Archive of Our Own

The funeral could only be described as depressing. Like some sort of movie, the sky was dark and cloudy, and it rained lightly. Barely anybody was there, because, well.. nobody had cared much for Gary Smith.

For a moment they did. Just briefly, when they all thought they could run the school with him. Before that, he was just some sociopath who couldn't focus to save his life and loved torturing people. After that, he was dead. Every student at Bullworth accepted it as it was: that Gary was full of shit and, whether he deserved it or not, died too young to mean anything.

Every student but Petey.

Sure, Gary had bullied him constantly, not missing a chance to throw an insult whenever he could.

..but there were moments that it felt like Petey could stand it. Why he did stand it, until Gary was the one to walk away.

It was nights where they sat on the couch in the common room, watching whatever lame sitcom was airing at the time. Those nights, when Gary was too tired to keep up with his act, when they could laugh at the shitty jokes and steal the remote from each other.. it made the whole friendship worth it.

There were a few days when Gary would buy things for him, too. He'd drop off whatever he had found that day, maybe a bowl of fruits or a snow globe, and wouldn't let Petey mention it at all. Petey had always assumed it was for leverage, to say "remember when I bought you this? now won't you help me with my elaborate plans?", but now that Gary was dead he wish he had known what it really was for.

The rain dropped against the umbrella above Petey. Jimmy held it above him, rubbing his shoulder awkwardly as he sobbed loudly.

It just wasn't true. Gary couldn't be dead. That wasn't the tough and cocky guy he knew. Gary would never let himself die.

Despite all the negative feelings, he appreciated Jimmy for showing up. It meant a lot- considering Jimmy and Gary's huge fight, the fact that he could still show up and pay his respects.

Besides them, Gary's parents, Beatrice, the greasers, Zoe, Mandy, and Ms. Philips had all shown up. Most had their heads down, a few tears falling here and there, but it was mostly because somebody had died, not because they cared for Gary.

His heart ached as he thought about it. This would be it. Gossip would move on to a new subject, people would slowly forget everything about him, and he'd fade away. The most he'd get would maybe be a mention at a high school reunion, but it wouldn't go much further than that. The thought made Petey cry even more, sinking to his knees and covering his eyes.

"Oh gosh, Jimmy. He really is dead, isn't he?" He whimpered, too scared to look up at the boy next to him. He didn't want to see the expression on Jimmy's face.

Nobody said anything, and soon it was over. Just like that. Over, done with and soon to be forgotten.

The next couple of hours were a blur. He vaguely remembered talking with Gary's parents and them letting him go to their house and take whatever he wanted from his room. To keep a physical memory of him, who he was.

The room was messy. A few pillows on the floor, papers crumpled in balls all thrown to a corner and books spread out across the floor. Petey tried to commit it all to memory. This was Gary's personal space, the last bedroom he had ever lived in. It was important.

He took a couple of clothes he remembered loving to see on Gary, a couple of journals he must've wrote in- he didn't have enough time to read them before he took it, an old figurine, and a couple of beer cap bottles Gary liked to collect.

He thanked Gary's parents, ignoring the stench of alcohol coming from Mr. Smith, and returned back to Bullworth. Just a couple months and he'd be able to go home for the summer.

After putting the items down on his desk, Pete sighed sadly and threw himself onto his bed. Tears slipped down his cheeks again, and he let them out. All he could think of was how only three adults had shown up, and he was almost certain that Mr. Smith was drunk and that Mrs. Smith was considering putting herself in that state.

There were barely any people Gary's age, either. It was seriously upsetting to realize that it was his one and only funeral, and it went so poorly. Gary would've hated it. Had he been alive somehow, he would've made sure tons of more people came. He could've found a way to work it out, Pete was sure of it.

There was a knock at his door, and he mumbled weakly. "Come in." He didn't bother to get up at all, curling into himself and clutching his blankets close.

Jimmy opened the door, and Pete could tell he didn't plan on staying long, since he kept it cracked open.

"I didn't want him to die."

"I know." Pete whispered softly. Of course he didn't.

"I just don't want this to ruin your life. You know we can go out whenever. Zoe said we could go on a roadtrip and do whatever. Doesn't matter."

Pete thought about it for a moment, but all he could see were the cons.

"Everything costs money."

Jimmy sighed, fiddling with his fingers absent-mindedly. "Pete. You're going to end up depressed if you let yourself think like that and do nothing all day. Yes, Gary's dead. No, he didn't deserve to die. God, no. He was just a kid. But.."

Pete tuned everything out after that. Those words played in his mind over and over again.

He was just a kid.

He was just a kid.

He was just a kid.

He interrupted Jimmy. "I want to be alone."

"You'll get nowhere like this-"

"Please. Get out." His words were both kind and demanding. He desperately needed solitude, anything to get away from the pity.

"Suit yourself." Jimmy said in an exhausted tone, closing the door behind him with more force than he intended to.

Pete cried again. He was sure that if Gary was alive, he'd be laughing like a hyena at the sight, thinking of all the new jokes he could use. All Pete had done was cry today.

He called his parents that night, wanting more than anything to beg them to take him home, but he knew what their answer would be. He'd have to put up with it for now.

"Love you too." He said at the end of their conversation, placing the phone back and slowly shuffling to the common room couch.

The TV had nothing good on, but it was a better distraction than anything he could do.

