Making Choices (ATTN: Liz)

[Jonah Finn]

Jonah was patient. He waited as Liz polished off her chips. He waited until she realised she wasn't wearing any pants. He waited until he finished her water. And he still waited when she got up the stairs, took a long moment to realise what had happened and when she raced down the stairs and screamed at him, Jonah patiently got up and walked to the door. "I'm willing to apologise for the rest of my life for you, Davies. You're irreplaceable I hope you know that. I'm sorry I'm gay. I'm sorry if I think that I've fallen in love. And I'm terribly sorry if you think for a second that I'd ever leave you stranded when you really need me. I'm sorry."

Jonah took a deep breath before approaching Liz and pressing his lips to her right temple...and then her left. "You're my best friend. Nothing's going to change that. Not what happened today and most certainly not what will happen tomorrow and the days after that. You're my best friend, Davies." He repeated before walking out of the house. He wasn't sure if she would ever forgive him but he was not going to give up.

He needed to go to Saint. He needed Saint to know how he felt.

He turned to look at Liz's house. "I'm sorry..."

[Liz Davies]

Liz waited, hoping to hear Jonah return and tell her to suck it up and that everything was okay. She waited for what felt like years and years, though in reality it wasn't but a couple minutes. But there was nothing. Was he really going to leave her again? Could she handle that? She needed to talk to him, to figure out what was going on.

Her bare feet hit the carpet and padded out the room, down the hall, and into her mother's room. She opened the front window and stuck her head out. Jonah had paused, looking back at her house. Something was keeping him from leaving, and it made Liz smile. She wiped her eyes before getting his attention.

“Hey doofus!” She yelled, hoping he understood she was joking. This maybe wasn't the best time to joke, but she was so used to their relationship being that way that it was hard to be too serious. “This is the point where you come back and console me! Don't you know anything about being a boyfriend?” She stuck her tongue out at him then vanished from the window.

She ran downstairs as fast as her brain would allow. Her head still felt pretty wonky, but thing were a bit clearer than they were a while ago. Not sitting around in a cloud of pot smoke helped quite a bit, as did eating something. She hastened her way to the front door and opened it, hoping Jonah was still there.

[Jonah Finn]

Hearing Liz scream out at him made Jonah smile. He walked back to Liz's house just in time to see her open the door. "You're just something else you know." He grabbed her head into an arm lock and rubbed his knuckles on top of her head rigorously before letting it go just in time to race out of her way and into the living room. He ignored her cursing and heard the door slam shut.

"I am an amazing boyfriend, you know how I know that? Because you were presented the opportunity to leave me so many many many times but you chose not to. You love me too much. That's not a bad thing. It's just...I'm just that amazing. Deny?" He looked up at her with a grin that was genuinely happy. He didn't want her mad at him anymore. He hated having fights with his one and only best friend.

"Liz...we need to talk about the pink elephant in the room. Snufflaffugus' are rare things granted...but we need to bring it out." Half joking, he patted the seat next to him to ask her to join him. "Come on..." He waited for her to sit down next to him.

[Liz Davies]

Liz did her best to regain her balance after the fierce noogie she received, but her brain was still swimming a bit. She tumbled to the floor with a yelp. “You fucking turd!” she yelled after him, smiling just a little now that things were a bit back to normal. With the assistance of a wall, she clambered to her feet and followed Jonah into the living room.

Liz did think Jonah would be an amazing boyfriend, if he could get his shit together. They way he treated her, any guy would be absolutely lucky to have him. But he got into trouble pretty often, and Liz couldn't count the times on one hand she'd vouched for him, telling teachers or parents that he was at her house and not off vandalizing a street sign or breaking a car window. But she wouldn't ever let him get away with comments like the ones he just made!

She leaped over to a chair and chucked a small throw pillow at him. “Yeah right. The only reason I haven't left you is because of how lonely you'd be without me.” She answered, teasing him mercilessly. “You are amazing, though, I will have to admit. Sometimes I look at you, and I just shake my head in amazement, like 'What the hell?'” She was starting to feel much better and more comfortable again. It helped that she was coming down a bit, but she'd still love something to eat, like pizza. And a glass of water. She started to move towards the kitchen, but Jonah's voice stopped her.

