~~~
20. In The End.

The sidewalk in New York City is hot by midday, and you're hungry, but you're always hungry. You're skinny, mostly from that week you spent sick, throwing up everything you touched as the drugs they gave you left your system. Since then, you don't see the colour red, but that's all right. You see everything else.

Chris sits next to you, strumming a guitar he stole from someone's backyard somewhere along the way, singing, and you harmonise with his voice, bringing him down. On his other side, Lance sits cross-legged, grounding you all, tapping his fingers on his knees, setting the pace. People walk by and every tenth tosses a dollar bill into the grungy old hat.

You nod your thanks and keep singing.

Gotta use your voice for something.

~~~

One day, you see your mom, and when she stops, you think maybe she remembers you, but she leaves you a twenty and gives you a big smile. Later, she comes back with wrapped sandwiches and six bottles of juice. You remember she used to do stuff like that for complete strangers. She's such a good person. You love her so much.

"Thanks, ma'am," you say, and take the gifts without question, and Chris asks, once she's left,

"Was that your mom?" And you nod, giving Chris and Lance their fair shares. "Small world," Chris mumbles, unwrapping his sandwich. "Probably should have guessed you weren't really from Orlando. Totally New York, man."

"Nothing now, really," you mumble and bit into your lunch.

It tastes like nothing, too.

~~~

But it's not bad, this life. You're free, and you know now just what that really means. You're safe because Chris can take down a guy twice his size with just a crazy grin. You're in love, even though it's hard to be intimate, but he's yours and you remember that every morning when you wake up. You eat enough to keep you alive, if not full, and you still love singing.

Lance is different, though, and some days, you wake up and just worry about him. It's like he's seen too much and knows how much it changed him. His body, even after the withdrawal, doesn't work, so he's still painfully different from everyone else. At least now he can use his voice at full volume without side effects. You still remember, though, that time.

Chris is different, too, but in a better way. He doesn't seem so crazy, and he goes out of his way to save pigeons from getting terrorised, not so violent anymore unless someone goes after you or Lance, and then he's all over them, teeth bared.

But it's not bad.

You just miss them sometimes.

Those ones you hoped you'd forget.

And you haven't.

~~~

It's a rainy day, and you're not getting any money, so Chris suggests you just pack it up and go find some shelter. You're putting away his guitar when a hand folds over your shoulder, and you turn, fists raised, ready for a fight.

It's really good you never forgot, or else you wouldn't believe it.

"Oh my God," you breathe and then Justin's in your arms, laughing loudly, while JC jumps all over Chris and Lance, grinning as they hug him back, dancing around like fools in the street. You reach for JC, trading off and crying all over him like some girl while he moves against you, so alive. "How? How did you find us? How did you survive?"

"Lonnie," JC whispers, showing off his voice, and he doesn't bleed, for once, just coughs a lot and sounds quiet, but he's beaming because it means someday he'll be able to shout and holler and sing.

Justin takes over, looking healthy. "He said Lance warned him about something, but he didn't believe it. He came up, running, and just grabbed us both and ran like hell. By then, the fucking government was all over the place, going down like flies, and that thing, it didn't want us."

"God," Chris mutters into Justin's shoulder, "thank fucking god."

"How did you get here?" Lance asks quietly, wrapped around Justin from behind. "We're hiding, you know. Nobody's supposed to find us."

Justin grins. "We have no idea. It just felt right, you know, to go north, then when we hit New York, it all just felt, like, even more right. We don't know. It just worked. After everything, we're not even going to question."

"It's so good to see you," you repeat, breathing in JC, and he giggles as you all lump together, standing in the middle of this huge city, hugging like mad, like you thought you'd never see each other again, and you didn't think you would.

But here you are, in another experiment, and you know you're finally alive.

Fin.

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