The Friends You Make Here… by BymagaJones 8a/?
Monroe tried to sit up, panicked as he looked around the empty hospital room. Marie Kessler was on his trail - and she knew he’d been with her nephew. “I’m so dead,” he muttered, lying back down to ease the pain. He’d managed to hold his own back at the house, but now he was already weak and wouldn’t be much of a challenge. Hopefully, though, she hadn’t picked up on his parents’ trail. They’d tried in vain to convince him to go with them, finally giving up and telling him that they were going on a long vacation and would get word to him in a few months when they were sure they were safe.
He thought about Hap and Rosalee and knew he had to somehow get in touch with them, but first he had to get out of the hospital.
The next day, he stepped out of the wheelchair he’d been forced to ride in and got into the Uber he’d reserved. He clutched his bag of meds and sheets of instructions in his hand, resolved to accept that he’d been right all along; being alone was what was best for him.
He’d arrived with nothing, no wallet or friend or family, so he’d had to make do. It wasn’t like he’d never had to do this before on his own, but he’d grown accustomed to being able to rely on Nick, something he obviously couldn’t do anymore.
His head ached, as did his cracked ribs and the bullet wound in his side, but all of that took a backseat to the loneliness and feeling of loss. He reminded himself that this was how it was always going to end up - his head had known it and tried to talk him out of seeing Nick, but he hadn’t been able to help himself. Even now, after experiencing it all, he couldn’t say that he regretted being with Nick. They’d been the best few months in his life.
He gingerly stepped out of the car, thanking the driver, also thankful that he’d already established an account so he could order one as long as he could remember his password.
The front door still lay haphazardly against the side of the house, and Monroe wondered absently if looters had left anything useful.
He walked inside, stopping in surprise when he surveyed his clean - if mostly empty - living room. He froze, smelling the air.
A few seconds later, Fortunus Blanks, one of Hap’s football buddies, walked out of the kitchen, chatting with Wu.
Stunned, Monroe could only stare.
Wu’d just taken a bite of whatever he had in his hand when he noticed Monroe. “Hey! We were going to come visit you at the hospital a little later with some pants and stuff, but I guess our timing was off.” He took in the clothes Monroe had been given at the hospital and smirked. “Welcome home!”
“Yeah, dude.” Fortunus was a six foot six African American whose dreams of playing pro football had been dashed after a bad car accident when he was a sophomore in high school; while he couldn’t get a scholarship to any of the prestigious colleges he’d planned on attending, he was still good enough to be the best player on the GN football team. He and Wu had been friends in grade school and had reconnected when Wu started hanging out over at Monroe and Hap’s.
That still didn’t explain why they were in his house - or why his living room didn’t show any of the signs that he and Nick’s Grimm aunt had fought. He felt a little pang at the missing sofa, his and Hap’s first piece of furniture after they’d rented the house their sophomore year. They’d found it a couple of blocks away on the sidewalk, waiting for garbage day, and they’d snuck over in the middle of the night to take it.
All of the evidence of Christmas had disappeared too, and Monroe wondered if any of it had been salvageable. He felt like he should care more about it than he did right now, but he also knew that he was in a bit of an emotional fog. He decided he’d worry about it later.
He realized that he’d been silent too long and tried to give them a smile that felt strange on his face. “Hey. Did you clean up the mess?”
“Yeah,” Wu walked up to Monroe, clapped a hand gently over Monroe’s shoulder. “Nick told us what happened, about the home invasion and everything, so don’t feel like you need to talk about it - unless you want to. We’re here if you need to vent too.”
Fortunus’ face was epic - it was obvious that he’d be willing to sit there and listen but he was hoping, “please please do not need to talk about your feelings and stuff”.
Wu’s face was just as open, revealing that he would love to hear all of the details. But he wouldn’t push.
Suddenly Monroe felt an unexpected wash of thankfulness rise inside him and had to duck his head to blink away the stab of tears gathering in his eyes. Once he got himself in control he looked back at them. “Sorry. Drugs.”
“I hear you,” Wu said as if he knew what it was like to get hurt worse than the simple break he’d gotten after falling out of a tree in middle school. “Why don’t you go upstairs and get some rest. You hungry? Your neighbors have been bringing food pretty much nonstop, and most of it’s vegetarian.”
