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Tim and Jay had been dating for a little while now. Because of the sickness The Operator cursed every person he stalked with, their memories were, of course, awful. They didn’t know how long they’d been together, it had to have been a little over nine months though.
The sound of water running was loud in the other room. The walls of this cheap motel were thin, so it was like a rainstorm to Jay’s ears.
Jay was sitting on the bed furthest from the door. He had his legs crossed so his laptop could rest on his lap. He clicked at the keys as he edited the next entry for Marble Hornets.
Tim was in the bathroom showering. Jay knew he’d be out very soon. The water pressure was horrid. It was funny because it sounded like a storm in that motel room.
The sound of water stopped abruptly. Then he heard the sound of cheap curtains opening and closing. Tim was finally done with his shower.
When Tim emerged from the bathroom he had a towel wrapped around his waist. He approached the duffle bag that sat upon his bed, the one closest to the door, and looked for some clean clothes.
Jay stared at his form, seeing him in only a towel made his face tingle. He thought that was so hot. His boyfriend being naked underneath that thin cloth, how could he not be flustered?
“Heya, we’re gonna have to drop by a laundromat sometime soon.” Tim’s voice ripped through his thoughts. Jay had to keep his eyes locked onto his laptop to avoid giving away how seriously flustered he was. He knew Tim probably had already caught him staring
Jay tried not to look worse. But Tim wasn’t an idiot either, he noticed his boyfriend trying not to look more than he already did.
Tim chuckled softly, his gruff voice sounding impossibly hotter to the man sitting on his bed. The man in his towel bent down and kissed Jay’s cheek tenderly. The soft action caused Jay to giggle and look up at Tim.
“I was just trying to give you privacy,” Jay mumbled, he was too flustered to speak up any more than what he just did. Defending himself was useless, he had already been caught. “Also, I can feel your beard growing back.”
Tim quickly brought his free hand to stroke his chin and jawline. He let out a sigh of annoyance as he, too, felt those familiar whiskers poking out. “Yeah, you’re right. I had to throw my razor away though, it was getting dull.”
The brunette, still in his towel, traveled across the motel room to grab his clothes. Jay felt bad for making it seem like he absolutely had to shave, like he should be embarrassed if he didn’t.
“No, if you don’t have a razor then don’t worry about it.” Jay brought a hand to the laptop to close it, then he pushed it in front of him. “We’re almost out of money anyway. Pretty soon this plan of ‘only you working and me staying at the motel to edit videos and keep an eye out’ isn’t gonna work anymore.” Jay tapped his finger against his chin nervously.
Tim sat on his bed and nodded in understanding. “I have a couple bucks for the laundromat, a few for food, and I might have enough for one of our cars to have gas.” Tim scratched at his wet hair. “Maybe it is time we find you a job.”
Then, Tim stood back up, with clothes in his hands, and walked back into the tiny bathroom. Closing the door behind him.
Jay opened the laptop again and quickly typed some places around town that may be hiring into the device. A few positions he found interesting popped up. A few fast food places, a local hotel, a convenience store, etc. Jay clicked on a few to look at them, while he waited for Tim to emerge again before he made any quick choices.
The door opened with a loud creak and there was his man with a flannel on. His hair was still soaking wet. God, his hair was so hot when it was wet. Jay blinked, staring up at the man he loved.
The shorter of the two plopped down onto the mattress space beside him and encouraged Jay to show him some positions he was interested in. He was honestly surprised to see that many places were hiring. One caught his eye.
“Wait!” Tim piped up and put his index and middle finger on the touchpad to scroll back up. “A convenience store. You could honestly get some free stuff out of that.”
That idea didn’t seem half bad. “Is that one of the benefits?” Jay rested his cheek against Tim’s shoulder, looking up at him as he suggested it.
Tim shrugged and brought a hand to his boyfriend’s head to stroke his hair. “Well, y’know, I meant you could get free stuff.. regardless of whether it’s a… benefit or not?” Tim smiled the way he does when he knows he’s guilty.
Jay’s head shot up and he gasped. “Timothy Wright! You want me to steal from a job I haven’t even applied for yet!?” Jay shouted a little too loudly. Tim brought a hand to cover his mouth and shushed him urgently.
“Thin walls, Jay!” Tim warned with a loud whisper and slowly moved his hand away from the other man’s mouth. “And yes, I do mean steal if it isn’t a benefit. We’re in a very tight situation right now.” Tim attempted to reason.
After a long moment of thinking it over Jay finally gave in. How could he resist going against what his attractive, hot, sexy boyfriend wanted? “Fine, I’ll apply for the stupid store,” Jay spoke almost mockingly. “You’re a bad person y’know.” The blue-eyed boy crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.
