Jake is driving them to the creepy ass Airbnb in his stupid Tesla, Johnnie is starting to wonder if them staying in random freaky locations is going to become a trend and he isn't sure how to feel about the idea.
"Jake," He starts, with an overtly sincere tone of voice, "I just want you to know that just 'cuz I'm emo does not mean that I'm currently suicidal.." Jake takes his eyes off the road to give him a sideways glance, smiling slightly.
"Check back in a few days for updates though.." Johnnie's smirk widens at his own joke and Jake rolls his eyes.
"Hey man, I'm just tryna keep your emo-ness rollin'.." Jake replies and Johnnie can tell that his friend narrowly avoids singing the Limp Bizkit song - he can picture the other yelling ROLLIN' ROLLIN' ROLLIN' ROLLIN', WHAT? so vividly and hates how fond he is of that fact.
"... your attitude's been a little too positive lately." Jake continues and the shorter man rolls his eyes dramatically, hoping that his friend catches the action.
Jake definitely saw the eye roll - "WHAT? It's your brand, you need the emo - I'm just helpin ya out here."
"Shut up, fuckface - you're just tryna get me killed so you can take my place." Okay, maybe that wasn't the best comment to make after recent events... ehh - what can you do?
"Hey!! I'd never let my dearest boyfriend die on my watch." Why does Jake always say the weirdest shit - and why does Johnnie wish it were true?
-
If only Johnnie knew the honesty behind that statement, how it's almost crushing Jake internally - like some kind of slow killing disease. He doesn't really think that Johnnie would appreciate being compared to a tapeworm but it is a poetic and accurate comparison.
"This ass is too hard for anyone to tame." Johnnie's putting on that stupid voice then does a little exaggerated hairflip (cute) and Jake rolls his eyes slightly, getting mildly concerned that they'll get stuck there if he keeps it up - even though he knows that's a myth.
"That's because no one wants you.." He deadpans, teasing, and his friend makes a little offended noise. Fuck, he wishes that wasn't so damn far from the truth.
-
"... You better have brought an extra jacket for me this time.."
Jake resists making a joke along the lines of 'get over it dude' - because he knows reference to the jacket debacle will lead to the hypothermia debacle and the hospital and fuck-
"Johnniee, if you wanna cuddle again just say so" he smirks, gives the other man doe eyes then jerks his chin towards the back where he actually did bring an extra coat - even though it definitely won't be that cold. Johnnie isn't the only one with new fears, okay?
"Awwww you actually do care about me!" Johnnie's voice is sickly sweet like thick molasses and the disingenuous nature - the fact that he knows the other man doesn't fully believe it despite everything - makes Jake almost feel ill.
"Don't get your hopes too high now.." He chastises, waggling his finger in a goofy manner and Johnnie just squints at in a faux-glare.
-
They get to the Airbnb and no one's there - obviously - but there is an eerie vibe. It's genuinely in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by vast woodlands in front of a massive lake.
It's noontime and Jake can't help but notice the way that fog rolls off the body of water in waves, he isn't a superstitious man by any means but for some reason it brings up a memory. He rambles to Johnnie about this as the make their way to the front door.
In high school, he had to read some cryptic book about a failed marraige or something and the house where the family was falling apart was surrounded by a thick fog. His teacher had gone on some rant that he only vaguely paid attention to about how it symbolized the family being trapped and dazed in a myriad of conflicting emotions.
When he tells Johnnie that he doesn't understand why he's thinking about this or why he feels weirdly unnerved, the other man is no help.
"Fuck dude, why'd you have to go all poetic on me?" The emo man starts, "If anything happens to me, expect my ghost to haunt you." Jake laughs it off, he's not sure what he's talking about anyways, it'll be fine - surely.
Johnnie keeps on going with the ghost thing, "and you seriously don't want me watching you all the time.." He says in an extreme attempt at a seductive voice then laughs with a grin but the mood just doesn't seem the same as it usually does with the feeling of the woods watching them in the forefront of Jake's mind.
"Fuckin' perv.." He chuckles at his friend and Johnnie seems to notice that the taller man isn't really in the moment because his smile drops ever so slightly - definitely feeling freaked out because Jake is freaking out.
-
They turn on the camera and walk into the building, the walls are a dim grey-brown lined with industrial almost victorian era pillars. It's really off-putting for a lake house.
"Okay man, we are not sleeping here.." Johnnie chimes in towards the camera.
"What do you plan to do instead?" Jake jokes, he doesn't really plan on getting any shut-eye either to be entirely honest...
"We could go for a late night swim." The shorter man bites his lip ring seductively and winks (the fucker) and Jake says something about how Johnnie 'has to stop this' even though he's pretty sure that he's even worse when it comes to 'not helping with the gay rumors'...
"Plus, have you literally never read a Stephen King book?"
"Fuck no man, I dropped out of high school, do you really think I read?" Jake giggles at that, "Oh right.." He looks back at the viewers and reiterates , "Guys.. for all of you that don't know.. Johnnie dropped out of high school, so he's basically mentally an eigth grader." He knows that everyone is aware of that at this point but he loves teasing the other man about it.
"Hey, I resent that!" Johnnie whisper yells - something about this place makes it feel almost sacrilege to talk too loudly - as they approach a massive fireplace that dominates the living room.
There are huge floor to ceiling windows lining the room and they both come to an agreement that maybe it isn't a good idea to stay in this specific room.
"My stalkers would have a feild day." Jake is a little concerned with the sincere fear hidden behind that statement - at being freaked out about the windows, hopefully not necessarily about stalkers cuz... they share the same house and Jake doesn't really want any freaky mail on his doorstep - despite he fact that he knows it's a joke.
"Dude, stop kidding yourself - you know you aren't hot enough for that." He scoffs at the camera, "Get a load of this guy", he says it in a corny country accent and jerks his thumb back in the direction of his friend.
"Tell that to Bryan Stars." Johnnie deadpans under his breath with a sardonic smile and Jake winces, his friend's lore is really fuckin' insane and sometimes he just wants to hug the other man so tight to sheild him from every fucking asshole that's ever hurt him.
He knows it's clingy and probably weird but hey, no one ever needs to know. He can have these private thoughts without feeling like a creep - okay, on second thought... that's a little creepy.. a lot creepy.. uhh, fuck.. it is not time to have a crisis.
-
They look around the house for a while and discover that grandiose windows line the entire building and the least creepy room is probably the stalker's paradise of a living room.
Sitting down together on the couch, they decide to just watch movies all night to try and avoid the ever lurking sense of disquiet whirring through both of their veins.
-
AAAAAAAAAAAA spooky !!
the book Jake is referring to is Bag of Bones by Stephen King!!! its kinda depressing.. and also takes place at a creepy lake house !
it is so relieving to finally be able to write that a man is giggling and have it be in character cuz u cannot tell me that Jake (and/or Johnnie?) doesn't giggle every now and then.
as always vote and comment !! also please always feel free to point of mistakes + inconsistencies