Somewhere along the line, Tim and Jay have become tentative friends.
It's a mystery as to how they got to that point - Jay is the kind of guy who likes Asimov, H. G. Wells, and making graphics for obscure TV shows. Tim's just taken up a freaking martial art, moves a house's worth of furniture per work shift, and doesn't drink himself into oblivion for the sole reason that he doesn't have anyone to drink with. He's only just grasped the basics of Microsoft Word, for crying out loud, and one of Jay's main interests is cinematography.
He feels guilty for it at first, because it feels like he's replacing Brian. Brian is the first friend he ever made (which is really, really pathetic in his mind). But he's been seeing him a whole lot more frequently recently due to his judo lessons. And, to be fair, the two are polar opposites - Brian could never take Jay's place, and Jay could never usurp Brian's.
Then his mind wanders to the thought of Jay trying out rock climbing, which is the funniest image he's conjured up in a long time.
"You spend a lot of your breaks in here," Jay tells him, during one particularly dull shift.
"Sick of me yet?" Tim asks. On slow days, he often finds himself in the book sorting room. He usually just sits on the corner of the table, staring at what Jay is doing, whilst they make fragmented conversation; he wouldn't be surprised if the other guy really was sick of him yet.
"No," Jay says hastily, almost dropping the stack of books he's moving aside. "I like it. I mean, I don't mind..."
And neither does Tim. It almost makes him smile half the time. Especially at this point, when Jay opens a box, and then frantically closes it with a horrified look. "Historical Romance," he whispers fearfully, and Lorna genuinely doubles over with laughter when Tim later tells her Jay's afraid of old lady erotica.
"I'm gonna head for lunch. You coming?" Tim asks.
Jay pales. "Oh."
"What?"
"I left my wallet at home."
"Dumbass," Tim says, but he means it lightheartedly. He hopes Jay realises this. "C'mon. You want Chinese?"
"I don't have any money..." Jay mumbles.
"Yeah," Tim acknowledges, "and I'm not gonna let you starve, am I? I know a place that does really good Chinese food."
Jay smiles uncertainly and grabs his stuff together, but as they begin to leave, Tim hears the company phone ring. Usually, he avoids the phone like the plague, but Dot's out of sight and Lorna's not allowed to answer it.
"Just let me get this," he says, gesturing for Jay to wait for him outside. At the very least, Tim is able to take down a name, number, and message, so it's no big deal if they're two minutes later for lunch. "Hello-"
He's cut off. "Found you."
The voice is hoarse, breathing heavily down the line, and is unsettlingly victorious in tone. The simple phrase drags past Tim's eardrums like barbed wire. He knows exactly what to do with this one. "Uh, I don't know who this is," he starts, "but I'm gonna warn you right now. You like prank calls, we like 911. Don't call again unless you're interested in our products."
There's a click on the other end, and then a dial tone.
"Interesting?" Jay asks.
Tim minds his way down the steps as he joins him outside. "Just some dumb teenager trying to be funny. Let's go."
So they walk. Tim is willing to ignore that Jay is looking cautiously behind his shoulder every so often, if Jay will ignore that Tim does the same to make sure they haven't got company, because he's really not comfortable with the fact that Jay thinks someone's following him, and that he's actively been avoiding someone.
They sit outside with their food, on the step in front of the shop. Jay pokes at his noodles blankly; Tim shoots him little glances between mouthfuls of egg fried rice.
"I had a boyfriend," Jay blurts out. Tim chokes.
"Uh... Okay?"
"Oh, I didn't mean to say that. Yet," he says, looking flustered, "it's just, I think I owe you an explanation for the whole 'I'm avoiding someone' thing. So... I had a boyfriend."
"Okay. But you don't now," Tim says. He doesn't know why his chest suddenly feels so tight, but he'll gladly put it down to quitting smoking.
"No, I don't have one now." Jay blinks rapidly, and takes a deep breath. "He... didn't take that so well. He didn't take a lot of things well, if I'm completely honest... And I think he might want me back."
"That sucks."
And Tim knows he's said the right thing, even if it's the understatement of the century, when Jay looks him in the eye and smiles.
"It really does," Jay smiles. "Yeah."
Even though they're talking about something that's really serious, and really bad, and really really bad oh my god, Jay still looks like he's happy that Tim understands. It does suck. But Tim - stupid, socially ignorant, asshole-with-one-friend Tim - has somehow successfully conveyed that he gets what's going on.
He can't finish the last mouthful of his food. He suddenly feels very strange. "If you need anything," Tim begins, "like, anything, I just got my phone fixed. So..."
Jay looks like someone's taken an entire tonne from off his back. They both stand up to trudge back to work, and he seems lighter than he was before; carrying himself in a way that would suggest even less weight than what was already clinging to his skinny frame. "Thanks, Tim," he mumbles, smiling still.
The weird feeling Tim has is not going away anytime soon because of that dumb smile.
Wow. Two chapters in two days? Something's given me a right kick up the jacksy. Luckily for you guys, huh. This is actually the first serious multi-chaptered fic I've ever done, and it's great! It's really fun! I'm so pleased that it's not crashing and burning, because my preferred format is definitely one-shots. Thanks for reading, guys. x
Oh, and don't forget to review! (Even if you're annoyed with my writing. Any reason for reviewing is fine by me!)