Chapter Text
The steps of various shoes fell onto the concrete once the door opened. Women in business attire, sandals hitting the floor of some older people, men who look raggy as ever. Avery quickly left the bus, standing a few feet beyond the door to wait for Derek to get off. He swung a bit as he saw Derek step off, giving a small wave to the bus driver as the doors closed. A small whistle came from the other, prompting Derek to look over and give a small chuckle.
For a shopping trip, both of them were dressed rather well— or, well to their standards. Both of them had matching band tee’s, which were lucky picks from Avery’s thrifting. A black and red one for Derek, a white and green one for Avery. Derek was wearing his usual sweat pants, Avery opted for jeans this time around. Derek managed to get his hair to cover his yellowed eye (and Avery convinced him to wash his hair again after weeks) and put the rest of it in a ponytail, while Avery stuck with the same hairstyle he always had— just a bit more frizzy.
“…When are you going to a hairstylist, dude..?” Derek said, moving closer to Avery to feel the frizz with his free hand (his right hand, Avery noticed after ages) before Avery swatted it away. “I just need to get some products, dude. It’s normall!” Avery said, with a playful tone as he walked over to the entrance of the store and spinned back to face Derek. “Plus, you're the guy who needs a hairstylist! Be glad I know how to deal with matted hair like what YOU had!”
Derek immediately became a bit flustered, raising his arm and pointing his finger at Avery while going “Can you at least be quiet?!” As he began to walk over. Avery laughed under his breath once Derek stood in front of him, the cane user looking down on Avery a bit as he sighed. “You didn’t give me time to grab my crutches, so you got to deal with me sitting anywhere I can, ‘kay?” Derek said, getting a thumbs up from Avery, commenting “I can probably carry you if you want!” Derek stared, shaking off the idea with an eyeroll, taking initiative to walk towards the store's entrance and the rest of the crowd who were entering and leaving. Avery followed along, bumping into one or two people and apologizing, before walking besides Derek.
Avery shuffled through his pockets, taking out a crumbled piece of paper and unraveling it. He hummed while Derek took a quick glance at it, reading out the list. Food items like vegetables, fruits, deli items and meats along with a few frozen foods to grab, bread and the sort were on it, along with some general products: toothpaste, an extra toothbrush, mouthwash, shampoo and conditioner for both of them, soap, and cleaning products. There was also a small section on the side that was circled, under Avery’s list of gardening stuff, that just said in big letters “BUY NEW CLOTHES FOR DEREK!” Which makes sense. Derek's closet of the same hoodie and pair of sweats got tossed by Avery when Avery saw the state the closet was in— Basically screaming louder than a white girl in a horror movie before calling an emergency clothing spree (which ended up on derek only getting 2 shirts, one being his current, and 3 pairs of pants he’s been cycling through along with his red hoodie).
Avery glanced over at Derek, seeing his eyes on the paper before pointing to the bolded letters. “See that? It means it’s IMPORTANT! And I’m NOT letting you just say “well I don't see anything I like” again and not buying shit.” Avery scoffed, folding the paper and placing it into his pockets as Derek just gave a guilty smile. “We should start with the food, okay?” Avery said, snapping his fingers and running off to grab a cart. Derek watched as Avery, very recklessly, pushed the cart extremely hard and hopped on the metal that was holding up the flatbed, gliding back over. Derek stared before backing away, watching Avery immediately notice what he was doing was childish, hopping off and stopping the cart before landing in front of Derek. They both stared at each other for a moment, Avery sinking into his shoulders a bit before bouncing back up and pushing the cart off to the isles.
Derek sighed a bit, watching Avery push the cart away as he began to catch up. He couldn’t run after Avery, his legs would probably give out way too quickly, nor did he want to use those motor-scooters because he felt like people needed it more. He could wander behind Avery, trying to get used to the blinding lights. He felt pretty bad tagging along in the first place— probably because this was not what he had in plan and it was probably some shit Hatsur decided to spit out last second— But also because Derek would be a pain to Avery the entire time. Derek had spinal issues before the incident along with POTS, and sure, he was getting better before everything that happened, but he feels like even if they met before the fact he would still be a major pain to Aver—
“DER!!” Avery said, snapping in front of Derek’s face before holding up two Avocados. “Which one of these are gonna expire first?” Avery asked, a sly smile being put on his face as Derek blankly stared at them both. “…This one’s riper.” He said bluntly, pointing to the one on his left hand. Avery looked at the Avocado, before looking back at Derek. “How’d ya kn—“
“I have common sense, Avery. Plus, your grip is always slightly hard, so it should be giving some pushback, right?” Derek cut in, smiling as he put a hand on Avery’s shoulder.
