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Even though they went early, the Seventh Inning Skydive didn’t work. The only thing they accomplished was making literally everyone in the stadium mad at them. They got arrested, and it took a long while until they were free to go. An utter failure in every single way.
But strangely, Jay doesn’t mind. He figures that the plan was never going to work, no matter what they did. He’s just happy that he gets to spend time with Matt. He’s happy he chose to have a life with him, and he’s happy he chose to love him.
Lightning strikes the tower, right on cue.
Jay breathes in and out. Matt is safe. He’s not dying a horrible death on Queen and Spadina. He’s right beside him. When Jay looks to the side, he’ll see Matt’s beautiful face. Matt will look right back with those beautiful eyes. Then they’ll go home and kiss each other until they get tired.
When Jay looks, Matt is terrified. He’s stopped in his tracks with an expression of fear. He then starts walking a little bit faster. Jay does too, both to keep up with him and because he doesn’t want to get caught in the rain again. Another bolt of lightning flashes across the sky, and Matt starts walking faster.
A walk turns into a sprint, and a sprint turns into a run. He only stops to get on a bus. Jay sits next to him, and Matt clings to him. His grip on Jay tightens and tightens. Tears are running down his face. Jay strokes Matt’s hair.
“You’re ok, Matt. I’m here.”
“Can-can I sleep with you tonight, Birdie?”
“Yes, Matt.” Jay gives him a kiss on the forehead.
It crosses his mind that it’s the first time in two years they’re sleeping in bed together. Jay’s heart aches at the thought. He loved when Matt would put his arms around him. He felt protected, and that feeling only grew as Matt’s arms became bigger. He loved how warm Matt was, and he loved stroking Matt’s hair.
He should’ve confessed his love back then.
They get off at their stop. Matt’s still clinging to Jay, but he lets go once they’re inside. Originally, Matt would’ve come up with the time travel plan, while Jay was coming up with ways to leave. But in this timeline, Matt is too scared to do anything but be with Jay.
He heads up the stairs with Jay, he brushes his teeth with Jay, and he gets into his pajamas with Jay. Once Matt gets into bed, he cries. It starts with just a few like before, but it turns into a steady stream. Jay never liked when Matt cried, but especially not now.
“I won’t let anything bad happen to you. I promise.”
“Really, Bird?”
“Really. I mean it.” Jay says while wiping away Matt’s tears. He holds Matt’s face and strokes it for a bit, before kissing him. It lasts for a while, before Matt falls asleep, and Jay does too shortly after.
Matt is restless.
—
Matt wakes up from a terrible terrible dream. In it, Jay had left him. Luckily, that’s not reality. Jay’s right here. His arms are around him, and one of his hands is over Matt’s heart. He likes this. He doesn’t want to get out of bed. He turns to face Jay, moving his skinny arms out of the way.
He’s drooling. Gross. But besides that, he’s beautiful. He has to remind himself that this is the face of his boyfriend now. He still can’t believe it, and maybe he never will. But he keeps thinking about the dream. It felt so real, like a memory. But he’s had very vivid dreams before, so maybe it was one of those.
Then he wonders how he can use it for a plan. Matt jumps out of bed and heads downstairs to brainstorm more. Jay will love this plan!
—
Jay dreams of playing piano. It’s a reoccurring dream. He plays a different song each time. Sometimes it’s a score from a movie, sometimes it’s a video game song, and sometimes it’s just a random song. He figures it’s from the massive library of songs in his head that he can play at will.
This time however, he’s playing Never Come Down. Luckily, it’s not the stupid pop version that everyone somehow loved, it’s the version he played in the apartment. He likes this version much more. It’s his.
He awakens to find that Matt has left the bed already. He’s a bit sad, he wanted to cuddle Matt more. But he figures that Matt has a new plan waiting for him downstairs. He gets his blazer on and heads down.
“Bird! You’ll love my new plan! It came from a dream!”
“Explain it away, MJ.” Jay says as he gets ready to play the piano.
“It’s called the Pop Star Shuffle! You’ll pretend to be a famous pop star and I’ll be your manager! I’ll spread word about you throughout the city, and the Rivoli will see! When you get on stage, you play a little song, before I come on stage and reveal that we are actually Nirvanna the Band! Not only that, but we are in love! What do ya think?”
The piano plays a horrible sound.
Jay doesn’t know how to respond. Maybe it’s just a coincidence. He couldn’t have possibly had a dream about the other timeline. What else will he dream of?! Will he get a nightmare of Jay leaving? Of them going back to 2008? Of Jay pushing him away at the meet and greet? Of him dying?