But he was rewarded with another kiss on the cheek that simply made him melt again. “Oh, I know.” Timothy grinned. It was such an evil little smirk that Jay knew was wrong. But he couldn’t help sinking into his lover’s arms again.
They had shifted into a position so the laptop rested upon Tim’s lap. Tim’s arm was wrapped around his shoulders and their bodies were pressed up against one another. Jay had rested his head on Tim’s shoulder, his face almost pressing against his neck. Tim used his free hand to fill out Jay’s application.
The dirty blonde boy enjoyed having his nose so close to his boyfriend’s neck. He found Tim’s scent to be oddly comforting. It was mostly a cigarette smell, but alas, it was comforting.
“You don’t have to do all that for me, baby.” Jay smiled into the latter’s neck, pressing a gentle kiss that made Tim huff quietly.
“Well, I know that. But you’re far too comfortable, I wouldn’t want to make you move again.” Tim pressed a returning kiss onto the top of Jay’s head. His soft hair brushed against his lips. Then, Tim returned to filling out the application.
Their bodies fit together like a glove, and just like a glove, it was warm. It was unusually cold, usually in Alabama it’s hot. But during this current February, they just had to be cursed with temperatures they weren’t used to.
Jay never thought he’d love Tim like this, he’d never really liked him at all until they started sharing motel rooms, and abnormal experiences. He glanced up at Tim’s concentrated face and felt a tinge of warmth spread through his torso. He didn’t realize how alone he’d been until getting to be so close to him.
Tim continued to click at the keyboard with one hand, finally shifting it to show Jay the application. “How does this look?” He scrolled through it slowly so Jay could read it.
“Half of this is untrue.” Jay laughed at the obvious and apparent lies shown before his very eyes. As he kept reading it got funnier and funnier. “Dude! I don’t have five years of retail experience!” Jay burst out into laughter and slapped his boyfriend’s chest.
Tim laughed a bit too as he saw Jay’s reaction. “Hey, I just want you to get hired, alright?” Tim rubbed Jay’s shoulder. Little did he know the mistake in his wording that he had made.
Jay stopped laughing and pulled away, staring daggers into his lover’s face. “So my best isn’t good enough?” Jay asked, his tone showing the hurt he felt when Tim had made that comment.
Tim quickly shook his head and grabbed one of Jay’s pale hands. “No! That’s not what I said! What I meant was they’d be more likely to hire you if you said you had five years of retail experience, instead of saying you’ve been chased and cursed by some deranged man with a gun, a hooded figure, and whatever The Operator is.” Tim defended his case and finished it off with a soft kiss to Jay’s palm.
Jay slumped his shoulders in defeat. “Yeah, good point.” He admitted and ran his unoccupied hand through his short hair. “My life really isn’t fulfilling. You’re the only good thing that’s happened to me since college.” Jay’s voice deepened with pain.
He suddenly felt a soft hand let go of his and cup his cheek. “After all of this is over,” Jay started, “we can spend the rest of our lives together. Peacefully.” Jay put his hand on top of Tim’s and smiled with hope. “Then, we can finally be fulfilled.”
Tim blushed an adorable shade of pink at the beautiful words that left his mouth. “Yes! Oh, yes.” Tim put his forehead against Jay’s and wrapped his arms around his waist.
Jay wrapped his arms around Tim’s neck and pressed his lips against his. He just had to close the gap between the two. Pleasure shot through both of their bodies as they felt lips against lips. Tim tasted like cigarettes, but Jay enjoyed the taste. It was so obnoxiously Tim.
He felt Tim press a little harder and tilt his head so he could deepen the kiss and have more of Jay. Jay complied and tilted his head a little bit more too. He never wanted this to stop, he never wanted to let go of his man.
Jay felt Tim press his tongue to his lips which made him flinch and squeak with surprise. He would eventually open his mouth to allow Tim an entrance. Tim’s tongue collided with his own and it sent waves of pleasure and lust through both of their bodies.
Tim got more dominant, going a little bit more aggressive and intense. He held Jay tighter as he claimed his mouth as his own. It wasn’t like Jay didn’t enjoy it either, he pressed himself closer to Tim so he’d give him more. He needed more.
They eventually pulled away to catch their breath. They began to pant. Their foreheads were once again together as they felt each other’s breaths graze against one another’s faces. Hot, humid breaths. That both of them needed more of.
Tim pecked Jay’s needy lips before popcorn-kissing down his face, jawline, and neck. Jay whined loudly and tilted his head to let Tim press more wet kisses to his body. His neck sparked and tingled with each kiss Tim planted onto the sensitive skin.
