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Knock, knock, knock!
Jax looked at his hand, then at the door. He turned and started hurrying down the hallway. Shit, shit! What am I thinking?!
His gait stalled until he stopped, and glanced back at the door.
He stood in front of it again. No answer.
Knock, knock, knock! "Hey! It's me!" ...Still no answer. Shoot- he shouldn't have said that. Why would she want to see him? This was his fault. He probably just shot himself in the foot.
He knew what lay at the end of this. There was no reason he should want it. He didn't. So why was this still so hard? He would rather have her around, even if they never made up. Did he expect being without her to hurt less?
He couldn't stand here doing nothing forever. She was hanging by a thread. Everyone who'd abstracted had done so exactly like this, their rooms the final resting places of their sanity. She might only have minutes, even seconds left.
"C-Can we talk?" Silence. He grit his teeth, heart beginning to race.
There was no time. No time to be thinking about the past, or the future. No time to be thinking. She needed to answer. And if she didn't, he needed to bust her door down. He wasn't ok with this. He wasn't ok with this, he wasn't ok with this, he wasn't ok with this.
"Ribbit." Her name on his tongue made his soul tremble in terror. But losing her would be worse- it just hadn't happened yet. "Hey. Answer the door. It's me. Answer the door, right now!"
Laughter.
He froze. Was that...? He pressed his ear to the door.
She was laughing. "Really? You mean it?" Her voice was deathly quiet. A chill ran down his spine. "About time..." She paused. "You have no idea how- how glad I am to hear that..."
Oh no. He backed away from the door, heart leaping into his throat. "No. No. No, no, no, no, no-"
Bang! He kicked the door. It shuddered, the sound echoing around the hallway. Bang! BANG!
"Come on! Come on!" He threw himself against it. Again. Again. "FUCK!!" He hauled himself off the floor to try again, stumbling.
"Y'know, I have- another secret... it's embarrassing, but... I want to tell you... do you mind...?"
Smile. He wanted to see her smile, just one more time. He couldn't lose her like this. "DON'T YOU DO IT!! RIBBIT!! DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE!! HOLD ON!! HOLD ON!!"
BANG-BANG!! Her door finally gave way, slamming into the wall and shuddering on its hinges. He fell to the floor, body ringing with pain.
Light spilled into the darkened room. But it wasn't the only light shining. He looked up. The sight that greeted him, the stuff of nightmares. His first friend- his best friend- the only redeeming feature of this unhinged cartoon nightmare- about to break. She smiled- but it wasn't a happy smile. She laughed- but it was a hopeless laugh, hollow and resigned. Her eyes twinkled tiredly at things not really there. And the darkness, the eyes, the madness curled around her body, like the teeth of a monstrous beast, hungrily consuming her.
It covered most of her, scrambling her edges and bleeding away her colors, seeding sprouting many eyes that strobed with light. It seethed, billowing when she breathed, and moving with her, blurring the line between her and itself. Soon they would be one and the same. Jax scrambled toward her.
"NO!!" He grabbed her arm, and a shock of pain shot through his own. The madness hurt. "OW!! FUCK!!"
He'd been right. She had only seconds. He could see the madness eating her.
"RIBBIT!! RIBBIT!!" He grabbed her arms, and flinched; it was like reaching into a fire- but held on. He shook her.
"Jax," She looked away, abashed, rubbing her arm. "The truth is... I- I kind of... um..."
She wasn't talking to him. Jax shook her harder. "RIBBIT!!"
"I like you... not as a friend..." ...Jax froze. Ribbit looked down, rubbing her arm, embarrassed.
"It's ok if you don't feel the same... but, I want to ask... can we be... more than friends...?"
Jax's mind blanked. His face relaxed, pupils shrinking to pinpoints. The madness rippled and shone, not halting its advance, distorting her more and more. He fell into silence.
"Ribbit. Snap out of it. You're abstracting. Nothing you're feeling is real." It felt like his mouth was moving on its own. For some reason he couldn't put any energy into his voice.
Ribbit's eyes that cascaded with colors widened. She was stunned. "Really?" A startled, delighted giggle fizzled out of her. She grinned.
Tears welled in her eyes. She laughed more, wiping them away on the backs of her hands. "Shut up. I'm not crying, you are."
"Stop. Stop." Jax's voice wobbled.
The madness was up to Ribbit's neck now, spreading to one of her eyes. She rolled the other. "Right. Ok, soldier boy." She smiled shyly. "...Kiss me?"
Jax couldn't breathe. Ribbit closed her eyes and pursed her lips, leaning forward.
A laugh's a laugh. You gotta start somewhere.
'Sup, dumb***~!!
A lot is... fine.
I'll... leave you alone.
Her time was up. Jax did the only thing he could think of.
He kissed her back.
His eyes fell closed. He didn't want to see her go.
...She didn't.
After a while, Jax cracked his eyes open. Ribbit was frozen.
He simply stared. She looked like a statue. It was creepy.
Then, before his very eyes, the madness started to recede.
It retreated opposite of the way it came. Revealing the eye it had consumed, then her neck, her torso, her arms and legs, and lastly, her hands and feet.
All of a sudden, she was back to normal.
Jax beheld this transformation in disbelief. Not for a second separating from her.
After a moment her eyes twitched and opened. They were normal. He felt like the floor fell out from under him.
Her gaze turned exhausted. She pulled away from him and sat back, frowning.
"...R... Ribbit...?"
She was silent.
He shakily hugged her.
"...I hate you," she croaked.
"I'm sorry," he whimpered, starting to cry. "I'm sorry. I've been an idiot. I'm so sorry..."
...Jax did it. He stopped Ribbit from abstracting.
He wouldn't lose her.
Not today.
