Not our last night

Chapter 6

Larry picked up the cracked remote control car and examined it. "Should be a simple fix with some glue. Not that it matters much, it is the last night after all." Larry sighed, arms collapsing to his sides.
"Yeah...I really wish I could've been up longer, but oh well." Jedediah sighed, hands in his pockets as he kicked at the ground.
"Hey where's Oct? It's weird seeing you two not beside each other." Larry said. Jedediah responded with an awkward shrug.
Octavius suddenly came running down the hall. Well, it was more of a walking speed for Larry. "Hello." Octavius puffed, catching his breath.
"Hey Bert, why'd you separate from Ernie?" Larry asked. Both miniatures gave him very confused looks. "It's from a...never mind." Larry huffed, waving a dismissive hand.
"I was just speaking to Teddy and Sacagawea." Octavius answered the question despite not fully understanding.
"Ah. Well I have to go, so you two have fifteen minutes left. I'll see you." Larry said, turning to leave.
"Goodbye Larry." Octavius waved. Jedediah let out a small 'bye' and started walking towards the western diorama. Octavius followed, falling into step beside him.
"Jedediah?" Octavius tested, making sure he had the cowboy's attention. Jed glanced up at him for a moment, showing he was listening.
"You've been acting quite off today, is everything alright?" Octavius asked. Even though he was told otherwise, he still couldn't help but think Jedediah was mad at him.
"Yeah." Jed responded shortly, not making eye contact and his voice remaining almost a mutter.
"I don't mean to be pushy but it's clear something has got you thinking a lot. If you want to talk about it I'd be more than happy to listen." Octavius said.
Jed let out an aggravated sigh. "No, it would've even matter." He raised his voice slightly.
"Yes it does, if something is wrong my friend please let me help." Octavius pressed.
"I said no! It don't matter cuz nothin matters anymore, we're done boy, this is the last five minutes we got and I don't wanna spend it talkin 'bout some stupid thing that never did matter and never god damned will!" Jedediah stopped and faced him, shouting.
Octavius was taken aback by his sudden change in mood. "Don't keep pressin on the fragile subject of other people's problems of it ain't none of your business Octavius!" Jedediah yelled, fists clenched and glaring angrily at the Roman.
Octavius now knew he was right, Jed was very mad at him. He felt hot tears sting the backs of his eyes and he tried blinking them away.
"I can see I'm the reason you're angry, just like earlier today when you seemed mad at me. I'm sorry I was being pushy, I just hated the fact that you were having a problem and I wanted to help. I should've realized sooner I was that problem." Octavius dashed away so Jedediah wouldn't see the tears in his eyes.
The small cowboy stood stock still in the hall, staring after him. He suddenly realized what he'd done and grabbed at his hat in anger, throwing it onto the ground.
"Now look what ya did ya idiot! Ya chased him away cuz ya can't handle these stupid fucking emotions inside you!" Jed yelled at himself, sliding his back down the wall and curling into a sad ball.
He knew he'd screwed up big time, but did it matter anymore? This was the last night, the final night. And he ruined it because he was too weak and pathetic to handle feelings that revolved around inside him.
Jed picked up his hat and held back the tears threatening to fall, knowing he had to get back to the western town before it was sunrise.
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     Larry made his way towards the Egyptian part of the museum where Ahkmenrah and his parents were getting back into their caskets for the last five minutes left.
     "You guys excited to get back to the British museum?" Larry asked a tad bit sadly. He'd miss Ahkmenrah a lot.
     "Larry, I'd actually quickly want to say this because there's merely four minutes left of today, but I realized this is where I truly belong. I wish to remain here in New York." Ahkmenrah smiled lightly at the night guard.
     Larry grabbed his shoulders and stared into his eyes. "Really?! But what about your family? They can't stay here because they belong to the British museum." Larry said.
     "We want our son to be happy, and his true happy place is here with all his friends, and you Larry." Ahkmenrah's mother said, his father nodding along.
     They gave their son a final hug and pulled the lids of their caskets over them. Larry hugged Ahkmenrah tightly and smiled. "My mother is right. Family love is one thing, but friends and you are different. Especially you." Ahkmenrah kissed Larry on the cheek.
     "I'm so glad you're staying, Ahk. I was definitely going to cry if I had to say goodbye again." Larry half laughed, hugging his Egyptian boyfriend tighter.
     They had a lot more than one night left now, and the next morning when everyone woke up, they were all very confused.