early edition -bennoda

chapter one

Guess who's back, back again..
Jay is back, tell a friend :)
In all seriousness, trigger warning on his chapter.. and possibly.. every chapter after this..
Tw: mentions of suicide, mentions of bombing, and I think that's about it for this chapter. I'm going to stop babbling now, enjoy the story :)
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Chester was tired.

Tired of waking up to the barely balanced certainty and uncertainty he'd faced for too long already.

Certainty being: he was going to get tomorrow's paper, today.

Uncertainty being: what was in tomorrow's paper, today.

Explosions? Car crashes? Murders?

Suicides?

He wanted to help, he really, really, did.

But a small part of him just wanted to be normal, even for just one day.

He knew it wouldn't happen, because he was never normal, but he could still dream.

Until it was time to wake up.

Which it was.

The consistent blaring of his alarm clock into his right ear was something he was used to, but still hated.

Reaching his tattooed arm out, he smacked it on top, missing the snooze button completely, somehow.

"The fuck?" He muttered tiredly, forcing his eyes open slowly.

Brushing the sleep out of his eyes softly with a balled up fist, he sighed, feeling the heaviness that sat on his chest until it felt like it was smothering him.

Today was not going to be a good day, he could already tell.

He pushed himself out of bed anyway, a small and tired smile creeping on to his face as he heard the patter of his orange tabby outside of the front door.

He unlocked the door, turning the handle slowly, before watching his cat meow as it made it's way inside his messy apartment.

"Well good morning to you, too." He muttered as he bent down to pick up the paper.

He glanced at the headline, yawning, before shutting the door soundly.

Making his way to the banged up kitchen table, he sighed at his cat. "One day. That's all I ask."

The unnamed cat meowed back in a slightly taunting manner, causing Chester to shake his head as he slightly glared at the feline.

"Dear lord." Chester muttered in terror, scanning his deep eyes over the dreaded headline.

'bombing at local bar, sixteen killed.'

'chaos erupted at Chino's Bar and Grill last night in the wake of an explosion around 7:30pm that killed sixteen civilians. More information will be made public when it is available.'

Chester let the paper slip out of his hands, before closing his eyes, running his trembling hands through his blonde, semi-spiky hair.

A knock came at the door, breaking Chester from his thoughts, he yelled an unsteady 'one second' as he made his way to the door.

He stood on his tip-toes and glanced out of the peephole, smiling just a tiny little bit when he realized it was one of his best friends, Brad.

He unlocked the door, opening it quickly.

"Hey, Ches." Brad smiled, immediately going in for a much needed hug as he greeted his friend.

Chester smiled at the warm touch, squeezing Brad tightly. "Good morning, Brad. It's good to see you."

Brad pulled away a little bit after, a warm smile on his face as he looked at his friend. "Rob's already at the bar."

"Good to know." Chester nodded, pressing his lips together just a little bit tighter as the thoughts of the major headline creeped back into his mind.

Brad noticed.

He always noticed.

"The paper again?" He asked with an already knowing tone.

Chester nodded, slouching a little bit as he turned back to the direction of the kitchen. "Haven't even read it all yet."

"That bad?" Brad frowned, following the shorter boy as he walked towards the paper, which was sprawled out upon the kitchen table messily.

"Yeah." Chester answered heavily, holding the paper in front of his tired face to show Brad, who read the headline aloud quietly.

"Oh my god." He gasped, taking a seat at the table next to his friend. "That- That's the worst one yet."

Chester nodded, breathing out heavily. "Gonna need your help with that one."

"Of course." Brad said almost immediately.

Chester smiled at him softly, before looking back at the paper, turning the page.

'Woman killed in a hit and run.'

'A mother of two was killed yesterday afternoon around 12:30 after she was hit on her way to the store on Chestnut Blvd by an unidentified driver. Updates on her condition will be available shortly.'

"What is this with the shallow reports today?" Chester asked, sighing.

Brad shrugged, shaking his head. "I'm really not sure."

"Fuck." Chester gasped, blinking quickly as he felt his eyes glaze over upon reading the next article.

'Man, 19, commits suicide by jumping off bridge'

Chester read, closing his eyes.

Brad took a deep breath, looking down.

He knew Chester was sensitive to that type of stuff.

After a minute, Chester opened his eyes, and read the rest of the article.

"Micheal Shinoda, age nineteen, committed suicide last night at 8:03pm by jumping off of the bridge on Lakeshore Drive."

A silence filled the room, and Chester and Brad shared sad glances after reading the article.

Brad was the first to break the silence, concern evident in his tone as he spoke. "Do you want me to come with you?"

Chester sat in silence for a minute, before shaking his head, ever-so-slightly. "No thanks, but thanks for the offer."

"A-Are you sure? Beca-"

"I said, no thanks. Do not treat me like a child, Brad. Nothing is going to happen." Chester snapped, standing up from the table suddenly.

Brad tried to apologise, but Chester wasn't having it.

Chester forced Brad to leave, telling him to go help Rob out at the bar.

He agreed hesitantly, telling Chester to call him if and when he needed him

Chester got dressed for the day, scanning over the paper once again after he was done, finding no other life-or-death situation that needed tending to.

"Welcome to my life."