“I’m not hungry right now,” Monroe said, “but thanks. I might just take a shower, though.” He smelled like hospital.
“Hap wanted to come back from his trip early, but he’s in the car with Hap-San and Bohlale, so I told him that he should just stay with them and have fun. I’ll stay here with you until you’re back on your feet.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Monroe said, easing into the chair once he realized that Wu, being Wu, still had a lot to say. Due to the lack of a table, he dropped his meds bag on the floor at his feet.
“It’s not a problem,” Wu said. “Besides, this place is closer to my Winter Term internship than the apartment.”
While he didn’t doubt that it was the truth, Monroe knew how social Wu was, and with Hank gone for the month doing an internship back home in Philadelphia at one of the police departments, the apartment probably felt pretty empty.
“And just give me a call if you need any heavy lifting,” Fortunus said. “The team came by yesterday, and we cleaned up and took all of the broken stuff to the recycle and trash yards. The new doors should get here in a few hours.”
Monroe felt that pressure in his chest again. “That was - you didn’t have to - ”
“You feed us all the time,” Fortunus said. “You watch after Hap and come to our games. Coming over here was not a biggie.” He shrugged. “We don’t have practice until tomorrow, so it was a nice little workout.”
GN allowed for football to be a winter term class choice, which was required for starters. Hap, who was more of an enthusiastic bench warmer, pretty much showed up whenever he was free, and somehow, he got away with it.
“Tell them thanks,” Monroe said, feeling that that it wasn’t enough. “ - and that I’ll have them all over for a barbecue or something once I get better and Hap gets back.”
“It’s a deal,” Fortunus said, wide grin proving that he’d been hoping for that kind of response.
Monroe felt some of the pressure ease. He might’ve lost the love of his life, but he wasn’t alone. He had friends, people who cleaned up his destroyed house so he wouldn’t have to do it himself, people who brought over food so he wouldn’t have to go out and buy some and cook it himself, people who offered to stay and help take care of him.
Monroe braced himself, planting his hands on the arms of the chair and pushing himself up to standing with the slightest of groans. “I think I’m gonna take that shower and head off to bed for a bit.”
“We’re right down here if you need anything!” Wu called.
Monroe managed to hold out for a couple of hours before he finally broke down and asked Wu about Nick. He blamed it on the drugs that Wu’d brought up with some soup a few hours after Monroe had showered and dropped into bed, having fallen asleep on the thought that for the first time, it felt way too large.
He was lucid enough to try to hide it behind a few other questions. “Have you heard from Hank?”
“Yeah, he’s hating the suits he has to wear, but he seems to be enjoying the internship.” Wu sat down on the end of the bed.
“You said Hap was doing good too?”
“I think he said he was in Wisconsin somewhere. He talked about being stuffed with cheese.”
Monroe played with his spoon, going for nonchalant. “And… everyone else?”
Wu gave him a look before saying, “Nick’s doing an independent study. He told me what it was about, but all I heard was, ‘wa wa wa wa’.” He opened and closed his hand rapidly while he spoke.
“Did he seem happy?”
“Do you want me to be honest?”
“It depends on your answer, “ Monroe said seriously.
Wu chuckled. “We’ve been spending way too much time together.”
“You know what? Never mind. Forget I asked,” Monroe said, losing his courage. “I’m just going to eat my soup since I’ve already taken my pill, and it’s supposed to be ingested with food…”
“He’s fine,” Wu said gently, “but he misses you.”
“He asked about me?”
“In the same way you asked about him.”
“Oh.” Monroe tried not to sound disappointed.
“Nick’s my buddy, and I try to live by the credo ‘live and let live’, but I gotta say that he’s kind of disappointed me, leaving you alone in the hospital the way he did. I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but that’s not how you treat the person you love.”
“No, Nick is doing the right thing. We’re not - ” he had to swallow and push the words out, “ - supposed to be together.”
“I call bullshit,” Wu said. “I saw you two together, and sure, you’re the reason why I have to buy pants three sizes larger than at the beginning of the year, but you two just seemed to fit.”
