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Biden was looking for an excuse. Always in the back of his mind, somewhere buried deep under the layers of his fragmented memories. "But the country needs a leader", the rest of the world chanted on and on. He listened, for years.
And he had to admit, there was something intoxicating about the power the position afforded him. Few people in the world would ever reach the level of control he wielded.
But it was never enough. It never could be enough, not after all of his time in hiding. He should've chosen someone low-profile, he'd scolded himself about it a hundred times but he couldn't help how head-over-heels he'd fallen.
But they always figured they could work it out. They had, up to this point. No one suspected a thing. He and Trump were sworn enemies on every front, according to the public perception they'd so carefully crafted over their years together. It was beautiful to stare at the web the two of them had managed to spin, the intricacies woven into its fibers.
Still, he was looking for an out.
He'd almost lost his head when he'd heard the news about Trump, injured at his rally. It'd taken everything in him not to fly one of his private jets right over to him and nurse him back to health. That incident could've been enough for him to take a few days to himself. That should've been enough. For anyone else...seeing their boyfriend shot on live television. People in their lives would've given them the extra time to do whatever they needed.
He had none of that, and he was fed up with it.
But a quick look at the polls after the fact showed him that he really didn't need a significant reason to leave the race. The path was already carved for him, glowing like the pearly gates. Now, convincing Trump to drop it would be a different story. He was always the more strong-willed of the two, often to Biden's detriment. But they could play the long game, and Biden was sure that Trump would go along with him if he spun the facts correctly.
All it would take would be a single proposal, if everything went to plan. Biden would announce his stepping down from the presidential race, and he'd take Trump out to a nice cabin where they could finally have some time to themselves.
Despite his busy schedule, Trump agreed to meet him at the cabin.
"I've got a surprise for you," he announced as soon as Trump stepped through the threshold.
"Get on with it, I'm a busy guy," Trump replied in his best romantic voice.
Biden picked up a tablet nearby with his letter announcing his departure, and handed it to his lover. Trump read over it quickly, started at him with orange skin aglow, and smiled.
"You finally did it," Trump said, baffled.
"It's Joever," their voices joined in discordant unison.