Chapter Text
Staying in a small room for such a long time can make anyone feel claustrophobic. The clutter in the place only added to the feeling. Old, yellowing newspaper clippings were either pinned up or taped onto every inch of the northern wall. A desk off to the opposite side only took away more precious space. Cheap, two pocket folders that were filled beyond the brim were still stacked just as they were left. The only difference was now spiders and dust had made those folders, as well as nearly everything in the room, their home. The young man took the top folder and wiped off the dust and cobwebs. A white sticker on the front had "Year of unbelievable stress" written in cursive on it. Hehe. Yeah. That year was pretty unbelievable.
Flipping it open, it looked like the papers were in order from most to least recent. The first page was a copy of a picture. A black and white copy because someone didn't want to pay for colored ink. There were three smiling faces and one half smile, though they were all holding on to one another's shoulders. In the picture, dull medals were wrapped around their necks, but in reality, those medals gleamed brighter than an Olympian's gold. The four of them were dressed in ridiculous costumes, though in all honesty, they looked better in black and white than in actual color.
A small, almost saddened smile crept across the man's lips. He was in the center of the group, considering he was the unofficial team leader. John Egbert, or as he was known in the picture, Cerulean Heir. He would also accept simply Heir on a good day.
To his right was only one other person. She was the shortest member of the group, but in the picture, it was hard to tell, possibly because the shot was made above the waist and she tended to stand on her tip toes if she knew it would pass. It even looked like Rose Lalonde was trying to hold John down to appear to be roughly the same size as the group average. Though, what her size lacked, she made up for in skill, although her size really wasn't an issue in any situation the group was ever in. Known as the Aureolin Seer, she made sure that the group had all the information they needed on any given subject and then a little more.
To his left was Mr. Half-Smile himself, aka Dave Strider, akax2, Chrono-Knight. He towered over his two smaller friends, but in the picture it looked like he was being dragged down with John. Or maybe that was just his normal hunch. It was always hard to tell with him.
Next to him was a girl almost as tall as him. She lacked maybe an inch or two. Her smile was also shined just as bright as the medals, though in the picture it was noticeable. Jade Harley has always been pretty energetic. Even if her persona as Nuclear Witch tried to be serious and intimidating, that could be hard for her at times.
God, he missed them.
He browsed through a few more sheets before he closed the folder and placed it back down. He checked his phone both for the time and to see if someone texted him. It was almost eight and no. He's actually gotten pretty used to seeing an empty inbox.
Just as he cleared off a spot on the desk to sit, he heard the knob start to rattle as someone was trying to unlock it. The door being thrown open indicated they were successful in the task.
"I think the reason the door doesn't like you is because you like to abuse it on a regular basis," John piped up when he saw his friend descend down the staircase.
"It should be over it by now. I haven't been here for years! It should be grateful that it's finally being used again," Jade said and hurried over to John to give him a hug. Or a death squeeze. Both were accurate descriptions. Still, John couldn't help but hug her back, just not as forcefully. "It's been forever since I've seen you! You can't believe how busy I've been. I swear if I actually had a moment to breathe I would have tried to find a way to spend it with you guys. If all of us sitting in a room together just to breathe, I would've been happy." She gave him a pat before finally letting him go.
"Well, I can guarantee that this is gonna be way better than sitting in a room just to breathe. We're actually going to do friend stuff, like talking to each other." He smiled at her. It really has been forever since the group has gotten together. John doesn't remember the wrinkles around Jade's eyes or the few white strands that contrasted against her thick, dark hair.
"I know, and I'm so excited! I can't believe we've gone so long without seeing each other. I kinda regret it, you know? We didn't have to tear the group apart. We could have just stopped the business and stayed really close friends." While Jade wanted to look at the old memories that hung up on the wall, she was more focused on John. "Do you even know if Rose and Dave are coming? I've only talked to them a little bit after the fight, and they didn't really seem like they wanted to talk, so after a while I got so busy I couldn't really bug them until they softened up."
"I'm pretty sure that Dave's coming. He'll just try to be fashionably late to make us think that he has better things to do when he really doesn't. I want to say Rose is, but I'm not for sure. She can hold grudges, I know that for sure. Maybe I should've picked a better place. Like a restaurant or someplace like that. Not the old hideout." He looked down at the dusty floor, then over to his side when Jade came over and sat down next to him.
