Make Me (Remdy)

We All Need A Hug

Trigger warnings: Mentions of dead, depression

Their love is gone. That much, Andy knows for sure. They consumed all they could, soaked it up into their beings and now it's coming out as stinging, acidic words.

"Please listen to me," Andy is saying, in the midst of yet another argument, and he only came home to pick up some clothes to take back with him to Lonny's place. The clothes sit abandoned on the floor and Juliet stands accusingly in the doorway, refusing to let her husband – not that the label means anything anymore – leave. "You never listen to me."

"You never say anything worth listening to," is the woman's response. She folds her arms.

Andy shakes his head and sits on the bed. "I don't know what I'm meant to do, Juliet. Why is it so hard to just let me leave now, huh? You've already fucked some other guy so clearly you're not happy with me anymore."

He sounds hurt and Juliet realises that. "I slept with him because he makes me feel good."

"Sorry I can't compete with him, now let me past. I've got nothing to say to you anymore."

"What happened to you?"

"What happened to me?" He laughs dryly. "I have been trying for years to keep our marriage a-float. Face it, the only reason we lasted this long is because of all the shit I've done for you."

"What shit?"

Andy laughs again. "The money, the house, the car, the fucking villa in Spain. All of it! The materialistic gestures of my devotion because it's easier to get your attention by spending money than it is to actually talk to you!"

"You don't have any devotion!"

"I'm here, Juliet! I was ready to be a parent with you! I fucking put everything into this! What did you do apart from getting out dead son secretly cremated and scattered and falling onto another man's fucking penis?"

"Oh, get over yourself! No one wants to bury their baby, Andy!"

"I did! I wanted to bury him! Is that such a sin?"

"He wasn't yours to bury."

"Oh, and he was yours to cremate without telling me? How'd you work that one out?"

"I carried him for nine months, I birthed him. All you did was orgasmed."

"Gee, sorry for not having a uterus! Would you actually love me if I were a woman since you apparently hate all men now?"

"Who said I hate all men?"

"You, about a million fucking times a day. I hate men this, I hate men that. Sorry for being born, I guess! What an inconvenience!"

"God, listen to yourself. Andy, you're a rich white man in a famous band, get over yourself for God's sake! Only you would find a way to make it seem like you have problems."

"I do have problems, Juliet! You wanna know what they are?"

"Enlighten me!"

"I try all the time to talk to you! I try to tell you how I'm feeling, what's going on, why I'm sad or whatever, but all you want is money and a new fucking car! I hate myself but you don't listen enough to know that! I hate myself for causing our marriage to fall apart and I hate myself for the death of our son and I hate myself for scaring off so many band members by being a dick! But what does that matter to you, as long as you've got your shiny new phone and your men lined up for when you decide it's a good night to cheat on your husband! Husband, Juliet! Does that word mean nothing to you?"

"Shut up, Andy, just shut up! It's always about you! No wonder you have no friends, you're fucking insufferable!"

"Sorry, is this supposed to be helping?"

"If you want help, go to therapy or something, that isn't my responsibility."

"Juliet, you're my wife, why won't you acknowledge that?"

"Because marrying you was the biggest mistake I ever made and it was only because you're hot, alright! That was the only reason!"

Andy shakes his head. "You're telling me I've been trapped in here with you for years because you thought I was hot? And what about my personality? Did you ever care for that, or did you spend too long looking at me naked to notice it? Fucking hell, you could've told me this before I said, 'I do'."

"Why are you making this such a big deal?"

"Why am I...Bloody fucking hell, have you fucking lost you mind? Are you not comprehending any of what I say?" He closes his eyes for a moment. "Juliet, I loved you. I was obsessed with you. I proposed because I wanted to be with you forever and I thought you felt the same and that's why I wanted to marry you! I ghave everything to you! Everything! And what? All I get is that you thought I was hot? I'm sorry, but get the fuck out, because you're a joke! You're a fucking joke! You don't marry someone just because you think they're hot! That's not what people do, Juliet! What the actual fucking shit would you do that for if you didn't love me? What the fuck? What the fuck!"

Juliet steps away from the doorway and sighs. "Fine, then leave. Go one, leave me. Leave me like you've left your old bands, like you left school, like you left your parents, your friends. Leave like you always do, you fucking coward!"

"Don't you fucking dare call me a coward when you're the one that's the reason this marriage was such a fucking mess in the first place!" The man grabs his clothes from the floor, violently pushes the lamp of the side table, kicks the wardrobe, and storms out of the room and down the stairs, where he throws his things in the car and begins for the graveyard because that seems to be the only place with a little peace and quiet.

Andy walks down the path in the graveyard with his head bowed, ashamed of how his relationship just ended. He, without the intention of doing so, comes to the two matching graves of Remington's brothers, where he sits and cries because all he ever wanted was someone to need him and to love him completely and madly.

He lifts his head when a presence is beside him and sees Remington, teary, sat on the grass. "You okay?" He asks softly, wiping his eyes.

The younger shrugs and looks down.

Andy takes his leather jacket off and organises it on Remington's shoulders, smiling gently when the boy looks up at him. "You're shivering," he mumbles.

"Thanks," Remington returns, pulling it around himself. "Are you crying?"

"I basically just found out that my wife only ever got with me because of how I look, so...that's great."

"I'm sorry."

Andy shakes his head. "It's alright, just ready to get the divorce over and done with." He follows Remington's gaze to Sebastian's grave. "You weren't at rehearsal today."

"Didn't feel up to it." He wipes tears from under his eyes before rising to his knees and leaning forwards to pick dead leaves from the flowers. Then he turns around and, still on his knees, wraps his arms around unsuspecting Andy, who returns the embrace after a moment. "Sorry," Remington whispers, "I just need a hug."

"Shh," Andy whispers back, the tears starting up again. "Me too."

Because sometimes it's the loneliest people who have the most love to give.