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"Eat me," Jerry said. Tears in his eyes.
"N-no," said Tom, crying.
Jerry's face was pleading. Tom's owner discovered his little nest behind a wall and it was a matter of time until some exterminators infest his little house with poison.
They were in a corner of the living room, shrinking so they wouldn’t be seen. The dark paint on the walls has never been this suffocating and unwelcomed. Jerry’s little house behind them, quietly quietly waiting for its destruction. Tom wished to rip apart all of the human’s furniture instead.
Jerry took a few steps forward in Tom's palm and rubbed his little check in Tom's thumb.
He contemplated how big and sharp Tom's eyes were and how nice the little white spots of fur accumulated in his mouth. A mouth big enough to swallow him whole.
"Please," said Jerry, looking back at Tom's eyes. There was no other option.
“We could run away,” grievously whispered Tom. His heart beating so fast that he almost couldn’t hear himself. He didn’t want to ingest his friend, his—
Jerry denied with his head. There are only a few safe places for a cat and a mouse in this world and none of them allowed them to be together. They’ve accepted that they couldn’t be with each other a long time ago. However, that realization never weighed like this before. “Tom… we’ve talked about this before. We can’t do it. What would we do? Live off the garbage that we find and then die in a dirty alley?” his heart was tight in his chest and he almost wanted to do it. But they couldn’t.
Tom sobbed.I hate this. I hate that we have to hide that- that they want to kill you just because you live in their wall,” Tom shut his eyes and denied with his head. “I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.” The tears rapidly disappeared in his fur, damping it.
“Hey. It’s gonna be fine,” Jerry’s eyes were filled with fondness and false calmness. A small smile pulled in his lips. He kissed Tom’s thumb. “Humans can be cruel creatures and we must accept that.” He looked back at the wall where his house will be gone soon. “We made good memories, didn’t we?” he let out a muffled chuckle that sounded like chirp. “All those times you pretended to eat me… this shouldn’t be any different, just… make it till the end,” Jerry gulped and Tom’s whole body shivered. It was true that he once fantasized about eating Jerry but it was before he befriended him, before he...
“I can’t,” Tom's whole face was mortified, scared even. The thought of losing Jerry, of him being responsible for that… made his stomach hurt. He wanted to scream, to curse at the idea that the cat had to eat the mouse.
“TOM!! WHERE ARE YOU?!? WE HAVE GUESTS,” Tom’s owner yelled from the front door. “Useless cat, all he does is eat and play around,” she proceeded to greet the exterminators.
Jerry gave Tom an apprehensive look. “We must hurry, we don’t have much time before they find us,” he stood up and opened his arms. “It’ll be quick,” he gave a weak smile, “I love you.”
Tom let a strangled sob. This is it. He couldn’t do it but he had to. For Jerry. He slowly brought his hand to his mouth. Jerry’s little eyes looked full of fatality and tears. Tom opened his mouth sluggishly and placed the mouse in his tongue. He stayed like that for a few seconds before he finally swallowed.
Jerry’s little house was filled with poison and so was the cat’s heart.