“I don’t want to do this, Matt.”
“Oh, I can be the pop star if you want! We don’t have to do it exactly like the dream!”
“What exactly was in the dream?”
“You left me for 17 years! I had some friends, but I missed you a lot. You had this really catchy song too. Never Come Down. I kinda liked it. Maybe we should-“
“You can be the pop star.”
“Really? That’s great!”
Jay looks towards Jared and Luca, and wonders how they think. Jared looks back with an expression that reads what the fuck.
—
Matt looks stupid. He’s wearing an extremely flashy suit, he has a wig on, and he’s putting on a surfer accent. Because all famous pop stars come from California, apparently. He even wanted to cover up his moles, but Jay stopped him from doing that. The idea of them being gone sickens him, even if it’s only temporary.
“What should I call myself? Maybe Johnny Mattson! That sounds cool, right? Or maybe just Johnny. Or maybe even just John!”
“How about just your name?”
“But that’s boring! They’ll instantly know it’s us!”
“Fine! We’ll go with Johnny Mattson!
At least Matt’s happy. That’s what matters. Jay looks at his own outfit. A very boring business suit with a tie. Perfect for a manager. He gets flashes of Reid briefly. Jay wonders how Reid became his manager in that timeline, but he elects not to think about it ever again.
They get to Queen street, and they both unsuccessfully try to convince people that this is the famous pop star Johnny Mattson! He’s extremely famous in California! That’s why you haven’t heard about him yet! Really!
One person believes them somehow. A man who says he signs on artists, and that he can’t wait to sign on Johnny. He just wants to see his musical talent first. Matt sings Never Come Down. It’s actually kind of good, but Jay doesn’t want to admit that to himself. He really wishes those lyrics weren’t coming out of his mouth, but there’s nothing Jay can do in this case.
Then Matt grabs his chest. Jay rushes to help him, but the pain leaves as quickly as it arrives. Still, it might mean something more. They head to the hospital, abandoning both the plan and whatever the man had in store for Matt. The doctor says it’s just regular chest pain, and Jay feels relief.
As they head home, Jay thinks about if he should tell Matt the truth. Jay’s scared, to be honest. What if Matt doesn’t believe him, or gets angry at him, or even decides to leave him? That last one isn’t very likely, but who knows what could happen. He even wonders wether to show Matt all the footage Jared and Luca took. There was another camera man, Nikolay, who stayed behind because he was from that timeline. Jay wonders what he’s doing in this timeline.
He holds a meeting with Jared and Luca in the RV, while Matt’s distracted watching Star Wars. Jay hopes that he doesn’t go blind again while they’re talking.
“I think you should tell him. It’s better to get it over with. Jared says. Luca nods in agreement.
“But what if-“
“Jay. It’s Matt. If the alternate timeline is anything to go by, it’s that he’ll love you no matter what.” Jared replies. “He might get a little bit mad at you, but he’ll understand in the end.”
Jay makes up his mind and heads inside. Matt’s sitting on the couch, like 20 minutes into A New Hope. Jay sits next to him, and he gets caught up in watching the movie. It’s only delaying the inevitable, but at least he gets to enjoy himself. As the credits roll, he readies himself.
“I’m gonna put in the next one!”
“I have something to tell you. It’s related to your dream from today.”
“What?”
Jay tells Matt everything. He closes his eyes, so he won’t see Matt’s reaction until the end. Jay doesn’t spare any detail. After a while, he finally opens his eyes again. Matt isn’t looking at him. He seems to be thinking. After a while, he finally finds the words.
“Wow. We both love each other that much huh.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“What did my tattoo look like? I bet it was cool looking!”
“It kinda sucked.”
Jared comes in with a vhs tape. He’s edited the footage together into a movie. They watch that instead of Empire Strikes Back. The footage cuts around a lot, and there’s some missing stuff, but it’s mostly their whole adventure. Jay’s a bit worried Matt will get scared of the lightning again, so he holds Matt when his death happens. Matt’s unnerved, and he leans into Jay a bit more. Otherwise, he’s ok.
The last shot of the movie is them embracing and kissing. Jay’s really happy that Jared caught footage of this. He wants to watch it again and again. Jay rewinds it multiple times, and gets a bit too close to the tv before Matt pulls him back. He gives Jay a big kiss. They spend a while just holding each other, before Jay says something.
“You know, I wasn’t gonna tell you that ever. I was scared that you’d get mad at me.”
“We both saved each other. I’d never be mad at that, Bird.”