Chapter Five - Arrival

Germ was the first of the three to wake, coming to some time as the sun was just over the horizon. Unlike Gregg and Angus, he was perfectly content with only a few scant hours of rest. Getting out of bed was always tough though, since beds were made to be comfortable and well worn. That bed in particular though, was a little different that night.

He woke up with Angus's hand resting on his waist and Gregg's leg wrapped over his. He laid there for a moment and took in their unmoving touch, letting out a few contented sighs. Getting up was extra difficult, as it turned out. Still, he was able to slide under the sheets and off the edge of the bed. With that, he got his clothes from the bathroom, and headed downstairs.

The complimentary "continental" breakfast had been set out some time earlier in the morning, but it looked as though there was still plenty for him and the other two. The little room with everything was quiet, save for some oldies on the low volume radio, and a single guest reading something from their laptop.

After Germ helped himself to their selection, he found a nice table to sit at and eat.

Pancakes were decent, bacon was obviously microwaved, and the fruit was a little old. He wasn't sure what they meant by "continental" in hotel lingo but he pictured it to be another way of saying "cheap as hell."

At least they had a bagged tea that he liked. That was the silver lining. The morning wasn't a morning without a cup of caffeine, or a 20oz of some sort of energy drink.

"Yesterday was weird," he muttered to himself.

The awkward car ride, the date with Gregg, Angus's weird mood swings, and then that cuddling at the end? He definitely put those experiences at the top of his weirdest days list. Right under the day he was accused of pissing in the girls' locker room in his sophomore year. He wasn't at school that day; he had the flu. How'd that rumor get started?

"Good morning," Angus said as he entered the room. "Uh, how'd you sleep?"

Germ shrugged as he took a sip of tea.

"Oh, okay," Angus continued with a shy smile. "Tea, huh? Is there anymore?"

Germ pointed Angus in the general direction. He came back with a mug with two bags in it, and a plate with a lot of food.

"I like my tea strong. And I'm really hungry this morning."

The two of them sat in a comfortable silence while they enjoyed breakfast and tea. Eventually, the guest with the laptop got up and left, leaving the two men to themselves.

"Yesterday was weird, wasn't it?" Angus asked.

"Yep." Germ replied.

"I screwed up a lot of things, didn't I?"

"I think so. But I was a little weird too."

Angus nodded. He looked down at his food and sighed.

"I think you're a good guy, Germ," he said as he sliced into some pancake. "I think you're a great guy. I don't want you to stop coming to visit us because of some of the things I said. I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?"

"Yeah, sure."

Angus was a left a little surprised by such a nonchalant answer, but his surprise gave way to a smile, knowing that was just how Germ was.

"Good," Angus said, taking a bite. He then added, "So, uh... is it alright if I hold your hand, just for a second?"

Germ thought about it, but then slowly slid his hand toward Angus, turning it palm up. The bear slowly took it, and held it for a few moments, squeezing it gently, before letting it go.

"So, ummm," Angus trailed on, "do you get yourself yet?"

"I'm not sure," Germ answered.

"Oh. Well, that's okay then too."

It was obvious Angus still felt awkward about the day before, but he was making better strides for himself, from what Germ could tell.

"Morning!" Gregg announced as he patted Germ on the shoulder, and rushed over to give Angus a good morning kiss or three. He then screamed, "Breakfaaaaast!" when he noticed the cornucopia of cheap breakfast items on the table.

A stack of pancakes with fruit syrup, a waffle with chocolate sauce, some fruit, and a glass of milk. Angus couldn't help but chuckle, telling him, "You're gonna make yourself sick, Gregg."

"I know what I'm doing, Angus! Now behold as I ravage this plate."

And ravage he did, wolfing down his food and milk in a matter of moments. Whether he even savored the taste was anyone's guess. It was fun to watch, at the very least.

"Sooooooooo," Gregg began, "yesterday was bananas, wasn't it?"

Angus nodded and Germ answered, "Yep. Sure was."

"Can I get some stuff out in the open?" the fox added. "Angus, I'm sorry I was such an absolute selfish ass yesterday. I know I already apologized earlier, but I'm gonna do it again. And then maybe again tonight, and on the way home tomorrow."