“I can’t explain it, but don’t blame Nick. He’s not leaving me while I’m down. It was just bad timing. He’s doing the right thing.”
Wu snorted, standing. “Nick’ll always be my friend, even when he’s being a dumb ass. You too. So eat your damn soup and get some rest.”
On to Chapter 8b
He thought about Hap and Rosalee and knew he had to somehow get in touch with them, but first he had to get out of the hospital.
The next day, he stepped out of the wheelchair he’d been forced to ride in and got into the Uber he’d reserved. He clutched his bag of meds and sheets of instructions in his hand, resolved to accept that he’d been right all along; being alone was what was best for him.
He’d arrived with nothing, no wallet or friend or family, so he’d had to make do. It wasn’t like he’d never had to do this before on his own, but he’d grown accustomed to being able to rely on Nick, something he obviously couldn’t do anymore.
His head ached, as did his cracked ribs and the bullet wound in his side, but all of that took a backseat to the loneliness and feeling of loss. He reminded himself that this was how it was always going to end up - his head had known it and tried to talk him out of seeing Nick, but he hadn’t been able to help himself. Even now, after experiencing it all, he couldn’t say that he regretted being with Nick. They’d been the best few months in his life.
He gingerly stepped out of the car, thanking the driver, also thankful that he’d already established an account so he could order one as long as he could remember his password.
The front door still lay haphazardly against the side of the house, and Monroe wondered absently if looters had left anything useful.
He walked inside, stopping in surprise when he surveyed his clean - if mostly empty - living room. He froze, smelling the air.
A few seconds later, Fortunus Blanks, one of Hap’s football buddies, walked out of the kitchen, chatting with Wu.
Stunned, Monroe could only stare.
Wu’d just taken a bite of whatever he had in his hand when he noticed Monroe. “Hey! We were going to come visit you at the hospital a little later with some pants and stuff, but I guess our timing was off.” He took in the clothes Monroe had been given at the hospital and smirked. “Welcome home!”
“Yeah, dude.” Fortunus was a six foot six African American whose dreams of playing pro football had been dashed after a bad car accident when he was a sophomore in high school; while he couldn’t get a scholarship to any of the prestigious colleges he’d planned on attending, he was still good enough to be the best player on the GN football team. He and Wu had been friends in grade school and had reconnected when Wu started hanging out over at Monroe and Hap’s.
That still didn’t explain why they were in his house - or why his living room didn’t show any of the signs that he and Nick’s Grimm aunt had fought. He felt a little pang at the missing sofa, his and Hap’s first piece of furniture after they’d rented the house their sophomore year. They’d found it a couple of blocks away on the sidewalk, waiting for garbage day, and they’d snuck over in the middle of the night to take it.
All of the evidence of Christmas had disappeared too, and Monroe wondered if any of it had been salvageable. He felt like he should care more about it than he did right now, but he also knew that he was in a bit of an emotional fog. He decided he’d worry about it later.
He realized that he’d been silent too long and tried to give them a smile that felt strange on his face. “Hey. Did you clean up the mess?”
“Yeah,” Wu walked up to Monroe, clapped a hand gently over Monroe’s shoulder. “Nick told us what happened, about the home invasion and everything, so don’t feel like you need to talk about it - unless you want to. We’re here if you need to vent too.”
Fortunus’ face was epic - it was obvious that he’d be willing to sit there and listen but he was hoping, “please please do not need to talk about your feelings and stuff”.
Wu’s face was just as open, revealing that he would love to hear all of the details. But he wouldn’t push.
Suddenly Monroe felt an unexpected wash of thankfulness rise inside him and had to duck his head to blink away the stab of tears gathering in his eyes. Once he got himself in control he looked back at them. “Sorry. Drugs.”
“I hear you,” Wu said as if he knew what it was like to get hurt worse than the simple break he’d gotten after falling out of a tree in middle school. “Why don’t you go upstairs and get some rest. You hungry? Your neighbors have been bringing food pretty much nonstop, and most of it’s vegetarian.”
“I’m not hungry right now,” Monroe said, “but thanks. I might just take a shower, though.” He smelled like hospital.
