Found

The dark blue-black sky lit up in shades of red and gold as the night receded. Emerson watched from his rooftop as the stars slowly blinked out and the sun started its take over of the cold October sky. It was quiet this early in the morning, with his three roommates either still sleeping or at work. He closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breathe, smelling old leaves, wood smoke from someone's chimney and frost. He was freezing. His bare feet were numb. He pulled the blanket he'd brought out with him the night before tighter around his shoulders and shivered.

The roof was one of his favorite places. From where he was sitting he could see the sunrise perfectly and spent many mornings watching it. It was a good place to think, quieter than inside the house and intrusions were so much less likely than they would be if he stayed in his room or went down to the back porch. He had known all of his roommates since high school, he loved them all like siblings, and he didn't mind the busy atmosphere of the house, but sometimes he just needed the peace the rooftop brought him.

He'd been up there all night without even realizing. As soon as everyone had left for work or gone to sleep he had climbed out his window to watch the sky.

His tired, blue-gray eyes shifted down to look at the peice of paper his boss had shoved in his hand weeks before, as Emerson tried to skirt past her to leave. He sighed and ran his fingers thru his long greasy black curls as he remembered her words. She'd explained that the phone number on the small scrap of paper belonged to a group that helped low income people get behavioral health services, and that she felt he needed help. She'd been concerned about him, she claimed. His performance at work wasn't great and it was pissing her off is how he'd translated that.

It wasn't that he disliked his job. He just... didn't care. He worked evenings at a small pizza joint who's customers mainly consisted of teenagers who couldn't find anything better to do than unscrew the lids on pepper shakers and make messes in the booths or vandalize the bathroom. The managers hid in the back room and refused to do much of anything, and blamed Emerson and the other employees under them for any problems. It was tiresome.

He'd been up all night, alternating between staring angrily at the phone number he now had almost memorized and watching the stars as the whirlwind in his head raged, thoughts chasing each other in circles. He sighed and pulled his knees up to his chest. He let go of the paper and watched it flutter away as the wind and gravity fought over it. He didn't need it. He was fine. Just fine. He didn't need anyone from work meddling in his private life.

Almost exactly as he'd started to move back towards the window to go inside, he heard a high pitched yelp. He looked down toward the end of his driveway and cackled at the young man standing there.

"The fuck, dude?!" The figure on the ground yelled. "What the hell are you doing up there? You scared the shit out of me!"

"Good morning!" Emerson yelled back, still laughing, and he turned and crawled back thru his window. Once inside he stretched and went to meet his roommate downstairs.

Ezekiel "Zee" Jameson glared up at him as Emerson made his way down the last few stairs. Zee was the youngest member of the household and probably the loudest.

"You looked like a freaking gargoyle or some shit, sitting up there in the dark. Seriously, Em, you damn near gave me a heart attck!"

"Sorry, dude. I couldn't sleep. Calm down before you wake Lacey up" Emerson flopped back onto their old couch, exhausted. "How was work?"

Zee groaned loudly and threw himself down next to his friend dramatically, almost landing on him in the process. "We all need to start playing the lottery, so we can all just quit our jobs. Tell Lacey, I'll try and convince Denny. I fucking hate that place." The slight brown haired man complained. "Anyone who comes in after 10 is either drunk or insane and I am soooo tired of dealing with crazy drunk people." He closed his bright green eyes and dropped his head back onto the back of the couch with a huff.

"Don't let Dresden hear you call him Denny," Emerson laughed, "he'll kill you."

"At least then I wouldn't have to go back to the gas station." Zee grumbled. He continued to tell Emerson exaggerated stories about the 'crazy drunk people' who'd come into the gas station and speculate about the probability of one of them winning the lottery for the next half hour, waving his hands around so much he nearly backhanded Emerson several times.

"Dude. Seriously. If you wake her up, you're on your own. Inside voice, my small friend."

"Whatever, man. I'm exhausted. Wake me up when you leave for work?"

"Yea, later dude."

Emerson watched the younger man trudge up the stairs as he contemplated getting some sleep himself. It'd been weeks since he'd had more than a couple hours of sleep at a time. After a few minutes he decided he might as well just stay up and make coffee. Lacey would be getting up soon and Dresden would be on his way back from the museum. He figured if he went to sleep now he wouldn't wake up for work that afternoon. He couldn't afford to lose yet another job because of his insane sleep patterns.

He stood and ambled past the counter that served as a table and separated the living room from the dimly lit kitchen. As he was making coffee, a small blonde woman in a pink tank top and fuzzy blue and pink pajama pants stumbled into the kitchen. She flopped down into a chair and laid her head in her arms.

"Mmfph." She said into her arms.

"Morning, Lace. " Emerson responded. "Do you want coffee?"