Angus's smile widened. "It's alright."

"And Germ. You're attractive. You're really attractive. You're really hot attractive. Like, can I give you a hug right now, because I want to give the second most attractive person in this room a hug."

"I'm number one," Angus chuckled, "don't forget that Germ."

"Grand prize goes to Angus!" Gregg happily yelled, flailing his arms. "Runner up, Germ! Runner up prize is a hug!"

He slid over to Germ giving him a big hug, and then back over to Angus.

"And the grand prize winner gets a night out with your host, Greggory Lee! It's gonna be a hell of a night!"

"When we get back," Angus countered.

"When we get back!" Gregg repeated him.

"Hey, uh…"

The two looked over at Germ, who was trying to get their attention.

"I'm not mad or anything, Gregg," he said, "but do you mind asking if it's okay to touch me going forward? Angus asked me this morning, so ask him for pointers."

Gregg blushed a bit in embarrassment.

"It's okay!" Germ continued. "I mean, pats on the shoulder and stuff is fine. But if it's like an intimate touch or something, do you mind asking?"

"Dude, yeah!" Gregg answered. "Sorry, dude! Didn't mean to make you upset."

"I'm not upset. Just still figuring things out. And, uh… would it be okay if I asked for hugs and stuff like that every so often? Not like in the way you two do that stuff, but more like, just… uh…"

"We get you, Germ," Angus replied. "I'm okay with it as long as it doesn't get complicated. What about you, Gregg?"

"Totally! Also… uh, did you like cuddling with us last night? Cause, if I'm gonna be honest, I like cuddling with you, dude. Not as much as Angus, he's grand prize winner there too!"

"Two wins in a row," Angus said. "Nice."

Germ looked at the two of them: the overly rambunctious fox, and the calm but powerful bear. Instead of giving them an answer, he said something else with a smile.

"You two are so weird."

Both were caught off guard, looking at each other for a moment, only to smile understandingly at one another.

"Yeah," Gregg said.

"I guess we are," Angus finished.

They both kissed and held hands.

The rest of breakfast was spent discussing where they wanted to visit, and all the places that none of them had seen and wanted to experience for the first time. Unlike the previously day, where everything was within walking distance, Angus decided that they should drive all over the harbor and see what the city had to offer that they never got to see the first time around.

It really was a surprise to them just how much they missed since the first time they were there. Aquariums, zoos, large outdoor shopping malls, outdoor stage performances, and so much food. They didn't even know some countries existed from some of the street vendors they passed by.

Germ was happy to pay for a bulk of it, though Angus and Gregg pitched in from their own funds too, going as far as to buy Germ some clothes to commemorate the trip. Albeit from a discount outlet; he loved the t-shirt and loose jacket they gave him.

"Not a lot of people buy things for me, outside of my family," he said as he looked at himself in the mirror. "I really like these. Thanks, guys!"

That alone made the day worth it for Gregg and Angus.

Unknowingly, the day seemed to pass by so quickly. None of them were able to keep up with how fast it was going. When it came to late afternoon, Angus made a sharp corner turn, and then headed back the direction they came, taking a slightly alternate route.

"We're gonna go see it, aren't we?" Gregg yelped excitedly. "Yeeeeeeeeeeeees!"

True to their word, a few miles out of the way of the hotel, they ended up in a dimmer part of town. It didn't look rundown or as Gregg put it, "bad," but it certainly was a stark comparison to that of the inner city. Still, there were just as many people on the street, though not in designer brands. If anything, they looked more closely dressed to Possum Springs.

"We're heeeeeeeere!" Gregg exclaimed happily, as Angus did his best to parallel park.

They got there just early enough before closing to take a tour of one of the apartment buildings. Their guide was helpful, and actually remembered them from the last time.

"Now this isn't the same place I showed you last year," she said as she unlocked one of the empty apartments, "but the floor layout is the same, though the closet is walk-in this time. No additional cost."

