Chapter Text
It's been three years since their road trip to California and ever since Vincent, Marie and Alex had been inseparable.
Marie had had to spent four whole weeks in the hospital and afterwards, her parents had decided that she would go back to the facility to get better.
Vincent and Alex had spent the full four weeks in Santa Cruz and had visited Marie every day. At first she hadn't wanted to see them, but only after a few days she was happy to see a known face beside those of her overly concerned parents.
When Marie was brought back to the facility, Vincent had decided to not go back himself. His father had decided to keep the house, and so Vincent could move back in with him and his partner Monica.
Alex had struggled to make a decision at first, but had then decided to go back to the facility at first, but he was confident that he would be able to move out and live on his own soon enough. Both he and Vincent wanted to do therapies and behavioral exercises, though, and they were more than just happy when Dr. Rose had offered them to still come to see her and attend the group sessions, even if they didn't live in the clinic anymore. This way, Vincent could visit Marie and Alex as often as he wanted.
Only six months later, Alex left the facility and instead moved into a group for young people with mental disorders not far from the facility and Vincent's home. Vincent and his father even offered their help with moving all his belongings.
Marie's progress came slower and even now after three years she was not fully recovered, but a year after her hospitalization, she had finally made the decision that she wanted to live, so she could be with her friends. She had started to eat more and soon enough she had an almost healthy weight and was allowed to leave the facility under the condition of coming back to meet Dr. Rose and the group every day except for Sundays and holidays. She had not wanted to move back in with her parents, but a group home was also not acceptable for her. So she and Dr. Rose had together made the decision that they would ask Alex, Vincent and Vincent's father if the three friends could move in together.
At first, Vincent's father had been the most sceptical one, while Vincent himself was overly excited at the thought of living with his best friends together. He and Alex had mastered staying alone in Santa Cruz for a whole month, he was confident that they would master living alone with the support of their parents and doctors, too.
Alex, on the other hand, had been a bit more scared. But after they all had come together and had talked about it, they had made the decision that they would find an apartment with three bedrooms that was close to the facility.
They would all attend group therapy every day except Sundays and holidays and would also see Dr. Rose for single therapy sessions once a week.
Vincent's father would come by every Sunday to make sure they were all okay even on their day without seeing their therapist and would occasionally come by on other days, too, but only if agreed with Vincent beforehand.
Additionally, Marie's parents would come every Wednesday to check on them.
The day of their move came eventually after they had spent six weeks of looking for a suitable apartment for all of them.
Vincent's and Marie's parents would pay for it, but only under the condition that all three of them would try to find a job and work at least ten hours per week. They were given three months to find a job with the help of Dr. Rose and their parents, though, so right now none of them had a job.
Vincent was in his old bedroom packing the last few things into a cardboard box when his father came at the opened door and knocked on the doorframe.
“Are you packed?“ He asked. He seemed both concerned and proud of his son.
Vincent nodded slightly before suddenly his head jerked to the right and his face twitched violently several times. “Oi!“ He exclaimed. He let out a low sigh then and stared at the ground.
Bob Rhodes took a few steps closer to his son then, he had noticed that something was stressing Vincent. “Are you alright? Ready to go?“
Vincent sighed again, without looking up at his father. His body tensed up. “I think so.“
Bob smiled weakly and nodded. He knew that Vincent was lying to him, but he was sure that his son would talk to him if anything was truly bothering him. They had come far in their relationship over the last three years. He lifted up the last box and wanted to walk out of the room, but stopped at the door again. “Come out as soon as you're ready. We'll pick up Alex then.“
That same night, Vincent, Marie and Alex sat down in their newly shared living room on their newly bought sofa. Vincent's father had brought them Subway and had then left them alone on their first evening.
“Finally it's done,“ Alex said and took a bite of his sandwich.
“Yeah, finally,“ Marie agreed and nibbled on her own order.
Vincent, who sat between his two friends on the sofa, tensed up and his body twitched several times. He made a few noises and finally let his body sink in the cushions instead of making a move to eat.
Marie and Alex both eyed him a bit confused. He didn't really seem content.
“What is it now?“ Alex asked, slightly annoyed. “I thought you like Subway.“
Vincent sighed. “I -Fuck- I do. Fuck! Cunt!“ His head jerked to the right again and his hand moved up to his chin. After all those years, Marie and Alex were still surprised that even if Vincent had developed some new tics and some had disappeared, some had also been there since the day they had met.
“Then what? Do you have an eating disorder now?“ Alex asked, visibly annoyed already. Another thing that hadn't changed was the short temper that all of them shared.
Vincent grimaced a few times before answering. When he looked at his friends he found that both of them were staring at him intensely. He sighed. “I'm just not- Oi! -I'm just not hungry. And I can't see subway anymore. Seriously, can't we just get a pizza or something the next time?“ He blinked several times.
Alex was already about to give his reasons-why-subway-is-better-speech again when Marie finally spoke up.
“Are you scared?“ She asked bluntly.
Both Vincent and Alex stared at her, and while Alex froze completely for several moments, Vincent started twitching as soon as she had finished talking.
“Fuck! Fucking Fuck! Cunt!“ He violently jerked his head back a few times and ended with slapping his palm against his forehead four times in a row, his newest tic that concerned all of them because usually Vincent would put a lot of strength into each of the slaps and would get a headache afterwards. When Alex or Marie were fast enough they would try to catch his hand and stop him from hurting himself, but right now none of them reacted fast enough.
Vincent groaned in pain when he had finished ticking for the moment and let his head fall back against the soft cushions of their sofa.
“Are you? Scared?“ Alex asked after a moment of utter silence.
Vincent turned his head ever so slightly, so that he just could look at Alex from the corner of his eyes. “What do you think?“ He lifted his head again and fully faced Alex now. “I'm fucking scared! None of us- mmhh -none of us has a job, and we all have- Oi! -we all have never lived alone. Fuckity Fuckass!“
Alex and Marie only stared at their feet for a moment, then Marie looked up to her friends. “I'm insecure, too. What if all this was a bad idea?“
They shared a moment of silence until Alex cleared his voice. “I'm also scared. Insecure, maybe. But I'm also not.“ He paused for a moment to look down again before he looked up to his friends. “I'm not scared as long as we are together. Because as long as we are together, you will tell me when I'm worrying too much again. And we make sure that Marie eats enough. And we will try to catch Vincent's hands when he hurts himself. We will look out for each other.“