The supermarket was busy that Saturday afternoon, mostly with families, and Drew could not go two feet without someone's kid bumping into him. He had just dodged one of the brats and ended up in the dairy isle when he spotted a familiar figure towards the other end, dressed in a deep red t-shirt and black jeans, down on one knee to examine some cheeses. He opened his mouth to call out to them, but before he could, three small children went zooming past him with unintelligible squeals. Drew just caught a glimpse of dark eyes looking up in startlement before the children bulldozed into David, taking him to the floor with peals of laughter.

"Oh, my god! What are you boys doing?" came the distraught voice of their mother from behind Drew. A woman with auburn hair to her elbows, and who only came up to his chest, raced past him and towards her children to peel them off the figure on the floor. "Who is that? Who did you—David? Is that you, David? Oh, my God—get off him, Damien—are you alright?"

"I'm okay, Mrs. Hanigan," David said. He tried to stand, but the three boys refused to let him, and he ended up only getting as far as sitting on the floor. "I was close to the ground anyway."

"I'm so sorry," the woman said. "Boys, let him go."

But they completely ignored her. "We haven't seen you in forever," said one, holding on to his shirt collar. "When are you coming back?" asked another, sitting in David's lap and playing with the piercings in his ear. "Why did you leave?" asked the third, hugging an arm. "Were we bad?" They were each only one year apart, but looked more like identical triplets than simply brothers, all with the same auburn hair as their mother.

"Boys—"

"It's okay, Mrs. Hanigan," David said.

She sighed. "You always spoiled them," she said, sounding more wistful than angry. "No wonder they miss you."

Looking down at the boys, Drew could tell, even at that distance, from the look on David's face that he missed them too.

"Boys," David said, his voice firm yet gentle. Immediately they fell quiet. "Listen when your mom talks to you. Say you're sorry."

In one movement and voice they looked up at their mom and chorused we're sorry! Not I, but we, as if they were one mind and body. Their duty done, they turned back to their old babysitter. "When are you coming back?" the one on his lap asked. "Why did you leave," asked the one hugging his arm. Turning big green eyes up at him, the little boy added, "Is it because we were bad?" This was followed immediately by the other two promising they would be good.

Mrs. Hannigan, like all the other parents he used to babysit for, knew why David had stopped. With a glance at him, she tried to silence her children, but once more David said it was alright.

Bringing all of them in front of him, he looked at each of the boys, met and held their expectant, worried, and curious gazes equally. "Were you worried?" he asked quietly. They all nodded, the one on his arm beginning to sniff. "I'm sorry. I left suddenly without telling you. You weren't bad, and I wasn't angry. I just had to go."

"Why?" asked the one on his arm in that prolonged, childish way.

"Because—" He hesitated. "Because you don't need me anymore," he said. "Look, you're all grown up."

The boys could not be happier about—or proud—about that and began to tell him about all the ways in which they were grown.

"You've still got it, David," said Mrs. Hannigan with a smile. She ushered the boys away, and after they ran off with many waves to David, she paused. "You do still have it, David," she said meaningfully. "We were lucky to have you, and I hope someday another family will have the chance to say the same."

David, not knowing what to say, could only nod his thanks. With a waved and a smile, she walked after her sons.

Drew, who had spent the whole exchange loitering and eavesdropping while pretending to inspect some yogurt, came up behind him. "You should do it again," he said.

David jumped and turned. "Do what?" he asked.

"Babysit," Drew said. "You were good at it."

Dark eyes glanced at him. "Because I had good kids."

Drew smiled. "Yeah." Then he heaved a sigh. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Buying crystal meth. It's a supermarket, what do you think I'm doing here?"

"I don't know your life."

David gave a sharp sigh, shook his head, and moved away. Drew naturally fell into step behind him, without deciding or aware of what he was doing, he followed the other teenager down the aisle and into the other.

"Are you following me?" David asked, turning abruptly.

"Little bit."

"Didn't you come in here for something?"

"Yeah, but I forgot what." He was in a strange mood, one that Drew had not seen before. Impatient, upset, maybe even a little worried. It piqued Drew's curiosity. "What's got you in such a mood?" he asked. "You were nice just a minute ago. Is it me?"

"No," David said, turning away and continuing walking.

"You only answered my last question," Drew said, following.

"So?"

"Jesus," he murmured under his breath. "The major must have his hands full." The next minute he pulled up short as David whipped around.

"What did you say?" came the sharp question, dark eyes narrowed.

"Uh..."

"Why did you say that?"

"Uh..."