They all walked into an empty room. It was just as Gregg and Angus had remembered, with some slight differences: The living room with the adjoining kitchen, the moderately sized bedroom with a now added walk-in closet, the bathroom that was large enough to accommodate two people in the shower at once (a true amenity to the blushing Angus), and best of all – pre-installed washer and dryer.

Gregg flailed his arms around, seeing the layout again, and yelled, "Cap'n! It's our future home!" He then proceeded to twirl and dance around a bit, enjoying that fresh apartment scent.

Angus and the guide chuckled as he danced from room to room, talking it all in.

"Easy there, Bug," Angus laughed, "we still have a few more months of saving, remember?"

"Not as much as the last time," the guide suddenly informed them. "The property value has dropped slightly due to a few businesses moving a few blocks over to avoid additional taxes."

Sounded like home, Germ thought to himself as he scoured the rooms, curiously. He then noticed the balcony they had and stepped out onto it to get a good look at whatever view they had.

The guide continued, giving a slight shiver as a cold gust came into the room: "So it's about ten percent less than the last time you all were here. And water is now included in the rent as well."

"Did you hear that, Cap'n!" Gregg said as he approached his boyfriend and put an arm over his shoulder. "That means we can move here sooner!"

Angus nodded, though he had a nagging thought.

"Is the neighborhood doing alright?" he asked the woman.

She neither gave a nod or a shake of the head, but something in-between.

"The county is doing its best to try and secure some businesses," she explained. "There is a few places that have expressed interest, and there are two major ones opening next month, but I don't have anything else to tell you besides that."

Not a good thing. It reminded Angus too much of Possum Springs. Property and cost of living was going up all over the country, so anytime something dropped, there was always a catch. Neither he nor Gregg minded the "bad" neighborhood, but it was still a cause for concern.

"The building isn't going anywhere," she continued. "I don't like bringing up internet scores, but I'm happy to say we still have a 3.9 out of five on most research sites."

It was also difficult to gauge places that had those scores, since the age of the internet brought easier manipulation of such things.

"Hey-hey," Gregg shook Angus slightly, "you got that look again."

Angus was about to ask what look, but already knew the kind of frown that had spread onto his face. It was clear as day.

"Do you think," he began, speaking to their guide, "you could give us a few moments alone to talk? We're still trying to get the money together to move and everything and we just want to make sure and…"

"I understand. I need to go make a call anyways. I'll be out in the hallway if you need anything."

The woman excused herself and headed out, slowly shutting the door with the quietest of clicks behind her. Gregg wasted no time after her departure to grill Angus.

"What's wrong, hon?"

Wasn't it obvious?

"Money," Angus sighed. "This entire trip, I just can't stop thinking about money. We got expenses, and bills, and food, and this trip – and I know Germ is paying for most of it – and I just… I still can't get my head to stop screaming about money!"

Gregg hummed something and then smiled as wide as he could.

"Let's try not think about it though," he said. "Instead, how about we start deciding where the furniture can go? That'll be fun, right?"

Angus looked at Gregg and gave him a small smile.

"Okay, okay," Gregg continued, "hear me out. We can put the couch right here against the wall, and then the TV and stuff right in front of it!"

"A TV in front of a couch?" Angus replied. "I never would have thought of such a revolutionary idea!" He looked over at corner in the room. "We can put the computer desk over there, and I can do my PC stuff while you're playing video games."

"We can geek out together!" Gregg laughed. "We can play online games and do gay things and confuse everyone over the mic!"

"Gregg, we've done that before," Angus reminded him. "I don't think most of my guild ever recovered from that experience."

"I wasn't the one who forgot to turn off his mic."

They both laughed over the fun, though obviously embarrassing memory. Going from room to room, they started joking how they could put their belongings in the most obvious of places, making wise cracks and just being generally silly.

While Gregg was discussing the shocking revelation of putting dishes in a kitchen cabinet above the sink, Angus discussed placing new things called "art work" on the wall, leading over the balcony.

"We could even put some chairs on the balcony!" he playfully said.

"Scandalous!" Gregg yelled back.

"And maybe even a table, just in case we wanted to have some drinks outside."

"Drinks outside? On a balcony, now I know your mad!"

