To Live without Fear [Jeff the KillerxReader]

15

"Hey. Hey, wake up." Jeff shook your shoulder and forced you awake. You were stiff and groggy from sleeping on the cold floor, and the thought of moving did not sound appealing at all.
"Come on, lazy ass. We need to get going."

You groaned and sat up. "It's too early for this..."

"I'm serious." Jeff said as he helped pull you to your feet. "It's not just Jane anymore. We've been spotted."

That got you awake. "Spotted? What do you mean?"

Jeff grabbed your backpack and slung it onto his shoulder. "Someone got a picture of us escaping the fire. When I went out last night, I saw it plastered all over the news."

You frowned. Knowing your parents, it wouldn't take them very long at all to find that picture and find their way to this town. They could be on their way already. Especially if Jeff was recognizable in that picture...they'd be flying down the highway at a hundred miles an hour. Your ankle still throbbed, and you couldn't put much weight on it- but that was nothing compared to the world of hurt you'd be in if they caught you.

With Jeff's support, you limped your way towards the bus stop with hopes to catch the 7 am bus out of town. Jeff had to keep his hood up the entire time, which meant you couldn't wear yours. Nothing was more suspicious than a pair of teenagers with their hoods up- it would draw too much attention. So you had to suffice with keeping your head down and trying to disguise your limp.

Jeff helped a lot. He kept on your bad side and supported you with an arm around your waist. It turned out that even in pairs, Jeff was a master at staying hidden in plain sight. Whenever you passed by a reflective surface and could see yourself, you marvelled at how natural your position looked, as if he wasn't holding you up at all. To the average person walking by, you probably looked- well, like a young couple. The thought brought a little color to your face, and you were glad that Jeff wasn't paying attention to you. You'd both kept pretty quiet for most of the journey.

When you got on the bus, the driver looked at your large, hiking backpack skeptically. "Camping trip." You muttered as you handed him the bus fare, "We're meeting a bunch of friends. Gonna be a blast."

That explanation seemed to satisfy the driver, who gave you your tickets and immediately lost interest in you. You and Jeff made your way to the back of the bus, behind a rather rotund and drowsy looking old couple, where you'd be safest from the cameras. Jeff didn't relax until the 'You're leaving' sign was safely on the road behind you.

"Has anyone ever told you," Jeff said, smirking up at you from under his hood, "that you're a compulsive liar?"

"And a damn good one." You replied, folding your arms behind your head. Jeff chuckled. The sound brightened your mood a little. It looked like he was returning to his old self again.

After a long day of riding buses, idly chatting, and hiking along the highway, you came across a valley packed with trees. You made your way through the forest until you found a nice, sheltered spot to set up your tent.

"Ah, back to the real homeless days." You joked, taking a seat in the grass and carefully pulling the shoe off your injured foot. "You're not going to pull a knife on me again, are you?"

"Might as well, since you're already dead weight." Jeff sneered in reply. He watched you gingerly touch your bandages. Thanks to Jeff's stitches, you hadn't bled as much today, but you'd probably need to change them again soon. "How's the ankle feeling?"

"Like shit, doc." You replied.

"So it's improving." The killer stated, with a hint of self-satisfaction about his handywork.

"Yeah, yeah."

You two retreated into the small tent and ate what was left of the chex mix. You shivered a little as the coolness of the night seeped into your weary bones. The jacket you had on was much too thin to keep you warm, even inside the tent, and your thicker one had burned along with the house. You had the materials to start a fire, but knew it was too dangerous. You weren't in a camping ground, so the smoke would attract park rangers, firefighters and all sorts of bad attention.

You felt something touch your shoulder. Jeff was holding out his hoodie to you, with his face turned away. His pale skin glowed his contrast with his dark shirt.

"Jeff-" You started to protest, but he swiftly cut you off by thrusting the hoodie at you insistently.

"Just take it." He mumbled, without turning around. "You need it more than I do."

Reluctantly you took the hoodie, unsure what to make of this unexpectedly chivalrous move from the killer. You slid the large white thing over your head. It was a little loose on Jeff, but you were practically swimming in it. The hoodie was still warm with Jeff's body heat, and you stopped shivering in no time. Just as you expected, though, Jeff began to shiver himself. For all his tough talk, he was still just as human as you were.

You scooted a little closer to the killer, who was still turned away from you. Without warning or caution, you threw your arm around Jeff and drew close to him. He immediately stiffened and looked at you with surprise and confusion.

"Sharing body heat." You muttered. You tucked your chin into the loose opening of the hood and pulled it up over the lower half of your face, like a turtle retreating into her shell. "Its survival 101."

Jeff let out a quiet sound, like a single, nervous chuckle, then relaxed a little. He shifted so that you were in a more comfortable position, with your arm around his waist and his hands keeping him propped up. The heat rushing to your face was almost unbearable. You'd been living with Jeff for a while now, and certainly you'd been alone together for a vast majority of that time. But somehow this felt different. More intimate. Like you were alone together alone together. You shook the thought out of your head. This was Jeff; pale, kinda smelly, never clean, asshole serial killer Jeff. Basically your annoying roommate. Man, BEN must be getting in my head... You thought as you unconsciously let your head rest on Jeff's shoulder. Next time I see him I'll give him a piece of my mind....but first I need to figure out how to punch a ghost...

You weren't sure when you fell asleep, but you opened your eyes to see morning light peeking in through openings in the tent. You were lying on your side, still wearing Jeff's hoodie. You could hear the killer softly snoring in his sleep. It must have warmed up in the tent overnight, because you felt at a very comfortable temperature. You'd consider it rather unusually warm, actually. That's when you became aware of it. The arm draped over you, the pale hand hanging loosely with fingers brushing the ground. The feeling of another body pressed up against yours. The fact that Jeff's snoring was right in your ear.

Jeff wasn't on the other side of the tent. He wasn't even sleeping nearby you. You two were...well, you were fucking spooning.

Oh god. Your mind raced and blood rushed to your face, no doubt turning you red as a tomato. I'm sure it was just an accident. We must've fallen asleep while we were still close together, or he got cold in his sleep and rolled over to me, or, or..... You held as still as you could and tried to think of a way out of this position without waking Jeff up. God, you had to stop blushing. You gave Jeff so much crap whenever he blushed, if he caught you looking like this you'd never hear the end of it...shit.