Tim pulled away to gently push Jay against the mattress. Jay looked up at his hot chest and face to see him staring down at what he loved most. Like he was staring at a prized trophy he could call his own. Both of Tim’s palms pressed against the mattress on either side of Jay’s head, trapping him beneath him.
Jay bit his lip trying to contain his own excitement, but how could he contain himself when the love of his life was doing all of this to him?
Tim pressed more kisses against his neck and caught some skin in between his teeth. He suctioned his lips around the skin and began to suck a love mark onto his pale lover.
Jay gasped with pleasure and brought his hands to the brunette's hair. He clung to it like his life desperately depended on it. He couldn’t imagine letting go.
“I love you so much, Tim,” Jay confessed with a soft whimper behind his tone.
“I love you too, Jay,” Tim whispered into the man’s ear.
——————————————
Jay slumped against the cold hard wall of the random room he locked himself in inside Benedict Hall. His hand desperately clamped around his camcorder as he recorded everything.
After Alex’s gun went off it felt like someone had punched his side, except nobody punched him. What he felt was a bullet going through his abdomen.
He brought his free hand down to gently dab at the wound. When he withdrew his hand, he saw blood everywhere. It coated his fingers and clothes and the floor around him.
Jay coughed a little, he didn’t have the strength to cover his mouth, and a hot liquid poured from his lips and throat. Metallic in taste.
The tips of his fingers and toes began to feel numb. So numb to the point of weakness. He dropped his camera into his lap. But he barely felt it, the nerves in his body slowly failing on him.
He desperately tried to hold his side, maybe if he pushed hard enough then the bleeding would stop? That’s how it worked in the movies. But he was so weak that it didn’t do anything, his body wasn’t going to survive this.
All he could remember was the argument between him and Tim right before Tim ran away, leaving him zip-tied.
He couldn’t blame Tim, he charged at him with a knife. God, how stupid could he get? To charge at his boyfriend with a weapon. But he could see the disappointment in his face and the anger in his eyes as he scolded Jay for what he did.
Whenever Tim was Masky he couldn’t control his actions or remember them. So why would he assume he knew where Jessica was? Tim did possess the tape and he did hide it from him, but if he had listened he would’ve understood why.
Jay could feel his eyelids droop, he felt so tired. Maybe he could just rest? He gently shut his eyes and let himself feel so warm, he only felt this warm when Tim would kiss him. Shower him with affection and love. It was a tingly kind of warm that was often associated with pleasure.
But as his chest heaved with his final breaths and he replayed his final memories in his head, he knew that Tim would always hate him. What Jay did to him was unforgivable, and he deserved to die.
He’d always wanted to die, to escape this hellhole he lived in, but he didn’t know how scary it would be. But it was something he had to accept. There was no going back now.
“Tim, wherever you are now, just know that I’m sorry. And I love you.”
——————————————
It had been three months since he killed Alex. Since he moved out of Alabama.
All Tim wanted to do was forget, he wasn’t bad at that anyway. The image of Brian’s lifeless body against the cold concrete made him shiver. The thought of Alex’s bloody stab wound that Tim single-handedly inflicted also disgusted him.
But nothing made him as sick to his stomach as seeing Jay’s dead body did.
The corpse he once called his lover had its head hung, lifeless. His hand was over his bleeding stab wound, and Tim knew exactly why. He knew that Jay would try to save himself by pressing on the wound. And Tim knew that he wasn’t going to survive like that.
Tim was lying low in a motel room somewhere in Texas. It was the next best state to go to for him. It was huge so easier to hide. It had cheap gas, cheap housing, plus it was a few states away from Alabama.
He lay on a cheap motel bed. The mattress felt like an eraser was pressing into his back. As he replayed every negative thing in his head.
Out of everything he wanted to forget, it was those horrid years of his life, but for some reason, The Operator’s sickness didn’t affect his memory anymore.
After killing its puppet it was like it feared him. As if he’d killed a god. So it left him alone forever. But Tim would and will always stay paranoid for as long as he lives.
Tim sat up groggily, bringing a hand to scratch at his cheek. He felt his beard, which he had grown out, and it was disgustingly unkempt too. He knew Jay wasn’t a fan of facial hair, but Tim couldn’t shave. He couldn’t eat or sleep either. All he could do was lie down and grieve.
He eventually found enough strength and grabbed the TV remote and clicked the cheap motel’s TV on. Flipping through channels until he found one that wasn’t horrible and he turned it down low, so it could be background noise.