"I think it was a pretty awesome idea. I kinda forgot just how many times we were in the paper. Heck, I was starting to forget what this place looked like! I missed it. I'm sure they'll enjoy seeing the old place too. If not, then we can just go down to Pasquale's Pizza and eat our hearts out and catch up on things." She placed a warm hand on his shoulder and John couldn't help but grin.
"That would be a great plan if it didn't close down a year ago," he snickered.
"What? No way. You're totally lying to me."
"I'm totally not. It's still a restaurant. The people who bought it out turned it into a old timey diner. It's not half bad."
"But their pizza was the best! There couldn't have sold the place."
"I mean, if there was a protest vote then I would have tried to stop it, but I'm pretty sure businesses don't follow a democratic system."
"Laaaame," she drew out and started to kick feet back and forth.
After sound came from the door as someone tried to unlock it. Jade really is the only one that has as hard time unlocking that thing. Much to John's surprise, it was Rose who came down the steps. Her hair was even shorter now, and that blonde was way to dark to the natural color he remembered. Her makeup and clothes were as dark as ever. John let out a small sigh when he saw the look on her face though. He was expecting her to be annoyed, if anything. Instead, she had a small smile perched upon her lips as she took the last steps down the stairs and slowly walked over to them. Honestly, there wasn't much room to wander around anyway. And even after all these years, she still has that limp.
"Hello John, Jade. It has been quite a while, hasn't it? Obviously, with the amount of dust and dirt in this room." Once she was close enough, Jade hopped up to give her a hug as well. Rose let out a grunt, like she also forgot how devastating Jade's hugs could be, but soon enough caved in.
"You look so great! How long have you had your hair cut like this?" Jade asked and let go.
"For around a month now. I made an attempt to grow it out after we disbanded, but that was too bothersome for my pleasure. It managed to surpass my shoulders and then I had it all cut off. I honestly don't know why I didn't do it sooner."
"Maybe because longer hair meant longer showers?" John offered and Rose smiled.
"Very true, but longer hair also involves more work. Work that I'd rather not do when I'm trying to relax in my makeshift sauna." She gently nudged Jade out of the way and stole her seat on the desk. Jade gave a playful huff at the action.
John shifted around, trying to find the write words to say now. Rose seemed content, but there was still a massive elephant in this tiny room that needed to be addressed, he guessed for everyone's sake. This was a time for making things right and getting the gang back together, after all.
"Oh hey, so Rose...I just wanted to say that, and I think that I can also talk for Jade and Dave when I say that-"
"If you're wanting to apologize once again, don't waste your time," she sighed. "The past is the past. It has taken me a while, yes, but I have finally found some peace and acceptance. If anything, I should be apologizing to you two, as well as Dave if he ever makes and appearance, for essentially cutting you out of my life. Not only was I mad, but life got in the way as well. So...I give to you my sincerest apologies. Albany was rough for all of us. Though, while I still hold firm that disbanding was beneficial, drifting away from my friends wasn't." She gave a hesitant smile towards them. After a moment, John reached around her shoulder and gave her a weird, sideways hug. Of course, Jade couldn't resist and went in for the group hug, but this time she was actually rather gentle.
"Aww, I've missed you too," John said. The weight on his shoulders lifted to the point where he felt like he wasn't becoming Quasimodo II. The hug soon came to an end and Rose looked like she was feeling the same level of relief. Her eyes were even getting a little watery and she coolly attempted to wipe away any pesky tears. Instead of pointing it out, John tried to move on to something off topic as they waited for the last one of the group to show. "Hey, did you know that they shut down Pasquale's?"
"In a way, yes," she answered after a moment of recomposing herself. "I didn't see it while I was driving, so I began to fear that my memory of this town wasn't as good as it had been. That fear was small and rather irrelevant, but it was still a fear nonetheless. I also liked to believe that rather than the hard gripping reality that Pasquale's did indeed shut down."
Jade started walking around the small space. "Hey guys. Didn't we used to have some chairs or a table or just something else in here?"
"Yeah. I think I took the chairs out a little while after we split up. What can I say? They were good chairs," John shrugged and Jade just accepted it and leaned against the wall.
A few minutes later, they heard the final twist of the doorknob, followed by the sound of someone hitting his head upon entrance along with a muffled "Fucking shit." Dave came down rubbing his forehead, then played it off by running his hand through his hair. He didn't expect everyone to be here. Actually, yes he did.