Nobody else was awake. He stayed up the rest of the night, knowing he'd regret it later but unable to sleep when he was in this constant state of dread.

The entire time he half expected Gary to pop into the room out of nowhere like he always did. Maybe tease him for sitting alone instead of actually doing something with his life.

The sitcom that usually played around this time came on, and Pete watched it while his hands shook. He imagined the nights he loved so much, how right about now, Gary would be mocking whatever the kid on the screen right now was saying.

"I just fucking hate kids." He used to say.

Petey would laugh and roll his eyes. "Of course you do. I imagine being around them really makes you lose that feeling of control that you love so much."

He would realize he went out of line when Gary glared at him. "I'm going to break every single one of your fingers."

Pete would then shut up real quick, much to Gary's amusement, who would laugh so hard he'd wake up the other boys.

But this was now. The present was tough, but it was true. It wouldn't ever be the same, as much as he hoped and prayed it would be.

Going to class was even worse. All people could talk about was how this school was going to be haunted with Gary's spirit, already coming up with ways you could summon him.

His eyes were tired and begging him to let them close for just a moment, but he wouldn't let it happen. The shirt he wore suddenly felt softer, like his body was accepting anything as a good enough pillow.

When the teacher called on him, he didn't bother to respond. Gary would've been sitting behind him, poking him and messing with him. There was no more Gary. When the teacher tried again, Petey only barely turned his head up, frown evident on his face. He simply shrugged and sat through the whole "this is why we should pay attention" talk, ignoring the quiet giggles all around him.

It was bullshit. Just a couple of days ago, Gary had died in this school. He never really got to know why, probably just his head smacking against the hard wood floor, but it was a depressing enough topic. Didn't that warrant a week or two off? Or at least the teachers being gentler with students?

Again, he cried. Kept his head against his desk so nobody could see his face and sobbed as quietly as he could.

Finally, a week had passed. Petey felt like he was at rock bottom. One week since Gary had passed, and people were starting to move on to whatever was new, like Mandy breaking her arm during cheer practice and Lola supposedly going out with a girl.

It was the lowest point in his life.

The sun was just starting to set, but it felt wrong. A sunset shouldn't be allowed when he couldn't see his friend anymore. His mind was stressed, still trying to comprehend that he'd never see Gary again. That beautifully ugly scar on his eye, never to be seen ever again. His lip quivered as he tried to talk to himself and reassure himself that it'd all be okay.

It was a quick decision.

He slipped his shoes on and walked over to where the greasers usually hung out. He even took the long way to give himself time to back out if he really wanted to. But he didn't. This was going to happen, because he needed to get out of his mind but getting high reminded him too much of Gary getting high, and so he settled with alcohol.

The exchange was short. Johnny had scoffed and held back a laugh. "Somebody as tiny as you could get drunk off an energy drink. Don't go where you don't need to, buddy."

"I don't care." A lie. Of course he cared. Being drunk scared him shitless, but he missed Gary too much. It was getting in the way of his studies and mental health, and so he needed a way out, whether it was temporary or not.

"You'll end up regretting this, but okay. As long as you've got cash."

Oh boy, did he. He was forgetting to go out and actually buy stuff for himself recently, so if it weren't for this, his money wouldn't have been used for a long time. They traded and he walked back to his dorm, hiding the bottle as much as he could, relief filling his body when he successfully made it back to his room without being caught.

The next morning sucked hard. He hated the headache and the sick feeling, but he couldn't get help. He didn't exactly want the school nurse figuring out that he had gotten drunk the night before and cried all night.

His plan somewhat worked. It made his mind more focused on how sick he felt, and he managed to get a few assignments done, but there were still a few moments he felt terrible. Gary could've been there with him.

They could've been sick together.

"Pete." A voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Ms. Philips. He was zoning out in art class again.

"Hm?"

"I know what it's like to lose a loved one, but I promise you that sitting around doing nothing isn't going to make it any better."

Her words just felt plain stupid. If he were Gary, he would've yelled in her face for trying to relate to him just so he'd finish his work. If he were Gary, he'd tell her he misses Gary so much he can't stand the thought of living. But he wasn't Gary, he was Petey, and Petey was too scared of dying.

It was a fear that crept up on him at night when he least expected it. He hated being reminded that whatever he was doing wasn't forever, that his life would soon become a thing of the past, and it'd all drift away just as Gary had.

Gary used to tease him a lot about it. Something about how everybody ended up dead anyway, so why be scared? It was one of the two things you could have in common with anybody else. The other was being born, coming to life. Besides that, everybody was too different.

That way of thinking just never worked with Petey, though. Maybe for a moment, sure, but it'd all circle back. Each second he was coming closer and closer to his future grave, and it scared him to death- no pun intended.

"I'll finish my work before the week ends." He said, no emotion in his expression or words at all.

Ms. Philips opened her mouth to say something else, but gave up and went to go help the other kids.

He painted in weird circles and jagged lines, using dark colors to try and convey emotion or whatever this assignment was about. It was his tribute to Gary, a physical representation of what Petey assumed the inside of his mind had looked like. Dark and exagerrated, with no clear theme or meaning. It was terribly sad, but he couldn't make art using his emotions when they were all some sort of negative one caused by the death of Gary.

