the time, yes..." Jerry says slowly, looking at Kurtis as he clutches his shirt, who closes the curtains around them, the farmer facing the brunet.

"I'm sorry about that, man, seems rough." He shrugs, looking away briefly as he scratches his jaw. "You want me to help you get dressed or are you fine?"

"What?!" Jerry panics, pulling his bundle clothes closer to his chest. Kurtis raises a brow at his actions.

"What? Dude, we've bathed together. Showered, changed," The man folds his arms over his chest, "Point being, I've seen you naked before. I mean, I won't stare at your knob, but I don't mind helping you, you know?" Jerry nods in response, staring at the floor.

"Thanks, Kurt, but I think I'm fine." Kurtis nods and steps out from behind the curtains, telling him if he requires assistance, he may ask him for it. A few moments pass and Jerry pulls the curtains open, hospital robe folded on the straightened bed. "Okay, I'm ready to go." Jerry says, looking embarrassed; not only had he fainted from a disorder he tends to keep secret, but his wife had even treated him as if he were an annoying child - in front of his friend - all of this.

Sighing, Kurtis drapes an arm over his shoulders as he leads him out of the room and to the elevator. "You know, it's great seeing you again, but I think we should redo all this." He smiles, the two facing one another once they press the elevator button, Kurt extends a hand. "Hey, Jerry, I'm Kurt. We used to play around when we were kids until we were, like, seventeen. We were best friends back then, remember?" Jerry clasps his hand with Kurtis's, catching the drift.

"Nice seeing you again, stranger! Haha, I remember, yes."

Kurtis smiles wider, the duo walking into the elevator once it opens. "Great, cool. We should catch up. You want to get coffee some time?" He offers, selecting ground floor. "My treat." As the elevator lowers the friends, they exchange a calm conversation, walking into the parking lot with Jerry's arm over Kurt's shoulders, trying to get the hang of walking again. Stopping at the olive green car, Jerry pulls out his cell phone, as well as Kurtis, and they exchange numbers. With the help of Kurtis, Jerry sits in the front seat, the two waving each other off as Beth pulls out of the parking space and drives away from the hospital.

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. Randomly tagging people I guess. I'm sorry for this, but I'm also not. :)

[24 April 2022.]