One and Only (LAMS)

Seeing double

A/N this gets a lil dark and a lil confusing but 2 more chapters lmao x

John woke up the next morning with a gentle smile, after last night he felt, refreshed. He leaned his arm back expecting to feel Alex where he had fallen asleep beside him last night, but the bed was empty.

His smile fell in an instant and he rolled back, patting down the empty mattress blindly. He scrambled for his glasses on the bedside table and glanced across the room.
Thank god, Alex stood by the window, his back to John as he looked out onto the city.

"Morning Lex," John hummed with a soft smile, leaning back into the pillows.
"Good morning John." Alex spoke almost robotically, his gaze still dead set out the window.

John squinted at Alex and sat up slowly, uneasiness beginning to brew in his stomach.
"Alex, are you feeling okay?" John spoke timidly, his eyes scanning over Alex's silhouette erratically.
"I feel fantastic John." Alex purred, swivelling around with a malicious grin.

John's breath hitched in his throat and he scrambled backwards on the mattress. Not Alex. Not Alex.
"You're not Alex," he repeated out loud, his voice wavering in fear.
"Yes I am, I'm the real Alex," the hallucination smiled.

"Where's the real Alex?" John hissed, clutching the bedsheets in his shaking fists.
"I'm right here babe," the hallucination hummed, advancing towards John in a slow saunter.

John shuffled backwards and slipped out of the bed with a yelp, jumping to his feet and backing up towards the door.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" He yelled desperately, grasping fistfuls of his hair and clenching his teeth.

"John, who are you talking to?"

John spun around, his breathing heavy and uneven, meeting Alex's concerned gaze. He was about to step forward and hug Alex when the hallucination appeared behind him, grabbing the real Alex by the shoulders and leaning over him, right up to John.
"Yeah John, who ya' talking to?" The hallucination giggled.

John stumbled backwards, away from both of them, his heart thumping at a million miles a second.
"John are you okay? What's wrong?" Alex frowned worriedly, advancing forward with the fake Alex following, wrapping his arms around the real Alex's waist and leaning his chin on his shoulder.

"Go on, John, tell him, tell him you're crazy, tell him you're absolutely mental, tell him what you see, I'm sure he'll believe you!" The fake Alex beamed, his soulless eyes just as wide as his cheshire smile.
"Fuck off!" John yelled, his voice hoarse as tears began welling in his eyes.

He instantly saw Alex's heart snap in his eyes. He was horrified.
"What? John-"
"Not you! Him!" John cried, backing himself into the corner.
"Who John?" The fake Alex asked innocently.
"You!" John yelled furiously.

"You're not making any sense," The real Alex frowned, fear prominent in his dilated eyes as they examined John with caution.
"Maybe it's because you're fucking crazy John?" The hallucination suggested with a malicious smirk, slinking to stand beside the real Alex, leaning on his shoulder.

"I'm not crazy!" John screamed, tears streaming down his cheeks as he slammed his fists into the wall either side of him.
"I never said you were crazy!" The real Alex exclaimed, "Just tell me what's going on! I want to help you John! I love you!" Alex yelled back.

The fake Alex finally shut up for a moment. He glared at the real Alex with daggers in his eyes, his fists shaking either side of him.
"He doesn't love you." The hallucination hissed, his eyes snapping to John's. "He pities you."

The hallucination stepped in front of the real Alex, leaning over John menacingly.
"Why would anyone love you?" It hissed venomously. "You're a fucking mistake, an accident, nobody wants you, not even your own family, why are you even still here?" Slowly John was forgetting this was a hallucination, seeing those words leave Alex's mouth was tearing him to shreds. "Why are you still here John?" The hallucination yelled.

John burst into a fit of sobs, running through the hallucination Alex and pushing past the real one, sprinting out the door crying.
"John!" Alex yelled, racing after him with fear-triggered adrenaline pumping through his veins.

John threw himself into the elevator, selecting the top floor with shaking hands, his whole body shivering with the sobs that wracked him.
"JOHN WAIT!" Alex yelled frantically, skidding around the corner and legging it towards the elevator.

The doors closed right as Alex slammed into them. John could still hear him pounding his fists into the doors as he slowly began to rise.
"Are you gonna do it?" Hallucination Alex smiled behind him.

John didn't answer at first, his crying too heavy to utter a single word.
"Are you?" The hallucination pushed in a growl, moving closer and leaning over John's shoulder.
John squeezed his eyes shut and nodded his head sharply, choking out a pained sob.

The elevator doors opened and John stepped out but right as he did the door for the stair well slammed into the wall beside it, Alex falling out panting and slamming into the floor with a shout. He whipped his head up and caught John's gaze.
"John please!" He cried, stumbling to his feet.

John pressed his lips into a thin line and turned away, running for the stairwell leading to the roof. Alex's eyes widened and his breath hitched in his throat, his stomach dropping to his toes in horror.
"NO!"