On a steady diet of soda pop and Ritalin [tag-Gab]

[Zachary Mark Flaherty]

Zach sighed. He sat there, with his chin on his knees. Four days. That's all that it was. Four days since his heart was ripped from him. Four days, that his baby girl died. He didn't have any more tears to cry over her anymore. He was now even friends with Hugo. How that made any sense he wasn't sure. But he rather have him there, in case anything else happened. He sighed again. It was only a matter of time before someone found him. He wasn't home all day, he just couldn't be there, in the same room as were his baby girl left.

The same room, that he slept in. The apartment that gave her the pneumonia that killed her. He sighed again. Why. Why did everyone close to him die when his life was just starting to turn around. First it was Garrett. Now his own daughter. Life was really starting to fuck Zach over. And he knew that.

He sighed, and watched the frozen water, his black hood over his coal black hair. He had skinny jeans and converse on, and he looked pretty normal, though usually he had some color on him. Now now. He was all black. Like someone who went to a funeral. You could say that he was. He was sitting almost all morning over little Ember's grave. He was still shocked that he baby girl was gone.

He thought about Kyle. Kyle was his age now, when he killed himself. He sighed. It was yesterday that it was anniversary that Kyle committed suicide. He remembered the blood dripping from the hanging body, from the wound that he inflicted on himself. The cold, dead stare from the green eyes. Zach turned out just like Kyle. Except you know, alive now. The day still haunted his memories. It scarred him for life, so of course it was going to stay with him. Zach couldn't handle funerals well. He forced himself to stay at them though. But at Ember's, he just couldn't. He had walked out and sat outside every once in a while, and yet no one blamed him. Sydney didn't. She knew that he was so attached to Ember.

He pulled out a cigarette and a lighter. He lit it and stuck it in his mouth. There wasn't anything that would cheer him up. He lost his baby girl only after five months. She had to have his luck and his immune system.

[Gabriel Taylor Adams]

From The Windows They Were Watching
While We Froze

It'd been awhile since he'd run into Joey and Jeremy. Life had been mostly uneventful. How dull. So Gabriel had started walking, looking for something. Surely there had to be something in this town worth living over. The snow still fell, today more than ever, turning the town into a winter wonderland.

Too bad Gabriel wasn't one to enjoy such a thing. He'd gone on a run, going nowhere and everywhere, shoes scraping on the sidewalk and sliding on the ice. Twice he nearly fell flat on his ass.

And now, here he was, at the lake. Crouched at the lakeside, staring at the water as if he wanted to drown himself in the icy water was someone Gabriel knew well. Zachary Flaherty, resident pain in the ass and moper. Gabriel wondered what could have possibly happened this time around. Standing nearly ankle deep in the snow, Gabriel watched him.

He wouldn't ever forget coming through that doorwar, following Annabel's sobs, and seeing that body. He'd never forget the weight, dead weight, as he cut Garrett down.

Some nightmares would never allow themselves to be shut away. Never. Gabriel watched Zach light up a cigarette and puff away, finally daring to come over. He stood just behind him, knowing Zach had heard him coming. The snow had crunched under his weight all the way over.

"You know, if you're going to drown yourself, you have to actually get in the water." Gabriel glanced out over the frozen expanse of water. "What're you thinking about, Zach?"



Down Below

[Zachary Mark Flaherty]

Zach heard foot steps, and yet he didn't seem to care. He watched the water, thinking about Ember. He took another puff of his cigarette. He didn't care if he was in the snow or not. He didn't at all. He was to depressed to. He let the cigarette sit on his lips, just waiting. Watching.

He didn't answer Gabriel's comment for a moment. "I don't want to drowned myself." He said, almost adding that Ember would want him to, so she could have her daddy. "Just trying to think about how to explain something to someone who wants me dead as it is." He said.

That gave it away. He wanted to tell something to Gabriel. That Ember was gone. "If I told you, Ember was gone. Would you kill me?" He asked, looking up at him. His blue eyes stared at him, pain and misery in his eyes.

