Chapter Text
“Aliens. Aliens are coming to bloody get me. I just know it.”
Jonny rolled his eyes. Not again.
“Thom, you say that every night and every night you’re still right here with us.”
Thom jolted, panicked.
“Don’t you see? That’s what they want. They want it to all look like I’m going mad until they finally take me!” To further illustrate his point, he accented the word ‘take’ by pretending to strangle himself.
Jonny sighed. There was no reasoning with Thom when he got like this. They’d been recording at St. Catherine’s Court as of late, trying to make headway into their new album, and all had been going so well…except for the little detail that Thom was apparently losing his mind. In the vicinity of the two weeks they’d been there he’d gone from swearing up and down that his room was haunted to claiming he was hearing ghostly voices in the middle of the night urging him to cut his hair.
Then the mania had turned into an incessant fear of alien abduction.
Every morning he’d come down to breakfast and immediately start badgering Jonny about how he’d thought he wasn’t going to make it through the night and how once the aliens did take him they’d put some sort of hard drive into his brain and then he’d be sent back to earth as a prototype to fool the entire human race into believing he was fully human and not in fact being controlled by an alien overlord. Jonny always tolerated his ramblings with extreme patience, but at some point he knew he couldn't just placate him anymore. There had to be an end to the madness.
He gave him a mollifying little smile. “But Thom don’t you think if they were going to take you they’d have already done it? I mean they could have taken you last year or the year before that. So why wait till now?”
Thom looked at him so menacingly Jonny would have flinched if he didn’t know him any better. “Because the time wasn’t right, Jonathan. Don’t you know anything about them? They’re like little demons…they know just how and when to get you. And they’re waiting. Always waiting…” he trailed off with his hands waving frantically and eyes darting up at the ceiling like a spaceship was going to crash through the roof at any moment.
Jonny, beaten down once more, wanted so badly to shake him in frustration but decided on a gentle hand to his shoulder instead. “It’s okay, they’re not coming for you right now.” Then, as if it would solve all problems, “Just calm down and eat your toast.”
Thom eyed the said toast like it had personally betrayed him.
“What’s wrong with it?” Jonny hesitated, terrified of setting him off on something else.
Thom threw his head back in pure disgust. Jonny braced himself.
“Well I don't wantit if there’s no butter on it, Jonathan.”
Jonny then thought that perhaps it wasn’t the aliens Thom needed to be worried about. He swallowed the urge to murder him and sweetly passed the butter, his eye twitching slightly.
Thom thanked him, bless him, and started spreading the butter around. They sat in silence for a minute while Thom ate and Jonny daydreamed about booking the next flight to Hawaii, before Thom said his name…again. What now?
“What is it, Thom? Would you like some more tea? Maybe some fruit or another napkin?” Or maybe a mild tranquilizer to make you stop being such a little nightmare on legs…
“No, I’m fine, thanks.” He sounded slightly less uptight than he had before. A good sign, a good sign indeed…
“Then what is it?”
“Well…” he started, suddenly shy. He broke eye contact and Jonny noticed his cheeks were growing a bit red. What on earth was he about to say? It couldn’t be that embarrassing, could it?
“Would you…would you sleep with me in my room tonight so the aliens can’t get me?”
Well he stood corrected. It could be that embarrassing apparently. He smothered a laugh. Only Thom, only Thom.
“You want me to do what now?”
Thom managed to look even more embarrassed. He put his head down and started picking at his nails, a nervous habit of his. “Well you don’t have to…I just thought…I just thought you’d be the only one…whatver it’s stupid, though. Sorry for asking.”
Jonny felt himself growing sorry for him now and wondered, not for the first time, how Thom could shift moods so seamlessly and drastically in the matter of minutes. He supposed it was what made him so creative. But still. It was an anomaly.
“No you’re okay, Thom. I would be fine with that if you want me to. I’ll admit I don’t have much experience with fighting intergalactic entities, though.”
Thom actually smiled at that. “Thanks, Jon Jon. I’m just thinking if there were two of us then maybe they wouldn’t bother me as much.”
Jonny felt his heart actually want to break for him. Seriously, how could he be a tyrant one moment then as innocent as a child the next? It wasn’t fair. And now Jonny wanted to actually hug him to top it all off, the little bugger.
He nudged Thom’s arm gently. “That’s sound logic, I think. We’ll take care of them. Don't worry, Thom Thom.”
