"Listen, I don't know about you, but I really don't want to be out here in the open. So, if there's nothing else you want to talk about, we should probably go." They're here. Watching. Someone - or something - is, I can feel it. I need to get out of here, as quickly as possible.

"I guess not. Thanks for giving these back, I guess," Tim said as he looked at the folder of medical records. 'Liar' was scratched in marker on the front, along with the symbol. The symbol that destroyed everyone and everything. The symbol that caused Alex to go insane, that caused Tim to become a liar, that caused me to become paranoid, looking over my shoulder every chance I get, waiting for that thing to finally take me away, to end all of this.

"Okay, yeah. I'll see you there." I let out a breath of air as I walked away. As I headed towards my car, I was stopped. What now?

"J-Jay! Wait a minute," Tim spoke as he ran towards me.

"Yeah?"

"They know where I live." I knew exactly who he was referring to when he said that. "I'm not safe in my own home anymore, I..." Tim sat for a minute, as if thinking exactly over what he was going to say next. "I know that this is going to sound really weird and unexpected, but...can I stay with you tonight?" Weird? Yes. Unexpected? Definitely.

"Tim, I don't know... It's not that I don't trust you, I just... well..." I didn't know what to say. I could say it in my head, over and over again, but I couldn't form it into words that would actually come out of my mouth.

"It's just that... you don't trust me. I know. It's alright, I understand. I... I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry. Can you just forget I said anything?"

"Y-Yeah, I guess."

"Thanks."

Tim walked away after that, and though I couldn't see his face, I could tell that he was heartbroken. Not in a romantic way, just... heartbroken that I didn't trust him. And it's not that I don't I do. I trust him more than anyone right now. I mean, that's not saying much, but... I trust him.

What am I saying? I trust Tim. Doing what I just did only made things worse. He most likely doesn't trust me anymore. Why am I such an idiot?

"Tim, wait!" He instantly turned around, a puzzled look on his face. "You can stay at my place tonight."

"Don't do this just because you feel bad. It's fine, really. No big deal."

"No, it is a big deal. And I'm not doing this because I feel bad. I'm doing this because I care about you," I said. I instantly shut up, knowing that was definitely the wrong thing to say. That probably sounded weirder than Tim asking if he could stay with me overnight.

It was hard to make out under the dimly lit street light, but it looked like Tim was... blushing. No, there's no way. He's not blushing. He wouldn't blush over something like that, especially if I was the one saying it.

"Alright," Tim spoke quickly, practically avoiding what I just said. Thank god.

~

I walked into the crappy hotel room, holding the door open behind me for Tim. "There's only one bed in here, so I'll just sleep on the floor." I knew that Tim was going to argue, and there was no way I was letting him win. It's not like there was any difference between these shitty beds and the floor, anyways. In fact, the floor was probably even more comfortable.

Instead of arguing, Tim just stood there. He stood in the doorway as the door closed slowly behind him. His face was blank. Expressionless. This definitely wasn't like him, even considering everything that was going on.

"Tim, are you alright?" He still stood there in complete silence. All I could hear at this point was him breathing. "Tim?" Nothing. "Tim!"

He ran to me, and though I was expecting him to hurt me, instead he... hugged me. He hugged me.

He began to cry. No, crying wasn't the right word. He began to sob. He was hysterical. He cried into my shoulder, his nails digging into my shirt. I didn't know what to do. I wasn't good at comforting people; I was horrible at it. I didn't want to just stand there, though. I wanted to do something.

As if reading my mind, Tim spoke up. "I... I can't stand it any more, Jay..."

"Can't stand what?"

"You know what!" he cried as he slightly pulled at my shirt, pulling me closer to him.

"Tim, I... I don't know what to tell you. I'm going through the same thing as you. Well, kind of..." I shook my head and shut myself up. I'm doing nothing but making him feel worse right now. "You just need to remember that we're both still here, and we have... each other ," I hesitated.

"Each other? That's all we have, Jay, do you realize that? That's all we have! Having each other is going to get us nowhere! Because I know that, in the end, one of us is going to end up losing the other. I know it for a fact."

"Tim, that's not going to happen, I-"

"It is!" he yelled. He suddenly stopped crying and let go of me. Slowly backing up, he began to apologize. "Jay, I'm sorry, I... I don't know what's happening to me..."

"Don't apologize," I said as I stepped closer to him. "You don't have anything to be sorry for."

"You mean besides causing all of this?! I don't know if you've realized yet, but this is all my fault, Jay! I'm the source of this whole problem!"

"Tim, I don't think shifting the blame is going to help anyone right now."

"But what if I'm right?!" He stopped and fell back onto the couch. He broke down once again. I had never seen him this bad.

I sat down next to him, looking directly at him. "You're wrong."

"W-What?"

"You're wrong about everything. You're not going to lose me, and I'm not going to lose you. This isn't your fault. I know that for a fact."

"But it is." He buried his face in his hands, stifling his crying.

"Look at me." What I was about to do was a risk. It was more than a risk. It determined everything that happened from this point on, whether the outcome was good or bad.

Tim slowly look up at me, confused. This is it. No backing away.

I quickly pressed my lips onto his, pulling him closer to me. This felt... right. It felt normal.

Wow, that's something I never though I'd hear myself say.

I pulled away and looked at Tim, who was completely shocked. In a good way or a bad way, I couldn't tell.

"This isn't your fault, and we're not going to lose each other. I know that much for sure."