"That's a nice painting." Beatrice commented shyly, offering a smile that Petey tried so hard to reciprocate, but it hurt his cheeks and his brain.

He nodded. "Thanks." The awkward silence as they stared at each other lingered for much too long. "So-"

"I saw you yesterday with that bottle. I'm really worried, Pete." She gently placed her hand on his shoulder, and he was fighting the urge to shove her away from him.

After making sure nobody was listening, he spoke in a low voice. "It was for Jimmy, I swear. I didn't want to get in trouble- but I got ten bucks out of it." He lied. Lying was easier than most things nowadays.

"Oh." She straightened up, that pitiful expression leaving her face. Relief washed over Pete.

On the walk back to the dorm, he realized he needed a new pack of pencils, most of his had been stolen, broken, or sharpened to the point that they were as small as his pinky. He walked down to the town (bikes were too fast for how slow his mind had been recently) and got some from a tiny store.

As he stepped out the doors of the shop, he watched a few birds fly through the school, and somehow, they reminded him of Gary. He made a quick decision to go to the graveyard.

The walk there was so long that it was starting to get dark, and he really regretted not taking his bike. The gates of the graveyard creaked open as he slid inside, sighing quietly when he noticed nobody else was there. Good. He could grieve by himself.

He slowly walked over to Gary's grave, sitting down in front of it and fighting back the tears that wanted to come out at the mere sight of that stone, his name on it, the dates.. it was starting to seem like a bad idea.

"No. I need to face you." He said out loud. If he didn't do this now, he'd find himself paying greasers for alcohol every week for the rest of his life. He needed to get whatever was inside his mind out into the open and walk away- not forget, but accept.

"Yeah, Petey, come down here and face me!" A voice mocked. His mind could only register it as a voice, because there was no way it was the voice. This had to have been a prank played by the bullies or the jocks, maybe just some asshole kids.

That seemed weird though, didn't it? Who else called him Petey but Gary and Jimmy? Maybe a few other classmates when they wanted to tease him, but this was way too far to go for a prank. He had also walked all the way here, and he was positive that nobody had followed him or even passed by him more than once.

"Who is this?" He called out, starting to stand up.

"It's me, Petey! Your old pal, Gary. Don't you remember? Don't tell me that you've gotten even dumber since I left your sorry ass.."

It had to be him. He dropped to his knees and pressed his ear against the ground on top of Gary's grave.

"Gary? It can't be."

"Oh, but it can." The voice was so snarky and confident, it could only be Gary.

And so Petey was sure that he had somehow developed schizophrenia and was starting to hear his dead ex-friend. He got up. "I'm a nutcase. I need to call Jimmy."

"Jimmy?! That piece of shit? If you go to him before you go to me, I swear on my life I will snap your neck!" He threatened before correcting himself. "My.. undead.. life? Whatever. You know what I mean!"

Pete shivered, wrapping his arms around himself as if they were a shield. "You're dead! You're fucking dead! I'm going crazy, this has to be the alcohol."

"You drank alcohol? Without me?! I'm going to.."

It was a long list of violent threats, some of which Petey was sure could make its way onto a horror movie. Something that could be used for the big first kill that would make an impression on the audience.

He heard a lot of noise coming from down under the ground, but he couldn't pull himself away. Maybe he was crazy, but the hallucination would have to end somewhere, right? Who was he kidding, he didn't know shit about stuff like that! Zoe probably would.

As he tried to think up a plan on how to get help from Zoe without admitting that he should be in the looney bin, lots of dirt had been clawed at and crawled through.

A loud noise of pain came from below him, and a hand poked up from the dirt. Pete shrieked loudly, falling to floor and scrambling to get back up, but all his limbs were too shaky to keep himself stable.

Then came the head. "Surprise, Petey."

Howls erupted from.. whatever it was. Gary? A zombie Gary? A.. whatever the fuck! It was terrifying, to say the least. Petey watched him with wide eyes as he crawled out, suit dirtied as well as his body.

His skin was tinted a light gray, veins dark blue and prominent. A dark and dusty red circled around his eyes, and overall he looked.. fucking crazy. Unreal. Otherwordly. Like a person brought back from the dead.

He shook his hands and legs around, stretching out his joints and sighing with relief after every pop.

"Don't hurt me." Was all Pete could say. If this were real, which it had to be- every detail about Gary was the exact same. Almost every detail- just excluding the parts that made him look dead.

Gary walked over to him slowly, leaning over his cowering body. "I really, really want to. You and Jimmy get to live, while I rot away in my grave? How'd I even die again?"

Pete shrugged, feeling like he couldn't even breathe.

"Exactly. I was hoping for something cooler, you know? Maybe a stake through the heart, or, y'know, actually falling to the ground instead of Crabblesnitch's office floor. Definitely would've made an impression on the younger kids, am I right?"

Pete couldn't stop staring, trying to figure out what all of this was. Whether or not it was real.

Gary extended his hand, but his nails were covered in dirt, and each vein could be seen clearly. It didn't mix well with the new dead-looking color of his skin, and Pete thought he might throw up. He curled into a ball, whispering reassurances to himself.

The hand was pulled back, and Gary scoffed. "You're just as weak as before. You're still a little girl, Petey. Man the fuck up."

Pete broke out into sobs like he had been for so long. It was his only way out of tough situations. He had to expel every bad thought through a waterfall of tears and hope that it was all over once his eyes dried. This would be over after a couple of minutes.

