"Oh, no..." Gage breathed out, green eyes widened slightly. Standing on his toes, Gage pulled Nicole close, hugging her tight. "I'm so, so, so sorry, Nicole." he murmured, looking up at nothing in particular through his blonde eyelashes. Nicole's blonde hair was in the way, making the world look all the more blonde.

Gage knew. Of course, he did. He couldn't ignore Kurt's behavior when he first saw him that day, and once he got the truth out of him, he warned him to tone it down. Although, maybe that wasn't the smartest thing to do. He was only thinking of his friends, though!

He could only imagine what Jay was going through right now.

( He can't help worrying about his friend. :C
Btw, Jay's going to be alone for a week or two. 8D! Cain's not gonna be around just yet.
LET HIM SUFFERRR. )

Gage squeaked a little when he was hugged tighter. He patted Nicole's back, managing to say, "Okay, those are my lungs you're about to squeeze out." Squirming a little, he managed to get away, and then he smiled sheepishly, looking up at her through his hair. "Might not be my fault, but, it's not yours to take, either. Leave it alone, Nicole."

Reaching for Nicole's hand, he gingerly took it in his own, then looked back up at her. "Want to hang out?" he asked, head tilted and a soft, friendly smile on his lips. "I'll buy you snacks."

( Did you notice that they're both doing the thing with their hand? eue )

Gage smiled sadly. "But," he said in a weak protest, "I brought money with me." He was in fact pitying her, but not for the wrong reasons. Nicole was his friend, wasn't she? She was, so he needed to console her, even if it was just with a simple treat and a few comforting words now and then. He decided he'd check up on Jay later. Most likely, he had sealed himself up in his room, refusing to come out and simply staying silent when no one tried to bother him. He'd come and check to try and coax him out for a talk, but usually, Jay only got angry when someone did. So, Gage decided on sticking with Nicole for a bit.

~

He'd pretty much been kicked out of the first bar. In the second bar, they let Jay stay for a few drinks, then told him he'd had enough and shoved him out the door. Instead of going through that same trouble again, Jay decided on going to a liquor store and buying a bottle of vodka, forgetting that he had stashed away two bottles of the same thing under a loose board. That certain loose board was under his bed, where Zooey could never come across it.

By the time he reached home, Jay had finished a quarter of the bottle, telling himself to save the rest for when he was curled up under his bed covers. Of course, Wolfgang greeted him at the door, but only succeeded in bothering him. As quickly as he walked in through the front door, Jay disappeared into his room, where he promptly began to drink like he'd been dying to on the walk home.

( eue Now that you've pointed it out. <333 )

Nicole frowned at Gage. "We can hang out, but you don't have to buy me anything. I'm not gonna let you." Again, a memory of Jay flashed in her head. This time, when they went to the mall and he offered to buy her something. She'd told him she wanted an engagement ring, and now.. well, she just wanted an engagement with him. A part of her hoped when and if they went somewhere, they'd see Jay. They'd see Jay and Nicole would break down into tears and apologize for abo*censored*ly nothing and ask him to take her back.

Too bad that would never happen.

( ;u; It won't, Nicole.
Only when Jay's about to jump off a building.
WHUT. )

"I insist," Gage said, smiling up at Nicole. It was the least he could do, in his mind. He'd come from his home to her's, hoping to be a comfort to her, and this was his idea. "Let's go to the park. Someone's always selling treats there," he explained, and started walking, tugging on Nicole's hand as he went.

( Fail reply. ;u; )

Gage's head snapped up at Nicole's question, and he blinked a few times before he processed what she had said. "Oh... Well," He ducked his head and laughed a little, his laugh sounding childish and yet mature at the same time. "lonely. I've missed Jay, Hideo, and Oliver a lot. Hideo and Oliver have been hanging out together, and I think I've even seen them with another group of friends, too. Jay...well, you know." Looking back up at Nicole, he smiled just the slightest bit.