“…Common sense my ass.” Avery said, getting a chuckle from Derek. “Something you clearly forget you have.” Derek laughed, slightly patting Avery's shoulder before moving his hand and giving him a small pat on the head.
“…Can you not?? I'm not a dog.”
“Sure, Ave.”
“HELL YOU MEAN SURE??? WHAT???”
It's been a couple hours that Derek and Avery have been in the store, cart almost full. But, According to Avery, other than the clothes Derek has to buy, the last thing they needed was—
“…The new tomodachi life game..?” Derek asked, a bit confused. Avery nodded quickly, staring at Derek with beaming eyes. “You don’t understand how much I NEED it, Der.” Avery said, adding on “We could make each other in it!” while grinning. Derek blinked at Avery, staring a bit harshly, looking at the cart. The silence jarred Avery for a moment as he stared back at the cart, then at Derek, then gave a sigh of surrender. Avery began pushing the cart along, Derek assumedly following behind. His begs for random things were often put down by Derek, which makes sense— Avery was horrible at budgeting and these big, bulk shopping sprees were very common for him. He usually hates leaving his apartment for anything other than school and his part-time job, laying in bed or playing Minecraft. It’s not like he didn’t want to or didn’t have the energy too! He very much wanted to, he just couldn’t muster up what he wanted to do. It felt a bit more freeing to have Derek around. Just because there was someone else who could handle those decisions along with him he felt a bit… freer? in some way of the word.
He did feel a bit more like himself around Derek, and that was fine— great, Actually! Derek being with him was a constant reminder that he’s real, that he exists, and—
He isn’t behind Avery anymore.
Avery turned back after hearing the absence of Derek’s cane. Then he looked around. Then he let go of the cart and looked through the isles.
Nothing.
Derek wasn’t there anymore.
He swore Derek was behind him— he totally remembered him following behind himself, right? He couldn’t just vanish like that, he couldn’t have gone far, right? Avery searched in a few of the isles, nothing. Nothing there, nothing in the art supplies, he didn’t see him at any of the other clothing isles.
He was gone.
…He couldn’t be gone, right? Derek was real, he definitely was. He felt Derek’s skin, he held Derek’s hand, he felt Derek pat him and put a hand on his shoulder and he felt Derek speak and so much more— That all clearly wasn’t a hallucination, right? Avery couldn’t be hallucinating because Derek was real. Even despite his chest got heavier and heavier as his breaths quickened, Derek was real. He couldn’t have just left like that, he couldn’t have. He was real. He probably just—
Abandoned Avery again.
Avery hated that.
Avery didn’t want to be abandoned again. Avery didn’t want to love someone important to him again— he couldn’t. But what could Avery do? Avery was helpless once again. He couldn’t find Derek again, he couldn’t “save” Derek in the first place, so what can he really do? His entire body started shaking as he decided to tighten his grip on the shopping cart, struggling to regain his composure. He didn’t want to cry in public, now did he? There were so many more people who needed attention other than him, so if he did, he’d just be an attention-seeker. And hell— If Derek left him again, who cared? Who ever really cared about Avery in the first place?
Who even cared.
Surely Derek didn’t. He betrayed him in the first place— who cares if it was the “only thing he could do”? He was betrayed. There were probably millions of better possibilities and this was the one that was picked? He hated it. He could’ve probably done a million things differently to save Derek from what he has but Nooo! Apparently him ending up like this was the best choice— the “best” one. The one where he was contemplating ending it all, the one where he’d watched all of his loved ones die even despite his attempts to save them, the one where the people he’s closest to was someone he still barely knew and a fucking eldritch god who decided to team up with him to annoy Derek. What a fool Avery is.