"Okay! I just can't wait for people to come down here with their popcorn and soda! I'm sure they'll be glad to watch the new drama that just released." He spoke with such fury that it only made Pete cry even more. "Yeah, the movie's starring this new actress- critics say she's a little bitch, but man can she cry on cue!"

The words were just as hurtful as whatever trick Petey was sure his mind was playing on him. It felt somewhat real. Only Gary would make fun of his crying so elaborately. So weirdly. He stood up shakily, legs wobbling back and forth to keep himself from going still. Just in case he needed to run.

"Is this real?"

"The movie? Of course it is, and I'll let you get a front row ticket if you-"

Pete slapped him. In the face. His eyes widened when his hand really did feel like it made contact with Gary's face. Gary's undead face. Then came the realization. If this was real, and it was starting to look like it was, he just slapped Gary Smith in the fucking face. That mixed in with all that anger from being buried and somehow brought back to life.. he was in so much trouble.

"Oh, fuck me." He whispered to himself, heart starting to race as he dashed past Gary, heading for the gates. His run was stopped by a hand grabbing the back of his shirt and throwing him onto the ground. The sound as his head made contact with concrete was not satisfying at all.

Gary stood above him. "I should kill you right now. Then you'll be just like me." He laughed. "But I could save some time to break every single one of your limbs before I do that, right?"

"Is someone there?!" A new voice called out, and in seconds Gary was gone. Pete's head ached and it took up most of his focus, so he was unsure of where his undead buddy had went, but part of him wondered if he had never been there in the first place.

Pete got up even slower this time, skull throbbing. "Sorry.."

"Oh. It's just you, Pete." They responded as they got closer. The sight of bright orange hair let him know it was Zoe.

"Hi, Zoe." He said quietly, a hand around his head protectively.

She tilted her head as she spoke. "What are you doing here so late?"

He took a moment, forgetting that he could talk back to her. It'd be friendly, and it wouldn't be like talking back to Gary. He could speak. "I could say the same to you." His flow had been ruined a bit, because it didn't sound nearly as smooth as he wanted it to. She didn't seem to care much anyway.

"Visiting an old friend." She said calmly, moving closer to him, watching as he cradled his head.

"I was too."

"Gary?"

He bit his lip for a moment. She wasn't the most sensitive person, not by a longshot, but he just had to wonder at times if she knew how blunt she was.

He spoke through his teeth. "Yes, Gary." He sighed.

"Oh." She nodded. "I'm sorry."

He wanted to cry again, but he wasn't sure if his body was even able to produce anymore tears. "It's fine. Everybody has said that already." He gave a fake smile and walked away, breathing in and out slowly, wishing he could soothe the ache in his head.

After a long while of sleepless nights, he did finally sleep. It was weird, but whatever he had saw scared him to point that sleep seemed like the only way out. He couldn't even remember his dream when he woke up, and he focused in all of his classes as much as he could.

Then it was over. Everybody was free to do whatever, and he was sure his brain would explode if he stared at another sheet of paper for too long. So he did what anybody else would do in his situation.

He went back to the graveyard, just as the sun was setting, and sure enough, Gary was there. Sitting against his own grave stone, fiddling with an old watch that most definitely didn't belong to him.

So it was real. It had to be! His mind wasn't this creative, and this Gary was scarily accurate to real Gary. He cleared his throat as he walked up, making sure to keep a far enough distance to protect himself.

"Aw, Petey, you came back to see me? You gonna ask me on a date?"

"What? Ew! No." Pete was genuinely perplexed, but he moved on from it. "I just need to know I'm not crazy."

Gary snorted and then crossed his arms. "I think you are, but I'm here. Like, for real. I somehow can still think and move and talk.. I wonder if I could eat.."

"Well, you're not bound to this place, are you? Why don't you go get a happy meal or something?"

Gary glared at him, but luckily it seemed like he had forgotten the slap from yesterday. "First of all, I haven't tried leaving because I've only been alive- undead alive for a day. Second of all, happy meals are for kids, dumbass."

"O..kay." Pete said awkwardly, making sure not to sit down in case he had to run. "So this is real? I'm not hallucinating?"

"Pretty sure you're not."

Pete nodded, looking around to make sure nobody else was there. "Wow. Fuck."

Gary sat up, and the slight power that Pete felt he had faded away. Gary walked over to him, looking him up and down, and stopped just inches away from him.

"You look terrible."

Pete frowned. "You fucking died, Gary. I haven't exactly been motivated to do much lately."

Gary snickered. "Life must be so meaningless without me, right?"

It was hard to argue when this was such a relieving thing to Petey. Sure, Gary was dead.. but also not? He was like a zombie, just without the brain eating part. He could see him again. He didn't have to face accepting death ever again. It was selfish to think, but he knew Gary couldn't get away with nearly as much as he did while he was alive. If people saw him, he'd probably end up in some sort of testing lab like in a bad sci-fi movie. This would be his secret. Their secret.

"I guess it is. Jimmy hasn't really-"

He got struck in the face. So Gary didn't forget about that slap.

"Ow! What the hell?!"

Gary smirked and pat his head as if he didn't just punch it. "Just payback. Now stop mentioning Jimmy unless it's an elaborate plan to kill him."