But instead Thom was, to Jonny’s shock, the one to hug him, his small body tucked closely against Jonny’s thin frame. Jonny squeezed him back and a moment later was surprised at himself for tucking his head against Thom’s little shoulder, completely at ease with him in his arms. Thom was warm and smelled faintly of some sort of cologne he’d found on tour once. Jonny rubbed his back in soothing circles and swore he heard Thom let out a little sigh. He hoped the moment would never end…
But then five seconds later, Thom was up and complaining about some song called A Reminder he couldn't get quite right. Jonny felt like he was getting emotional whiplash.
*********
It was around 7 o’clock that night that Jonny suggested he and Thom should take a walk. They’d just finished dinner and the late spring air was feeling more than inviting, especially since they’d been cooped up all day inside. Jonny figured some fresh air would help get Thom’s mind off of aliens and ghosts and the like–or at least it couldn’t hurt to try.
There they were, ambling off together along the countryside, Thom falling slightly behind Jonny due to his persisting habit of stopping every five seconds to examine little bits of tree bark or stones. Jonny couldn’t imagine what it was he found so intriguing about them and resigned himself to just crossing his arms and waiting patiently for him to eventually follow him again–a bit like herding around a small dog if he was honest. The thought did cross his mind that maybe he should start calling Thom his little Yorkie Terrier…though he was certain Thom would absolutely murder him for even trying it. Still, he had to admit it had a pretty good ring to it.
Without really meaning to, they ended up deeper into the surrounding forest than they would have liked. Jonny was the only one who seemed to notice, Thom at that point enamored with a tall, spindly, half-dead tree he’d found.
“Look, Jonny,” he said excitedly, grabbing at one of its grey branches. “It’s so creepy. Isn’t it great?”
Jonny raised an eyebrow and smiled despite himself. Thom always was a bit peculiar with things. “Yeah I suppose. It’s a bit dead, though, isn’t it?”
Thom shook his head. “But that’s what makes it better. I mean look around, it’s the only one dying…it makes you notice it more.”
Thom’s logic would also never make sense to Jonny. He nodded anyway and crushed a leaf in his hand. “That’s true. But honestly I wonder what killed it if nothing else around here is dead.”
That was the wrong thing to say. Jonny mentally chided himself as Thom’s head shot straight up in alarm and he took an obvious step away from the tree.
“It’s cursed, I bet,” he whispered nervously. “Jonny, we could get cursed, too if we stay around here much longer.”
Jonny couldn’t fathom how he of all people was the one currently having to listen to such nonsense. But it was Thom. He kept reminding himself of that. Thom was just…Thom. And he loved him for it. And then sometimes he wanted to shake him for it.
“Thom I highly doubt it’s cursed, it’s probably just got some sort of disease…”
“You’re right,” Thom interrupted, frantic now. “It’s probably the aliens then. They did something to it and…”
Before Thom could finish a twig snapped somewhere in the darkness around them. They both jerked to attention, trying to figure out where exactly the sound had come from. It was almost completely dark outside now, making it impossible to tell what had intruded into their vicinity.
Thom looked ready to jump out of his skin. “Jonny,” he croaked, face pale and eyes so wide Jonny would have laughed if they’d have been anywhere else. “What was that?”
He thought it best to try and keep Thom as calm as possible. “Probably just an animal. Nothing to worry about.” Nonetheless, he instinctively stepped toward Thom. “We should best be heading back, though.”
He went to put an arm on Thom’s shoulder when suddenly he saw a pair of glowing eyes right behind the tree Thom had been talking about. Without being able to help himself, his breath caught sharply and he grabbed at Thom, unable to utter anything coherent.
Thom, truly and entirely freaked out now, reached blindly for Jonny’s arm. “What is it? Jonny, please what is it?”
Jonny, in his moment of weakness, merely gestured towards the figure, and Thom, the glutton for punishment he was, ever so hesitantly turned around to look.
As soon as Thom saw it, Jonny thought he might actually faint as he felt Thom’s hand on his arm go limp.
But he didn’t.
Instead he let out the shrillest, girliest scream Jonny had ever heard come from a twenty-something-year-old man.
And then he took off running.
“Thom!” Jonny managed to yell, trying to catch up to him. “Thom, wait!”
But Thom was already out of sight. Jonny slowed to a halt and realized he was in a clearing now. Trees towered oppressively around him, and for one brief moment he wondered if he was actually in a sort of strange nightmare and none of it was real at all. He figured Dan would just love a place like this…
Then he heard another scream. His heart stopped.
“Thom!” he yelled, true fear seeping down his spine now. “Thom, where are you?”
Nothing. Then another scream.
“Jonny, help!”
Something was wrong. Or Thom was just being dramatic. Yeah, yeah, it was probably just that…he was such a dramatic little git…
Jonny took off in the direction of his voice, his small torch the only source of light now. He heard Thom scream again and tried very hard to control his breathing, his head going light at the thought that Thom might actually be in trouble. He ran and ran. Just until he got tripped by something suspiciously flesh-like and took a nosedive straight into the dirt.
