[ i n t h i s p r i s o n ] [lint/jesse] 'Tim - Just who are you trying to impress, anyway? - J' [rating: adult. warning: none.]

[a p p r e c i a t i o n] [lint/jesse] 'There are things one must take time to appreciate in this life. While he may have appreciated these things at first, Lint was now far beyond the point of appreciation and well settled into irritation.' [rating: bittersweet. warning: none.]

[g r e y a n d g r e y a n d g r e y] [lint/jesse] ' single lightbulb, uncovered, hung from the broken fixture in the ceiling and illuminated the dirty, tiled floor and scene below. In the shakey yellow luminescence, his light brown hair gave off a dampened sort of gleam. The dead gleam was mirrored in his brown eyes as he fell back against the dingy wall of the bathroom and slid down it.' [rating: bittersweet. warning: fucking harsh, man.]

[r e m o r s e o f a l o s s] [lint/jesse] 'In the end the good-byes are far too easy to say, and the belongings far too easy to put into boxes. It's so easy it's almost like suicide, the path of least resistance, the eternal cop-out; and the feeling of running away makes him sick to his stomach.'[rating: bittersweet. warning: jesse is an asshole, again]

[w h a t t h e h e a r t l o o k s l i k e w h e n i t s h o t ] [lint/jesse] 'But it ached, like a deep gash carved into the surface of Tim's soul every time he thought about him. No one in his life had ever inspired him the way Jesse did, no one in his life ever made him feel as alive. And now, before even three whole years had passed, it seemed to be over. Their album would come out in a week. The band had broken up a week ago.' [rating: bittersweet. warning: seeing a pattern yet?]

[t i m e w o n t t a k e a w a y] [tim/jesse] '"Lint...hey, it's Jesse. Uh, Jesse Michaels...I was wondering what you've been up to. I guess you're probably on tour or recording or some other...important...thing, but...give me a call when you get a chance, if you want. Maybe we could meet up somewhere. Well...talk to you later."' [rating: sweet. warning: no, really, just sweet. follows what the heart...]

[s p a d e] [lint/jesse] 'In El Paso, Texas, they played for a crowd of four people. The show before that in Nevada had drawn enough people, but the promoter had stiffed them on their pay. And the drive from El Paso to the next town they'd play in was roughly six hundred miles. No one in the band had been feeling exactly optimistic for a few days, except Lint.' [rating: sweet. warning: none.]

[s w a l l o w y o u r p r i d e a n d b i t e y o u r t o n g u e] [tim/jesse] 'But Operation Ivy is dead and gone, has been for almost three years. Tim was a lot happier then. Now he's been through some rough times, he's taken a few falls, and he's fucking pissed off about it. No room for bouncy ska there. Just hard, guitar-driven music and screaming scratchy slurring vocals he'd been too shy to belt out just a few years earlier.' [rating: bittersweet. warning: sort of follows spade.]

[r i s e o r f a l l] [tim/jesse] 'Her words rung in his ears, driving him insane as he watched the windshield wipers go back and forth. 'Fuck you, Timothy. I can't handle this shit anymore.' He wiped furiously at his eyes with the sleeve of his sweatshirt and reminded himself to watch the road instead of the rain.' [rating: adult. warning: brody's mean.]

[r e a l i t y] [lint/jesse] 'And he was the only one dealing with the reality now. Jesse had vanished suddenly, but not without a trace as so many people suspected. There were traces all over Lint's life.' [rating: bitter, no sweet. warning: none]

[s h a v e] [lint/jesse] "Sideburns?" Jesse snorted, crossing his arms over his thin chest as he stepped away to lean against the wall. "Lint, you're twenty and you just started growing facial hair. I think sideburns are still a ways off." [rating: sweet. warning: bald!Jesse.]

[r i t e o f p a s s a g e] [lint/billie joe a.] 'Billie Joe swallows back his surprise as easily as he can, which is by far easier than he would have been able to if this had occured a few months ago. Since Operation Ivy had started gaining fans, it seemed anything anyone talked about was this boy in front of him, and Billie Joe had shamefully been just as caught up in being star-struck as everyone else.' [rating: cute. warnings: sorta sad, too.]