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Tim was pacing around his house when he heard his phone ring. He rushed over to where he had tossed it on the counter and picked it up. It was Jay. He had been hoping Jay would call for several hours now, but didn’t want to be the one to make the first move. Despite him thinking it was in their partnership’s best interest, he had still betrayed Jay’s trust. He was half expecting Jay to never contact him and he would be alone again.
“Jay?” Tim said finally answering the phone, cringing at how hopeful his voice was.
“Tim,” Jay sounded surprised Tim had answered. “I watched the tape I took from you and now I’m at Rosswood trying to retrace Alex and Jessica’s steps. I crossed through the tunnel but now I’m at the shack we woke up at before.”
“But we never-”
“Crossed through the tunnel I know,” Jay said, cutting him off. “The layout is wrong, it’s completely wrong. Rosswood has either shifted around, or I’m starting to lose it. I just… I needed you to know... In case something happened. I’m starting to see things that I know aren’t there and it’s starting to make me feel really sick.”
Tim could hear Jay cough on the other end and it was frequent enough that Tim was worried Jay hadn’t been seeing things and The Operator was nearby.
“Jay? I’m coming to get you okay? Just stay on the phone with me,” Tim said grabbing his keys and haphazardly slipping his shoes on. He was out the door and in his car before Jay could put together a response. He put his phone on speaker and tossed it on the passenger seat.
“I… I’m sorry, Tim. I know why you kept that tape from me,” Jay said through coughs, his voice shaking.
“It’s okay, it’s okay, just keep talking to me I need to know you’re still there. I’m on my way to Rosswood now, okay? I’ll find you.” Tim sped down the road as fast as he could without running red lights, his heart pounding in his ears.
Tim could hear a strained response but the call was starting to pick up static and he couldn’t make out what Jay was saying. He heard a small thump on the other end and the rustling of leaves before the call was filled with static.
“Jay?” no response. “Jay! I’m almost there, just stay with me. Shit shit shit shit shit,” Tim muttered to himself. He didn’t dare hang up the phone, even as he skidded into the park’s parking lot.
Tim grabbed his phone and stuck it in his pocket, still not hanging up in case the call cleared up and Jay said something. On the off chance that Jay was still able to hear him, he also wanted to make sure Jay knew he was on his way. He made his way through the woods as fast as he could, not really sure where he was even going. If Jay was right and the woods were twisting, how would he even find the shack? Tim just had to hope that he’d stumble upon it eventually and he would find Jay there.
Maybe it was foolish of him to run into the woods headfirst with no plan, but he didn’t know what else to do. He silently begged whatever may be out there that he’d be able to find Jay.
Ducking under a low hanging tree branch, he saw the entrance to the tunnel. Normally, he’d think twice about going in there, but he would have to risk it this time. He slowed his pace as he walked through the tunnel, hoping he wouldn’t run into Alex or worse. He did his best to ignore the puddle of dried blood that was still there from the innocent man Alex had killed.
As Tim exited the tunnel, he heard something that sounded like a weak cough from his phone and he scrambled to pull it out of his pocket.
“Jay? Jay can you hear me?”
“...Tim?” Jay responded, though Tim could barely hear him.
“I’m here, I’m here, I’m almost there.” Tim could see a shape in the distance through the trees and was relying on it being the shack. He hoped his lack of confidence didn’t come across in his voice as he reassured Jay.
Tim practically sprinted to the building in the distance, pushing branches and plants out of his way and barely watching his footing, trusting himself not to trip. He nearly collapsed in relief when he was finally at the building and it was the shack and not the hospital or something else.
“Jay, I’m right outside, I’m hanging up now okay?”
Jay groaned out what Tim assumed was “okay” before Tim hung up. He cautiously entered the shack, not sure what he would find. He didn’t feel any of the operator’s affects but that didn’t mean it couldn’t appear at any moment.
The first thing he saw was Jay curled up on his side on the ground, his camera tossed aside unceremoniously. He was clutching his phone loosely in his hands and he had traces of blood on his lips.
Tim wasted no time rushing over to Jay, picking up the camera on his way. He knew Jay would be pissed with him if he left it there. He placed his hand on Jay’s shoulder and leaned down to try and make eye contact with him. Jay’s eyes flickered up to Tim’s. He looked exhausted and just as out of it as he did after their ordeal at Alex’s old place.