He didn't realize the tears falling down his face, his stagnancy as all the isle’s and the area of the store he was in fell into isolation, complete silence. Avery hated being alone. Avery didn’t want to be alone again.
Shaking a bit, trembling, that same blurriness that he hated where he couldn’t comprehend his own thoughts flowing through his brain, his grip slipping and regaining overtime as he feels his entire world start to get foggy to the point he couldn’t tell if he’s on the floor, he couldn’t tell if the shelves were getting bigger or if that was his mind playing tricks on him—
He couldn’t even tell where he was at this point.
Everything felt so heavy— he couldn’t breathe. Everything felt as if it was slipping away from him ever so slowly, that his body was both not moving and moving on its own— he hated it. He hated everything that was happening.
He just wanted Derek back. Surely he looks like an idiot for crying over someone in a store. Everyone would see him like this and—
The arm hugging him did too.
There were no words said as Avery saw he was still standing, the store and everything still was distorted, as Avery looked down at the arm hugging him. It was Derek’s, he recognized it from the scars on his fingers and the gloves he had on to cover his entire forearm. It was Derek, since he could smell the shampoo he forced Derek to use this morning. It was Derek, because Avery wiped his eyes and turned to his side to look at him, and he had the same hairstyle he always had, the same shirt Avery bought for him. It was Derek, because even with Avery’s mind not processing a single thing on Derek's face, Avery still knew.
Avery sucked up everything and just gave a pained smile. He couldn’t tell if Derek was embarrassed, if Derek was sad, angry, disgusted, happy— he couldn’t tell a single thing. He couldn’t tell what was attached to his cane, where the aisle ended and began, what items were on the shelf, he couldn’t tell if he was himself at all. He just smiled because that's what he always did. He shouldn’t push that burden on anyone— and hell, he’d already forgotten what he was crying about! What a fool.
Derek was probably saying something, it was muffled probably to hell, but Avery didn’t care. Avery just pushed the cart along because nothing happened.
Avery was fine. Even with Derek’s speech getting louder, Avery couldn’t understand it. But that's ok.
They had everything they needed in the cart, they could leave. Avery just wanted to go home. He didn’t care about what Derek was trying to say. They were going home. Avery pulled out his phone, clicking around through his messages while going over the self-checkout. He looked back, staring at Derek approaching with his head held down. Avery scanned the Area a bit, pushing the cart over to one of the self-checkout stands before calling out to Derek.
“You can Sit—sit dow…n…”
Ah. Of course.
He couldn’t even speak now. Great.
Derek’s words stayed muffled as Avery pointed to the bench nearby. Derek held out his hand for a moment, giving up and walking over to the bench solemnly. Avery just typed whatever he was typing on his phone— honestly, not even he knew what he was saying. He heard the ding, smiled, and just put his phone into his pocket, scanning the items, one by one. Bagging them, clicking the button, swiping his card and putting his pin like he was fine.
He was fine.
He finished placing the bags in the cart after a bit, signaling to Derek to stand up and follow him. Derek sighed, standing up to go after Avery since he was already speeding up ahead. Both of them left the store, looking at the sky that still hasn’t gotten any dimmer— actually, it got way brighter. Avery took out his phone, fiddling with it a bit as Derek leaned a bit over Avery.
“So—“
Avery let out a yelp once he heard Derek’s voice, prompting Derek to lean back as Avery cowered a bit. Avery’s eyes were wide before returning to normal— or, the state they were in. Avery looked tired, but it definitely didn’t look like he realized that as he giggled a bit. “Sorry, ‘was out of it.” Avery said, his voice choking a little. Derek gave a gentle smile, looking over to Avery in a bit of concern. He never voices it, though, asking “Is someone picking us up?”
Avery nodded, “It’s a friend.”
“How fast are they coming?”
“…Like they’re here now fast.”
“Wha—“
BEEP BEEP!!
