maniac | timothée chalamet ✓

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MANIAC,
CHAPTER EIGHT

WHEN ELLIOTT WOKE up the next morning, his head throbbed in a way that it hadn't throbbed in a really long time. Everything came rushing back to him in a blur of memories and colors. Internally, he groaned, leaning back into his pillows. He couldn't believe he drank last night. And he couldn't even blame the situation. Parties made him want to drink. They always did. It was a gateway. How could be so stupid? And why didn't Percy come home? It was probably for the best. If he came back and saw Timothée in their bed, he would flip. Rightfully so. It looked bad with content. It looked even worse without.

And it was worse because part of him wanted nothing more than to hug and kiss Timothée. And that was bad. That was very bad. He guessed he wasn't as over him as he thought. It was easy to pretend that he wasn't in love with Timothée when he hadn't seen him in years. It was easy to pretend that it hadn't been the worst heartache he'd ever felt.

What the fuck was he gonna do?

Eventually, he trudged out of bed and into the kitchen, surprised to find Timothée behind the stove. "You're still here? I thought you went home."

Timothée looked up, shrugging one shoulder. "Figured you wouldn't wanna be alone. I'm making breakfast."

"Since when are you a good cook?", Elliott asked in amusement.

"I'll have you know that I am a great chef", Timothée scoffed. "I had to learn if I didn't wanna eat takeout all the time." He paused, shaking his head. "That's a lie. I'm terrible."

"Yeah, I saw your pantry picture. Move over", Elliott chuckled, playfully hip checking him.

"By all means. It's not every day a hot Australian cooks for you", Timothée smirked.

"Shut up", Elliott snorted.

There was a brief pause before Timothée sighed. "Elliott, we need to talk about Percy."

Elliott raised a brow. "What about him?"

"He's not good for you."

Elliott faltered. "What do you know about what's good for me?"

"I know better than to take you to a party while you're fresh out of rehab and leave you there", Timothée stressed out. "And then he doesn't even come back home? Has he even called you?" No. "Did he even notice that you were gone?" Also no. "He's a jealous asshole."

"I mean, I guess I can't blame him for being jealous." Timothée raised a brow. "No, I didn't mean-" Elliott floundered then. He hadn't meant that how it sounded. "I just meant that you were my first love, Timothée. No matter what happens between us, that will never change. And now we're playing lovers in this movie together... I just meant that I would probably be jealous too if I were him." And for good reason, given his morning revelations.

"You know what? I can't blame him", Timothée shrugged.

"And why is that?", Elliott asked in curiosity.

"Because if I had the opportunity, I would steal you away in a heartbeat. Because I know for a fact that I could treat you better. I could take better care of you", Timothée said honestly.

"Timothée-"

"No, Elliott. I have spent my entire adult life trying to get over you, and it sucks because no matter what I do, I can't. I just always end up looking for you in other people. It never lasts", Timothée ranted. "I'm still fucking in love with you, I never stopped loving you, and it hurts. It hurts watching you deal with this."

"I can't do this right now", Elliott groaned. "I just can't. I already have to-" Before he could say anything else, the smoke alarm overhead went off. They had burned their breakfast. "Shit."

And then, Percy walked in. "What the fuck is he doing here?"

"Taking care of Elliott, because apparently you don't care enough to", Timothée scoffed.

Percy looked offended. "Excuse me?" A tense silence fell over the room. "You wanna say that again?"

"Gladly."

Elliott frowned, stepping in between the two of them. "Please, don't right now. I don't wanna deal with this right now. We have to be on set tomorrow."

Percy glowered at Timothée. "You should leave."

"Or maybe you should", Timothée shot back. "You've been extremely dismissive of what Elliott needs in his recovery. I don't wanna call you a piece of shit or anything, but you're getting really close."

"I can take care of myself", Elliott frowned. "Look, Percy, I love you, but I needed you badly last night. And you just abandoned me. The fact of the matter remains that you did something that hurt me, and I can't be around you right now. It's not like I have deep, angry feelings or anything like that right now, but I don't think we could have a civilized conversation right now. I don't know where you were last night, but maybe consider going back to there."

Percy looked shocked for a second before his jaw started working. You could tell that he was angry. Percy had that kind of slow anger about him. It crept up very slowly, presenting itself in small ways first. He scoffed, snatching his jacket back off the couch. "Fine. Whatever", he grunted. As he turned to go, he shot Timothée a dirty look. "Watch your back, Chalamet. This conversation isn't over."

Elliott sighed, rubbing both his temples with his hands as he went. "I'm sorry", he said apologetically to Timothée, who had taken to trying to fan away the leftover smoke.

"What are you sorry for? He's the one being a douchebag, not you", Timothée shrugged. "Besides, I'm a big boy in Hollywood. If things like that bothered me, I'd have broken long before now." The truth was, sometimes they hurt more than he'd like to admit. But he had more exposure to it than necessary. He hadn't forgotten the internet's 'Timothée Muskrat' jokes. The tagging him in manipulated images of his face. That was just a different level of hateful bullying. He didn't understand why people couldn't understand that he was human too.

"I don't mean just for that. I mean for everything in general. I was really insecure after we broke up. So, I was being a little petty. I'm sorry. Truth is, you're the only person who always shows up when I need them."

"Well, yeah, I care about you. I'll always be here for you." Hopefully better than before. "Alright, breakfast is officially trash. Do you wanna go out to get something instead?"

"Definitely the better decision. We completely screwed that up", Elliott snorted. He had no idea that simply going out to get some food would turn into the biggest ball of rumors that he'd ever faced, but that was a monster to fight the next day.

DECEMBER 25, 2022
this was the requested update for Christmas.
Merry Christmas guys!