"W-What?" Pete laughed nervously, hoping that was a joke. It probably wasn't.

"W-What?" He mocked. "Why should he be able to survive that fall? Why not me? What did I ever do?"

He knew what he had done, but there was a hint of actual confusion in his tone. Jealousy as well. Jimmy made it out, probably became king of the school, but Gary was left to die and become a laughing stock for the rest of time. It wasn't fair. Not at all.

"Nothing. You're.. we're all kids, Gary. I don't know why this happened." Pete hesitated before patting Gary's shoulder, trying to offer another form of comfort.

"Not fair." Was all Gary said before sitting back down. He played with that watch again. Pete decided he hated it. He didn't want a reminder of time, time that had been taken away from Gary.

He huffed and started to walk away, but it was like his feet grew heavier each step he took. He had spent what felt like forever grieving and crying over Gary. He couldn't leave him- he wouldn't. Turning on his heel, he ran back and sat down in front of Gary.

"Come with me."

Gary scoffed and turned away. "Summer hasn't even come yet. You still live in the dorms. If anybody saw me-"

"Please. Come with me."

They stared into each other's eyes for a moment. Gary's eyes looked so.. dead. It scared Petey so much, but it made him feel guilty. This wasn't right.

They got up and went back to Bullworth. It was dark out now, so nobody saw them. The air was warm and humid, but it was comfortable as long as they were with each other.

Pete's cheek still stung, and every few seconds he was touching it to see if it still hurt. Of course it did every single time, but it didn't stop him from going again to check. After what was probably the tenth time, Gary grabbed his hand and forced it to stay at his side.

"Jeez."

Gary rolled his eyes and they continued to walk. A bright light appeared, and they both started to panic. A car was coming, and if they knew anything about the Bullworth drama and then saw Gary it would be over.

"Shit!" Petey yelled, gripping onto Gary's arm- ignoring how cold it felt- and jumping into the nearest bush. Moments later, the car zoomed by. Had they stayed in the road, they would've either been seen or ran over.

Once it was far enough, they poked their heads out. Pete's mind and heart was racing, his body now high on adrenaline. He sighed and let himself fall back down to ground. Gary started laughing, eventually falling over right next to him.

The smile on his face was like seeing the sun after a long rainy week. Pete thought he'd never see it again, never hear that stupid and obnoxious giggle, never feel his heart beat and face blush like this for Gary.

He thought life sucked. Honestly, it still did, because he still got bullied a lot and was behind in his school work, and technically Gary was still dead.. but it sucked less because he was undead. Pete still had his Gary, and so he could stand everything else a little better now.

They giggled all the way back to the school, recalling embarrassing moments and old memories Pete had long forgotten.

"So, I guess being in your grave gave you time to think and remember all of that."

Gary shrugged. "Somewhat."

"Somewhat?" Pete repeated, but Gary didn't say anything else.

He cleared his throat. "How are you.. y'know.. alive?"

Gary thought about how to put it, and then he started laughing again. He stopped when Pete sighed. "So, I die, right?"

Pete tried not to groan. "Right."

"It was dark for a couple of moments, and everything was just ringing and it was so goddamn annoying," he clenched his fists. "but then everything turned white. My eyes were burning, but I could see a shit ton of people. They were all waving at me and trying to beckon me or whatever, saying 'come on, it's time!'"

Pete was genuinely intrigued. "So?"

"So I turned around and said fuck it. Why would I want to go to heaven? I didn't even want to die! And you didn't see how long that tunnel was. I probably would've been walking for days."

The shorter boy's jaw was now on the floor. "You just.. decided to not die? And now you're here as a weird zombie thing?" Before Gary could answer, he yelled out again. "And heaven is real?! What the fuck?!"

Gary pinched his nose. "Quiet down, dumbass. I guess heaven is real- why are you even surprised? If this," he gestured to himself. "is real, I don't think heaven is that much of a long shot. I didn't feel like actually being dead yet, you know?"

"You're fucking crazy." Pete said, shaking his head.

They finally stopped in front of Bullworth. The walk hadn't been as hard as anticipated, but now they faced a real challenge.

The prefects must've also been unnatural beings, because they never slept. They stayed in their designated areas and kept an eye out for any sort of troublemaking. They were practically thirsty for it, so much so to the point that they'd mumble about how badly they wanted to take a kid down.

While Pete was thinking up a plan, Gary had already thought of one by himself.

"So, I can-"

He was cut off when he got shoved through the gates and onto the floor, letting out a yelp of pain when his already hurt cheek hit the concrete. The nearest prefect noticed it immediately, and when Pete looked up to ask Gary for help.. he was gone. He had left Pete to fend for himself.

And so he did. He got up as quick as he could and started running, legs burning from how high they were going. He just barely made it to the boys dorm and he faintly felt a hand on his shirt, but he got through the doors in time.

He panted and leaned against the wall momentarily, trying to regain the breath he had lost from that chase. Once he was stable enough, he walked to his dorm room. His expression was full of anger as he marched in there, not reciprocating Gary's pleased look as he laid on Pete's bed.

"What's wrong, Petey?" He said as if he wasn't the exact problem.

"I could've gotten in so much trouble."

