𝐈𝐍𝐊 - JAMIE CAMPBELL BOWER

26

     "Y/n, it's way too early for this! You need to turn around and get back to Jamie right now," ordered Tom from the other end of the phone. 

     "What's the sense in turning around if I'm already halfway there? I'm just gonna check it out, okay? This is for Jamie," you explain, stepping harder on the gas. 

     The buildings passed by your car window, each becoming more sullen and distraught looking as the miles when on. You did not often drive through this part of town and it was coated in a layer of eerieness that unnerved your mind. Upon checking your GPS, you see that you have roughly fifteen minutes left of driving. You could make it. 

     There was too long of silence on Tom's end. "Say something," you beg, "Please."

     He sighs. "We both know you're not doing this for Jamie." 

     You could practically envision the expression on Tom's face. A wrinkle in his brow and a press of his thin lips, clear as day in the back of your mind. It bothered you, but you did not speak. 

     "You're doing this for you," he finishes gravely.

     A pain like ice stabs your heart and knocks all the strength out of your voice. Saving Jamie was about saving Jamie, but could it also have been about saving you too? You begin to imagine a life without him, but you almost immediately stop. It was too hard to fathom. It had only been a month, but it felt like a lifetime.

     Your voice cracks when you ask, "Is that really all that bad?" You pause. "...for once, to finally do something for me?"

     Tom seems at a loss for words. He says nothing for a long minute that drags on and on, slower by the second. It sounds as though he'll never respond. 

     "No," he softly concludes. "But this is dangerous. You know it's dangerous." 

     You look at the world around you, see the cars moving past you, the street signs whipping past your windshield. Had you bitten off more than you could chew? Your mind was determined, the tight grip of your hands on the steering wheel told you so, but could you really see this through to the end? 

     "You've got to really think about this," he warns.

     "I just can't lose him," you say. 

     Hidden in those words, were a million more you would not say. You couldn't, for fear of breaking down and not being able to pick up the pieces. You could not lose Jamie, because that meant losing Kat as well. You could not lose Jamie, because that meant losing this life you had grown to love, a life you had always wanted, but maybe that was selfish.

     There was rustling on his end for a moment. "I know." 

    That tight feeling in your throat returned. It threatened to choke you alive. 

    "Tom, I'm sorry."

    "For what?"

    "For putting you through this. I shouldn't have dumped Jamie on you like that or yelled at you. I just... I've taken advantage of you and I'm so sorry for that. Neither of us knows what we're doing. It wasn't fair of me." 

    "Don't worry about it," he replies. "I understand why you did what you did. I shouldn't have kept anything like that from you either." 

    You release a heavy sigh. It felt like a weight from your shoulders had been lifted, but only one of them. You tighten your grip on the steering wheel, sit up a little straighter.

     "You love him, don't you?"

     A saddened smile found your face. "Of course I do."

     Tom chuckled. "Good because he's crazy about you. He was sick as a dog in bed and still wouldn't stop talking about you." 

     Your smile grows bigger, happier, the bittersweetness nearly faded away. "Aww..." you say.

     "He also said that he hoped you wouldn't do anything drastic. That was why he was so intent on keeping his... um...—situation—hidden from you." 

     You bite your lip. "Are you saying I should turn back?"

     "Yes, but knowing you, you won't listen," he answers. "Just do what you know is right and be careful, okay?" 

     "Okay," you say.

    "I'll see you later."

    "See you." 

    Tom hangs up so you don't have to, and you're left with the silence that fills the car. If life was a game, you must have had it on the hardest level. Right now, even breathing felt like a pain. 

    Five minutes left of driving and then you would be at the library. Then, you would find answers. Then, you could save Jamie.

    But there was still the voice in your head that told you to turn around. 

    "Okay, fine," you mumble to yourself. "I'll go back." 

    

   ✧ ˚ 　· 　　 .

     

     Jamie paced the living room back and forth, his good arm anxiously stroking his fading one. He lifted up the hem of his shirt, only to see his stomach coated in that same translucent glow. He knew he was running out of time and fast. 

     If only he knew where Y/n was. 

     The room felt as though it was closing in on him. Each moment that passed left them feeling more and more like cell walls and a lot less like luxury hotel walls. He ran his fingers through his hair again.

     Finally, Jamie decides he's had enough. He throws on the dark hoodie from earlier and long pants, despite the hot weather outside. After making sure the hoodie concealed his neck, he left the hotel room and ambled out onto the streets below. He won't find Y/n down there, he knew that much, but he felt the need to wander through the world and soak up the sun while he still could. 

     The world was absolutely gorgeous. He strolled through the sidewalk and appreciated the trees that bristled in the wind, the smells that wafted through the air, the birds that sat on powerlines. He admired each and every little thing. He inhaled and filled his chest with all the fresh air it could hold and then released it, somehow feeling fuller than before. 

     He should have been more distraught, knowing that he was fading away, but the only thing that had him distraught at the moment was the fact that the love of his life was missing. 

     Where were his teleportation powers when he needed them? Sadly, that was a power he could not control and still did not fully understand. It seemed that that was just another thing entirely out of his hands. 

     Jamie knew of his true purpose and it had almost been fulfilled. Y/n just had to accept it. That was the way it was, in this loop they had intertwined themselves in. 

     The hardest part was acceptance. 

     After his long walk, which goes on for longer than he can track, he makes his way back to the hotel room and takes off his hoodie. To his dismay, the hotel room is still empty. He wished that wherever Y/n was, she would hurry up.

     That's when there was a knock at the door. 

     "It's Tom!" the voice shouted. 

     Jamie made his way to unlock the door and when he opens it, allows Tom inside. 

    Jamie scrunched his eyes. "Are you all right? You don't look so well..." 

    Tom was breathing hard and disheveled. His hair was tousled over his head and his phone was nearly falling out of his pant pocket. He quickly moves to catch it, not even bothering to comment on it. 

     "We've got to go, now," he said, sounding too alarmed to be comforting. 

     "What's happened?" Jamie asks. 

     "Y/n. Car accident. She's in the hospital."