"Uh, I don't mind starting from episode one, it's the only one I've watched so far." Max said as Dillon passed him a bowl of mixed nuts, Dillon put his own bowl in his lap.
"Score, then let's do this." Having said that, Dillon hit the play button. As they watched, sometimes they paused or rewound to get better looks at images, often making small chatter.
Max grinned, Arianna hadn't like true crime anything, whenever they watched a movie, it was comedy, or romance, sometimes a combination. After the third episode they were both tired. Taking a few minutes to put the food in little plastic baggies, then away in cupboards, Dillon started talking about how he'd come to rent the apartment.
"You know, you had the strength to leave your situation, I was kicked out. My old man's got a temper, I'd come home during a winter holiday from school. I knew it was going to be bad, he'd been fired again on another binge of drugs and alcohol. I didn't know it yet, but he'd logged into my school portal, took all my scholarship money for the next semester." Dillon admitted reminiscing.
"What happened?" Max asked shocked, Dillon seemed… so well put together.
Dillon sighed with a half-hearted smile. "Well, he hit my mom, broke her nose, then started wailing on me when I got between them. He dislocated my shoulder, beat me unconscious. When I woke up I was in the hospital, again. And, I lied again, said I fell down the stairs."
Max was horrified… but he listened as Dillon continued.
"Well, I went home a few hours later, found he'd pawned all my stuff. I didn't even have my wallet. I was able to scrounge enough money to get back to school, only to find out I'd been kicked out for fraudulent use of scholarship funds. I couch surfed for a few weeks, but… ended up at a twenty four hour diner." Dillon shook his head. "No, not the one I took you too. I was on my tenth cup of free coffee and water, when an older guy sat in my booth."
Max stared… no way… really?
"For real, they started chatting me up, bought me my first meal in two days. You thought you were bawling? I had snot dripping down my nose, dry heaving, choking, ugly crying. I was raging at my mom for not standing up for me after I'd been beaten getting him off her. I was pissed that the school wouldn't believe me, angry that my so called friends all ditched. Dude, I was a hot mess." Dillon admitted self deprecatingly.
"The dad offered me a deal, I'd help him for three weeks, he'd let me stay here. I couldn't ask questions, I couldn't tell anyone if I saw strange shit. But, if I kept my mouth shut, head down, and worked hard, he'd feed me, and let me stay here when he moved out. I slept in that corner." Dillon pointed to the far wall, "For three weeks as they moved out. And let me tell you, I thought he was batshit crazy. But he kept to his word, helped me get a job at the call center that his daughter had just left, helped me find a lawyer who got me back into school and my scholarship back from my old man. Max… they pulled me out of a pit I thought I'd die in." Dillon said blinking back teers.
"When they left, they left me a fridge and every cupboard full of food. A bike so I could ride to work, I had a job, I had to wait until the next semester, but I was back in school. Max, I would not be the person I am today if they hadn't reached out that hand. This apartment, and everything they left, all the people they helped me meet... I was drowning. I didn't have a plan, I only went to school because I got that scholarship. It took a while, but I found a career I'm excited to pursue. I met Jake and Jack, I finished my degree just last winter." Dillon looked around the apartment.
"Max, the first night I stayed in this apartment by myself, I was scared shitless. I didn't know what I was doing, what I wanted. If my dad would show up and fuck my life up again for the hundredth time. Show up at my work and start wrecking the place when I didn't hand over my paychecks anymore… I hoped he wouldn't find me. But he did. Thankfully, by then I had a solid support group, I had the coolest, most brutally honest, most annoying, loudest cheerleaders in my corner, and for the first time I fought back. I went no contact, because as much as I loved my mom… if she chooses to stay with him, I won't be in her life." Dillon closed his eyes as he took a deep breath.
"What I was getting at… is that you are a heck of a lot more put together at 24, than I was. And, you are going to get your feet back under you, you're going to have the coolest, most brutally honest, most annoying cheerleaders in your corner. And in no time, you will be rocking your piece of the world again mate. Not because someone is handing you the keys to success, but because you're a solid guy. You hear me?" Dillon said with a wide smile, his eyes flickering to the living room for just a moment.
Max sniffed as his nose soured, "Yeah, thanks Dillon."
Dillon pulled Max in for a firm hug. "You are going to rock this." Dillon let go, wiping at his eyes, "Now, let's catch some Zs. I'll be here in the living room if you hear anything, or need me, cool?"
Max wiped his eyes as he nodded, "Yeah," After a moment they took turns in the bathroom to get ready to sleep, "Night Dillon, and… thanks. I needed this."
"Hell yeah. Night Max." Dillon said grinning as Max left the door open to his room open just a bit. Just… just in case.
That night Max slept like a baby, but dang did he have the weirdest dreams. Well, they kind of made sense. He'd been stressed, so of course now that Dillon had been here for his emotional breakdown, it wasn't a surprise Dillon was in his dream defending him.
Max was in that floaty state, where he was aware he was dreaming, even able to control a bit, but was mostly along for the ride. It was a vivid one too. He was still laying in bed, but he saw Dillon through the crack in his door.
Dillon was talking to the seven stuffed animals, but they were floating around him. It was a one sided conversation, or maybe he just couldn't hear the stuffed animals talking back.
"You're right, facts don't care about feelings. But! The fact is that he's feeling scared." Dream Dillon hissed gesticulating at the floating dolls in irritation. Some of the dolls were moving up and down, as if they were responding but Max didn't hear anything.
"Of course crying doesn't fix things, but it's a great way to let out pent up emotions, it means he feels comfortable enough, safe enough, to let those emotions out. So back off." Dream Dillon hissed making the white horse doll shrink away. The pink fox brushed its tail over Dream Dillon's face.
"I'm just exasperated… just, don't do anything else. He needs to adapt before knowing. Not be scared off and sent running for the hills." Dream Dillon sighed as he hugged the fox doll, playing with its ears.
Max felt the dream changing, soon he thought he was in a desert, gold brown as far as the eye could see, but the ground was… squishy. Not beach sand between your toes squishy, but… walking over a bed squishy. After a moment, Max realized they were pancakes, the brown dog and black bear dolls were pouring syrup over giant pancakes larger than a mountain. The bear ripped chunks off, easily eating a mountain of a pancake in moments. The brown dog rolled the pancakes like burritos, scarfing them down as if he were a thousand year old hungry ghost. After eating its fill, the bear fell asleep and Max was walking through its fur, only he was as tiny as a flea. He felt the need to find… something. Then he woke up.
Max lay in bed staring at the ceiling recalling the dream. Well, that was weird.
As Max glanced out of his room he heard the light tingling of a bell…