She grumbled something in reply and he started pulling cups out for them. He sat down and handed her one of the cups. They sat in silence for a bit while they sipped coffee and Lacey glared at the table. Out of the four of them, Lacey was the worst at waking up. She hated mornings with a passion. After a while Emerson glanced over at her and noticed her staring at him.

"Did I grow horns overnight?" He joked. "Zee did mention I looked like a gargoyle."

"No," she said, "but you look like shit."

"Gee, thanks, Lace." He replied. "You're so sweet this morning."

She looked over at her friend. Dark bloodshot blue eyes peered back at her from a thin pale sickly face, surrounded by dark purple bags that told her he wasn't sleeping again. He raked a hand thru his dark hair as she looked him over. It was greasy and wild, standing up every which way. He hadn't changed his clothes or shaved in a few days. Dark stubble covered his cheeks.

"You look sick, Emmie." She told him quietly. "You need sleep, you need to eat, and you need to shower. You can't go to work like this. I wish you'd call in."

"I'm fine, Lace." He smiled at her " I just had a rough night."

The front door opened and their final roommate, Dresden, walked in. He tossed his car keys at Lacey and sat down next to Emerson, unbuttoning and shrugging off the shirt to his security uniform.

"Is there food?" The tall blonde man asked hopefully.

Emerson stood and looked thru the cupboards and empty fridge. Cringing at the lack of anything edible. They really needed to get groceries more often.

"There's coffee, about a half a cup of milk.... oh, never mind on the milk. It's bad..... oh! There's an orange!" He smiled triumphantly and tossed the orange to Dresden. "I'll go and grab some stuff. I just need to shower quick."

"Nope. Lacey can get groceries, right Sis? You don't have classes today, do you?" Dresden said quickly. Lacey nodded and he turned his attention back on Emerson. "You need sleep dude. You obviously haven't done that for a while. Go to bed."

"If I fall asleep now I'll miss work." Emerson replied flatly. These two were getting on his nerves already.

"Dresden can wake you and Zee up when he gets up at one." Lacey replied stubbornly. "I'll get groceries. Go."

Emerson sighed, giving up, and glared at the siblings sitting at their makeshift table. He absolutely detested when they ganged up on him like this. The Edwards siblings were the very definition of stubborn and there was rarely any use arguing with either of them. Fights between the two often turned into all out wars that turned the entire household upside down for weeks. He spun away and stomped up the stairs. He'd humor them simply to get them to leave him be, he decided.

He closed the door to his room, sat on his bed and looked around. His room was a disaster. There were clothes piled up everywhere, dishes sitting on his desk, paint from a half finished project forgotten in the corner had tipped over and dripped from the desk into his chair. A large orange puddle had formed there, now half dry and sticky. Old paintings and sketches, some only partially finished, lay scattered across nearly every surface. He sighed and flopped back on his bed, shutting his eyes against the mess. He would deal with it later, he told himself.

Moments later he had fallen asleep without meaning to, laying sprawled out on his back with his legs dangling over the side of the bed and his arms thrown over his head.

...

The two siblings sat in silence for a few moments after Emerson went upstairs. Lacey stood and started going through cupboards and the fridge, furiously scribbling on a sheet of paper. Dresden watched his sister a moment longer before he spoke.

"I'm beginning to worry about him. He's never been like this. Do you know what's going on? Did something change?" He asked.

"He won't tell me anything. I have no clue." She sighed and turned towards her older brother. "One minute, he was fine. He was painting and singing. We hung out and ate pizza while you and Zee were at work and then when I woke up the next morning, he was still down here just staring at the wall. He hadn't been able to sleep. And he's been a zombie since."

Dresden looked around the messy kitchen. They took turns cleaning, rotating rooms each week so that no one was stuck doing everything constantly. It was supposed to be Emerson's week to take care of the kitchen. Normally their friend was a clean freak who couldn't stand even a speck of dust. This week, however, dirty dishes hid the counter and filled the sink. The trash can was over flowing and had 2 full bags sitting next to it. Something sticky had spilled on the tile floor at some point. He stood and started emptying the sink, having decided to try to do a few loads of dishes before he too went to sleep. While he cleaned he thought about his friend, concerned. Emerson had been Lacey's friend first. They'd been in the same grade and had been inseparable from the moment he'd moved there. Dresden was originally just along for the ride, having been the only one able to drive at the time, 15 year old Lacey had insisted on it until she'd gotten her driver's license. And by the time that happened, Emerson had grown on him nearly as much as he had Lacey.