He sighed. "Ember's dead." He said, clearly as best that he could. He choked it out though. He didn't like that she was gone. His own daughter dead. Only if she didn't go. He would rather of died then let her go. He sighed.

He was afraid of Gabriel's reaction. He knew that Gabriel liked Ember, and that Ember loved him. She was so young. He sighed, and took the cigarette out of his mouth, and put it into the snow. He rested his forehead on his knees.

Sleepless nights. Never eating. Never drinking. Zach could pass out and would need to be brought to the hospital soon. He was so much skinnier from being very sick, and he was now just to depressed to think about food. All the bones in his face stuck out, and he didn't care. He looked back up at Gabriel.

"Gabriel.. She caught the pneumonia from me. She had my luck and my immune system. She couldn't handle it." He said. He brushed the hair from his face, his face showing completely.

[Gabriel Taylor Adams]

I Find It Kind Of Sad
The Dreams In Which We're Dying

Ember was gone.

Gabriel's breath caught in his throat, and he shut his eyes, trying to black out the image glued to his eyelids. Ember's little giggle echoed in his ears. He took a few unsteady breaths, resisting the urge to drop into the snow. Gone? No, that wasn't fair. Eyes snapping open, he stared at the back of Zach's head for a long time. He'd long since learned Zach didn't have a sense of humor. No.

Gone.

The misery in Zach's eyes did nothing. Gabriel had long since learned how to ignore something like that.

"I think the biggest punishment is living through some things like this," Gabriel murmured. Abruptly, Gabriel came around to stand in front of Zach, jerking him up by one arm.

"Listen to me. Are you going to mope? Just sit around and waste your life?"

Gabriel wasn't a big theorist. He didn't go around spewing philosophies as a rule, but Zach needed a smack in the face.

"Listen to me. You're alive. I'm alive. I don't know why Ember died, but that doesn't mean you need to go around crying and moping. Ember was little, but kids, they pick up things like depression. Do you think she'd want you moping around, feeling sorry for yourself?"

"You're being selfish! Ember's gone, and all you can think about is how miserable you can make yourself. What if I stuck this knife to your ribs and told you that you had a week to live?"

Gabriel snarled. "I'm one of the most screwed up son of a bitches you'll meet, but I know I'm alive. I'm not gonna tell you I haven't thought about killing myself, I've put up with so much shit. But I'm alive. And every day I'm grateful for that."

"What are you goign to do, Zach?"


Are The Best I've Ever Had

[Zachary Mark Flaherty]

Zach just sighed. He waited for Gabriel's reaction. It was silent for a moment, and he didn't want to think about Ember. He didn't at all. He was the one that put the baby to bed, and the parent that found her dead. Panic was starting to stop in his brain. He felt a hand around his arm and he was yanked up. Sadly, it didn't take much to pull Zach up at the moment.

He was sick still, but he didn't care. He was skinny has hell, so his body was weak. "What was that for?" He asked. He started at him. "I don't know..probably not.. That doesn't mean that I can't mope around for a week..." He said.

He looked down and sighed. "She would have figured out that something was wrong where her father soon or a later." He said.

He kicked his feet. "I am not..its called morning the dead." He said. He didn't think that he was being selfish. He was just not in the mood. It was day after fourteen years ago that Kyle killed himself. He bit his lip at that thought. "You don't have a clue what I'm going through this week.." He said.

He had tried to get a job, but they laughed and just told him to get out. He sighed. "Personally, if you did, I wouldn't care.." He said. "I wouldn't like it, but i probably wouldn't stop you."

He didn't look at him. He was afraid of him, which was scary. He brushed his hair out of his face, the bones in his face starting to stick out a lot more then they did when he was sick.

"I don't know, Gabriel.. I just don't know anymore."

He looked at him for a moment. Sadly, Zach looked like he really needed to go to the hospital. He was very dehydrated and he hadn't eaten in a while, because he was so sick. He looked down. "Wanna let go of my arm now?" He asked.

He pulled his arm away from him and brushed his hair out of his face again. He was so sick looking, and he looked like he was about to pass out.