"I've been hanging out with a bunch of capital-D dorks. I mean, they're not, like...those kids that always study and stuff, they're just dorks. They don't know how to have fun..." His gaze wandered back down to the ground they were walking under. "Well, maybe it's fun to them... But, not me. I guess I never realized how much of a thrill an adrenaline rush is."

( He wouldn't have been perfectly happy! D8
They'd need a breakthrough first.
And. :C It's Kurt's fault for picking a fight. DON'T FEEL SO BAD, NICOLE. DDD8! )

"I–well... I talked to Hideo and Oliver for a little bit, but I guess they just kinda–" Gage was cut off by Nicole's other question, and he tried smiling, the corners of his lips curling up slightly. "Yeah, they go to school with me," he answered, nodding a little. "I tried to be like the others and jumped into a fight I shouldn't've. I guess I picked up a few things, 'cause I kicked some ass." At that, he couldn't help grinning up at Nicole.

Talking about the others made Gage miss his friends terribly, but it wasn't so bad as lingering on thoughts about them alone. At least he was talking with someone, rather than just thinking about them and laying on his bed. His new friends looked at him funny when he started talking about his old friends, like they were offended. So, he'd just stop talking about them to anyone overall.

His thoughts were kept as just that, thoughts.

( ;u; It's fun letting her feel bad.
Don't worry, it's be waayyy worse when her depression sets in. ;u; )

Nicole eyebrows pinched together before she realized what he had meant. He was younger, so he wasn't in her senior cla.ss and hadn't graduated at the same time. Nicole knew her jumping from subject to subject was probably confusing and possibly irritating, but it was the only way to keep her mind focused on him instead of on Jay. Not that it helped much anyway. "You're a senior this year? Junior?" she asked, eyeing the ground infront of her instead of the boy she was talking to.

Honestly, Nicole wasn't paying much attention to Gage. She was too consumed in her thoughts, but she was still remotley listening. She didn't want to offend Gage, of course, she just needed time to think, and doing it with company was easier than doing it alone (SHUT UP. NO. JUST. NO. OKAY. NO. SHUTUP.).

"S-sophomore," Gage stammered out, his eyebrows knitting together in what looked like concern. "I bet you're like, 'Wow, this kid was a freshman when I met him?' but..." He chuckled softly, a hand going into his straw-colored hair. His gaze slipped down to the sidewalk underneath their feet.

Being with Nicole was like chasing after a bird he'd never catch. That bird being his old friends, the ones he missed so much. Biting his lip lightly, Gage forced back tears. Everyone retreated after Kurt died. Now it was just him and Nicole. He didn't even really know much about Nicole.

"Do you miss everyone?" he asked in a whisper, his eyes remaining downcast. "I miss them all so much."

Nicole gulped audibly. When Gage said 'everyone', she heard 'Jay'. She didn't reply for a moment, and her pace slowed a bit. "So much," she wispered, glancing at Gage. Hopefully, he had heard, because she didn't want to repeat it. She missed all of them, not just Jay. She missed the feeling that they hated her, but Jay loved her so she didn't mind his friends.

Now, she really missed them all being together. And she still hated the feeling that they would still be friends if she hadn't been around.

"The park's just up ahead," Gage said after a while, having taken some time to regain himself. Pausing to look up at a tree, he stood on his toes, reaching for a flower. He struggled for a moment, then picked the flower. Dropping back onto the flats of his shoes, he turned to Nicole.

"Girls like flowers, don't they?" Gage asked quietly, tucking some of her hair behind her ear and placing the flower there. "It's a blossom, I think. I thought it would look nice on you..."

Nicole smiled on the outside, but she was frowning on the inside. Why didn't she have these cute picture-perfect moments with Jay? She never minded it when she was dating him, but now that she was kind of just looking back at their relationship, it bugged her. She smiled at Gage and frowned at everything else, which she supposed was good enough. "We do." She chuckled. "And, thank you. Not just for the flower, for everything."

Nicole half considered grabbing his hand, but she descided against it. She didn't want it to seem like she was over Jay 'n' all..

Funny how he was the center of her life even when he wasn't in it.