He managed a little yelp as his hands bore the brunt of his weight, the wind knocked out of him. He heard a pained moan behind him and quickly came to his senses.
“Thom?” he cried, crawling over to the Thom-sized heap beside him. He couldn’t quite make out Thom’s expression yet, so he thought it a good idea to shine the torch directly into Thom’s face.
“Ow, bloody…get that out of here, you sod,” Thom whined, weakly gesturing it away. Jonny suddenly remembered that shining torches directly into people’s faces was not such a good idea and laid a hand on Thom’s arm instead, trying to assess what was wrong.
“Thom, are you all right? What happened?”
Jonny could just see Thom’s eyes growing wider. “It was the alien.”
Jonny nodded, pretending to believe him for his sake. “Yes but are you okay?”
Thom shuddered, whether from the memory of what had happened or from pain was uncertain. “I tried to run away but I think it tripped me or something…my leg hurts pretty bad.”
Jonny shined the torch on said leg and was appalled to actually see blood seeping through a tear in Thom’s camouflage pants. Of all the times for Thom to actually be dramatic this was certainly the time and place. But he looked more shell-shocked than anything else. Jonny didn’t like it.
“Can you move it at all?” he asked, bending down to examine it. He ran his fingers along the gash and gently pressed in at different spots to try and gather the extent of the pain. After a moment, Thom laid his head back against the ground, his arms splayed out beside him, obviously exhausted. On any other day he would have hated how vulnerable it made him look, but right then the only reaction Jonny could really get out of him was a sharp intake of breath every now and then whenever he touched a particularly sore spot. It was rather unsettling.
He decided he needed to get him back as soon as possible. “Come on then, Thom Thom. Let’s get you back inside and I’ll fix you up. Sound good?” Jonny hated how thin and nervous his voice sounded. But Thom didn’t seem to notice.
“Okay,” he nodded, trying uselessly to get up and failing miserably.
Jonny immediately threw an arm around his small waist and helped lift him, surprised at how light he was. “Here, I’ve got you.”
Thom didn’t fight him. He just rested his head against Jonny’s shoulder and let himself be moved as Jonny saw fit, careful not to put any weight on his hurt leg.
It was slow going getting back to the mansion, what with Jonny having to literally drag Thom along and not being able to see well in the dark. The trip was mostly silent save for the occasional wince from Thom or the paranoid ramblings in which he would go off about how many aliens he thought were currently after him. Jonny simply smiled and nodded through all of it, more concerned about making sure Thom was alright than whatever it was they’d actually seen back in the woods, whether alien or not.
When they finally made it back inside, Thom had gone quiet. Jonny frowned at the feeling of Thom’s head resting rather slackly against his shoulder and tried his best to be gentle as he half-carried him up the stairs to his room. The others were nowhere to be found, so Jonny figured they were off recording in the back of the mansion somewhere. He’d let them know Thom would be down for the count later, but at that moment the only thing that mattered was getting Thom himself taken care of.
“Alright, Thom Thom,” he said as he turned the light on to Thom’s room, steering him towards the bed. “Feeling okay?”
Thom sighed miserably, his eyes flickering. “Just hurts.”
Jonny nodded, helping lay Thom back against the pillows. “Let me go get the first aid kit.”
But Thom immediately grabbed Jonny’s arm, panicked. “No, don't leave me.” Thom’s eyes were wide with fear all over again, his grip painfully firm. Jonny suddenly felt the strange urge to wrap him up in a blanket and hold him until he calmed down and drifted to sleep. He hated seeing him so afraid. He rubbed his shoulder soothingly, trying to reassure him.
“It’s alright, Thom. It’ll only take me a minute.”
Thom still looked terrified. “But it could come and take me in a minute. That’s all it would need to…”
“It’s not going to get you, Thom. I wouldn’t let that happen.” He tried to interrupt but Jonny continued. “Your leg will get infected if we don’t put some medicine on it. I swear I’ll be right back. Just lay back and try to relax, yeah?”
Jonny could tell Thom didn’t believe him, but he let go of his shoulder and left to get the kit anyway. He heard Thom’s weak pleading for him as he closed the door and couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps Thom really did need more help than he, or anyone else in the band for that matter, could give him. He actually was losing it if he was that upset over a fictitious alien. It was absolutely absurd. And yet it had put him in such a state. Jonny felt truly bad for him then. The poor sod just needed some very careful looking after, right?
Jonny just hoped he’d be able to take care of him as much as he clearly needed it.