“Jay? We gotta go okay?” Tim helped him sit up and slung one of Jay’s arms over his shoulder to help support him. They hobbled their way out of the shack and started slowly making their way out of the woods. Thankfully, they had no run ins with anyone or anything, but Jay had almost collapsed several times. By the time they got to Tim’s car, he was supporting most of Jay’s weight.
He opened his passenger side door and helped Jay sit down before he rushed back over to the drivers side, set the camera down on the dash, and peeled out of the parking lot. He refused to stay there any longer than absolutely necessary.
They drove back to Tim’s house in silence. Jay leaned his head up against the window and was asleep almost immediately despite the short drive. Tim shot worried glances at his friend periodically through the whole trip.
He parked in front of his house and reached an arm over to Jay, shaking him lightly to wake him up. Jay opened his eyes and looked around a bit frantically before his eyes settled on Tim. He was at least more alert now than when Tim had found him.
Tim grabbed the camera and got out of the car, walking over to Jay’s side. Jay opened his door and moved to get out, placing a hand up halting Tim from helping.
“I’m fine,” Jay mumbled, standing on shaky legs. Tim sighed in frustration but didn’t move away from Jay. He hovered nearby as Jay walked up to the front of Tim’s house just to prevent Jay from falling should he lose balance or his legs give out.
Tim hadn’t bothered to lock his door on his way out so Jay pushed the door open, Tim following behind him. Almost immediately, Jay collapsed into a sitting position onto Tim’s floor, his head in his hands, his arms resting on his knees, and his back against the wall. Tim shut and locked the door behind him this time and went to get a paper towel and a glass of water from the fridge.
As he sat on the floor next to Jay, Jay lifted his head up to look at Tim. The blood he had coughed up around his mouth had dried by this point and his eyes looked sunken in and almost dull. Tim silently handed Jay the water and towel and looked away while Jay cleaned himself up.
They sat in silence for several minutes before Jay said something.
“I’m sorry... I’m so sorry,” he whispered.
“What? Why?” Tim asked, taken aback.
“For everything. For getting you involved in this, for not trusting you, for stealing that tape from you…” Jay said, trailing off. His voice shook ever so slightly.
“Jay, it’s fine. I shouldn’t have hid the tape, I should’ve shown it to you as soon as we started working together. Besides, if you didn’t get me involved I’m sure someone else would’ve one way or another.”
“But we don’t know that!” Jay almost shouted. Tim froze for a moment, not expecting Jay’s sudden outburst of emotion. Between the two of them, Tim tended to be the more emotional one and even then he did his best to bottle everything up. Tim turned his head back to look over at Jay. He was staring intensely at the floor in front of him, pointedly ignoring Tim’s gaze.
“You said it yourself, you were getting better. I should’ve just stayed out of your life like you told me to. Even now I don’t know why you stick around. I don’t know why you came back for me…”
Tim could see tear’s starting to well up in Jay’s eyes. He had only seen Jay cry once or twice before, both of which had been in the middle of the night immediately after a nightmare.
Tim shifted to sit in front of Jay and gently cupped his face with his hands.
“Woah, hey, don’t cry. Look at me, Jay,” Tim said, gently running his thumb over Jay’s cheek.
Jay slowly let his eyes meet Tim’s and something in the wall that Jay had built between himself and his emotions broke. Tears started to slowly fall from his eyes even as Jay shut them, desperately trying to keep them at bay. Tim awkwardly pulled Jay into a hug and lightly wrapped one arm around his back and placed one on Jay’s head as he softly cried into his shoulder.
“You know I forgave you right?” Tim said softly, carding his fingers through Jay’s hair. “I forgave you a while ago. I understand why you acted the way you did and you were in an unreasonable situation. I forgive you for taking the tape too.”
Jay stifled a sob at that and clutched at the back of Tim’s shirt. Jay was frantically apologizing between breaths and starting to shake. Tim’s heart clenched at the sound and he pulled back from Jay and held his face in his hands again. Tim just looked at Jay for a moment, wiping away his tears with the pads of his thumbs while Jay tried to avoid eye contact with him.
“Jay, look at me,” Tim said, bending his head slightly to try and catch Jay’s gaze.
Jay finally met Tim’s eyes again. “I forgive you, okay? I’m not mad at you and I forgive you for everything.”
Jay silently searched Tim’s face for something before nodding slowly. Tim pulled him back into his arms and held him. They stayed like that for several hours, not even noticing how uncomfortable the floor was. They would figure out what to do about Alex and Rosswood later but for now, they had the comfort of each other and that was enough.