One-night stands are interesting concepts and one that - despite my recent change in luck with them - still confused me a little. For example, Amanda, I had fucked her six ways from Sunday the night before and then again another few more times that morning; there was so much of my cum inside her, it was a minor miracle that she wasn't leaving a trail of it behind her as she walked - with something of a hobble - down the hallway and the stairs on her much acclaimed and thoroughly earned walk of shame. Did it really count as a one-night stand if it had been repeated the following day?
The question died on my lips, though, as no sooner had Amanda's blonde hair disappeared down the stairs than Jimmy's dark hair appeared coming up them. His eyes locked onto mine, a brief look of surprise flashing over his face before his eyes lit up in delight. "Pete! You're home!" He rushed forward and wrapped his arms around me in the tightest bear hug he could manage. "Dude, I've missed you! How are things going?"
I had to admit, I smiled, possibly my first genuine, heartfelt smile in months. Jimmy was my best friend, a man closer to me than family; he was - out of everyone - the only person whose mind I couldn't bring myself to block. I needed that connection; I needed something to fight for, something to keep me connected. It was never going to be my family, nor could it be now that they were dead; the same went for Becky and - to a lesser extent - Philippa as well. Charlotte was an Evo and not a connection to what I considered the real world. Evie hung between both existences in a way that none of us really understood yet. Olivia had potential, but she was too new; she wasn't a connection, just the possibility of one. Jimmy was it; he was the last grasp I had on my ever-slipping humanity; he was the link between my new life and who I had been before it; he knew me as the me I had to aspire to. For all my failings and faults as a human, I had been a good man, a man who would have been horrified at some of the things I had been forced to do.
I didn't want to lose sight of that. I couldn't. Even though he had no idea how deep the sentiment actually went, Jimmy was all I had left, all that was stopping me from falling into the maelstrom of endless, vengeful war.
I hoped he would never know how much he had done for me.
With his arms around me and the happy smile on his face - and more importantly, sensing nothing in the way of external influences over him - I felt myself relax a little, losing myself in the moment of normalcy. "Dude, what happened? Where have you been? I've been freaking the fuck out!"
I sighed heavily and stepped back out of the bear hug. "I... um... I kinda lost it a bit," I said, stepping back into my apartment and letting him follow in beside me, placing a bottle of milk on my counter before he joined me on the sofa.
"Yeah, I heard about Becky, man. I know you liked her, I'm sorry. I... Jesus, what can you say to that?"
I smiled weakly and nodded. It was time to start getting creative. "Thanks, but it's worse than that. My asshole parents went and got themselves murdered, too."
"
What?!?"
Jimmy spluttered around his tongue. Part of me felt bad talking about them like that, not after they had sacrificed themselves for me, but Jimmy knew my feelings about them, and there was no way to tell him what happened without explaining how I knew.
"Home invasion gone wrong," I shook my head, "Or at least that's the working theory."
"Fuuuuck! Now I really don't know what to say." Jimmy slumped further into his seat. "When did that happen?"
"Just before Christmas," I sighed. "But you know what they were like. They weren't found for a few weeks; nobody raised the alarm until they missed a few of their Rotary Club meetings."
"Didn't you say your cousin was killed before that, too?"
That was the excuse I had used to talk about the death of Faye. I just nodded.
"I'm... sorry?" He said, his eyes filled with sympathy. "I mean, you know I wasn't the greatest fan of your parents; they were pretty shitty people, but... wow."
"Yeah," I huffed out a breath. "No explanation, no closure, just... It knocked me for six a bit." I was surprised with how honest that answer was. People in my position would usually either take the condolences without comment or launch into a tirade about how it wasn't needed. My parents had been the worst sort of people right until the very end, but
at
the very end, they had both stood their ground to protect a child whom they had spent a lifetime torturing. There was no other way to put it; I had no idea how I was supposed to feel about that. It went nowhere near far enough to absolve them of their actions for the entirety of my life before that; it raised more questions than it answered, and yet, they had given their lives for me, seemingly without a moment's hesitation. It was totally at odds with everything I knew about them. And it really had completely thrown me through a loop.
"I... I don't know what to say, buddy," he sighed and flopped back onto his own end of the sofa. He looked around and sniffed. "You've been fucking."
"Needed to blow off some steam."
"With..." he tossed his thumb over his shoulder, "...The blonde on the stairs."
I just smiled and nodded.