A black van pulled up as the window rolled down. The driver leaned out, their black hair and blue highlights becoming more noticeable in the sun as they pointed to the back of the van. Avery promptly waved, running the cart over to the back while shouting “HEY ANDRE!!” Derek jumped a bit at the name calling, giving a wave to Andre…w…? They just stared back in response, though. Derek just sighed and followed Avery to the back of the van, who was already placing the groceries into the trunk of the van. “Oh yeahh!” Avery began to comment, hauling the bags into the compartment, “You don’t know Andre at all! He’s been my friend since middle school along with his— boy-girl-non-binary-friend! Big speedrunner— but he’s selectively mute. He wont talk alot.” Avery rambled, “but they both study computer science! Maybe you secretly know one of ‘em, never know!”
Derek listened, a bit relieved to see Avery talking again and not ignoring him, but also pretty concerned that Avery switched as quickly as he did. “I don’t really like talking to people, Ave.”
A figure immediately popped its head up from the back seat, looking straight at Derek. Dark skin, straight and black hair, wearing a maroon sweater with some red earrings. They spoke up, diverting their vision to Avery to point at Derek. “Avery got a boyfriend?! I’ve never hea—“
“HE ISN’T MY BOYFRIEND?!”
“—rd someone call AOh ok.”
“…Are you sure, Avery?” The person said, tilting their head to glance back and forth from Derek and Avery. Both of their faces were clearly heated up, Avery’s significantly less as he began to nod aggressively. “Don’t pry into my life either way! This is why your nickname is fucking ASS.”
“Ass” death stared Avery for a moment, before sighing and going “Schleih dich…” as they laid back do—
“Kannst du netter sein??” Derek immediately snapped, prompting “Ass” to jump back up and stare. “…Avery what’s their name?” They said, getting a quick response from both Derek and Avery stating “Derek.”
“Ok well you can call me Assim. It's a nickname, don't ask questions, Derek. You speak German, Derek?” Assim said, in curiosity as he fixed his positioning to lean a bit into the rear of the car. Derek just nodded, a bit annoyed by their presence. Assim gave a small hum and nod, thinking a bit before sitting back down. Avery finished putting down the bags, pushing the shopping cart away onto the sidewalk and looking over to Derek as he closed the trunk hatch. “You know german??” Avery asked, raising an eyebrow.
Derek stared at Avery in silence before Avery finished processing his thoughts, snapping his fingers. “Right. Knowledge of everything.”
“Oh no—“ Derek shook his hand. “I was always half German. Got it from my dad-now-mom.”
Avery stared for a minute before shrugging it off. “Andre wants you to sit behind the front row, Kay?” He said, walking off to the other front seat as Derek gave a thumbs up and went to sit behind Avery and Andre. Avery began to fiddle around, putting on his seatbelt before opening the glovebox and grabbing the Noise-cancelling headphones inside. Andre smiled over and nodded to Avery as he plugged them into the car’s headphone jack while Derek watched over at both of them. He was… pretty confused by the silent communication— but it was fine. As long as Avery was comfortable, he didn’t really mind being death stared by whoever the dude was in the seats behind him as they began to drive. Plus, it was better than a bus.
… And because Andre has good music taste. It was mostly alternative, indie, or experimental rock— stuff like Nastyona and Destroy Boys. Nothing special.
It was a nice car ride.
Gladly for both Derek’s back and Avery’s mental health, Andre and Assim (Who Derek figured out their actual name was Assieme (…which was quite odd to hear)) offered to help out with carrying the groceries up to their apartment. Avery liked the help since his fatigue was definitely setting in, Derek thought it was nice to just have other people around. Andre helped Avery sort stuff into the cabinets while Assim decided to head back down to the car to wait. It was pretty silent in the house other than all the clanging and placing, so Derek just waited for them to finish up on the couch.
After a few minutes, Andre gave a little wave to both Avery and Derek before leaving. Avery followed along to close the door behind him, the small click! Of the lock setting into place giving Avery a minute to give out a sigh.
Before walking over to his room.
“Wait— Ave—“ Derek mumbled, standing up before seeing that Avery had already locked himself in his room.
Guess they weren’t talking today.
It made Derek worried, surprisingly along with Hatsur.
But what could they do now?
Derek even got the game for him, but it wasn’t really on his mind right now.