Tim plopped back down onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. His room was dark and his clothes had a musky smell that was getting worse as the days went by. But Tim couldn’t get up to shower, or to go to a laundromat. It took so much energy that he simply didn’t have. He felt like a slob for it, but it was the truth.
Honestly, he’d wish that maybe some invisible force might kill him right there and then. He didn’t see the point in life anymore. He’d stooped so low.
He couldn’t ever sleep either. Like some permanent insomnia came to curse him. But when sleep fell upon him he always dreamt of Jay.
It would be a masked figure, one with a skull-like mask. He’d have Jay’s eyes and body. But he’d possess the souls of multiple people. He roamed through the forests and watched through the windows. That dream would always end with the figure watching him as he slept.
Tim eventually sat up, he realized he didn’t care for what was on the TV and decided to flip through channels, he landed on a show Jay had liked.
Garfield, though it was a kids' show, was one Jay always loved. It was a comfort show of his, which made him feel safe even when he wasn’t. The final years of his life were filled with so much danger that this show is probably what kept him in one piece.
“Jay, it’s your-.”
Tim paused, who was he talking to? Certainly wasn’t Jay. And he knew that. He’d been so used to sharing a room with him, with sharing a bed with him, that he remembered that Jay wasn’t even there anymore. Would never be there anymore.
He took one of the pillows off the bed and threw it at the wall. It didn’t make much noise and certainly didn’t dent the wall. But it was the closest object to Tim.
He heaved angrily. Hot angry breaths left his mouth as he felt this heavy wave of emotion wash over him.
He pressed his hands against his face and just let go of everything he’d been bottling up for months. Tears flooded down his face as desperate sobs left his throat.
He moved his hands from his face to hold himself as he pathetically wept. He tilted his head down as he sobbed, getting tears all over his clothes and beard.
He trembled as he looked at his hands. These were the very hands that ended two lives. These hands used to hold his lover, touch his lover, and pleasure his lover. But now they were used for nothing. Tim was absolutely useless. And even though Alex’s blood and Brian’s body weren’t on his hands anymore, he still felt it.
He turned his body over and pressed his face into his pillow, crying into it. His hands gripped it mercilessly. All he wanted was to kiss Jay again, or hug him, or tell him he loved him one last time.
But Tim knew Jay died thinking he hated him.
Why did his final moments with him have to be angry? Why did he zip-tie him up instead of having a conversation with him? He knew that it would’ve been unrealistic, but he just wanted to change the past. Even if it was unrealistic and stupid. Tim just wanted Jay to be in his arms again.
Tim eventually wore himself out from crying. His eyes were dry and his throat was raw. He was super dehydrated but too weak to get up and retrieve water. He was too pathetic to just get himself water, how sad is that?
Instead, he reached over the nightstand and got himself a cigarette and his lighter. He placed the bud of the cigarette in his mouth and proceeded to use the lighter. He cupped his free hand once he lit the flame and pressed the fire against the tip of his cigarette.
He took the blunt between his fingers and blew out a cloud of smoke. The tobacco relaxed him slightly. He liked how this cigarette might actually be working to calm him down.
Then a little bit of hot ash fell on his hand. How long has he left this cigarette unattended? It didn’t matter, all that mattered was that it had hurt.
He hissed at the burn and quickly wiped it off. He’d forgotten to flick the ash off his cigarette, so it eventually fell off itself.
But maybe that’s what he deserved? Maybe he should keep burning his skin with the ash from his cigarette. Because he deserves to feel pain.
Tim quickly put his cigarette out in the ashtray that was provided by the motel. He knew he needed a refill on his medication sooner. He was having such harmful thoughts again. Thoughts his doctor from Alabama tried treating.
He’s had negative thoughts since he was a kid. Along with hallucinations and anxiety. Other problems occurred too but he’s being medicated for everything now.
Sometimes the medication wasn’t enough though. Sometimes he’d still see things, and think things. Why was he so pathetic?
Tim finally lay down against the mattress, pulling the covers over his body so he could try to sleep. The sheets were thin but somehow still worked on heating him. He liked how warm he felt.
Maybe he was lucky tonight, or the crying wore him out. But he went out eventually. Sleeping so peacefully against a mattress that would for sure give him back pain in the morning.
And peering through the shutters, outside in the warm weather. Was a person wearing a skull-like mask. He wore a brown hoodie with a blue hood.
They watched Timothy sleep and were jealous of how a body could do that. Their body was restless, inhuman. Because they were merely a vessel.
The person had a rose in their hand. A single rose that signified so much. They placed it down at the front doorstep of Tim’s room.
Then they walked away, hands in their pocket, disappearing into the night.