"Sup guys." He moved his head up as a sign of recognition. Once again, Jade wasted no time to wrap him up in a spine breaking hug. He was trying to keep a cool face, but it was pretty obvious that he was struggling.
"Just take it in, Dave," Rose said. "We all had to endure it."
"I know you guys secretly love my hugs!"
"I also like my back and ability to walk. I'm not saying that I wouldn't have the raddest wheelchair around. All I would need to do is put some flames on the wheels and a a license plate that says "iceman" in all caps on the back of my seat or something douchey like that. But what I am saying is that I'm already one of the raddest guys around. No need to put everyone else to shame and make them consider if their lives hold any value to the world. That shit's depressing."
"You're depressing," Jade countered and released him from the hug.
"Am not. Now, what is depressing is this room," Dave said and looked around. "I remember it being so lively and even more cramped. Now it just feels like what I guess is the insides of an old person. Really dusty and cobwebby and hasn't seen any action for years." He blew at a cobweb that was on a few of the newspaper clippings. "Why are we here anyway? I'm a busy man, Egbert. I ain't got much time for whatever shenanigans you have up your sleeve. You're lucky that I even came down."
"Aw, it appears someone has a fork stuck deep inside his rectum," Rose mused with a shit eating grin on her face.
"Dude. You literally can create all the time in the world to do whatever you want, so don't be complaining about that," John added, then took a breath. "I just thought that since we haven't seen each other in literal years, it would be nice to finally hang out with you guys again."
"Y'know, I'm pretty sure there's a reason why we stopped hanging out to begin with." He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. They couldn't have a good day, could they?
Jade huffed. "Dave, the group hasn't seen each other in the same room, face to face like this in seven years! We know that Albany fucked us up really, really good, but for seven years? Come on Dave! I know you're way above coming all the way down here just to tell us to fuck off and then go off to do god knows what." She could feel hidden eye roll, but chose to ignore it. "At least try to enjoy yourself," she ended with a sigh.
"I am, and I will. I'm just saying that life's been pretty good to me since we split up."
"In all fairness, we were only high school students back then," Rose added. "Life seemed to be everyone's enemy. While our after school activities did greatly impact our lives, our lives sucked to begin with. Graduation allowed us to simply move on. We went our separate ways, and that had given us time to grow up a little bit. By growing up, we also learn to let certain things go. It took me quite a while to realize that, so please at least consider my words."
"Well, I haven't left yet, so you guys haven't pissed me off that much. I'm just spitting out some cold hard facts."
A silence fell on the room. John knew that there was going to be at least a little bit of hostility during the get together, but he expected it more out of Rose than out of Dave.
All he wanted was for them to become friends again.
"Well...how about we all leave?" John offered and everyone looked at him. "I mean, I was on the fence about where the best meet up place would be. I thought that here would be the best place, but I kinda forgot how cramped things were. So how about we check out the place that took over Pasquale's?"
"Wait. Pasquale's was bought out? Shit man, I shouldn't've showed up to this lame ass meeting." Dave looked like he was going to say more, but Jade locked elbows with him and started to drag the reluctant man up the stairs.
"Oh hush. We're gonna get food and catch up and you're gonna like it! If it will make you a happy camper, I'll even pay for your meal."
"Damn Harley. You still hit me where I'm weak."
The two of them exited and John looked over to Rose. She seemed a little troubled.
"Penny for your thoughts?" he asked.
"It's nothing, really. I just didn't think that Dave would still be tore up over Albany. He simply lost control and that scared him. In order for him to cope, he's putting the blame on us, but I know there's more to his dilemma. Give me some time. I can figure it out." She stood up and brushed herself off. "Though I would like to believe that he has enough brain cells to see that we were all scared kids in an event we had no right to be in to begin with. We all lost something that day, each individualized. However, and call me a sap if you very well please, I believe the greatest thing we lost was our friendship."
John honestly didn't know how to respond to that. He felt like he was stuck on the desk, only able to watch Rose slowly climb the stairs and let her words sink in. Without looking back at him, Rose continued to talk. "Unlike everything else, we can at least save our friendship. Now, are you coming or should I tell everyone they're allowed to go home? I hypothesize that Jade would still make us have a sit down dinner without you, but the group isn't a group without every member present."
Once the words settled, John smiled again and jumped off the desk and climbed the stairs as well. He knew she was smiling as well. "God, this is gonna be awkward."
"No doubt."