"And with it, we could even…"

He stopped there, mid-sentence in such a way, that Gregg immediately picked up on it.

"Cap'n?"

Looking toward the balcony he noticed the joyful grin that had been on Angus's face had disappeared. It had been replaced with deep concern.

"What's wrong?" Gregg inquired, slowly making his way from around the kitchen counter. He stopped just short of going out onto the balcony.

Angus didn't reply at first. He was too fixated on their friend.

Sitting there, completely still and quiet, looking out onto the view, Germ was crying.

"Germ?" Angus whispered.

"What's wrong with Germ?" Gregg asked.

Nobody answered anything for a moment. The only sound anywhere around them was another gust that came in through the door, and the intermittent hum of an old car three floors down.

"Is this it?" Germ finally asked.

Angus slanted his glance, looking back at Gregg who shrugged, and then back to Germ.

"Is what it?" he asked.

"Is this what it's like…?" Germ replied. There was a moment of silence, before he turned wiping his eyes to meet Angus. "…I mean, is this what you and Gregg are gonna have?"

Angus hesitated, but nodded.

There was a tinge of something in Germ's voice that he couldn't make out. He wasn't sure what it was, and it didn't sound bad, but it didn't sound good either. It didn't look like it was something to be worried about, but it definitely sounded like something he needed to be concerned with.

Germ took in a deep breath, and looked out over the view. Though it wasn't anything spectacular, it still gave them a nice shot of the street, and some of Bright Harbor proper in the distance.

"I like this view," he explained. "It's simple, it's quiet, and there's so much around. You could go out and see something new every day. It's like, it feels overwhelming, but you understand it, right? And it's different from what you've seen or what your used to, but then you feel better about it, and it's not so strange or scary, right?"

Gregg and Angus thought he was speaking in cryptics. In other words, the usual Germ language. It didn't help put either of their minds at ease.

"Germ, what are you…?"

"Can you call me Jeremy while we're here?" Germ suddenly interrupted. "I just realized nobody knows me here. So I'm not really Germ. I'm just Jeremy. So it makes sense to start fresh, right?"

Again, Angus and Gregg exchanged concerned glares.

"I could introduce myself as Germ, while I'm here," he went on, "but do you think people would see me differently if I was Jeremy, instead?"

"What's the difference?" Angus had to ask.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I know Germ is Germ, right? Everyone says that one. But is Jeremy Jeremy? Or is Jeremy Germ? Or maybe Germ isn't Germ, but is really just Jeremy."

"Whoa dude," Gregg finally spoke, "you're kind of starting to go a little over my head."

Angus was trying his best to wrap his head around these puzzling statements, but was having the worst trouble deciphering such abstract sentences.

And then Germ took in one more deep breath, and asked.

"Do you think Jeremy is more attractive than Germ, I mean?"

That word, again. Every few hours, since they left Possum Springs. That one word had successfully crossed the line, and both Angus and Gregg were in a state of true worry for their emotionally existential friend. But with such weird phrasing, how could they manage to answer him?

And then, all at one, something happened.

A voice crept from the back of Angus's mind and slowly clawed his way to the front end. It began to spread out all over his head, going to his eyes – slowly getting wider – and down to his mouth, where the realization came forth.

"Oh… Germ…"

The thought, though booming and filled with understanding, was actually quite small and extremely foreign. He didn't quite get it, and it would have been rude to ask.

Something else. Just do something else.

"Okay… ummm…" Angus tried again. "I don't know what's going on in that head of yours. I don't think I'm ever gonna know what is, for that matter. But… just be you, okay? Do you like being Germ or Jeremy?"

Germ had to take a moment to think about it.

"I like being Germ," he admitted.

"Then your Germ," Gregg jumped in. "Shit, that's all I've known you as. It's all Angus has known you as. Jeremy's a cool name too, but it's not as badass as Germ. So you're Germ! Germ, Germ, Germ, Germ, Germ!"

Angus grinned at his boyfriend, and returned to Germ.

