Catch Me (Synacky)

Chapter Fifteen: Brian

~Jimmy~

I woke up in the morning with someone pressed firmly against my chest. I frowned, squinting into the darkness. What the fuck?

“Fucking hell!” I hissed, shoving Zacky out of the bed as hard as I could. He landed on the ground with a harsh thump, starting awake.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I whispered as loud as I dared, “Faggot! Aw, fuck! Get in your own bed, goddammit.”

Zacky blinked up at me, eyes swimming with tears. He covered his ears and opened his mouth wide.

Oh shit.

He began to scream, and I groaned, burying my head under my pillow. Holy hell, can’t anyone get some peace of mind around here?

So of course, the aids came running.

‘Don’t tell them he was in bed with you, please, Jimmy.’ Brian pleaded.

‘Why shouldn’t I?’ I snarled back, ‘There’s no reason why I shouldn’t.’

‘Because he means so much to me, Jimmy, you know that. And Johnny loves him to pieces and if he has to switch rooms we’ll both be devastated. I’ll stop putting up a fight with my meds if you tell them.’

Oh. I didn’t want that. But really? I had to put up with the queer hanging all over me just to keep Brian from making me sick?

When the aids came in, turning on the light and asking what happened, I found myself shrugging. “He must’ve had a nightmare… I have no idea what’s wrong with him.”

I was told to get ready for the day while they dealt with him. I grumbled to myself, grabbing my clothes and heading for the bathroom.

~Brian~

It was Saturday. Which meant there was absolutely nothing to do all day long. They showed movies in the rec room, some kids shot pool or played ping pong or read books.

I went to the office to call my parents. They were expecting Johnny, he’s the only one that ever liked to make calls home. So, of course, my mom was ecstatic when I said it was me, asking me about how I was liking it here and how Zacky was doing and blabbing about irrelevant things while I pretended to be interested.

“Mom, Zacky’s dad died.” I cut her off in the middle of her telling me about McKenna’s love for apple sauce. “Zacky’s dad is dead.”

“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry to hear that! How’s he doing?”

“Okay, I guess. They had the funeral without him. Dr. Brooks, his therapist, is taking him down to his city to pay his respects. He said I could go with them, if I got your permission.”

There was silence on the line. I waited with bated breath. Eventually, she let out a sigh. “How safe will it be?”

“Very safe. I’ll keep Jimmy locked up, I swear.”

“It’s just you and Zacky and Dr. Brooks? How long have you known him?”

“Mom, Dr. Brooks is an old man. He’s really nice, he’s only got good intentions, I’m sure.”

Another sigh. “I guess you can go, Brian, I know Zacky will probably want a friend to be with him.”

“Great, mom, thanks so much!”

 “You’re welcome, Bri. I hope you guys have a good time. Or… as much fun as you can have doing that sort of thing. I hope you can help Zacky through this difficult time.”

I smiled. “I have a feeling that I’m helping him more than you can ever know.”

~*~

That evening, I had a meeting with Steph. She had that smirk she got when an epiphany had hit her over our time apart, and I groaned, rolling my eyes. “What’d you come up with this time, Steph?”

She chuckled. “Well, today, Brian, we’re going to work on pulling those memories out of you.”

“What memories?” I asked, sitting down next to her at the table.

“Well, something happened to you. You have some repressed memories. Something caused your personalities to spring up. We need to get them out so we can examine them.”

I sighed. “I don’t know how to do something like that. They both just sorta… showed up.”

“Well, maybe Jimmy knows something he’s not telling you.” Steph said, “How long has it been since we’ve done character sketches?”

I sighed. Character sketches were a waste of time. I just wrote down everything I knew about Johnny and Jimmy, which is dumb, because they stay the same. What was the benefit in writing it down?

“And Jimmy and I are co-con most of the time, there’s no way he knows something that I don’t.”

“But memory is key, Brian. Maybe one of your memories got suppressed, or you put it on Jimmy or Johnny. I’d think Jimmy would be most likely, because he’s been with you for so long.”

“I’m not missing anything.” I told her. “Jimmy and I… we’re not exactly friends, per se, but we’re mutually cognizant of each other. We get along most of the time. I feel like if he had a whole memory of mine, he’d tell me. And Johnny, he tells me fucking-“ Steph cast me a warning look, and I covered my mouth, “Sorry. Johnny tells me everything.”

I thought about what she was suggesting. “Besides, if I did experience something terrible, and I shoved it onto Jimmy, I want him to keep it. I have enough to deal with. And Jimmy’s harsh and bitter, he can just deal with it himself.”

Steph sighed. “But do you think that maybe, if Jimmy could take the weight of a bad memory off his shoulders, he might not be quite as bitter?”

I huffed. “I’m not missing anything.” I frowned. “Besides, how bad could my life have been? My parents are fucking rich, I’ve lived the high life for as long as I can remember. Well, until I came here. Surely if I had gone through something bad, my family would have told me.”

“Not if they didn’t know.” Steph said.

I glowered. “Are we done for the day?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Steph smiled. “Just think about it, okay? You don’t have to take it too seriously, just entertain the idea. From the meetings I’ve had with Jimmy, he seems like a very unhappy, misunderstood guy.”

I acted like I wasn’t listening, but in my mind, I did reach out to Jimmy. He wasn’t there. We weren’t mutually aware at the moment.

Steph had planted a seed in my mind, though. Jimmy deserved to be happy, right? In fact, I’d never really heard him express any sort of joy before. I’d always just assumed he was an asshole, but maybe there was more to him than that.

I guess that’s something that only time could tell.