Saying Goodbye Really Sucks Ass

Who: Chance and Hannah
When: 4:30ish pm
Where: Chance's house

It had been a long day at school, having to sit through a bunch of mundane lessons. Chance never had much trouble in school. Even now, he was a straight A student. He kept up with his homework, he did well on his tests. He was still getting college letters, inviting him to apply. College wasn't something that was high on his list of priorities - even though it was for his mom. If he went to school, it would be NMU. Kaysen was only a sophomore, and he wasn't going to leave Marquette as long as she was still living there. Plus he was having a hard time concentrating, thinking about the last few days. Hannah had already taught him a lot - showed him a lot. And he was becoming more confident in what he could do, and what he was.

He munched on a piece of pizza in the living room, watching Dawn of the Dead for the hundredth time. It was the only gory movie on top of the tv, and he was too lazy to switch it out to something else. The coffee table had been thrown out, and his mom had already replaced it with a nicer one. The house was looking better, though some things still needed replaced. Chance figured by the weekend his mom would have probably finished her excessive shopping and the house would be looking normal again.

Hannah had finished getting ready for... well, various things, and decided she'd put off talking to people long enough. First and foremost on the list, probably her closest friend in town-- how weird was that, having a friend in town, and more than one so she could call one "closest"?-- Chance. She pulled the Bronco out in front of his house and let it idle for a moment, frowning at it. She knew where his mirrors were... the broken ones, anyway... so she could watch him at least until they were replaced. But this time it just didn't seem the same.

Sighing, she shut off the engine and climbed out, heading up the walk. She stood in front of his door a moment, hands in her pockets and contemplating what she was going to say. She hadn't had to do something like this in a long, long time... she wasn't entirely sure how. Finally, she knocked.

Chance paused midchew and looked back over his shoulder toward the foyer. Setting the pizza down, he wiped his hands on the paper towel and stood, continuing to chew as he headed for the front door. He glanced out one of the side windows, recognized Hannah, and pulled open the door wide enough for her to come inside. "'Sup?" he mumbled, mouth still full. "Want some pizza?"

She paused at the offer, then said, "Sure, I'm not gonna turn down pizza." And she could probably stand to eat something, too. She followed him inside, stuffing her hands back in her pockets. "How was school? Boring as you thought it'd be?"

"Yeah, pretty much." He shut the door and led her back to the living room. He picked up the DVD remote and paused the movie before flopping back on the couch. He nudged the open box of pizza toward her before picking up his own half eaten piece. "A lot of teachers were showing movies today. Some weren't even in school. Think it's gonna be awhile before things start getting back to normal there."

Hannah flopped down, with him, sitting up long enough to lean over and grab herself that slice of pizza, then flopping back again. This sucked, and she didn't even know how to start. "I think you're right," she agreed. "Your little town is probably going to be messed up for a while, and it'll probably never be like it was. Now that everyone knows about the shit out there... or that there is shit out there. You know?"

"Yeah, but maybe that's not a bad thing? Maybe people will be better prepared next time. It'd be more beneficial for them to be aware, I think." He took another bite and looked at her. "I bet gun sales shoot through the roof here."

"Hopefully whatever shit hits next will be weak to guns," Hannah said darkly around a big bite of goey, greasy pizza. She was glad this had been invented. Maybe it was stupid of her, but she loved fast food. Maybe all her negative energy consumption made up for it. "But yeah, people will maybe be better prepared. Or at least less surprised. Maybe less people will die...." It still angered her, the people they couldn't save. That they were too late for. But she couldn't be everywhere, she knew that-- it just made her angry.

Or maybe she was just in a pissy mood.

Yeah..." Chance nodded and glanced at her again. He slowly chewed his pizza and then swallowed. He was okay at reading people, he thought, and he could hear the edge in her voice. "Everything okay?" She seemed tense. And scowly.

This time Hannah swallowed before she answered. "Not really. I have to leave. I don't know for how long. Could be a week, could be a month."

"What?" It took him by surprise and he found himself gaping at her, the pizza in his hand forgotten. "What the fuck do you mean you have to leave? Why?" For a fleeting moment he thought about Jezebelle, saying she was going home for awhile and she might be back. She still wasn't. Now Hannah was ditching out too?

"It's my family," she explained, not looking at him, but at her pizza instead. "That was the deal. They gave themselves for me, and I give myself for them, whenever they need me. I'm glad to do it-- they're my family. There's nothing I wouldn't do for them. But... sometimes their timing fucking sucks." The last came out in a bit of a mumble.

"Oh." And he was disappointed. Really disappointed. It was like the people he befriended always ended up leaving. Not that he blamed her. If her family needed her, than who was he to protest, or get angry? "Well, I guess if they need you... you'll come back right? Or like... stop by my mirror or whatever?"

"You have any mirrors in the house not broken?" Hannah asked. Because hull yes, she'd stop by if she could. "And I will come back, Bronco and all. Just don't know when that'll be. This little hunt I'm gonna be on...." She made a face. "It's gonna be a complicated one. I've got my work cut out for me. Fuckin' detective work, even." Which was not really her cup of tea.

