Maizen: Return of the Zombies

Chapter 13

Instead of a welcoming darkness, it was loud buzzing, and a swirl of colors. As the pain faded away, so did those two things. It was only then that JJ realized something crucial.

He was back in his bed. Right next to him, Mikey was sleeping peacefully. He was completly fine; no streakes, uneven breathing, or unusual silence.

Everything was normal.

So why was JJ still scared out his mind? Clearly, it had all been just a nightmare. So there was no reason to still be shaking and breathing heavily, as if it was still happening.

JJ sat up and turned on the light, just to make sure nothing was wrong. His anxiety turned out to be false; everything had stayed the same since he had originally went to sleep.

"I should have known..." JJ thought, his mind starting to relax. "Mikey had been holding that zombie's jaws back the entire time at the hospital. It didn't even have a chance to bite him."

He didn't have constantly running thoughts anymore, but he was still terrified at what he had experienced in his nightmare. JJ tried to hold his head steady, but it hardly helped. Just then, he heard the bed shift as Mikey woke up.

JJ instantly created distance between him and his friend, unable to control his anxiety. It took Mikey a second to take in his surroundings, and when he saw that state JJ was in, he instantly grew concerned.

"JJ? What's wrong?" He asked, sounding tired, but still worried. Mikey always a great listner and comforter, so JJ felt comfortable telling him about his nightmare. He'd been there for him when his killer clown truama was major and consistent, after all.

"I..." However, JJ could barely speak. "I-I... I had a..."

Mikey studied him for a minute, before trying to guess. "A nightmare?"

JJ fell into his pillow and tried relaxing himself. He couldn't even speak right now.

"Get it together." JJ scolded himself, feeling his emotions welling up. "It's over, it's all over! It never happened."

Mikey took that as a yes, and pulled JJ into a hug. "Aw, it's okay JJ... the killer clowns are dead... they aren't coming back."

"I-It wasn't... it w-wasn't about that..." JJ said, hardly managing to say the sentence because of a forming lump in his throat. He wanted to cry so bad, but he felt embarassed to. He always did whenever he let out his emotions. He was supposed to be strong, not some crybaby.

But then, JJ remembered that he was in the presence of someone who never judged him. All those times he cried in the past, Mikey had never hung it over his head, or even mentioned it to others. He was free to express himself... and besides, holding his emotions in wasn't healthy.

JJ suddenly released everything at once, right there into his friend's chest. Mikey was suprised at first, but he eventually realized what was going on and started whispering comforting things to JJ, and started softly combing through his hair. It really helped, and JJ soon managed to get himself under control. He took that moment to finally relax, and his growing headache started to ease. Mikey realized that JJ had finally settled down, and joined him in a comforting silence.

Just then, JJ took this whole situtation into account. How close him and Mikey were... them sleeping together all the time... how many times JJ had felt warm inside in Mikey's presence... their whole relationship in general... he had never thought of it anything different than just regular friendship. But the more JJ thought about it, analyzed the feeling in his chest, and touched on how he really felt about Mikey... he realized it was something he would have never even guessed.