Lacey continued writing her shopping list and watched her brother. She was irritated at their friend, not understanding why he hadn't wanted to talk to her the night before. She had tried to get him to open up when he'd gotten home from work and they'd fought until finally he'd just walked away from her. When she tried to follow him he had slammed his door in her face. Then she had come back downstairs and saw the state of their small kitchen. She had been planning to confront him about it this morning but then he'd made her coffee and she had seen how sick he appeared to be suddenly, all her concerns about the mess had flown from her mind. Her normally happy, easy going friend had been irritable and angry for weeks, hiding in his room or sitting out on the roof for most of the day. When he did come out, they all found themselves walking on eggshells around him, not understanding his strange mood swings. They were used to his random bouts of insomnia, but this was something more. Something worse.

Lacey thought Emerson was the best of all of them. He'd always been one to try and help anyone he could. He always had a kind word or even just a smile for everyone. Hell, he had been the one to insist on taking Zee home with them five years ago. Once they had found him, Emerson had been adamant that Zee stayed with their little group. But lately the Emerson she knew had disappeared, leaving behind an angry, sarcastic shell that cared very little for anything. It scared her.

She finally finished her list and left, still thinking about her two friends and Emerson's strange behavior.

...

Emerson woke up to absolute chaos. He wasnt sure what was going on but it seemed like the house had turned into a warzone while he'd been asleep. There was banging and screaming and Zee was laughing maniacally. He sighed and stretched his arms out and started to push himself up off the bed to investigate the loud noises coming from somewhere in the house. The laughter was getting closer. Just as he sat up his door flew open and he was tackled back down onto the bed. He opened his eyes to find Zee sitting on his chest, grinning mischievously.

"Hi, Em!" Zee chirped. "I love you, best friend! Save me again, please?" The flamboyant, hyperactive boy grinned down at him.

Emerson pushed him off and sat up so he could breathe. Then stared at his roommate in confusion. The smaller man buried himself under Emerson's bedding, giggling quietly, as another figure appeared in the doorway.

Emerson turned to see Dresden standing in his bedroom doorway, with a murderous look on his face, his hazel eyes flashing dangerously. The tall blonde man appeared very disheveled and out of breath, and was for some reason soaking wet.

"Uh.... do I want to know what happened?" Emerson asked him cringing.

"Where is he?" Dresden bellowed. "I just heard him. The little shit rigged the back door so whoever opened it got water dumped on them."

Zee popped back up out of the large pile of blankets, giggling madly. "I tried to warn you, Denny!" He crowed, not the least bit apologetic, "It was supposed to get Lacey! It was payback for the fucking spiders!" He fell back onto Emerson's bed and put his hands over his face with a groan. "Now I have to come up with something else!" He whined. "You've ruined everything, you big oaf!"

Three weeks previously Lacey had went out and bought as many fake spiders as she could find and covered Zee's bed in them. The 19 year old had screeched so loudly the neighbor had called the police, stating someone was being murdered there.

The two took turns playing pranks on each other. Every now and then one of the other boys ended up caught in the middle of their silly antics. Neither Emerson nor Dresden particularly cared for the stupid pranks the other two came up with, but it kept Zee and Lacey entertained enough to leave them out of it usually.

"Don't call me Denny, you little ass! Lacey isn't even home! She went to work an hour ago, moron!" Dresden yelled.

Emerson looked back and forth between his friends, not fully awake and very perplexed. "Wait. What time is it? I work at 4."

"Uhm...." Zee replied uncomfortably.

"Your boss called a while back. I told her you weren't feeling well and you were asleep, but you'd be there this evening for your shift. She said you didn't need to come in tonight but that you needed to call her when you woke up." Dresden informed him. "I was going to wake you up after I had a cigarette but I got distracted by the munchkin."

Emerson immediately panicked and ran downstairs. He grabbed his phone off the charger in the kitchen and dialed his bosses number, a pit of dread in his stomach.

"Hi, Emily. It's me, Emerson. My roommate said you called earlier? I'm so sorry I wasn't awake." He said when she answered.

"Yeah... hey." She said. "I'm afraid we're going to have to let you go. If you could bring your uniform in this evening that'd be great. Your last check will be in the mail. We've just had too many complaints and this isn't working."

Emerson hung up without responding. He had known this was coming. He wished he'd been able to find another job first. He wasnt sure how he was going to pay his portion of the bills. He turned the phone off, not wanting to deal with anyone else who might call him, and trudged dejectedly back up the stairs to find his roommates still bickering in his bedroom. As soon as he walked in they fell silent.

"I guess I'm unemployed." He told them quietly. He shrugged his shoulders, knowing no one was going to be surprised by this. If they'd felt there was any chance of him having a job after tonight they wouldn't have let him sleep so long, he reasoned.