“Hap wanted to come back from his trip early, but he’s in the car with Hap-San and Bohlale, so I told him that he should just stay with them and have fun. I’ll stay here with you until you’re back on your feet.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Monroe said, easing into the chair once he realized that Wu, being Wu, still had a lot to say. Due to the lack of a table, he dropped his meds bag on the floor at his feet.
“It’s not a problem,” Wu said. “Besides, this place is closer to my Winter Term internship than the apartment.”
While he didn’t doubt that it was the truth, Monroe knew how social Wu was, and with Hank gone for the month doing an internship back home in Philadelphia at one of the police departments, the apartment probably felt pretty empty.
“And just give me a call if you need any heavy lifting,” Fortunus said. “The team came by yesterday, and we cleaned up and took all of the broken stuff to the recycle and trash yards. The new doors should get here in a few hours.”
Monroe felt that pressure in his chest again. “That was - you didn’t have to - ”
“You feed us all the time,” Fortunus said. “You watch after Hap and come to our games. Coming over here was not a biggie.” He shrugged. “We don’t have practice until tomorrow, so it was a nice little workout.”
GN allowed for football to be a winter term class choice, which was required for starters. Hap, who was more of an enthusiastic bench warmer, pretty much showed up whenever he was free, and somehow, he got away with it.
“Tell them thanks,” Monroe said, feeling that that it wasn’t enough. “ - and that I’ll have them all over for a barbecue or something once I get better and Hap gets back.”
“It’s a deal,” Fortunus said, wide grin proving that he’d been hoping for that kind of response.
Monroe felt some of the pressure ease. He might’ve lost the love of his life, but he wasn’t alone. He had friends, people who cleaned up his destroyed house so he wouldn’t have to do it himself, people who brought over food so he wouldn’t have to go out and buy some and cook it himself, people who offered to stay and help take care of him.
Monroe braced himself, planting his hands on the arms of the chair and pushing himself up to standing with the slightest of groans. “I think I’m gonna take that shower and head off to bed for a bit.”
“We’re right down here if you need anything!” Wu called.
Monroe managed to hold out for a couple of hours before he finally broke down and asked Wu about Nick. He blamed it on the drugs that Wu’d brought up with some soup a few hours after Monroe had showered and dropped into bed, having fallen asleep on the thought that for the first time, it felt way too large.
He was lucid enough to try to hide it behind a few other questions. “Have you heard from Hank?”
“Yeah, he’s hating the suits he has to wear, but he seems to be enjoying the internship.” Wu sat down on the end of the bed.
“You said Hap was doing good too?”
“I think he said he was in Wisconsin somewhere. He talked about being stuffed with cheese.”
Monroe played with his spoon, going for nonchalant. “And… everyone else?”
Wu gave him a look before saying, “Nick’s doing an independent study. He told me what it was about, but all I heard was, ‘wa wa wa wa’.” He opened and closed his hand rapidly while he spoke.
“Did he seem happy?”
“Do you want me to be honest?”
“It depends on your answer, “ Monroe said seriously.
Wu chuckled. “We’ve been spending way too much time together.”
“You know what? Never mind. Forget I asked,” Monroe said, losing his courage. “I’m just going to eat my soup since I’ve already taken my pill, and it’s supposed to be ingested with food…”
“He’s fine,” Wu said gently, “but he misses you.”
“He asked about me?”
“In the same way you asked about him.”
“Oh.” Monroe tried not to sound disappointed.
“Nick’s my buddy, and I try to live by the credo ‘live and let live’, but I gotta say that he’s kind of disappointed me, leaving you alone in the hospital the way he did. I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but that’s not how you treat the person you love.”
“No, Nick is doing the right thing. We’re not - ” he had to swallow and push the words out, “ - supposed to be together.”
“I call bullshit,” Wu said. “I saw you two together, and sure, you’re the reason why I have to buy pants three sizes larger than at the beginning of the year, but you two just seemed to fit.”
“I can’t explain it, but don’t blame Nick. He’s not leaving me while I’m down. It was just bad timing. He’s doing the right thing.”
Wu snorted, standing. “Nick’ll always be my friend, even when he’s being a dumb ass. You too. So eat your damn soup and get some rest.”
On to Chapter 8b