Break Free

Chapter Forty

Mike and Chester were playing checkers in the dining room. Chester had won two games in a row and Mike was wondering how in the world he was so great at such a basic board game. He moved a piece forward and smirked.

"King me," He grinned and Chester placed another checker on top of his, but grinned. He took a piece and jumped over four of Mike's pieces, claiming all of them. He looked to Mike with innocent eyes. Mike groaned, "I give up! How in the world are you so good at this?!"

"All in practice, my dear muggle."

"Have you been watching all those Harry Potter movies again?" 

"Maybe..." Chester grinned and sighed as he heard Brad and Phoenix fighting about some nonsense in the kitchen. "We really need our own place."

"I couldn't agree more," Mike smiled. "This house is great and all, but we need our own space away from these nut-cases." 

"And there's not enough space to get away from that nut-case," Chester gestured towards Mike, who fake pouted.

"Well, maybe I don't want to move now. I can lock the two of us in a closet-"

"Mike, we're already out of the closet."

"We can go back in sometimes, right? Like to... you know," Mike smirked. 

"Nope," Chester simply said and Mike frowned playfully. Chester sighed, "I hate moving though. It stresses me out looking at houses. I can't even watch those home improvement shows."

"Hmm... Well, I could find a home while you pack all our shit," Mike suggested and Chester thought it over.

"Yeah, okay. It'll also save us from having to explain to the relater that we're engaged," Chester smiled softly, hating he'd always have to tip-toe around possible homophobic people. "I also should talk to Talinda. Do you mind if she stays with us when we move? I don't want her ending up on the streets."

"I don't know, Chaz. I mean, she obviously likes you. Wouldn't it be awkward?" Mike bit his lip, trying not to offend Chester by saying this.

"Mike, it won't be. She's our friend and needs help. She'll be out before you know it. She just needs a job," Chester begged gently, not wanting to sound too needy. 

"Okay. But if she makes one move on you, she's out!" Mike threatened and Chester nodded. "Let's tell the others we're moving out."

"Okay," Chester nodded and went to gather everyone into the living room. He managed to find everyone, except Talinda. They sat in the living room with confused faces. 

"We have somethings we'd like to say," Mike started off and smiled at Chester a bit to assure him. "As all of you know, we're engaged and this living situation isn't right for us if we want to expand our family - like getting a dog!" He added quickly. Chester rolled his eyes.

"What Mike's saying is that we're moving out," Chester concluded and looked at the dreadful faces of Phoenix, Brad, and Joe, while Rob and Toby seemed happy.

"That's so strange! Rob and I were talking about moving out just yesterday and decided to do it too," Toby spoke up and that just made the other three squirm.

"You're all moving out? All of you?" Joe asked in a small voice, beginning to tear up a little. "But... but we've had so much fun all together... What am I going to do when my foot smells like cheese? Brad and Phoenix are used to it now. There won't be anyone to make squeal."

"Awe, Joe, it'll be alright," Chester gave him a soft smile and went to hug him. "It's not like you'll never see us. We have our band to tend to, remember?"

"How are you even going to afford a house?" Brad challenged the two, as against them moving out as Joe was. 

"I still have some money from before everything happened and when Scott released Fort Minor's album, I made a ton of money off of it. It went straight to my account," Mike informed him, which was also news to Chester - who hadn't even asked about how they would afford it.

"What about Toby and Rob?" Brad countered, wanting at least them to stick around.

"We were getting an apartment for now. Toby's been working at that coffee shop for a long time now, she basically owns the place." 

"But... you can't leave!" Phoenix pitched in. "Who's going to look after Chester when Mike's out of town?"

"I'm not a dog, Phi," Chester giggled lightly, enjoying the fact that his friends truly did love them. 

"But-"

"Guys! We have to do this, okay? It's not healthy for the band either if we're with each other everyday. We'll end up breaking up before we begin," Mike pointed out and that made enough sense to Brad, who decided to back out of the argument. 

"It won't hurt the band, Mike. Being away from each other will," Phoenix tried again to convince them to stay. 

"No, they're right. They need to get their lives together, something we should be thinking about too. I know we're still young, but we should start thinking about settling down," Brad chipped in and Joe sighed, but nodded. Brad's change of heart made him realize it was selfish to try and keep them there.

"We just love you guys; all of you," Phoenix frowned, looking down. He knew he didn't stand a chance of convincing them to stay.

"We love you guys too, but think about it, it's not the end of us staying together. When we make it big, we'll be together more than we can handle," Chester said with more optimism than he truly had about the band. He wasn't quite sure they could hold themselves together enough to truly make it in the world, but wanted it more than anything. 

"I guess you're right," Phoenix finally caved and Chester went to hug him. Mike followed and joined in, along with all the others. Before any of them knew it, they were all in a group hug, fighting back tears.

"I guess this is it, then. The end and start of something," Mike sighed, leaning more towards Chester than the others in the hug. 

"It's not just that, but we've broken free. We are free," Chester added and gave his friends a tight squeeze. He wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

~

Author's Note:

That was technically the final chapter, but an epilogue and a pretty long ass author's note is still coming up! Stay tuned...