Jimmy returns to home

Piers was getting ready to leave after his shift came to an end. He didn't expect or want Jimmy to follow him to his home. The reason was simple; he believed that he should apologize to his parents as soon as possible. Although that would empty up his house once again, it would make Jimmy happy at least.

Therefore, he tried leaving the X-mall without waiting for Jimmy to come out as well. Since he would meet Jimmy in the mall in the days to come, he wasn't that sad. However, Piers did not expect Jimmy to come running to him not fully dressed in the middle of a heavy snow. "Piers! Wait." Jimmy called out from his back.

Piers sighed. "Are you an idiot? Why would you wear clothes like this? Just wear the coat, fast! Don't worry about me. I will wait here." Piers assured him.

"Hmm, is that so?" Jimmy believed Piers' words and went back to the mall. On his way back, he sneezed once or twice, to which Piers shook his head in disappointment.

A few minutes later, Jimmy came back wearing the clothes that hadn't been washed for two days at the very least. Piers didn't wash this back in his house because he didn't feel the need to. At least, this one didn't have blood stains like the Santa costume had. And there were times he wore the same cloth for a straight week without washing it, so he didn't think of it as a big deal.

"So, what is it?" Piers asked. He acted a bit distant this time. The Piers who had acted cheerful a few hours ago was nowhere to be seen. This worried Jimmy a bit. He thought maybe he was bullied in the school that day too and didn't want to talk to him about it. Or… for the first time in a long time, he was not bullied at all and now he might have begun to despise him. Normally, Piers hating him would've been fine, but for some reason, he felt hurt now that he thought of that prospect.

"Do you hate me now, Piers?" Jimmy just went straight forward with his question. He thought he might have sounded cheesy with that line, but he didn't particularly care. He didn't know that he could make a friend withing the span of a few days and now that he made one, he didn't want to lose him because of his idiotic past. Jimmy didn't think he should change entirely, but believed that he should change his behavior a bit just for the friend before him though.

Piers couldn't believe what he just heard. "What? Hell, no! How did you come up with this conclusion?" Piers asked. It was true that he kept a reasonable distance from Jimmy after returning from school because he heard that his parents are frantically searching for him. He thought that if he acted like this, Jimmy might go back to his parents and apologize for his actions. However, he did not expect Jimmy to get this conclusion.

"Well, you were acting distant from me, so I thought you might not wanna talk to me anymore. I thought that no one might've bullied you today and understood that I am the one plaguing your life." Jimmy sighed. He never felt this pain before�� Piers sure had many friends now that he thought about it, while he had none who considered him as one. Therefore, it might not be a big deal for him if he was to not consider Jimmy as his friend, but for Jimmy, losing one was a big deal.

However, what Jimmy said never even crossed Piers' mind even once. So, he just cracked up in laughter. "Oh, my! You really thought that? That was never my original plan though! But it's cool to see that you care about our friendship now." Piers smiled.

"Ah, I didn't mean like that!" Jimmy tried protesting, but was happy that Piers didn't consider breaking their friendship. Now that he knew about it, another question came to his mind. "What were you trying to do then?" He asked.

"Ah, I was thinking like maybe if I tried acting all distant to you, you might actually go back to your parents and apologize and stuff. I'm not saying that having you in my house got annoying or something, but I heard that they are really worried and are frantically searching for you. Don't you think you should go?" Piers asked.

Jimmy stood still for a while before answering. "Look, it's not like I don't want to go back and apologize, it's more of a worry from my part about them not accepting me back. Like we had a real ugly spat before I was thrown out. So, I don't know what kind of reception I will get." Jimmy replied.

Piers sighed. "Didn't you just hear what I said? I said they were FRANTICALLY searching for you. Their actions show that they are sorry for their actions on their part. So, why don't you go apologize for messing up as well?" Piers asked.

"Hmm… That…" Jimmy really did want to go back but didn't understand what was stopping him from doing so.

"Do you want me to go with you as well?" Piers got close to Jimmy's concerned face and asked. He sported a smile that melted Jimmy's soul. At that moment, he thought that Piers would have been a better candidate to receive the main system, because he was pure by heart and actions, unlike himself. However, thinking about it again, he thought that it might have been a bad idea, because he would have never got an awakened power. For a split second, he totally forgot about that Satan was recruiting as well. But, maybe that was kinda intentional from his part.

Anyway, he made a decision. "Please do." He smiled back, and both of them headed to Jimmy's home.

#

Martha and Jamie Higgins were devastated ever since their son left the house. Even though it hadn't even been a day or two, they never expected Jimmy to actually stay out for the entire day. They were worried. It snowed heavily on Christmas night. And Jimmy was out in that weather. While Martha cursed herself on her inability to stop Jimmy from going, Jaime thought he was equally responsible as well.

They had been searching for Jimmy the entire day. They asked the school, their relatives and even the delinquent kids' parents for help. However, no one knew where Jimmy was. It was truly a painful experience for them.

They didn't have the dinner that they carefully prepared for the Christmas night after he left, because they felt that it would only leave a bad taste if they were to eat it without Jimmy around. So, they waited by the doorstep, hoping that Jimmy would come any time soon.

Occasionally, the doorbell rang, and they excitedly opened the door expecting their son's face. However, it was always some other person asking about their son's disappearance and whereabouts. Eventually, they got tired of this routine and were about to go to sleep, when the doorbell rang one last time that night.

Although Jaime walked to the door, he didn't have toe enthusiasm from before, because he didn't expect Jimmy when he actually opened the door. However, contrary to his expectations, he could see his son standing before his doorstep with a boy that he didn't know. He couldn't contain himself and tightly hugged Jimmy, making sure to keep him close this time.

Hearing this commotion, Martha came in as well and was in tears when she saw her son safe and sound. She ran towards Jimmy and hugged him as well. The three of them started crying. If someone else saw this scene, they might suspect that they were seeing each other after a long time. However, for the Higgins, even the small separation seemed long since they were always together. Meanwhile, the boy with Jimmy smiled as he saw the event unfold.

#

Martha, wiped her tears as she let go of Jimmy. Eventually, Jamie let go as well, once Jimmy assured that he isn't going anywhere for now. That's when they glanced at the boy beside their son. "Jimmy, who is this?" Martha asked, since Jimmy had never brought kids to their home.

"He… He is Piers." Jimmy replied. "He's the one I beat into a pulp."

Hearing this, Piers slapped Jimmy's wrist. "And then the one who saved me from a massive beating as well." He spoke.

"Which was basically caused due to me." Jimmy retorted.

"Still saved me though!" He smiled before turning his attention to Jimmy's parents. "Hello, Mr and Mrs Morgan. I'm Piers Hendrickson; Jimmy's friend." He introduced himself.

Jimmy's parents were weirded out by this scenario. Jimmy just brought in someone and told that he was the one whom Jimmy bullied. However, the one Jimmy claimed to bully was cheerfully saying that Jimmy was his friend. It was truly weird in their eyes. Nevertheless, both of them were standing out in the snow, so the first thing the Higgins did was invite them both in.

#