Chapter 15 – Present:

We played mini games and parkour maps for most of the afternoon. We all had a blast and were nearly done with our final parkour map of the day. The recording session had already gone on for 8 hours.

"Well boys, I think we should wrap this up here, thank you all for watching-!" Mitch began. After everyone said their outros, we all stopped recording and went back to the Skype call, staring at each other for a while.

"I'm going to edit this and get it ready for upload tomorrow." Mitch declared. "I love you all, goodnight, take care of yourselves." We all gave him a curious look, smiling still, but confused. Mitch shrugged. "Just... thought I'd say it is all." Mitch determined. "Bye."

"Bye, Mitch." We all chanted. He left the Skype call, and once he did, I gave everyone a concerned look.

"Mitch overdosed on Tylenol. He's fine; it was only 3 more pills than what he should've had, but still..." I informed them. Everyone but Lachlan seemed generally shocked.

"He must really not be doing well..." Preston murmured, Rob nodding along.

"What caused it?" Vikk demanded.

"He was in pain, that's all we know." Lachlan informed them, shrugging.

"Well... keep an eye on him, update us if anything else happens, I might just come down and visit again..." Ryan stated, nodding slight.

"Yeah, we'll all come visit if it happens again." Rob declared. I nodded, smiling slightly.

"I'm sure Mitch'll like that." I assured. "Well, Lachlan and I should go, we need to eat dinner." I informed them, my stomach growling. Everyone laughed and said we were dismissed to leave, as if we had to wait for their approval. Lachlan and I left the call, meeting in the hallway as we went downstairs, the aroma of food quickly filling our noses. By the time we got to the kitchen, Mitch, who was once again dressed in his famous checkered hoodie, and Alanna were both sat down and eating, talking. Mitch was still smiling, which caused me to smile as well. Lachlan and I sat down, taking our plates and eating along with them, joining the conversation here and there, but letting Mitch and Alanna take over mostly.

"Hey." Lachlan finally interrupted. Mitch and Alanna looked to him, now silent, both of them smiling. He chuckled, shaking his head partially. "What's up? Why are you so happy all of a sudden?" Mitch chuckled, shrugging.

"I don't know!" He announced.

"Alright then." Lachlan mumbled, continuing to eat.

~Mitch~

I'm happy. We talked all dinner long about whatever was on our minds, mainly Alanna and I leading the entire conversation. So happy... Once dinner was over, we all loaded our plates into the dishwasher, then went into the living room, sitting down to watch some TV. So, so happy... We ended up watching Castle, oh, I'll miss this. Everything peachy. Jerome was next to me, Alanna on his other side. I let my arm rest around his shoulders, one of his arms draped over Alanna's shoulders.

Season 7; Episode 22. 42 minutes long and titled: Dead from New York. The newest episode of Castle. The episode was great, they always were, but being close to Jerome like this... that was better. Meaningful. By the time we finished watching the hour long show, it was around 10pm. I stood, stretching. I'd already wrote another journal entry for today, so I didn't need to bother with that. I made my way to the front door.

"Mitch?" Jerome called. I looked over my shoulder to him and the others, all of them giving me confused looks. "Where are you going?" As my hand hovered over the shiny, smooth doorknob, I just smiled back.

"I was just going to take a walk, get some fresh air. I was planning on going about a mile or so, be back around... 11:30, maybe?" I declared, glancing at the clock. Jerome glanced to Lachlan, but then nodded, motioning to the door.

"Could, I uh, come with you-?"

"No." I snapped gently. "No, I want to go alone. I need time to... clear my head, my minds been everywhere recently, that's all." I assured him. He bit his bottom lip, looking concerned.

"And if you aren't back...?"

"Give me till 11:45, if I'm not back by then, then something might be wrong, I'll call you though, I have my phone on me." I pulled out my phone, waving it a bit as Jerome slowly exhaled, faintly smiling with a slight nod.

"Ok..." He breathed. I nodded, saying bye as I opened the door and closed it behind me. I sighed heavily, still smiling. That was harder than I thought. Beginning to quietly hum the tune of a song, I plugged in my headphones and pushed them gently into my ears, beginning to play the song as I stuck my hands in my pockets, gently caressing the folded up paper in my hands.

"Well this is goodbye, the end of you and me... We've set this boat ablaze, and pushed it out to sea. And nothing that's on board, will survive... This is goodbye."

"Bye, Jerome..." I whispered as the sad, country like music softly played in my ears, still smiling as I walked the darkened roads. Alone.

~Jerome~

I paced madly back and forth, my stomach turning as I continued to check the clock every other minute, worried sick. Why wouldn't I be? Its 11:35- he was supposed to be back 5 minutes ago!