He was being uncommonly serious. Liz never liked it when he was like that, it made her uncomfortable answering to him. But it was true, there was something up. And Liz knew she owed him at least an explanation for the way she acted. To be honest, she wasn't sure why she didn't like his boyfriend right away, but she definitely got pissed when he left her, and then again when he almost left for the second time.

A frown on her face, she walked slowly over to where Jonah was sitting, dreading every step. By the time she sat, she was almost shaking. She leaned back on Jonah, not really knowing how to start. She thought about how she cared a lot about him, and that she missed him over the weekend. It was rare that a weekend went by where she didn't see him. Slowly, the image of him and that boy crept into her head, the two of them together, laughing, having fun, doing things... well, things Jonah wouldn't with Liz. She felt frustrated that there was something someone else could give him she couldn't, and that eventually he'll find someone and ditch her. And maybe that was sooner than she expected.

“I don't want to lose you!” It just fell out of her mouth before she knew what she was saying, but she was glad it was out there. She wriggled in closer to him and repeated it, quieter. “I... don't want to lose you.”

[Jonah Finn]

Jonah grinned wildly at Liz's tease. For the while, he was glad his friend was back to normal but the inevitable discussion hung in the air.

He felt her tremble as she sat down. The look on her face was more than enough for him to gather that something was really bothering her. Jonah didn't like when Liz was in pain, he really didn't. He wondered if this was because of this morning or it was something that had been bubbling under them and he was not made aware of it until this morning.

What came from her was probably the last thing he had on his mind. "Shit..." Jonah jumped slightly when she suddenly burst out but he calmed down when she snuggled up against him. Jonah pulled her close, albeit a bit awkwardly since he was not used to emotional Davies, and patted her shoulder. He was tempted to just say: there, there, but he restrained himself and just stayed in that position.

After a long while, he finally got the courage to speak up. "Davies, you're my girl. You will never lose me. Even if Kurt Cobain was revived and asked me to marry him you will never lose me. I'll probably induct you into our cult or something. You're never going to get rid of me. Believe me."

And Jonah meant every word that came out of his mouth. He really loved Liz. Not in the way that she hoped he would but he loved her all the same.

[Liz Davies]

Liz knew Jonah wanted to mean everything he said, but the inevitability of life contradicted it all. If Jonah ever found someone, he wouldn't hang out with Liz as much, and when he did it would usually be with his boyfriend, like today. And Liz didn't want to be a weird-o third wheel all her life. But if she took too much of Jonah's time, his boyfriend might get mad. All she would do was make his love life that much harder. And she wanted him to be happy, but underneath it all she just wanted him to be around!

“I know, Jonah. I know.” She sat up a bit, no longer leaning on him. She looked him straight in the eye. “But you know that's a load of shit. I mean, if you want to date someone eventually you'll have to bail on me. Like today.” She looked down for a second. She didn't want to cry, this time not out of shame but because she wanted him to know she was serious. “And I guess I understand that, you know, that a boyfriend is going to be more important than me.”

Liz stood and moved over to a different chair. She was starting to feel less and less like being touched, which meant she was starting to get upset. She hated that this situation was pissing her off like it was. Why couldn't she just be happy for her friend? Because it meant everything would change. It was the next step in growing up and there was no going back afterwards.

“It just really fucking sucks.”

[Jonah Finn]

One thing Jonah hated about this situation was how he thought that Liz didn't gather how Saint was his job as well as his...boyfriend? After what happened earlier at Saint's house, he wouldn't be surprised if Saint had barred his house from Jonah entering and set Jandro at the front door ready to pounce on him. He did a crummy thing. It was terrible that he left Saint alone at home. What if Lia or Jandro came back and Saint was not there? Or worst...

He didn't allow himself to think of it. He needed to clear his head and for now if it meant not going to Saint and staying here with Liz. His friend needed him. He felt like a bastard since in retrospect, Saint needed him more but Liz had been his friend since God knows when. He hated feeling like he needed to choose. He cared about both of them, maybe possibly more about one than the other but it was not enough to abandon either.

"Davies...you gotta understand, babe." Jonah sighed when she got up. "He's not just some plaything. I have to take care of him. I promised his mother and his siblings to keep an eye on him. He's no more important to me than you are. You have to understand Davies. I'm not going to choose you over him nor him over you." Jonah finished by standing up and going to Liz. "I'm sorry we can't always hang out anymore. Didn't mean for this to happen..."