The Static In Your Eyes - Tim Wright x Reader

Chapter Four - Denial At It's Finest

           It had been quite a few months since the incident in the woods. I didn't want to hurt Jay's feelings, so I hadn't sat down to explain to him why I've grown distant recently. I stopped replying to every single message and stopped taking up his ride offers when I had the chance. I convinced myself that what happened was probably a dream because of how foggy it was, but the times that I was around Jay felt uncomfortable and made me weary. It only amplified when Jay showed up at my door a few times, a camera shoved in my face and a curious atmosphere around him, questioning me on when our next visit could be.

       The dream I had last night, one of static and trees, made me feel that same sort of... Anesthetic-like way, all day. It affected me during work, putting me into a maladaptive like state, and I had a hard time focusing and adjusting. But, my state of mind, a sort of empty void, was once again disturbed. It wasn't the bells voice that called my attention during work. It was the one that belonged to Tim, someone who I've been trying to strike multiple conversations with for the past few months, to mostly no avail. We were on friendly terms now, telling jokes and giving each other nods of acknowledgment when he briefly entered the store. I raised my face from the counter where it was resting more often today, nearly forgetting that the man in front of me needed my attention, only for me to stare at the clock. It had not even been ten minutes since the last time I checked the clock, which made my brow muscles tense in confusion. "Hey." Tim spoke up once again, repeating the word I didn't register the first time. "What time are you off work?" I blinked my eyes, gaze turning to focus my vision on him, humming in a subconscious matter while gripping the reigns of my bearings. "Around one." My brow finally relaxed, taking note of how he had entered the store to speak with me, the obvious odor of secondhand smoke wafting up and into my face from the fabric of his clothes. "That's pretty late, I actually get off work around eleven." I felt my head slowly turn more up to him, and despite being able to see him clearly, it was like my eyes were trying to focus on him. "Ohh. Yeah, and you come here? Were you going to buy some cigarettes? " Was that an odd response? I couldn't tell. There was an ache of dread I my stomach, that seemed to amplify since Tim's arrival. "I mean, sure, I come here quite a bit. Just gotta feed my addiction, but not today. I actually came in yesterday." He offered a small grin, seemingly trying to be playful. Yesterday had been my day off, so go figure he didn't get to see me. My main question was why he was here if he was getting anything, just to greet me? My lips parted in an attempt to speak, only to be cut off by a vibrating sound raging in my pocket. "Oh, sorry- just." I slip my small phone from my pocket, pressing the pad of my thumb into the power button on the side once I flipped it open, muting the call. I saw that it was Jay calling me since it was getting closer to midnight. "Just my friend calling-" Tim raised a hand as if to usher me into picking it up, "hey, I'll wait for you to be done if it's important." His words made me stare at him a bit before looking down at the screen. The silent incoming call signal still lit up the screen to my phone. I wasn't super interested in walking alone in the dark because of what happened at Rosswood, but the thought of Jay, despite not really having done anything, driving me around in the dark made my stomach churn.

         I clicked the green button in the corner of my phones dialing pad, bringing it up to my ear. "Hello, Jay- A ride? Well..." My eyes glared up at the clock on the wall as if it would offer me sanctuary. It wasn't even midnight yet, Tim waved his hand in front of my face, catching my gaze and attention onto him like a lure. He shakes his head and points to himself, indicating that he could offer me a ride if I was interested. I was, but I was also a bit suspicious of him, just considering how I had previously accepted a ride from Jay, which only sparked issues. It was between Jay and Tim, because wandering past the park in the woods was not an option in my mind. "I actually have a ride tonight, Jay. I really do appreciate you caring... Plans? Maybe we can call tomorrow. I don't have time right now to plan. Yep. Goodnight." I let out an audible breath once the phone was hung up, and I immediately flipped it closed to hide it away in the depths of my pocket to forget about. "I don't mind waiting a bit for you to get finished, I don't have anything else going on tonight." I bob my head up and down to offer a polite nod, hoping I wouldn't regret another person knowing my address. "I can just message my boss and close up a bit early tonight."