"Is there something you want to say to me?"

"Not really," Drew said, taking a step back in unnerved discomfort. This really was a mood he had not seen before.

With a last, lingering glare, David turned away. Drew took a breath, shook his head, then followed. It never occurred to him to just leave the other teenager to himself. They walked up one aisle and down another in silence. At the canned good section, David was the one who spoke.

"I'm sorry," he said, not looking at Drew. "I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"Something going on with you?" Drew asked.

Standing with one hand resting on a shelf, David sighed. "Isn't it always something?"

"What happened?" Dark eyes glanced at him, and for the first time Drew saw how red they were, as if he hadn't been sleeping. "What happened?" he asked again, more seriously.

David lowered his head, the fringe of hair over his nap swaying. "Suddenly the world feels something like Jell-O," he said, almost to himself.

"Excuse me?"

"Ah," David glanced at him, slightly embarrassed. "Never mind."

But Drew had come to enjoy a certain level of openness with David and was not about to let him back away from it now. "No, what does it mean? You used to say it when we were little."

David looked at him. "You remember that?"

"I'm remembering all sorts of things lately," Drew said, with some wonder. "I don't know why."

"Maybe because you stopped getting pounded by two-hundred-pound guys."

Without thinking, Drew said the first thing that came to mind: "Guess I'll leave that to you now." And then he froze. They didn't joke like this, and after his reaction earlier, Drew expected nothing less than a blow up. But this time David laughed, a breathy chuckle and flash of teeth that shocked Drew even more. They walked down the aisle, and after a few beats, Drew asked, somewhat cautiously, "So, what does it mean?"

David's smile vanished. "Solid, but see through; there, but unsteady. Like it could all turn to liquid at any moment and disappear."

Drew thought for a moment. "I don't get it."

"My brother asked me to come live with him after graduation. But I had plans with someone else. At least, I thought I did, but now I don't know."

"Oh." Drew stopped. "You have a brother...?"

"You forgot?"

Drew had, actually. He vaguely seemed to remember another boy with them as kids, older and blonder than David. But the images were fleeting, and he had disappeared before Drew had any grasp of life with him. Was it really any surprise he couldn't remember, in a town that seemed in a hurry to forget its children? He shook his head to clear it. "So, you're not going to live with your brother?"

"I don't know." David said, letting his hand drop away from the shelf as he turned to face Drew. "If I tell him I don't want to live with him—"

"He might not come back next time," Drew finished. "That's a tough one."

David nodded, gazing miserably at a line of canned pineapples.

"But, you know, he's your brother. If he came back once, he'll come back again."

"I don't think that's how that works."

"Maybe it does," Drew said. "I know you don't have a lot of reason to trust people, but trust him a little." David looked at him, looked at him so long he began to squirm, and finally said, "Stop staring at me like that, or I'm going to punch you."

David turned away, but not before Drew saw the smile on his lips.

They fell into silence, and during that silence walked down the aisle and into the other, which prompted Drew to say, "We've just being walking around. Don't you need something?"

"Not really. I just wanted some time to think."

"So, you're just going to walk out without buying anything?"

"That was the plan."

"People will think you're stealing."

"Then you buy something."

"Fine, I will."

Drew bought a six pack of protein drink, and after paying they walked out into the parking lot. Out of the air conditioner and the smell of cold meat, outside was humid and sticky, buzzing with insects and smelling of hot asphalt. Drew offered him a ride, but David said Simon was going to pick him up.

"Simon, right, that was his name," Drew said, snapping his fingers. He had been trying to remember.

"I'll tell him you send your best," David said with a quirk of his lips.

Drew made to walk away, but a few steps out, he stopped and turned back. "Either way," he said, "you're leaving after graduation. Leaving town, I mean. Right?"

"Yeah," David said. "What about you?"

"I'm—" Drew looked off over the tops of the parked cars— "going to stay." His keys jingled in his hands as he toyed with them. "Coach offered me a job as assistant coach this summer. Said he could get me an interview at the local training camp, too."

"Oh." David paused. "I thought you were done with football."

"Yeah," Drew said, with a light chuckle. "I thought so, too." What he didn't say was that he didn't think he could do anything else.

They stood in silence, ten feet apart, aware that this was one of the last times they would ever meet. The resurfacing of old memories served to highlight all the memories that would not be made in the future, and the realization of an end.

"Well," Drew said. "I guess I'll see you."

"Yeah," David said. "See you."

With a twirl of his keys on the keyring, Drew turned and walked away across the parking lot. David watched him for a moment, then turned and walked in the other direction.