"I'll get a new mirror and take a picture of it with my cell and send it to you - so you know what to look for." That sounded like a plan to Chance. He had a feeling she'd have better luck finding him than him trying to find her. As long as she kept the promise to visit him. "You're gonna be careful on this hunt, right? Are you going in on it
alone?"

"I'll have my cousin so-many-times-removed with me, and I'm always careful, dude." Hannah really, really didn't think that'd work-- the mirror could be anywhere, and the In Between was endless. But she didn't comment, since she didn't really want to make him feel bad, or more helpless than he already did. She'd just have to hunt and look for part of Chance's house through the new mirror. She could find it; she could find anyth--

--hey wait. "Better idea," Hannah said with a grin, then popped more pizza in her mouth and hopped to her feet, beckoning him after her as headed for the front door, and her Bronco outside.

Chance watched her get up with a curious expression before he dropped his pizza onto the plate again and stood to follow her. "What?" He had no clue what she was doing - or where she was going - but he followed obediently, still chewing his pizza.

She bounded out to the Bronco and opened the back, where all her mirrors were stacked, underneath their semi-concealing towel. She pulled that off and started sifting through them, looking for one she wasn't actually using right then.

"You're going to give me one of yours?" he asked, glancing around her to see what she was doing. He didn't know many people who carried mirrors around in their car, but Hannah did. And he guessed he could understand why.

"Yup!" Hannah said, finally finding the one whose last "addressee" had passed on without bequeathing the mirror nearby to someone who needed it yet. She'd be back for it, so by the time little Jaime had grown up enough to call on the family Fade, she'd certainly have it back for her. "Here," she said, sliding it out carefully. It wasn't huge, but it was decent-sized, and relatively plain in design. "I can find this one from anywhere, I've had it for twenty-two years and I can jump right to it, if I need to. You keep it-- until I come back for it and you don't need it anymore."

He reached out for it with both hands as not to drop and break it. "Thanks. I'll put it up in my bedroom. I won't break it," he promised her with a wry smile. "And maybe if I can do it by then, I can come track you down too."

The thought of Chance trying to track her down made Hannah frown, remembering. "That's one more thing I gotta tell you, dude," she said, turning a serious look on him. "Be careful in the In Between. Those shadow fuckers? They're there, and they're still pissed. So when you go, take your baseball bat or gun or something. Just in case."

Chance's eyes ticked away from the mirror toward her face. "They're still there? I mean... they kind of disappeared from here, so I guess they had to go somewhere. I'll be careful, if I ever have to go back in. Or I decide to. You be careful too... with all these mirrors in your car."

"They won't come out," Hannah promised. "I've been in a couple times, and they chased me up to the mirror-- then didn't follow me out. So I'm safe as long as I don't go in. Which, you know, is fucked up and not happening, so I'll just keep my eyes peeled." She grinned a bit. "But yeah. If you get used to this mirror, use it a lot, that kind of thing... you'll be able to jump right to it from any mirror, anywhere. So if I take this and leave, and you ever wanna find me, there's your means. 'Course, you might come out at the bottom of my mirror-pile, which might suck," she added with a snicker.

Chance grinned at the mental image that produced. "Yeah, I'm sure I'll be fine... this will help. And you can write me letters too... or text me." He supposed it wasn't entirely awful she was leaving. They'd keep in touch, and she'd be back eventually. It just seemed to be whenever he made an actual friend, they couldn't stick around. Maybe he was just meant to do some things on his own. He reached out to hug her with one arm, the other keeping ahold on the mirror. "What time do you have to go? Do you have time to just chill for awhile?"

"I'll keep in touch," she promised, and actually forced herself to relax when he hugged her, though all she really did in return was lean against his side a little. "I've got a little time. Got a couple other people to break the bad news to, but I've got a little time. Why, you got ideas?" She grinned some up at him.

"Well, I got half a pizza left to eat. And I dunno, we can find something stupid to pass the time." He tugged a bit at her arm to follow him back inside. "I would say lets go break a few laws, but then you'd ditch out and I'd be left here to deal with the consequences."

Hannah followed willingly enough-- the hug was over, so she was good to go. "Let's finish the pizza and play some video games for a while, how's that?" she suggested. "You can trounce me one more time." She flashed him a grin. "Or maybe I'll surprise you and trounce you. You could use a good video-game-thrashing, I think."

"Yeah, sounds like a plan." He began to walk back toward the house, mirror in hand. "We'll see who trounces who. Something tells me you're going to be walking out of here embarrassed and never wanting to try video games ever again."

"Yeah, right," Hannah grinned. "Fuck that, I'll beat your ass and you'll wonder what happened. Pick the game, little man, I'll take you on at anything." And she knew he was going to win, anyway, really-- but that didn't mean she couldn't talk big to tease him. It was her last real hangout with him-- for a while, anyway-- she had to at least act like her pride and confidence were intact.

He laughed and pushed open the door again. "You shouldn't smack talk until after you win. Otherwise it just makes your loss that much more pathetic and embarrassing." This would be okay. He could deal without getting too upset about it. She'd come back eventually, and maybe by then he'd be stronger than he was now, and could show her a thing or two. Maybe.