Just an illusion. | Jaythan AU | co-written with @chasing_TW

Chapter twenty six

Chapter twenty six.

The next morning, Jay woke up next to Max. Max's arm was still wrapped around Jay's waist, but tighter. Jay trained his eyes onto Max's face, whose eyes were wide open. He chuckled at the telly in the room. Jay recognised reruns of Celebrity Juice.

Jay pretended to be sleeping for a few minutes more. He liked hearing Max's chuckling and the sound of his heart beating strong. Jay smiled a bit. Max must've seen him smile, because he said, "Good morning, love!"

Jay smiled up at him. "Morning", he replied.

"I was surprised to wake up to you", Max said.

"I felt like I had to visit you, and I guess I fell asleep."

"You sleep a lot, you little bum", Max said that smile that brung out those cute crinkles by his eyes.

"I know. Must be the stress", Jay replied.

"The doctor said I can leave tonight", Max said happily.

"Really? That's great!" Jay said as he hugged Max tightly.

A few moments of silence passed before Max said, "Hey, just know it wasn't your fault that Tom died. You had no idea what the button did. You're not a murderer."

So he had heard when Jay had been talking to him as he slept. Jay felt the burning in his eyes that usually meant he was about to cry. Jay was tired of crying. It seemed his life revolved around it lately.

"I can't believe he asked me to do such a thing. Didn't he know I would feel like it was my fault?"

"I've no idea, but I knew Tom. He always had a good reason for everything he did."

"Did he when he raped me?" Jay said involuntarily.

"WHEN HE WHAT?" Max shouted.

Jay's eyes widened as he realised he spilled it. Now Max would ask for an explanation he was in no mood to give.

"Jay, he... he forced you? W-when? How? Where the hell was Nathan?" Jay felt tears spilling as he felt overwhelmed by Max bombarding him with questions. It was too soon.

Then he realised... Nathan. Nathan! Jay had asked him to wait outside! He felt even more horrible. The poor lad was probably sleeping on the floor!

Jay jumped out of Max's bed and ran towards the door, looking for Nathan.

"Jay, where are you going? You need to explain what the hell happened with Tom!"

"Max, I really don't want to talk about it", he replied through his tears. He wiped at the treacherous things fiercely, wanting to seem somewhat strong. But the damage was done. Jay said too much, and now his strong façade was broken. He couldn't fake a strong face anymore. Saying what Tom did to him made it even more real, and again Jay grew lightheaded as the horrible memories came rushing back- Tom kissing him fiercely, sucking on his neck, pinning his arms under his knees as he stripped him of his clothes, the intense pain and pushing in and out...

Jay almost collapsed under the sudden wave of vertigo that took him over. He wanted to throw up more than anything.

"Jay? What's wrong? You're paler than a ghost." Jay shook his head, still trying to seem strong, but the dazed look in his eyes told Max differently. Max wondered if he did wrong in demanding answers that way. Clearly, it was a traumatic experience for the poor lad. He should've let Jay tell him when he was ready.

"Jay, you look horrible. Come back to bed, love. You're gonna fall", Max said in a softer voice, trying to coax Jay into coming back into bed with him. He figured Jay would tell him when he was ready. He had no right to demand answers that way.