Slenderverse One-shots

It'll Be Okay ⊗ MH

Some Jam fluff  where Tim reaches Jay in time!

His heart was hammering and the echo of the gunshot was still on repeat in his mind as he ran in the direction it'd came from. Tim didn't need to see who'd fired the gun or who the target had been. In his churning gut he knew Jay had escaped and Alex had found him. This whole thing was beginning to feel like a set up from the guy in the hoodie—not that he could focus on that right now.

"Jay?" His voice wheezed with panic as he whirled around the corner and nearly stumbled down a set of old stairs when he refused to slow his pace. "Jay!"

A coughing fit hit him and he struggled to stay on his feet. He couldn't deal with this right now. He needed to stay on his feet, had to find Jay. Reluctantly, his limbs responded and he pushed forward down the hallway. If Alex was still around waiting for him he wouldn't have much of a chance in fighting him off.

"I need to find Jay..." He pushed aside the worries for his own safety.

Several rooms lined the dark hall and he began quickly glancing in each one, not daring to call out again. It was beginning to look unlikely that Alex was down here still but that didn't mean he needed to call attention to his location. He couldn't help Jay if he was shot.

It felt like the minutes dragged by until he found a shut door with a crimson stain smearing along the bottom—he'd nearly missed it completely. Fear burst through him as he forced the door open, wincing mentally as he heard something thump onto the floor as he opened it. The limp body lying on the ground made his heart drop. Tim felt a breathlessness that had nothing to do with his previous bout of coughing. Blood had stained through Jay's shirt and jacket, coating a pale hand the man had pressed against his side in attempts to stop the bleeding. Droplets dotted the ground, pooling and smearing after Tim had knocked him over; Jay at least seemed to have enough common sense left to try barricading himself in.

"Jay?" His knees hit the cement floor, likely bruising them but the thought didn't cross his mind. "Jay, please..."

What was he even asking Jay to do? Speak? Move? Still be alive? All of the above would be great. "Please... I can't be too late..."

"Jay, can you hear me?" He slid a hand under Jay's bloody one and pressed, shuddering as the warm liquid oozed between his fingers.

"Oh, fuck... No, no there's so much..!" He couldn't just sit here and do this or else Jay would bleed out. Tim fumbled with his free hand for his phone, haphazardly dialing for an ambulance with shaky fingers.

"It's going to be okay... You're going to be okay..." He mumbled desperately, more to himself than to the man lying down before him.

There were a lot of lies about why they were there but the story was simple enough that it checked out. They'd stabilized Jay and left Tim alone to sit with him in the room. The silence seemed to weigh on him as he watched the thinner man's chest rise and fall. This had all gone too far. He hadn't even wanted to be dragged through this mess to begin with but... deep down Tim knew he wouldn't have had a choice. At least he'd been able to keep Jay alive as long as he had.

"...What if he doesn't wake up?" There was the taste of bile in his mouth and he could still smell the metallic scent of blood despite cleaning it from his hands long ago. "The last thing we did was fight..."

Would this have happened if he'd just taken Jay with him? Or if they'd both stayed behind to discuss Jay's change in demeanor beforehand so he'd calm down? He'd never know. Tim considered himself lucky that he even managed to get help in time... If this situation could be considered that.

Tired, he leaned forward in the chair and crossed his arms on the mattress as a makeshift pillow for his head. Dark hair fell in his face as he debated with himself about falling asleep. He needed rest in case something came up but if something happened to Jay while he was just sleeping there oblivious... "What if he died and I slept through it?"

The exhaustion tugged at his eyelids despite his attempts to avoid closing them. The sterile smell of the hospital and bright fluorescent lights couldn't stave off sleep forever. Tim let out a long, slow breath as he finally passed out, vowing to only rest for a few minutes at most.

He ended up sleeping through the night, waking up as morning sunlight began piercing through the blinds in the room. Tim jolted as his senses came back to him, panic settling in as he realized he'd slept much too long. "Jay?"

Something on his hand twitched and he glanced down, finally noticing Jay's hand lying over one of his own. The skin was still pale but at least it was regaining its complexion from the deathly grey it'd had. A faint smile twitched at the corner of his mouth; relief flooded him as he took Jay's hand in his own. He'd made it through the night.

"Wha's wrong?" A half asleep voice questioned him, sounding more amused than the situation should allow. "I'm not dying."

"You could've." He bit back the annoyance at how casual Jay was sounding about this. "Could be the drugs... I don't want to argue. I'm lucky I even still have him."

"Hmm..." Jay hummed in agreement, his eyes staring at Tim with more clarity than the shorter man had seen them in weeks. "You... you stayed with me?"

"Of course I did."

"Even after..." Jay grimaced and trailed off.

"It's an argument, Jay, it doesn't mean I want nothing to do with you." It was too early in the day for this conversation. "Get some sleep."

"I know..." The man winced as he shifted, trying to find a more comfortable position. Settling down, he glanced at Tim again. "I'm done... with all this. The filming, entries... finding answers, all of it. I-I don't want to die for this."

Now that was something he fully supported. Tim nodded. It was unlikely they'd ever get back to a normal life, but at least they could try right? "Well, when you're good enough to leave we can find a place. Far away, out of state maybe. Leave Alex and the whole Marble Hornets thing behind... It'll be okay."