Chapter Text
The house was silent. Of course, the quiet thrum of the air conditioner and subtle clicking of the cuckoo clock in the living room made sure the house wasn’t completely quiet. But this – this was different. Jeremy was aware of the noises in the house, but he was certain he would be able to hear a pin drop in the kitchen downstairs.
It always felt like this after his parents fought. The tension was so palpable, it drowned out all noise. Jeremy was hyperaware of the silent stairs – his dad wasn’t on his way up to chat. If his mother left in a fit of rage, he would know when the front door was open, whether she had jammed the keys into the lock, and the moment her car had sped down the street. None of that had happened, yet.
He didn’t have excellent hearing, but it seemed like all of the important signs of life were amplified following a dramatic fight over nothing between his parents.
It happened a lot these days. His family had never been perfect, but who was ever perfect anyways? He had never known his parents to be particularly loving, but it wasn’t until recently that things seemed to go downhill.
Or maybe things had always been rough and his perception of the trouble around him changed with his cracking voice and body odor as he hit puberty.
Jeremy absolutely hated it. He wanted to just drown out the world by watching dumb YouTube videos or masturbating or… just anything, really. But playing something out loud would seem wrong somehow. He couldn’t bring himself to break the silence of his house. But if he put on his headphones, Jeremy wouldn’t know if this would be the time when his mom would finally beat down his door and do something about her pent-up frustration.
Every muscle in Jeremy’s body was pulled taut, ready to jump into action or cower in a corner at any moment.
The fights had never reached Jeremy; his parents never yelled or hit him. But that just seemed to make him more anxious that this would be the day that it changed. Something has to give, eventually, right? And what were his parents even fighting about? Why did he have to deal with this? He knew he was geeky and not cool, did they see him as a failure or maybe he wasn’t enou–
“It’s-a me! Mario!” chimed from his phone. Jeremy about jumped out of his skin.
Jeremy’s heart was racing. Pounding so viscerally in his chest, it felt like ice was running through his body with every beat. Whether that was from his thoughts or the sudden intrusion, he couldn’t tell.
He scrambled for the device that dared ruin the silence that invaded his room and turned the ringer down before opening it. As he fought his shaking fingers to unlock the phone, he felt it vibrate a few more times.
Player 1 B^) : Hey man guess who just passed out for 14 hours?
Player 1 B^) : This guy.
Player 1 B^) : Now that I’m back in the land of the living, wanna help me get started on this new game? Two-player only.
Leaving the house! The thought had crossed his mind, but something had kept him from acting on the impulse. But now that Michael’s texts had shaken him back to reality, that sounded like the most perfect idea to ever be thought up.
❤ JerBear : it sounds like youre livin the dream, pal. literally
❤ JerBear : i’ll be thre in ten. whats the gmae this time?
Player 1 B^) : Apocalypse of the Damned! Just managed to get my hands on a copy.
❤ JerBear: isn’t that from like, the 90s?
❤ JerBear: i thought u said it was new
Player 1 B^) : Jeremy heere how long have you known me? 11 years?
Player 1 B^) : I’m hurt you don’t know me by now
❤ JerBear: dude im kidding. super psyched to play. lemme just grav my stuff and ill be there
He found himself almost smiling at the text exchange. Michael was always the guy that Jeremy could depend on. It seemed Michael would always be there to rescue him from himself.
Quietly, he tucked his feet into an old pair of Converse and grabbed his keys. Jeremy crept over to the bedroom door, his hand hovering over the doorknob.
If I go downstairs, I might run into one of them. Jeremy was still more than aware of the silence in the house. If the only thing keeping his parents from confronting him about their side of the argument was his absence from the other rooms in the house, he could be bombarded as soon as he opened his door.
A heavy weight settled in Jeremy’s gut. He couldn’t stay… this silence would drive him insane. He couldn’t leave through the front door… but what if he climbed out of his window? There was a tree just outside that he could probably climb down to leave.
Jeremy didn’t usually try to sneak out of the house. His dad was pretty fond of Michael, and that’s usually who Jeremy wanted to go hang out with at all times. But, desperate times call for desperate measures.
He’d definitely take the warm feeling of contentment and the too pure laughing fits that he associated with Michael over this draining silence any day.
With that, Jeremy unlatched his window and slid it open. It was just big enough for him to slide through feet-first and duck onto the tree just outside. He made sure to slide the window back into place before he turned back…
And immediately looked down.
Whoa. Two stories really is far up, huh? His grip on the branch tightens, but he can clearly see a pretty easy path down that would mostly involve scooting and not a lot of the coordination he doesn’t have.
As Jeremy slowly creeps down the thickest branches of the tree, the deafening silence is forgotten. All of his concentration goes towards clinging to the rough bark between his arms and legs. He’s almost all the way down when he misses his footing, and he comes tumbling out of the tree.
He tries to desperately hang on with his arms in reflex, but that just earns Jeremy a painful cut to his arm on the way down. He yelps in shock – from the sudden sharp pain in his arm, or the dull thud he felt as his back hit the grass, he’s not sure – and tries to sit up.
Well, that’s one way of getting out of the house. Finally outside, it felt like Jeremy could breathe again. He may have gotten just a bit winded as he practically fell out of his house, but the air outside was less… hard to breathe?
Jeremy’s mind really was scrambled. He felt like a tight coil of emotions and anxiety. But Michael’s place was just a neighborhood over, so he could finally let this day wash away behind him. He just had to survive long enough to see his best friend.