Chapter Text
“Jared! Hey Jared! Get up! Where the fuck are we?!”
Jared was bolted awake by Matt. God, what an idiot Jay was. Why would he drive like that in the middle of Toronto, and not in some isolated street?
That didn’t matter right now. He seemed to have slinked off somewhere else. Typical. Jared checked his camera, which miraculously survived the crash. Good. He didn’t want to have to spend more money on decent cameras.
“Jared come on! We have to get back! The boys have probably created a plan to get the backstage pass to the Jay McCarrol tour!”
What? Matt was usually pretty scatterbrained, but not like this. Maybe this was a prank he and Jay had planned out.
Jared stepped outside. Thankfully, Toronto hadn’t turned into a dystopic hellscape. The butterfly effect wasn’t that strong.
Or maybe it was. Because staring back at him were images of Jay on billboards everywhere. In one of them, he was really really buff.
“Isn’t he beautiful? Sometimes I come here to stare at them all!” Matt laughed a strange laugh that made Jared uncomfortable.
“Uhhh, I guess. Let’s go home.” Jared laughed a scared laugh.
—
The band was not Nirvanna the Band, but the Jay McCarrol cover band. Ethan, Michael, and Ben. The band had been through multiple iterations, but this seemed to be the longest lasting.
They had gotten several shows at the Rivoli. They had crashed multiple Jay shows. Matt even had several nicknames among online Jay fans. They didn’t seem to be positive.
This new world frightened Jared. Well, at least he had a new camera friend. Nikolay. He seemed to be a swell guy. Maybe he existed in the proper timeline. Hopefully, he’d come into the roster of ever rotating camera men.
The plan was to pretend everyone was Chinese. Something about Visa.
It somehow worked. Maybe Matt’s plans just were shit. Maybe these guys needed to be in the band in the proper timeline. That didn’t matter.
Jay’s show was lame. He just played a tacky version of that song he played in the apartment. Matt seemed to love it though. He sang every word.
—
This was probably the best night of Jay’s life. He was famous, he had millions of adoring fans, and he had more money than he knew what to do with. He could get used to-
Oh no. Why was Matt here?! And Jared. And… those guys they passed who were playing a show at the Rivoli? What the hell?!
“Oh my god, it’s Jay McCarrol! I got in legally this time! You have to sign my fedora!!” Matt said. He seemed overjoyed to see Jay, as if he hadn’t seen him for years.
What the hell was wrong with him? Maybe he was putting on an act as well.
“Uhh, no I can’t do that, Matt. Get out of here.”
“You have to! You promised last time! Hey, get off me! I’m allowed to be here! You can’t kick the number one Jay McCarrol fan out of here!!! I’m going to leak this!!”
Jay watched as his friend got taken away by security. Jared shot a strange look at Jay, one of fear. Eh, he was probably just worried about Matt.
He’d probably have to deal with Matt for the rest of his life. Oh wait.
The Rv.
“Uhh I gotta go! Bye everyone!”
Jay ran to the Rv, which was somehow not towed. He smashed the Orbitz, and ran back home. Tomorrow was when he would leave Canada. He’d only done that once before, to go to Sundance with Matt.
That never happened in this timeline. Probably for the better honestly. Operation Avalanche was a massive piece of shit. Probably the worst movie ever made by a long mile.
He thought a bit about Matt’s strange behavior. Maybe he was just crazy due to time travel. Yeah that was probably it. Or Matt was just acting like that to get back at Jay. Either one would work.
—
“I can’t believe we got kicked out! I thought for sure it would’ve worked this time! Next time, Jay McCarrol won’t turn his number one fan down.”
The cover band stared at Matt in annoyance. They had gotten used to this. Matt would get them in illegally, they’d get kicked out by security, they’d get fined. Rinse and repeat.
They were afraid to talk to him about his behavior. He’d probably kick them out of the band. That might be better at this point. They were much more accomplished musicians than him. He barely even knew how to play the drums.
One man wasn’t afraid, however. Rather, he was infuriated
“Matt, what the fuck is going on with you?”
“I’d say the same about you, Jared. You haven’t been yourself all day.”
Jared didn’t even want to argue with Matt about this. He’d already concluded that Matt was gone. He’d been overwritten by this alternate Matt that was overly obsessed with Jay. He didn’t even seem to view Jay as human anymore.
Jay was now a goal that had to be met. He was the new Rivoli. He was what Matt had spent 17 years in this timeline trying to get. And he had gotten that goal. Several times. But it wasn’t enough for him. He had to keep seeing him again and again.
That butterfly effect had done something horrible. Wait, maybe Matt was still in there! Maybe he could jog his memory a bit!
“Jumping off the CN tower was pretty crazy huh.”
“What?”
Drat. Well, that didn’t happen yet. Maybe something else…
“Hey remember when you got into Sundance? Sneaked that film right in there!”
“I’ve never been to Sundance. Jay McCarrol has never been, so why would I go?”
His whole goddamn life really did revolve around Jay. This Matt seemed pathetic. Refusing to move on, only referring to Jay by his full name. Just being the most obnoxious version of himself he could be.
“I’m done. I’m going to bed. My bed’s still upstairs, right?”
“Duh! Your memory is the one that’s damaged!”
The beds were Jay themed. It felt odd. Not just in the “sleeping on images of guy you film” way. The material was just plain uncomfortable.
Jay had to have his memories. He just had to. If not, Jared would probably just quit. He’d leave the goddamn country. Anything to be away from this Matt.
Jared slept. He had no dreams.
—
Jared was half listening to the band talk about the next show at the Rivoli. Matt was playing the drums terribly. Jay was always better at instrumentals.
Jared stared at the shitty Jay tattoo on Matt’s arm. It barely even looked like him. What sort of tattoo artist did he even go to?
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Matt went to get it, and was immediately filled with glee.
“Famous pop star Jay McCarrol is at my house?! I can’t believe it! Please sign my hat!”
“Matt, what the hell is wrong with you?!” Jay said in an exasperated tone.