Chapter Text
Only a few days had passed after the whole squip incident had all cleared up, Jeremy was released from the hospital and the first thing he had to do was hang out with Michael. From his own house, because his father taking this life change and becoming an actual father, he was worried about Jeremy after the allergic reaction he has to Mountain Dew. The two boys had this entire night planned out, they would go to Jeremy’s house, Michael bringing over two twelve packs of doctor pepper for them to chug together. They would play video games, then talk their hearts out until one of the boys passed out. Then the boys who remained awake, generally Michael, would take their markers and draw dicks covering the others face. Typical teenager things.
The whole drive there Michael had been mentally preparing himself for seeing Jeremy. He knew that the little robot was basically deactivated but he still had his fears and insecurities to worry about, Jeremy ditching him had really destroyed him. Jeremy had been his only friend for the past twelve years, they had been through basically everything together. The squip incident was literally a dream turned into a nightmare for both of the boys. When he finally arrived Michael took one last deep breath, preparing himself before walking up and knocking on the door. He nearly had a heart attack with how quickly the door swung open,
“Michael!” Jeremy shouted when he saw his friend,
“Dude! The fuck, were you stalking me! You nearly killed me right there!” Michael chuckled gently after making his statement, and pushed Jeremy out of the way,
‘Sorry, but I was really excited, I feel like I haven’t seen you in months, dude!“
“Maybe because you quite literally ignored me for months, then I saved your ass,”
“Right,” Jeremy said quietly, all amusement lost as he made a face that showed that Michael may have taken it a step too far,
“Hey! I’m not really mad anymore, I promise, I mean, I understand computers are some spooky shit to deal with, Kay? Not your fault. Only thing you did wrong was listen to rich,”
“Well I mean, I did also kind of save rich’s life, remember he was squipped too, So without me getting squipped rich would’ve never gotten it deactivated,”
“Touché,Jeremy.” Michael responded then crossed his arms,“Ready to head downstairs? Let’s get our gaming on!” Michael spun on his heels before making his way down to the basement, Jeremy quickly following him a smile on his face.
The boys began their night as normal, playing a game on their Nintendo. Jeremy was in the lead for a solid half hour, before he dropped his controller and stared at the screen. Michael continued to play, believing that Jeremy was just messing with him,
“Michael?” Jeremy said, blinking his eyes slowly,
“Dude, what’re you doing? You’re about to lose this level! You were doing so well too!”
“Oh, um,” Jeremy shook his head a bit before continuing on with the game. Soon their session ended and they already had a twelve pack of Dr. Pepper downed,
“So what has school been like?” Jeremy asked Michael as he opened another can of Dr. Pepper.
“Ah, boring, without you there I’ve been trying to keep everyone out. It’s been different though, I guess everyone has been getting along but I’m really not included in this secret.. I guess because of the play? When everyone got squipped and you all screamed and passed out together,” Michael shrugged,“I screamed too, but I was so freaking confused on what the hell was going on, I mean it just exploded all at once.” Michael shrugged and Jeremy nodded,
“I get it, I guess we have some special connection now? Something to bond over, but trust me. You’re still my best bro!” Jeremy smiled, trying to reassure Michael,
“Well, whatever, what about you? I mean, are you really going to take your dad and i’s advice?”
“What do you mean?! I think rich has the best advice. With his ‘Thexually’,” both boys cracked up laughing together.
“You shouldn’t poke fun at his lisp,”
“Hes been bullying me since freshmen year! I feel like I should be able to treat him anyway I want,” Michael rolled his eyes,
“Whatever,are you going to get the new pokemon game when it comes out?” Michael looked at Jeremy, though he was silent, Michael stared at him but Jeremy’s eyes just seemed to go right through Michael, and his hands rubbed together.
“Jeremy? Dude, the hells going on?” Michael asked poking Jeremy’s forehead, coincidentally Jeremy came back at around the same moment,
“What..? Sorry Michael, I guess I’m really tired,” he laughed a bit,“I think I zoned out, what did you ask?”
“I asked you if you were going to get the new Pokémon game that was coming out?” Michael repeated himself a little louder, but his shoulders dropped when he noticed Jeremy ‘zoned out’ once again, his eyes were fluttering and he was chewing on his lip. This didn’t last long, but it caused Michael some panic,
“Dude, what’s going on?” Michael asked Jeremy,
“I don’t know! I think I’m just really tired, it’ll be okay, can you repeat yourself? One last time, Im sorry,” Jeremy asked, his voice soft and shaken,
“Are you going- Jeremy! Dude seriously! This isn’t funny anymore!” Michael shouted when Jeremy fell into the daze a third time,“Jeremy! Stop it!” Michael could feel tears forming at the corners of his eyes, he felt himself becoming over whelmed with panic,
“What?” Jeremy asked as Michael tried to pull him to his feet,
“We’re going to get your dad! Dude this is terrifying,”
“Why? Michael, dude why are you crying?!” Jeremy asked as he was tugged up the stairs,
“Because! You’re scaring me! Who knows what the! What the stupid floppy disk could’ve done to you! ”
Jeremy allowed Michael to pull him to his father.
“Mr. Heere, I think something’s wrong with Jeremy, he keeps like, zoning out and..his eyes are doing this weird thing, and I don’t know, I’ve never seen this before. It’s fucking- freaking terrifying!”
Mr Heere took a look at his son and his fatherly instincts kicked in as he made his way to the oats closet, pulled out a pair of pants, pulled them on.