Work Text:
No one talked about it around Daniel. He felt grateful that his peers at least respected that. Despite the severity of the situation and how terribly it affected him, Daniel made it extremely clear that he didn’t want to hear about the stalking incident anymore. It was bad enough that it happened in the first place, he really didn’t need a constant reminder of it simply because people wanted something interesting to talk about.
He just wanted to forget about it as soon as possible. He wanted to forget about her. He still kept the box cutter Jay gave him. It was always beside his sleeping body, even though he knew it wouldn’t have done him any good. If there wasn’t enough force to wake it up, he’d never be able to defend himself. Even though he’d realised this fact, he still kept it there to ease his anxiety.
He burned the chair he was tied to. He threw that stupid taser so hard onto the ground that it shattered. The pieces were promptly thrown away. His dishes were all broken in a small fit of hysteria and panic, and his kitchen counter was replaced with a different one, one without any legs. To be safe, or to feel safer, he changed his lock again even though there were no signs of it having been unlocked by someone else other than him. The little shack was empty, save for the new household appliances that he just barely managed to afford and his two futons for his bodies. It felt much colder, but it was a cold he’d suffer through if it meant he was safer.
All of these things did nothing to settle his nerves, nothing to calm him if even there was even the slightest hint of a buzz or a crackle in the air. Though not often, he found himself freezing up if ever he heard it. Very rarely, if he was trying to plug something in or if he touched a metal object, he’d feel the smallest shock on his fingertips, and all he could ever think about was her . Every time it got dark and quiet, the electrical lines outside were the loudest things in the world, taunting him and reminding him of what had happened.
Every time, he thought he saw a face. Her face . Every time, he thought he saw someone watching him in the darkest corners of his house, and he knew he’d probably regret this later on because he could hardly afford to survive as it was, but he kept all of the lights in the shack on for the rest of the night. He hid in a corner under a blanket in the meantime, hoping for sleep to come to him eventually.
It didn’t. Not even when he tried to force his other body to wake up, this stupid second one’s heart kept beating faster and faster in its vulnerable state and he would wake. Daniel was tired. He was terrified.
—
There was a violent thunderstorm raging about. It had gotten bad enough to the point school had to be cancelled for the safety of the students. Once again, he was hiding underneath his blanket, in the corner. All of the lights were on, mostly to ease himself, but they wouldn’t be on for long. The wind howled outside, pushed against everything it possible could and the rain pounded upon the roof, the ground, and the window. If he let his imagination stray too far, it almost sounded like someone was persistently knocking at his window.
There was a loud crackling sound outside and an abrupt buzz, then all of his lights went out far too quickly. Green and purple danced around what little he could see, but—
At the brightest flash of lightning and the roaring thunder, Daniel probably screamed somewhere. He wasn’t sure anymore. He might have been crying, but he couldn’t tell. He couldn’t think, not much, and all he could see was her . All he could see was that woman and his house wasn’t his house anymore, it was just a room full of pictures of him and those fucking candles. The chair wasn’t there. The woman wasn’t there. She had to be outside. The rain wasn’t rain anymore, it was her incessant knocking at the window. The storm was loud, but she was louder.
Daniel looked up to the window and he swore he saw someone staring at him through the glass. When the lightning flashed again, he saw her face and he slammed into the wall, trying to get away from her. His heart was pounding, too fast, too loud— leave me alone!
She wasn’t talking. She was knocking at his window, kicking his door and it only got louder and louder until Daniel slapped his hands over his ears and screamed, “GO AWAY! ”
As if everything was crashing into him at once, she was gone, his house was normal again, and all that was left was the storm. His throat was scratchy, as if he’d been screaming more than he realised. Slowly, shakily, he reached for his phone and dialled a familiar number. He put the phone to his ear, feeling a little bit relieved at a sound that wasn’t the storm, until it stopped and he was greeted with the most tired-sounding “Hmm?” he’d ever heard in his life. The guild overwhelmed him. He would have hung up. But she was still there .
In a small voice that sounded too weak, too vulnerable and too pathetic for his liking, Daniel managed to whisper, “ Jay? ” He didn’t have to say anything else, even if he wanted to. He heard the little clinks of keys and a door slamming on the other end, then the line went dead and he was all alone in the storm again.
—
The storm seemed to be passing, or maybe he was getting used to it. Daniel managed to find the courage to crawl to his futon and curl up underneath it. He felt too anxious, too tense and stressed to be able to fall asleep, so he waited, hopefully for this body to become too exhausted to stay awake any longer. The door opened, which startled Daniel. He kept the blanket over his head until a gentle hand pried it off of him and he could breathe again.
“Daniel.” He’d never thought he’d feel so relieved to hear someone say his name. Jay’s voice was softer than he’d expected, and much quieter. He almost had to strain to hear it underneath all the background noise. Jay pulled him out of his futon and into his arms. He was colder, he was wet and shaking, but somehow so much more comforting than the futon.
Daniel wanted to apologise, but it was quiet now. And when he looked out the window, no one was there. He tried to breathe. He closed his eyes and tried to breathe . He was tired, so incredibly tired . But Jay was here, and he wasn’t alone anymore. Even if he couldn’t sleep, there was relief.