Jotaro was never scared, he was always calm even in life threatening situations. At least that was what people saw and assumed, they weren't wrong either since even the tall male himself believed those things. He was only on this bizarre adventure so his mom wouldn't die and that the world wouldn't be destroyed. Jotaro didn't care about what would happen right?
Yet here he was at night, in a hotel room on his own... absolutely terrified and frustrated about apparently nothing, well it was actually something but it seemed so stupid to the male.
When did the tears first start rolling down his cheeks even? When did the book he had been reading get dents in the cover because he was holding it so tightly? Hell Jotaro himself didn't even know. The tears just started all of a sudden after his first thought about death had entered the boy's mind, even more following the first one soon after. Jotaro had never felt so powerless then in that moment, not only did the tears not stop but the thoughts only kept on getting worse and worse and worse.
He could lose everyone with one bad move. Taking too long and his mother would be gone, Polnareff could be controlled and killed by Dio, his grandpa could get a heart attack, Avdol and Kakyoin sacrificing themselves to learn about something important about someone's stand and Iggy could choke on gum. Bad scenarios like this just completely took over Jotaro's mind, making the male close to almost panicking as he cried and almost ripped his book in fear. The worst was definitely the fear of his own death, what would even happen after he died? God was that terrifying to think about especially if he would leave people who cared for him behind.
The book about marine life he had been reading was absolutely ruined by now with how hard the teen had gripping it. Jotaro felt a small stab of pain in his hands too, probably a paper cut, but he didn't care. Heck the pain was even a small distraction before his mind returned to the fear of losing everyone he loved or even himself. What would even happen afterwards then? Fuck the male didn't know and it scared the shit out of him even more alongside making him more frustrated as to why these dumb thoughts wouldn't go away.
Without Jotaro having even realised Star platinum had manifested behind him, thinking there was a threat with how frantic the teen's breathing had become. Yet the stand wasn't able to see anything or anyone but it's user in a frustrated and terrified state for no apparent reason. Star platinum stared at the male who didn't even seem to notice it at all, the stand frowned knowing it couldn't do anything except get Jotaro things he might want or need. It's range was limited though and he couldn't go too far away from the room. Maybe Star could get someone to help? But only the group and other stand users could see it, heck if an enemy stand user attacked Jotaro now the teen would probably get injured before he could react.
Yet the stand decided to at least see if there was anyone walking by that could help with whatever the usually silent teen was having issues with. It almost seemed like Jotaro wasn't able to get any breath yet that wasn't the issue, Star platinum was able to deduct that in fact the male was almost hyperventilating if it wasn't for the frustration holding him back from a straight up panic attack. It worried the stand who phased part of its body through the door to see Joseph walking down the hall.
Joseph was making his way outside to take in some fresh air when he noticed Star Platinum phase through the door and even gesturing to come, it made the old man worried that something happened to his grandson after all stands rarely if ever did anything that their user didn't command. Kicking down the door Joseph only saw Jotaro, tears running down his cheeks while his hands were clutching a book to the point where it seemed that it was his only connection to the real world.
Carefully making his way closer Joseph noticed how scared the teen seemed to be, it was a weird sight to see yet his instincts told him this wasn't the issue of an enemy stand or something similar. This seemed to be some internal fear caused by certain thoughts or at least that's what the old man guessed as he sat down next to his grandson.
The older man had absolutely no idea what to say or do after all Jotaro was always rather silent and kept to himself even as a child, so of course he was uncertain on how he could help. But Joseph had to try at least. "Hey...what's wrong? I saw Star Platinum in the hall" the man asked, putting a hand on the teen's shoulder as an attempt to comfort him.
Jotaro seemed to snap out of his panicked state, tears still rolling down his cheeks as he glanced at his grandfather. "Leave old man, I'm fine" The teen said, knowing that last bit was a giant lie but honestly he wasn't even sure if he even wanted Joseph to leave.
"Nonsense, there's clearly something wrong. I'm staying" Joseph simply replied, showing some of his wisdom instead of his usual goofy antics. "Your next line is going to be fuck off, isn't it?" The man said with a cheeky smile on his face as an attempt to calm his grandson down enough and to finally make Jotaro open up a bit.
The teen groaned in seeming annoyance but Joseph's hand on his shoulder kept him calmer than earlier at least. "Fuck o-" Jotaro began before realising his grandfather had indeed predicted what he was going to say. For some reason it did calm him down enough to actually stop crying which was nice but Jotaro still felt extreme fear about dying and what would come afterwards. A few more moments were spent in silence before the male finally decided to speak up. "I'm scared" Jotaro admitted, feeling so vulnerable yet at the same time so relieved that he finally said it out loud to someone he cared about. More silence followed with Joseph about to say something before the teen continued to explain it.
"I'm terrified of death and what might come after it" Jotaro said, unsure how to properly express his fears and feelings since he usually bottled them all up and barely shared anything of it. "I just don't want to close my eyes and never wake up again...losing everything without even knowing it" The male continued to try and explain it without breaking something out of frustration or bursting out into tears yet there was also some sort of weird calmness that kept him from doing so thanks to his grandfather's presence.
Joseph was with a lack of a better word extremely surprised by what his grandson said. A fear of death was something he personally never had to deal with even in the worst of circumstances the adrenaline probably kept the old man from fearing death more than the average human being would fear it, yes sometimes he had a scary thought or a chill down his spine but never in the way Jotaro seemed to react to the thought. Heck before Caesar had died the male didn't think much about the possibility of dying and after his best friend had left the mortal plane yes the thought of dying had flagged his mind but the want for revenge and the adrenaline had caused him to not be scared.
Looking at his grandson the man sighed and rubbed his back in a calming way. "It's scary I know and I don't think I'm the best in helping you be less scared but maybe some fresh air and a cola or beer could help soothe your nerves a bit" Joseph suggested, understanding that Jotaro probably wouldn't want to talk more about it. Besides some distraction could help the teen calm down a bit hopefully. "And I could say that we'll all be okay but that would be lying...being scared is normal, you don't have to be ashamed of it boy" The male finished saying before being surprised by a sudden hug which made Joseph smile a bit and hug back.
"...Thanks Jiji"Jotaro mumbled before pulling away from the hug, embarrassed at how vulnerable he had become in such a short time but thankfully the fear was less. Not completely gone but less at least, enough that the teen could deal with it more easily by just spending some time with the others and looking for some distractions.
Joseph smiled and let go from the hug as well. "Now let's go get some fresh air" The older man said as he stood up, hearing his grandson mumble a yare yare before he stood up as well his usual hat still on his head as the two walked outside.
Being outside and taking a few deep breaths from the cold night air didn't do a lot for Jotaro until he decided to pull out the pack of cigarettes he had. The teen was aware they weren't good for his health but at the moment they were the best remedy against the fears sadly, maybe after this whole ordeal the male could try and find something healthier to distract him from the fear. "Yare yare daze," Jotaro mumbled as he lit the cigarette and looked at the night sky while waiting for his grandfather's return with some cold cola which honestly sounded great at this point.
Once Joseph came with some cola the two JoJo's just chatted, or at least the older male talked while Jotaro just listened. The teen felt calmer as the fear slowly left his mind a small smile appearing on his lips once it was completely gone.