Under Pressure

Part 1

"Yep. All empty down there." His dad was red in the face and disturbingly sweaty. "That's it."

"Cool, that's it."

"Need help with anything else, son?"

"No, dad, Michael and I have everything else covered."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, guess I'll just return the U-Haul then." His dad shuffled over to the door, keys in hand. "You can call me if you need anything. Let me know if that couch doesn't work out."

"I will. Thanks, dad." Jeremy smiled, and he would have gotten up to actually hug his father like a decent, well-adjusted human being, but his arms felt like noodles and the box on his lap was too heavy to move.

"Right. See ya, son."

"See you, dad."

His dad saluted, a little awkwardly, and Jeremy saluted in return, also awkwardly. Then he turned and left the apartment, shutting the badly-insulated door behind him. Jeremy sighed and dropped his head back against the couch cushions, eyes closed.

"Think your dad'll be okay?" Michael had already ripped open one of the boxes and was pulling out the guts.

"Yeah. He should be fine. He said he'd be fine." His dad was alone in their, well, his, house now. Jeremy felt a little guilty about it, and he shouldn't, but he did anyway. But his dad would be fine, he knew this day was coming. He'd warned him about it before the semester ended for the summer. So...

"When's Christine getting here?"

"Oh, shit, I was supposed to text her." Jeremy carefully slid the box from his lap, but he only really managed to tip it over onto its side, contents spilling out onto the cushions and floor since it hadn't been taped shut. He tried to shove it all back inside with one hand, texting Christine with the other. "She said she's on her way."

"Awesome."

This was nice. It was weird, but it was nice. Kind of like moving into his college dorm for the first time, but more permanent. Michael wasted no time in setting up his computer and things were already starting to feel a little homey. When Christine arrived, things picked up a little more. Jeremy had taken a brief power nap before she showed up, and she was ready to go immediately.

"You're really hyped about this." Jeremy crammed some random odds and ends into a desk drawer.

"I love helping people move. It's so fun, you know? Like a game, a puzzle, maybe? And you never know what you'll find. Like this Eminem shirt." Christine fished the shirt in question out of the box she'd been unloading. Jeremy stared at it blankly for a moment.

"Wow. I forgot I'd kept that thing." He forgot he even still had it. It must've been shoved unceremoniously to the bottom of his closet somewhere and stayed submerged until Jeremy started packing up his life. He hadn't even noticed it at the time, but he never actually sorted through any of his junk. Maybe that's why he had so many boxes full of unnecessary garbage.

"You want to keep it? I started a 'stuff-you-should-probably-get-rid-of' pile for you. I can toss it in there." Christine gestured to a small stack of things behind her.

"I..." Jeremy frowned a little, turning his attention back to his box. Who knew such a God-awful shirt could make him feel so... conflicted? He never liked Eminem, he only bought it because Squip had told him to, and it was just an uncomfortable reminder of all the awful shit that proceeded it. Yet, in a weird way, he still wanted to keep it. Maybe that was a problem? It was definitely a problem. Jeremy shrugged a little. "Yeah, get-- Get rid of it. Thanks."