      A few messages later, and getting into contact with my employer, I was free to wrap up shop and head out. Tim had left to wait in his car probably, and due to a newfound paranoia, I had somehow convinced myself he would up and leave, and I would be stuck walking.  That thought was contradicted when I locked the doors to the gas station and turned to see Tim, leaned up against the stone wall, the orange ember of a cigarette trapped between his lips was seen. He pushed himself off the wall, taking one last drag of his smoke before putting it out and tossing it into one of those long-necked ashtrays kept outside of public areas. "Ready?" His voice was accompanied by waves of smoke being blown into the air from his mouth. I only give him a response in the form of a nod, letting him lead the way to his car, the only car in the parking lot of the convenience store.  I was hit with deja-vu the second I slid into Tim's sedan, reaching over my shoulder to buckle myself in, almost glancing to the dash expecting to see a camera. "Thank you for the ride, Tim." I turn my neck to glance at him, watching him start the engine to his vehicle and twist the headlights on. "Don't mention it. I actually also had a question about person.. Uh, Jay? Who you were on the phone with." I curiously tilt my head, letting out a soft hum to urge him to pursue his own curiosity. "Is he the skinny one, who carries a camera around all over the place?" My face flexes into a deadpan, yep, that was Jay all right, but instead of agreeing straight out, I decided to poke a bit of fun while ensuring the facts. "The Jay, who's super nosy?" We both acknowledge that one to absolutely be true, Tim even offering a chuckle at my words as he pulled out of the parking lot. "Yeah, he actually spoke to me downtown today. I was going to an appointment when he stopped me - and he denied waiting for me, but he was still outside when I finished. He told me about picking up that old Marble Hornets film for Alex." I nod my head, almost too enthusiastically, looking ahead on the road to help direct Tim towards my apartment. "He came to me also a few months ago. He just showed up randomly at my job. We've been hanging out, talking about Marble Hornets, but as far as finishing it goes... He doesn't seem to be really making plans or anything for it." Tim kept his dark eyes on the road as he drove, nodding in response, "I actually offered him some old tapes I have of the movie. I would watch them first, but I don't have one of those little cameras to watch it on." I would have offered to help, but I also didn't have the technology needed to watch any of the tapes Jay owned, so I let a sigh out through my nose, thinking. "Jay showed me a few, as far as I can tell there isn't much." I didn't want to tell him what happened in the woods, I was going to keep that to myself. For all I know, it was some fever dream I had, and I didn't want to come off crazy to Tim during our first actual conversation. Tim had a very different aura around him than Jay, something a bit softer, but being around him right now, hopefully a coincidence, made the feeling of being watched rage stronger than ever. On the road to Rosswood, our conversation was abruptly interrupted when I felt that same itch suddenly edging on my lungs to throw a fit. I didn't hold in back this time, coughing harshly into my arm. I tasted blood, I hated that metallic taste on my tongue, and this time, it struck panic in my brain when I witnessed the streaks of it embedded into the sleeve of the hoodie I wore. "Hey, are you okay?" Tim only glanced over, not taking his eyes off the road for more than a second, his speed declining. "I'm okay- Just- Probably thirsty." It felt like a lie, I wasn't thirsty, but I couldn't really tell him the truth. I'd have to explain everything that happened with Jay, and it didn't feel like my place.

      Tim slid to a stop in the front part of my apartment, and he stopped me before I could make my escape. "Hold on." He reached up to flick the light on in the car, his eyes meeting mine. "If you need rides after work you can let me know, I mean-" I only interrupted him by raising my hands in feign surrender, "oh, no- Its totally fine, you get off way earlier than me, I don't want you waiting around." That was the last of the conversation before I scurried into my apartment, the darkness outside bringing a trail of dread into my home.