“I’m not a hero, Fred”. Kit had too much to drink, having used every ounce of energy in him just to get out of bed. His make-believe reality with Atta, though surprisingly pleasant, never truly stopped the bleeding inside. He was a shell of a man, pushed to the limits of trying to be whole for the people who had to look up to him. Admittedly, he was beyond exhausted. “I don’t see the purpose of this at all. Fred. I used to be so sure of life, now I just want all of this to stop. I’m tired of carrying the weight of these responsibilities. I see no light at the end of this tunnel.” Kit bit his lip, closing his eyes as he tried to breathe in, but it didn’t help. Every time Kit closes his eyes, a vision of Ella’s face appears before him. He was so close, and yet he found himself deeper in darkness than before. Kit extended his hand, palm facing up, letting Fred know what he exactly needed. “Give me anything—the strongest. Please.” The tone of desperation in his voice was apparent. He was drunk from all the alcohol he consumed, but Kit was more intoxicated by other things.
Kit sat on the porch while he smoked the weed his friend gave him. Today he had a break from the playhouse with Atta, and this was the only time Kit felt in touch with the wounds he so desperately hid from the world. “I want her to come back, Fred. I’m still in love with her, I love her, I want no one else…” He threw a bottle on the floor, his face burrowing into his hand when the tears finally came. Kit finally allowed the agony to come through, even just for tonight. “I should find her. I’ll go to the Tremaines right now.” Kit was obviously drunk and out of his mind as he wobbled around the table looking for his car keys. It was the middle of the night and he thought driving and knocking at the Tremaine’s door was a good idea. “Will you come with me?” He asked in desperation.
“Of course you are, you’re my favorite Floppy Haired Foe,” he said with a small smile, hoping to lighten the mood slightly. Sure he’d come over knowing that his friend was probably having a tough time but this was another level. Fred always tried his best when it came to being there for the people he cared about, doing whatever he could to offer them solace. As much as he wanted to make it better, he knew this was something that a new joints wouldn’t be able to mend. He’d never seen him like this before and after watching him be the face everyone loved. This was raw, Fred feeling severely unequipped for emotions of this caliber. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t do his best to give advice, as if he knew anything about love in the first place. “I wish I knew man... Sometimes I look at all the stuff and it’s like super awesome but what do you do with it, ya know? It’s cool but none of it really means anything without sharing it.” That’s how Fred felt about his friends anyway. Being rich was fun but he didn’t much care for it if he didn’t get to enjoy it with the people he loved most. He figured Kit understood that. Seeing his out stretched hand meant it was bad and Fred could only provide so many substances to numb it. He knew that in the morning it always comes back: the feelings.
After taking another drag of his own Fred turned to look at his friend with heavy eyes. “Maybe it isn’t about finding her, you know? Like what if there was a way you could tell her and you know she’d heard it? If reading comic books has taught me anything it’s that you never know if they’re looking for you too.” It was a long shot but he figured his friend needed to hear it in the off chance all his reading proved to show some truth of reality. Fred was quick to his feet once Kit was on the move, trying to center him again. “Whoa, don’t get ahead of yourself, Prince Charming,” he said with his joint bopping as he spoke with it between his lips. “If this is really what you want, if it’s her or whatever it is, then what’re you doing marrying someone else? No one has control of your life but you.” Fred knew it could be hard to put on the act that the world wanted them to and he worked to do the opposite, and maybe Kit needed the same.