"Yeah, it was either you or me. You should've acted faster, buddy." He smirked, motioning with his hand to come closer. Pete hesitantly listened. "If I had been caught, who knows what would have happened? I'm dead, remember?!" He grabbed the collar of Pete's shirt as he said the words, tugging him close for emphasis and then shoving him away.

He didn't bother with letting Pete respond. "Your bed is nice."

"Okay." Pete locked the door and started to take off his shoes, wishing the night would already be over with.

"This is so fucking weird." He said after minutes and minutes of silence. It was becoming unbearable.

"You asked me to come here."

"Would you have rather I not?"

Gary stood up and kicked his shoes off as well, looking down at himself and frowning. He changed the subject. "I'm still wearing this stupid suit. How much money do you think my parents spent on it? A hundred? Maybe five-hundred?"

"I think.. it doesn't matter. Please put something else on.. it feels so awkward with you wearing this."

"That's a weird way of asking for me to undress for you." He winked and then started to look through Pete's clothes, upset that most of them wouldn't fit. He settled with a big t-shirt he assumed originally belonged to Pete's dad, and he simply slipped off his pants and threw all the fancy clothing in the corner. "God, I hope I never have to wear that shit again. Next time I'm buried you better make sure I'm wearing something actually cool."

He then moved from the closet to the desks, searching through them without any permission.

"Hey, what the hell?" Pete said, grabbing his wrist to stop him from moving on to the next drawer.

"What?"

"You're searching through my stuff."

Gary spoke sarcastically. "Aww, good job, Petey! You have eyes!"

Pete had half the mind to slap him again, but after that earlier punch and shove from Gary, he knew it wasn't worth it.

"Whatever." He shut off the light and laid down in his bed, letting out a sigh of relief as his body relaxed into his mattress. It only took a few moments for him to fall asleep, and the sounds of drawers being opened and shut faded away.

"I swear I'm not on drugs or anything! I guess I'm just happier now." Pete shut his locker, starting to walk with Jimmy.

Jimmy shook his head. "I just don't believe it. How come you're suddenly so happy? You're sure you're not on drugs?"

It had been a week since Pete had let Gary hide out in his dorm room, but the happiness was starting to disappear. They had spent a lot of nights together, but Gary wasn't even able to leave the room unless he wanted to be found out. He as a whole was a secret, which wasn't as easy to hide as one little thing about him. It made him restless. Pete was often coming back to a rearranged room or a messy one with all his stuff thrown around. He told himself he didn't mind, because Gary was finally with him again, and he was already dead, so he deserved to do at least a few of the things he wanted.

"Hello?" Jimmy brought him back from his own world, snapping his fingers in his face.

"No. Not on drugs."

Jimmy thought for a moment, trying to think up any explanation for Pete's sudden change in mood. He would've thought it normal if Gary had simply moved away or just never became friends with them again, but Gary had died. Fucking died! Not too long ago, either. Jimmy was still having trouble coming to terms with it- and that's with the fact that they hated each other. He couldn't begin to imagine the pain Petey would've should've been in.

His face lit up as if he had hit the jackpot. "You had sex, didn't you? You have to be fucking somebody, that or drugs. You've said no to drugs, so-"

"Yes, Jimmy, I had sex." He lied. It was enough to get Jimmy off his back for now.

"Oh, shit." Jimmy held his hand out for a low-five, but Pete didn't get it. He gave it to himself. "My man."

"Mhm.. definitely makes a guy happier." He said awkwardly. It was becoming weird, so he decided to leave. "Uh, anyway.. gotta go!" He ran away back to the dorms.

Jimmy shrugged and walked away.

The door closed behind Pete quietly, and his mind was already preparing itself for whatever nonsense Gary had done today.

Gary was laid out across the floor, rolling from side to side, clearly bored out of his mind.

"What's up with you?" Pete said, placing his books down on his desk.

He didn't exactly respond. "I'd take being medicated over this..."

"Hm. Okay." Pete ignored it, starting to work on his homework.

He had only gotten through a couple of questions when he felt fingers crawling up and down his back. He attempted to ignore it, but it became overbearing at a point.

"Yes?" He said, exasperated.

"Petey. I'm bored."

"Maybe you should've gone to heaven instead of coming back then." Pete replied simply, returning to his work.

His ear was pulled gently, then tugged on. He could stand it- it wasn't the worst somebody had done to him. Then Gary's hands came to his face, poking his cheeks, tracing patterns on his forehead, crawling down his nose, making little circles on his chin.. all while Gary made little sound effects with his mouth.

The pencil he held had torn a hole through the page and made a mark on the one below it. He dropped it and turned around.

"Fuck! What do you want me to do?" He didn't mean to yell, but he did. He just wanted some peace.

Gary seemed to feel actually hurt. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms like he always did, but it was weird now. Like it was his way of coping.

It clicked. Gary used to be able to see and talk to whoever. Now, though? All he had was Pete, and here was, snapping at him. Though it was warranted- his mind was about to break from how bored he was.

"Sorry."

"I hate you." Gary said, turning around and getting onto the bed.

Now Pete was hurt. Gary was also all he had, and now he hated him. They were really bad for each other, but it was so hard to resist the other. Pete even entertained himself with the thought that Gary didn't come back from death because the walk to heaven was too long, but because he had wanted to see him.

It was his own little cute fantasy, one he'd keep secret to himself because he knew it was not true.

