A/N: Alright, so I know that I have an epilogue and other things related to As Good As it Gets promised, and I plan to stay true to those. Be that what it may, within the past week, I've completely written out this story and just finished editing it and really wanted to put it out there. It's as AU as AU gets (modern-day, no powers) but I hope you'll all give it a shot! This first chapter's not the longest, but I hope you enjoy it! Title comes from The Luckiest by Ben Folds. Chapter Title from I Finally Found a Home by Huey Lewis and the News.

Disclaimer: If I owned any of these people, I'd be doing far better things with my life than writing fanfiction.

Chapter 1 - And I Finally Found a Home, Here in a Song

He was back again. Raven's brother. For the past year Raven had been one of Erik's most frequent customers. Within the past month, she had started bringing her brother with too. However, he never truly seemed to enjoy himself, it seemed the only reason he was ever here was solely to pay for Raven's purchase.

Today he trailed about a foot behind Raven as she flicked through the many tables of used CDs. Erik was not going to admit that he found the current blue cardigan he was wearing endearing, but he certainly looked like a lost puppy with his head bent over like it was.

"My dearest brother! Look! It's the new Lady Gaga CD!" Raven shouted to him, who she apparently hadn't realized was so close, very sarcastically. Erik had yet to figure out the man's name, and apparently Raven was not going to make this easy on him.

"Wonderful, Raven. May we pay and get going now? I have a paper to write," Raven's brother groaned. Erik had never seen the man happy once. With his own luck, the man was probably an old caveman who never listened to music, claiming it to be too 'raunchy', and had never even heard of the Rolling Stones. Assuming he listened to classical music was probably a stretch as well.

As they seemed to be wrapping up, Erik made his way near the cash-register. He was going to take any and all advantages of a situation involving talking to Raven's brother.

"Find everything alright?" Erik saw Alex glare from across the store. If Erik Lehnsherr was anything, polite was not it.

"Apparently. I've never truly understood why people listen to this sort of music. Though, maybe that's why it's already in the used CD section," he said, tossing the Lady Gaga CD on the counter.

Ah. So maybe the man did have an opinion on music.

"I agree," Erik said because, dumbly, he couldn't think of anything else better to say. "$8.47."

The man handed him a ten, "Well at least I'm not the only sane one."

That was the end of their conversation. Erik handed him his change, and with a curt nod and a stiff wave, he yelled out to Raven. Next thing Erik knew, they were outside and he was left with the ringing of the bells.

Erik had moved out to Genosha a year after his mother had died. He'd grown up all his life in Brooklyn. He'd spent enough of his childhood in the city, and took the opportunity to get just far enough out of the city, but still be nearby.

Upon his arrival in the city, he had found a building in the center of the town available for lease. His passion had always been music since before he could remember. Owning a music trade-in store was the only obvious choice. Hence the creation of Asteroid M.

They had started with only heavy metal and hard rock, Erik's personal favorite. However, as workers and customers came, so did a larger varietiy of genres. Asteroid M now sold over 30 genres in music, a statement Erik was proud of.

Over the years he had gained a stable amount of workers who all had their own area of music. Azazel was, if possible, more hardcore rock than Erik was. Janos took control of Reggae and a bunch of international stuff he had never once heard in his life. Hank was his punk band, and was quite into it too. He was so dedicated he even had the long bright blue hair. Angel covered the modern stuff, for which he was thankful. Alex wanted to say he was into the classics, but Erik saw right through to his soft spot for country. Erik liked to call himself an all-around guy who appreciated almost anything, but heavy metal was in every way his strength.

Asteroid M sold almost anything you could think of: CDs, Cassettes, Vinyl, old LPs, new things, used things and so many others.

Of course they had created a well-standing for themselves and weren't going anywhere anytime soon. They had regulars, like Raven, who had been coming for ages, and new people arriving each day.

Erik, who used to be the biggest grouch in the world, had created this safe haven for himself. He'd made friends here and learned so much. It was the home he'd never knew he needed.

Please tell me what you think! I'll have the next part up soon!