"Jerome, calm down, I'm sure he's fine." Lachlan assured, but not sounding certain either.

"Jerome, honey, you're stressing too much over this, please." Alanna placed her hands on my shoulders and stopped me. I disconnected myself from her, rushing down the hallway and going into Mitch's room. I saw immediately that his journal was in a different spot than where I left it, picking it up and flipping to the bookmarked page. I gasped. Dear... Jerome...

Dear Jerome,

Hey, it's Mitch. So, I woke up, and heard you and Lachlan talking. You were reading my journal... I had the strangest feeling someone was. I'm glad it was you. I know you're reading this. It's probably past the time I said I'd be back, right? Well... I lied. Honestly, I wasn't planning on coming back. I bet you're scared. But, catching you reading my journal was a blessing. Really, it was. It makes this... easier for me.

Jerome, I love you. I wasn't kidding. I love you. I LOVE YOU. But you love Alanna. It's ok though... I don't mind anymore. I'm happy. I broke it Jerome. I did it. What we've tried doing for at least 5 millennium. I've told you I love you. During the whisper challenge- remember? I did it Jerome! Are you proud of me? I'm not crazy. I love you. Please forgive me. I LOVE YOU!

If I'm not back yet, then track my cell phone. I'll explain when you get to me. I promise. Just listen, ok? You just have to listen.

<3 Mitch

I threw his journal away from me and rushed from the room. He loves me...? Pulling out my phone, I pulled up a track my phone app and typed in the information I needed, grabbing my car keys as a map to his location showed up on my screen.

"Jerome?" Lachlan questioned. Him and Alanna looked very concerned, worried.

"Read his journal and stay here- I need to go!" I yelled at them as I ran out the front door, not bothering to close it as I hopped into my car, slamming the door behind me. The road was black and oddly quiet, not a car in sight as I drove. I was trying not to go too far over the speed limit, but all the same, I wanted to find Mitch. Why?Why would he run off? Why not tell me? WHY?!

It took about 15 minutes to pull up to a bridge, driving along it as my stomach turned. When I saw the familiar red and black checkered hoodie sitting on the ground, folded up neatly, I parked my car and hopped out. Not bothering to close the door as a clash of thunder started a downpour of rain. I knelt down besides his hoodie, picking it up as his phone slipped out, being caught by the headphones in my grasp. I slipped his phone into my pocket, unfolding his hoodie as a note fell out of it. I caught it as it slowly floated towards the ground, unfolding it with shaky hands.

2580.

I tossed the note away, pulling out his phone. I already knew that was the password, so he wants me on his phone? Why? As I turned his phone on, I slipped in a headphone, the screen lighting up the notes app, already opened to a particular note.

Dear Jerome,

If you're reading this, then understand that I don't regret my actions. If you're reading this, it means you truly care about me. It makes me happy.You know all my secrets now. So let me tell you one more.For when the clock strikes midnight, I shall run from the palace that's your soul and never return. Find me and end this fairytale.

End it how you may, for I'll never move, I'll never leave. I'll wait for you. Because you and I are never far from our perfect ending.

Goodbye. &feature=youtu.be

<3 Mitch

Hesitantly, I tapped the link present in the note, his phone opening up the YouTube app and going directly to some song called This Is Goodbye, by the Randy Rogers Band. The music started up, the song already beginning to sound sad. Just listen, ok?

"Well this is goodbye, the end of you and me... We've set this boat ablaze, and pushed it out to sea... And nothing that's on board, will survive... This is goodbye..." I couldn't breathe.

"Well this is goodbye, not the kind we've had before... We're out of one more tries, there won't be any more... And all the grays have turned to black and white... This is goodbye..." I felt tears brimming in my eyes. What does that mean...?

"This is hard... This is hell... This is pain like, I have never felt... This is final, love has failed. This is walking away from us, to save ourselves... This is goodbye..." I let the tears caress my cheeks freely, not wanting to move, frozen. Mitch...

"Well this is goodbye, in my heart there's no doubt... 'Cause I can feel the broken pieces, try and, cut their way out... Some of them I know I'll never find... This is goodbye..." My breathing was starting to become heavier. Oh god- Mitch...

"This is hard... This is hell... This is pain like, I have never felt... This is final, love has failed. This is walking away from us, to save ourselves... This is goodbye... This is final, love has failed. This is walking away from us, to save ourselves... This is goodbye... This is goodbye..." That's where the song ended.

That's when the time turned to midnight.

That's where all my hope was thrown down the drain. I dropped his phone, letting the headphone slip from my ear as I dropped his hoodie as well. And walking up to the edge of the bridge, I looked down. And there, lay the still, bloody mess, of my smiling best friend.