"You got my beer caps?" Gary spoke up, his hands now holding a box Pete had kicked under his bed after coming home from the funeral. "My journals, too? Where the fuck did you get this, creep."

Pete got up and sat down in front of him on the bed. He giggled tiredly, hating the memory of that day. "Your parents let me come to your home and take some stuff from your room to keep. I figured you would've liked it if I kept one of your collections- this one is the best. Also, I didn't read anything. I think I cried every time I even opened it up." He laughed.

Gary nodded. "Cool. I do like it. Thanks."

"Yeah?"

"Of course I do. I would've never seen these again." He skimmed through one of the journals, apparently landing an embarrassing page because he slammed it shut and put it back in the box immediately.

Now they were just silent and weird.

"I'm gonna go get a soda."

Gary nodded. "Can you get me one too? I haven't tried drinking anything yet."

"Gotcha." Petey gave him a thumbs up and left the room, heading to the common room to get the sodas.

Jimmy sat on the couch. He perked up at the sound of somebody else there. "Hey, Pete."

"Oh. Hey." Pete responded awkwardly, hands shaking slightly. Any time he talked to somebody in the dorm, his mind convinced him that they somehow knew, and that they'd take Gary away from him as soon as possible. He took a deep breath. Even if Jimmy knew, he'd never do that.

"You wanna tell me who you fucked?"

The question was so out of the blue that Pete almost choked on nothing. "Um- Well-"

"I really won't judge." Jimmy said. Then he corrected himself. "Not that I think it was anybody weird- I'm just saying, you know, boy or girl.."

"God, you sound like my mom!"

"What?" Jimmy raised a brow, but then shrugged it off. "Really. I wanna know."

Pete shook his head. "I'm not telling you."

Jimmy groaned and got up. "At least tell me what it was like! I'm really worried you screwed this up, I gotta make sure you're doing it right."

"Thank you, Jimmy. You're very encouraging." Pete said sarcastically, going back to his room.

Jimmy didn't fail to notice that he was carrying two sodas, and the click of the lock on Pete's door. He had never used it before a couple of days ago.

Gary clapped his hands together when he saw the soda, excited to actually drink something again.

They sipped their drinks at the same time, and Gary frowned after a few minutes. "Guess my body still works the same. I was kinda hoping the soda would seep out of my ears and shit."

"That's disgusting, why would you want that?"

"Well, I just don't know how all my organs and shit would be working!"

Pete laughed. "If you're back from the dead, just be happy with that! Don't worry about how your body is now- that's so gross."

"I could've made a damn good horror movie with this mind."

Pete nodded. "I'm sure you could've."

They finished their drinks. Pete put the can down on his nighstand, whereas Gary just threw it to the floor and curled up under the covers.

The sleeping situation had been weird. They usually put a pillow between each other, but a few times he had woken up with the pillow thrown to the ground and their legs against each other. He never brought it up, and neither did Gary.

Pete cleared his throat. As much as he loved having Gary back, he had to address a few problems regarding them being in the same dorm until summer came- and, of course, Gary might still spend his time with Pete in his room.

"Yeah?" Gary said after taking a few moments to decide whether or not he wanted to actually pay attention to this.

"So.. I really like you-"

"Gay." Gary commented, holding back a giggle.

"..I really like having you back." Pete corrected himself. "..but I'm kind of.."

Gary seemed to have a sudden burst of energy. "Don't fucking kick me out. I'll kill you, I swear I'll kill you if you do." He was threatening Pete, but there was genuine worry under it all. Worry that this was about to be a "I need space" talk.

"What? No- no! I'd never!" He shook his head back and forth aggresively, trying to put emphasis on that. "I just think that we're going to have some really awkward moments."

"Like what?" Gary fucking knew what.

"Gary. We're teenage boys.."

"Yes, yes, you're gay for me and want to jerk off to the idea of dating me every once in a while. I promise not to look." He said it all through a smirk, clearly pleased with his own joke.

"No. Stop it with that shit. I think of girls sometimes, okay? I'm pretty sure you do too, so I think we're going to need to figure out a way to-"

"We can just-"

"Holy fucking shit, Gary! Stop interrupting me!"

Gary chuckled quietly before placing his hand on Pete's shoulder. "No, seriously, I have an idea."

"Sure."

"C'mon, don't you trust me? I know you've thought of it. I can't lie, I may have or may have not also thought of it."

Pete titled his head. "Thought of what?"

"You're killing me, Pete. I gotta know who you're fucking."

Well, now it wasn't a lie anymore. Gary even had that stupid limp Jimmy said girls always got from him. Pete still didn't believe it.

"I really don't think you wanna know." Pete smirked, settling down at the cafeteria table. Neither of them had food, just some milk.

"Try me."

Pete knew Jimmy wouldn't be up for it, so he just shook his head. "Nope. You're just not ready." He said smugly, finally having the upperhand for once.

"You're terrible." Jimmy sighed, but his attention was taken away by Zoe walking into the cafeteria and sitting next to them, starting a conversation with Jimmy that Pete could care less about.

He eventually got up and waved goodbye before hurrying back to his room.

Gary was whistling some jolly tune, doodling in his notebook. He threw it as if it didn't matter when Pete came into the room.

"How are you?" Pete asked, taking off his shoes and sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Please. Don't do this small talk shit. You'll make me even more bored than I already am."

