Tea's POV:
Jefferson came home laughing anxiously. Vincente and I didn't expect him back just yet, but we figured he just cut it short. We were in the middle of a discussion about whether it's safe for us anymore when Jefferson practically broke the door down to get in. I hadn't seen him this nervous in a long time. Vincente and I both looked at him, then back at each other, and immediately dropped our conversation.
"I was just out, trying to understand Ao Oni lore, and I accidentally started attracting the pocket change of everyone around me." While Jefferson was explaining this, he was constantly laughing, so it was hard to figure out what he was saying.
"Jefferson, why would you do that? You fool! You absolute buffoon! You imbecile! You screwed yourself and Tea over!" Vincente exclaimed, a little too happily to be mad. Another side note is he usually only speaks like this when he's yelling at someone.
"Oh, no. This is bad, really bad. Did they like, see you? Like, see you specifically? Or is it just people lost their quarters and dimes?" I questioned nervously.
"They definitely saw me!" Another nervous laughing fit from Jefferson.
"Oh no, this is bad. Ok, we have to prepare for the worst. Using past news reports and cross referencing the dates, we probably have about two days before they start going after us if we're lucky. So we should pack up our stuff, and get ready to run. The bounty hunters don't give up easily." I said, sort of mumbling, sort of announcing. "Vincente, I'm sorry, but I don't think we can pay this month's rent." I stated, in a halfhearted attempt to lighten the mood.
"What do you mean? Like I will?" Vincente said. I could tell he was a little puzzled.
Jefferson then held up the pocket change he stole and said "Here's the rent for this month." You could tell just by looking at it that it was not indeed this month's rent, but the gesture was appreciated to say the least.
"Get that out of my face. Like I said, none of us are paying this month's rent." Vincente stated, matter-of-factly.
"Are you moving?" Jefferson queried.
"No, I'm coming with you two obviously."
"Wait what?" If I had been drinking something, I would have spit it out in shock.
"You heard me. You two are leaving, so I'm coming with you." He stated again, rather proudly.
"Are you sure? You could just say you didn't know about our powers and keep living your life normally." I replied to him hesitantly.
"Of course I'm sure. You guys are my friends. If you go down, I go down. Where you go I go. What you see I s–"
"STOP!" we both scream in unison
"Besides, I'd thug it out anyways." Vincente said confidently
"Alright, thank you man. It really means a lot that you'd do this for us. I'm sure we'd do the same for you." I replied gratefully. "With that situation dealt with, let's get packing."
"Wait, but like– why are we leaving?" Vincente asked. It was at this point I began to question if I would make it out of this alive. "Like couldn't we just… you know, fight them?"
"I think we're a little too weak to fight an experienced bounty hunter right now. We don't even know how to properly use our powers. I think the best option for us right now is definitely running." I explain tediously, remembering my days of being a substitute teacher for middle schoolers.
"But where can we go?" Jefferson asked.
"I know a place, but I'm not sure if he'll take us in." I replied hesitantly.
"For the love of Joseph Joestar will you PLEASE just spit it out already! I'm so tired of your incessant yapping and riddles!" Vincente yelled, once again a little too happy to be mad.
"Will you please just let me cook for like two seconds?" I asked, growing more and more annoyed with every syllable that came out of my mouth.
And with that we got packing. I tried to pack extremely light. My supplies could all fit in a backpack. All I had was my wallet, car keys, a couple changes of clothes, a journal and pen, my toothbrush and toothpaste, and a few days of food and water.
I called my family and close friends and roughly explained the situation to them. I wanted to stay with them, to have just a little bit more time. I wish I had appreciated them more. Before we left, I went to my parent's house to give them one last goodbye.
"I'm sorry Mom. I'm sorry, Dad. I'll miss both of you, but for everyone's sake I have to go. I love you guys. Bye." That was what the note said. In the end, I could barely even work up the courage to leave a note on their front door. I couldn't bear to look my parents in the eye one last time to say goodbye. I really am a terrible person.
The drive back to the house felt like an eternity. I was stuck wallowing in nostalgia and self hatred. I was never good enough. Nothing was ever good enough. Why am I even here? All of these questions plagued my consciousness on the drive back. I was so weak and pitiful. I couldn't even save myself. I couldn't face the people I love and truly tell them how I feel.
By the time I made it back to the driveway, I felt completely empty inside. But I couldn't stop. I couldn't stop, there were people that needed me. If I stopped, even for a fraction of a second, it would be over. Everything would be over. I had to keep going, I had to persevere. Even if I wasn't good enough, I had to do something, for their sake. For my sake. For all of us. I took a deep breath, and put on my most convincing face. I took a step through the door.
"Are you both ready and packed?"
"Yeah, I think so." Vincente replied.
"I didn't really have anyone to say goodbye to, so yeah." Jefferson said, a little too casually.
"Alright, today our lives change forev–" I said, getting cut off by Vincente.
"Oh wait, can I go on a quick walk?" Vincente said.
"Sure. But please try not to do what Jefferson did on his last walk." I said.
"Don't worry, it'll be WAY worse! Cya!" Vincente said.