Dresden shrugged. "Its cool dude. We've got you covered for now. I'll text Lace, she gets off at 10. I'm off and so is Zee. Since we're all gonna be here maybe we can do something tonight, get your mind off it and have some fun. It's been a while"

"Yes!" Zee yelled, the argument from moments before already long forgotten. "We haven't done anything in fucking ages! I never see any of you, like ever, and we freaking live together" he threw his hands out flamboyantly to gesture at the other two men and fell to his knees on the floor "I miss you guys!"

"....... you're ridiculous, Munchkin." Dresden laughed.

"Stop calling me Munchkin, Denny! I'm not that short!" Zee whined loudly.

"Sure. Just as soon as you stop calling me Denny, Munchkin."

Emerson sighed as their petty bickering resumed, knowing none of them were going to leave him alone tonight, especially once Lacey was informed of their plans. "I need a ride to the pizza place first. I have to turn in the uniform."

"Lacey has the car. Text the manager and tell them you're bringing it tomorrow, or we can walk down there if you really want to." Dresden told him. Neither Zee nor Emerson drove. Zee's attention span was just too short. He couldn't concentrate long enough to pass a driving test. And Emerson just couldn't afford his own car. The Edwards' siblings shared Dresden's car. If Dresden was working, Lacey either rode her bike or walked since the college she attended was near by and her job was at the library on campus.

The three decided to wait until the next day to return the uniform. Dresden went downstairs to find food and texted his sister about the plan for that night, leaving Zee and Emerson in the disaster Emerson called his bedroom. Lacey would be back in about three hours.

Emerson looked around his room, disgusted with himself that it had gotten so bad. He walked around, slowly picking up his old clothes. He heard movement behind him and turned to see Zee was still sitting on his bed, rocking back and forth and humming quietly to himself. He was now surrounded by Emerson's drawings, slowly organizing them into piles.

Emerson thought about when he had met all his friends. Lacey had been first. He had been walking down the hallway, trying to find his English class. She had literally run right into him in her hurry to get to the same class. The petite blonde girl insisted on showing him the entire school, since they were both already late anyhow, and they never made it to the classroom. In fact, at one point they had even been on the roof. They had become friends very quickly after that, and soon after, Dresden had become his friend as well. Lacey's older brother had met up with them at lunch and Lacey had introduced him excitedly, insisting they were all 'besties' from that point on. Both boys had looked at her like she had two heads and Dresden had reminded her that they were stuck with each other, like it or not, being siblings. He then told Emerson to save himself while he still could and run far, far away. Emerson now smiled to himself at the thought.

Dresden had watched out for Emerson and Lacey as much as he could until he graduated at the end of that year, kept them from doing anything too stupid and drove them where they needed to go. When Dresden had moved several hours away for school, he had joked that the town needed someone new to protect the town from Lacey and assigned Emerson the job. Emerson had looked up to Dresden from day one and thought of him as the older brother he'd never had. He envied the siblings relationship in the beginning, wishing that any of his three sisters had cared about him even the slightest bit.

Zee was another story altogether. Emerson and Lacey had been walking back to her parents' house from the Halloween festival that their high school held every year. They had decided to go simply because it was their last year, and had left early because the entire thing was lacking. The 'festival' consisted of three vendors and a couple terrible games. The gym hadn't even been decorated. They had walked a different route than they usually would, wanting to see all the decorations around town. Even if the school wasn't great at celebrating Halloween, the rest of the town was. Halfway home that night, Lacey had stopped and told him she could have sworn she heard crying. She had grabbed him by the hand and dragged him back, retracing their steps past an old alley, where they had definitely heard someone crying quietly. When they found him, Zee had been terrified. He was curled up in a ball, freezing and covered in blood. His parents had thrown him out without anything to protect him from the weather. Emerson had taken off his jacket and put it on the small boy. Then he spent the next two hours convincing the frightened boy that neither of them would hurt him, that they would take him somewhere safe. He then had carried the boy on his back the entire way back to Lacey's house because the poor kid hadn't even had shoes, and it was snowing. Later that evening they learned that Zee had endured years of abuse, never discovered because he had been homeschooled. The boy had absolutely no concept of how the world worked. He wasnt permitted to leave home except to go to the church his family belonged to. His parents had found out that he was gay, beaten him bloody and literally thrown him out the door. Mrs. Edwards had gone to the courthouse the following morning, and had taken the boy back to his parents' house with guardianship papers. His parents had signed the papers and told her never to bring him back. They no longer had a son.

Zee interrupted Emerson's thoughts. "Whatcha thinkin' about, Em?" He asked softly. "You looked sad."

Emerson smiled at him. His friend had changed a lot in the last few years. "You, little brother. I was just thinking it's good to see you happy. Even if you are a pain in the ass." He replied.

Zee grinned back at him. He was also deeply worried for his friend. This side of Emerson made him uneasy, reminded him of his mom. He desperately hoped their plans for tonight would help shake Emerson out of whatever had its claws in him.

...