"Why don't we just try going out? Do you even think people will notice?"

Gary laughed as if it were the greatest joke ever, but his face quickly switched back to neutral. "Look at me. I'm not exactly the most attractive guy out there."

"I think you are."

They hesitated before kissing. They had last night- done even more than that last night, but this felt real.

"I appreciate it, but I'm not. I think I'm more haunted house material right now." He got cozy on the bed.

Pete slid next to him, closing his eyes. It was still light out, but he felt like he could fall asleep easily next to Gary.

And he did, but his dream was shitty. It was hard to remember, but it was something along the lines of Gary crying in a corner, some subplot about Jimmy needing candy and a scooter, another subplot about Zoe turning into a bird, but it would somehow all circle back to Gary, sad and alone.

He woke up earlier than he typically did, and all he could do was stare at Gary, who was also awake. They didn't speak until people could be heard in the halls outside the room.

There had been time to think about it. This whole thing was selfish, wasn't it? "Gary."

"Hm?" Gary seemed a bit unfocused, staring off into nothing.

"You should go to heaven. This is.. I don't know."

Gary snapped back into it quickly, slapping Pete across the face. He took it surprisingly well. "What the hell? We fuck, and now you want me to go?! You're an asshole, I should-" He stopped himself.

"I'm sorry. It's not like that, I just had this terrible dream... Gary, you deserve to rest. I don't think you should've died, but I also think you shouldn't spend forever in my room, bored and begging for attention.."

"Oh, that's what you think of me?!" He was becoming enraged, but under that anger, a plan was brewing in his mind.

"No!" Pete tried to correct himself.

Gary grabbed him by the throat, starting to choke him, when he suddenly stopped. "No.. no. You're right." It was strange. His tone was practiced and calm. Something had to be going on, but Petey, as smart as he actually was, decided the better idea would be to just go along with it.

"I guess I'd have to be at the graveyard again, huh? I don't really know how to go back." He faked a chuckle, Pete noticed but didn't care. God, why couldn't he just point out how fake this was?

And so they ended up back by Gary's grave. They had brought something stolen from Jimmy's room, a bow and arrow. Petey sucked at using these, but they didn't have time to find a gun, and no way in hell was he stabbing Gary.

Gary stood in front of his grave, facing away from Pete, who held the weapon in his hands shakily.

"Um.. maybe we should say something first." Pete suggested.

Gary nodded. "Okay. I'm going to miss you, and I hope you keep my collection and shit all nice and tidy. Thanks for letting me stay in your room."

Pete showed weakness. Just for a moment. His hands lowered the weapon as he thought about it, but it was enough time for Gary to turn around and slam him into the ground, grabbing a rock and preparing to slam it into his head. Pete squirmed beneath him, a more confused than anything else expression on his face. What the actual fuck was his life?!

"Gary!! Are you mad?! What- are you trying to kill me?"

Gary knew it was a weird plan, so he shrugged awkwardly before going back to forcing him to stay down. "You can't say I have to go back to heaven if you're dead too!"

"Oh, and I thought you were supposed to be the smart one-" Gary punched him in the face. This was either the second or third time it happened, but it still hurt like hell each time. He grabbed his cheek, but managed to kick Gary off of him, preventing the rock from smashing into his skull, only missing it by a few seconds.

He struggled to get up, grabbing the bow and arrow and aiming it. He missed the first shot, something Gary laughed at for a second before trying to run towards him.

Pete aimed again, getting Gary through the neck.

Gary froze, looking at the arrow that was going through him, and then back at Petey. "Holy shit." He fell to the floor, causing Pete to drop everything and get on his knees next to him, cradling him.

"It's okay.. It's okay- oh, fuck, I'm so sorry." He meant it. He knew this was the only right option, but it hurt.

Gary's pained noises faded into laughs, and before Pete could question it, an arrow Gary had grabbed from the floor was forced into his neck as well.

Pete's head was ringing loudly, and everything turned black when he fell over. The ringing felt like it went on for forever until a bright white light turned on, and.. it was pretty accurate to Gary's description.

Some weird random people he had never seen before stood in front of those shiny gates, beckoning him and saying all sorts of things to try and make him closer.

..But goddamnit, Gary was right. It was a really long fucking walk.

He did just what his friend had done.

Turning his back on literal heaven, he walked away from it.

So he found himself opening his eyes again. And sure enough, there was Gary, arrow through his neck and all. He had moved them by a tree so he could sit upright, and it seemed to be a different day now, early in the afternoon.

Pete moved his fingers, and it felt like his body had never moved before. His joints were stiff. He looked down at himself, and his skin was identical to Gary's- all tinted gray and veins clear as day. The arrow was also still in his neck.

He laughed, sat up and stretched out just as Gary had when he crawled out from his grave. "This is crazy."

Gary snickered. "I know."

"You killed me."

"I knew you'd come back."

They walked down to the town, ignoring all the people who noticed them. They'd deal with that later.

"So, what do you wanna do?" Gary asked, hands in his pockets.

Pete shrugged. "Probably get something to eat."

"Alright."

"Who makes a walk to heaven that long?"

"I'm not sure. It's weird, isn't it?"

Across the street from them, Jimmy had just left a shop with a box of chocolates. He dropped them all to the floor at the sight of the two boys.

"What the actual fuck."