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Tim and Jay were trekking through Rosswood again, despite how many times they said they would never come back here. Totheark had hacked the Twitter again with some more cryptic shit they were running out of patience to solve, but it seemed like he wanted them to go back to “the tower.” Again. For the what, third time? Fourth? Tim was sick of it. Even though it was the middle of the afternoon, it didn’t make the woods any less unsettling and Tim could feel his hair stand on end.
Tim was wearing the chest mounted camera and Jay was carrying his, just in case they got separated again. Tim didn’t want to think about that because the last time that happened, he watched as Jay had a seizure and had to see his friend be so out of it for days. Tim shifted closer to Jay as they walked just from thinking about it.
Jay still wasn’t back to his previous self and Tim was worried he never would be. Not that his previous self was really doing any better but at least Tim knew how to handle that. He knew how Jay reacted to things, he knew what made him feel better when he had a nightmare, he knew what made him laugh or smile. Tim wished he could see Jay smile again. Now Jay was mostly numb. He talked now, more than he did after the incident at Alex’s house, but he didn’t smile, didn’t laugh, didn’t cry, barely even yelled. It scared Tim. It also scared Tim how quickly he had started to care about Jay. One second he was punching him in a parking lot and the next he was quitting his job and following him across the state. At this point, Jay was all he had and he was pretty sure he was all Jay had too. It took everything in him not to forcefully drag Jay out of the whole state and make him forget about this whole thing.
Jay would never willingly do that, though. He wasn’t selfish like Tim was. Jay was still doing this because he wanted to find Jessica and he still wanted to help Alex. Even at the beginning Tim joined because he wanted to know why all of this was happening to him. Why he had been tormented his entire life and why no matter what he did he couldn’t escape it. Now, he didn’t even care about that anymore. He was really only still here because of Jay. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to know what happened to Jessica, preferring to remain ignorant than confront what he might have caused.
His eyes flickered over to Jay who was looking around as if waiting for something to jump out at him. Tim hated keeping the tape from Jay but he was worried that if he showed him, Jay would leave and it would ruin everything they worked for. Tim was more worried about Jay leaving if he was honest, and that thought terrified him. He didn’t want to be alone again.
They were coming up on the tower now, and so far there had been no sign of the hooded man or anything else. Tim just hoped it would stay that way.
“So what are we even looking for here?” Tim asked, “a tape? The man himself?”
“I’m not entirely sure but probably a tape? Or we’re on a wild goose chase and there’s nothing here to begin with. I’m thinking it’s gonna be the latter,” Jay said sardonically.
“Probably. Do we even want a new tape at this point though?”
Jay shrugged, “We wouldn’t have come out here for nothing at least if it was.”
“Fair point.”
Just as they were about to enter the tower, Jay turned to his right, his eyes wide.
“What? Did you see it?” Tim asked, worry settling in his stomach.
“I’m not sure…”
“Hold my hand, I’m not getting separated from you again if it’s here,” Tim said, too nervous to think about the implications of that request.
Jay grabbed Tim’s hand with his free hand without question and held it tightly. His hand was disturbingly cold, but Tim didn’t care in the slightest. In fact, he barely even noticed.
“We should turn back,” Tim suggested, “we can come back another time if we need to.”
Jay just nodded, still staring into the distance.
As soon as they went to turn around, Jay doubled over coughing, nearly dropping his camera in the process.
“Shit! Jay? Jay! Come on, we gotta go!” Tim nearly shouted, placing his free hand on Jay’s back. He looked away from Jay for a second to see The Operator looming in the distance. Tim borderline dragged Jay into a standing position, fighting off coughs himself as he tried to support Jay so he didn’t collapse.
They stumbled their way through the woods, Tim rattling off words of encouragement to Jay between his own fits of coughs. Tim was starting to get dizzy and could only imagine how Jay was feeling considering he refused to accept Tim’s medication.
Just as Tim was able to see the parking lot through the trees, Jay fell to his hands and knees beside him, dropping Tim’s hand and the camera. Jay was coughing and clutching at his chest as if he couldn’t breathe and shaking violently with each cough.
Tim got on his knees beside him, not taking his arm from Jay’s back. He rubbed circles on his back in a way he hoped was comforting and didn’t betray how distressed he was really feeling.
“Jay, please. We’re almost there okay? We’re almost out, you can make it,” Tim said as gently as he could, dedicating all of his focus to Jay. There was no point checking to see how close behind The Operator was. Tim had decided he wasn’t leaving Jay here and if that meant them both getting caught then so be it.
“T- im… ru-n,” Jay choked out, his voice strained and rough.
“Nope, not happening. I’m not leaving you. Either you get up or I’m staying right here with you,” Tim said. They were in this together.
Jay struggled to push himself up and Tim did his best to help, but eventually Jay was on his feet again. Tim was almost supporting all of Jay’s weight as Jay struggled to walk but Tim could see the edge of the woods get closer and closer. Tim could also feel The Operator’s effects getting stronger, meaning it was equally as close. Jay probably also felt this as he made a last ditch effort to get his legs to work and they were able to borderline throw themselves onto the ground just outside of the woods. Despite it being daytime when they first got there, it now seemed to be the middle of the night. Tim didn’t know if they were just in there that long, or if something like what happened at Alex’s old house happened again and frankly, he didn’t care.
They laid on their stomachs next to each other, Tim still leaving his arm wrapped around Jay’s back protectively as he looked over his shoulder. He watched as The Operator seemed to make an effort to leave the woods before it flickered away.
Despite himself, Tim sighed in relief and turned back to Jay.
Shit.
Jay was unconscious now, and Tim immediately felt panic rise up inside of him all over again. Tim sat up and carefully rolled Jay onto his back. Even though every rational part of Tim was saying Jay just passed out from exhaustion, he still placed two fingers to Jay’s neck to check for a pulse, his panic settling down when he felt one.
Tim grabbed one of Jay’s hands and laced their fingers together. He placed his other hand on Jay’s head and gently ran his fingers through the other’s hair in a way that he hoped was as calming for Jay as it was for him. Almost ridiculously, he was kind of happy it was the middle of the night now because God this must be a sight.
Eventually, Jay stirred and opened his eyes, sitting up rather abruptly. His eyes were wild for a moment before he eventually settled on Tim and his body visibly relaxed.
Tim, unable to contain his relief any longer, pulled Jay into hug, placing a hand on his head and pressing his head into Jay’s shoulder.
Jay seemed to freeze for a moment and just as Tim was about to pull back and apologize, Jay wrapped his arms around Tim’s back and sighed lightly, sinking into the embrace.
They might’ve stayed like that for seconds, minutes, hours, but neither of them cared. The only thing running through either of their minds was thanking the other that they were okay and they were safe. If Tim held Jay a little tighter than was normal, or muttered to himself “you’re okay, we’re okay,” neither of them mentioned it.