"I know you're trying to figure out what you… no, not 'what', sorry… I mean, who you are. And about being attractive or attracted or anything like that, but just… just be Germ, okay? If you're happier and more comfortable as Germ, then be Germ. Simple as that!"

Angus may have said that, but he was still incredibly confused. All he knew was that something was weighing down his junior, and he felt like he needed to say something to help him through it. He had an idea what it could be, but didn't want to make things more awkward than they already were. Whether or not the words of support he said meant anything to Germ were a different story.

"I think it's just…" Angus continued, "...and you… and you're Germ, and that's what we've always known you as, and you've attractive, and I know you don't have any romantic feelings for Gregg and I and… I'm sorry if I confused you about anything you've been trying to figure out. And… really, I think… uh, Gregg, help?"

The fox then jumped in.

"We're sorry that we've been arguing most of the trip, when you wanted to come here and see all the sites, but we've been mad about money and shit, and then we did some shit to you and that probably didn't make things any easier for you, and us assuming you were something you're probably not, and making things more difficult for you, and we're just being gay wads right now ruining a good thing that you wanted to see and invited us along to experience, and you're going through a lot of shit right now and instead of being supportive, we're just making things worse, so Angus and I are sorry, and we're sorry, and shit, buddy, we're just really effing sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!"

It came out in a rush of word vomit that could have filled up a literary kiddie pool.

"So what do you say, Germ, buddy?" Gregg added.

Germ looked at the two of them with raised eyebrows and then said, "I think you two need to breath."

And thus, they did, which gave way to a few smiles and some laughs between the three of them. It helped lighten the mood.

"You know," Germ said, "I do like some of that romantic stuff. I like some touching and feeling, and kissing was fun too. I don't know if I like making out yet. So, I guess I'm okay with that." He rubbed the back of his neck and then looked back out onto the view. "I don't think I get most of a lot of this stuff, actually."

There was another silence between the three as a gust rushed forth again.

"You two really are lucky," Germ repeated.

A smile crept onto his beak, filled with warm reassurance. Suddenly, the world seemed a bit brighter and a little bit more curious – for all three of them. Though, the general confusion still hung in the air, it didn't seem like a cause of alarm anymore.

"I can come visit right?"

"Of course," Angus answered, letting himself smile too. "Door won't be unlocked anymore though. So you'll need to call ahead for that."

"Cap'n, please," Gregg chuckled, "he'll find a way. This is Germ we're talking about. Our backs'll be turned and he'll be there, whether we know it or not."

Who could argue with that? Deep down in Angus's mind, he knew that was probably going to be the case. There were just some people in your life that you could always count on to do something strange like that. And it never felt like an inconvenience.

The cold was starting to get to them, so they had to exit the balcony and close the door behind them. Sensing that things were right – or at least as right as could be with those three – they called back in the guide and concluded their tour. There wasn't any need to linger in there any longer.

"Soooooooo, Germ," Gregg slowly started as they got back in the car, "does this mean you like guys or girls, or…"

"Bug," Angus interrupted, "just drop it, okay?"

And he did.

Germ treated them to one last fancy feast for the day, taking them to an established restaurant, strutting in as the most "underdressed" clique in the room. It was something of a funny experience, truly being seen as outsiders from somewhere that felt far away. Still, they never felt like it dampered their experience of Bright Harbor. Gregg and Angus were ready for side glances from all of these people, one day. And Germ – Germ was just used to it.

The night passed by swiftly, and with it, their time to check out had come. The keycards were left at the hotel front desk, and their backpacks chucked into the trunk of the car.

Off they went back to Possum Springs, grabbing that ice cream Germ pointed out the other day. He was right. It was much better than the stuff in the quarts.

As they headed home, Gregg and Angus talked about things with their relationship they hadn't told anyone. In between breaks, Germ would talk about his life with his family, and how he viewed so many of his friends. They all thought it was nice to hear so many interesting things about each other. By the end, they had come to understand each other a little bit more than where they had started.

As they passed the welcome sign into Possum Springs, Gregg and Angus interlocked their hands, squeezing the other tightly. Germ watched, giving a chuckle before looking out the window to familiar and assured territory.

They had arrived.

The End

Until Next Story!

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