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x fingers x
Your friend smiled wryly. “Well that was fast.”
“What is it?” Keeping your eyes on your friend the whole time you run back to Jotaro’s side and froze as you saw what was hidden in your closet. The bold red numbers were what first caught your eye- 1:06. Then the panic slowly began to rise as the full extent of the situation dawned on you.
“Jotaro!” you yelled at him. “Is it an actual bomb?! We need to get out of here…!”
He only stayed crouching in the same position, staring at it, doing absolutely nothing.
“What are you doing?! We need to go, now!” you said, shaking his shoulder. Seeing a bomb in real life was weird. It was nothing like you’d seen in movies, or those circular ones in cartoons. It was smaller than you expected, and it looked more like a bunch of toys held together by tape with a bunch of randomly placed wires sticking out. In terms of appearances the only fearful thing it had on it was that horrible countdown, and Jotaro was just crouching down in front of it, glaring. You couldn’t believe him! “What are you doing?! We need to run and call the police…!”
He ignored you as he studied the bomb, and with every second passing by the larger the pit in your stomach grew. Were you really going to die here? Did he want to die?! There was only thirty seconds left before the bomb detonated now. You felt like crying. Did Jotaro have a death wish or something? Did he think he could actually diffuse a bomb?! Was he delusional?! You were going to yell at him again, but a small movement from one of the wires caught your eye.
“Back up,” he suddenly said.
“Wh- what-”
“Get out of the way!” he yelled. He stepped away from your closet, the bomb floating in front of him. Startled, you backpedaled until you were standing in the doorframe of your bedroom door again. The timer was still going. It was still going. What the hell? 00:09. “Jotaro, let’s go! Please! I couldn’t care less about my house blowing up, I just don’t want you to die...!”
You heard Jotaro curse calmly under his breath, then he reared back his arm, the bomb floating alongside it, and then launched it forward, sending the bomb crashing through your window and high into the sky until you could no longer see it.
You sure could see the explosion it caused, though. It went off before it hit the ground, causing the whole area to shake like an earthquake was passing through. You watched the enormous ball of flames grow in the sky, then disappear, just leaving a cloud of smoke behind.
Your legs were suddenly weak, and you fell to your knees beside him. You laughed, a small quick huff of air, on the verge of tears. “That simple, huh…” you squeaked out. Jotaro looked over to where your friend was. You saw them lying on the ground, their eyes closed, completely passed out. “He left,” he stated.
You crawled over to them, checking their pulse once again. You retracted your fingers quickly, once you felt their temperature. They were burning up. Why were they so hot? “We might need to take them to the hospital…” you said once you noticed Jotaro staring at you.
“No, they’re fine.” he stood. “Whenever he takes over someone like that, they overheat.” He crouched down and picked them up. “They just need to rest.”
“What if…” you paused, swallowed. “What if he comes back?”
He set your friend on your bed and pulled the covers over them. He stood there, not saying anything for a while, just observing them as they slept. “I won’t let that happen.”
You smiled. You opened your mouth to say something, but you forgot what. All you remembered was your head feeling light and the room suddenly turning sideways. You were in someone’s arms, someone big and warm. They felt like Jotaro. But he was standing right in front of you, so how could that be? You were being carried, and then were set on the bed next to your friend. “Jotaro…” you breathed. “Who’s…”
“Quiet. You need rest, too.”
“Yeah, but...who was that?”
“Who?”
“There was someone...just touching me…”
“That was Star.”
“Star…?” You asked, confused. “Who is that…?”
He sighed. “Yare yare. Even if I told you again you probably wouldn’t understand with how delirious you are right now.” He took his phone from out of his pocket and started to type away on it.
You stared at his fingers, his hands as they handled the phone. They were so big. You silently watched him type on his phone, entranced with the way his fingers moved. When he finally put his phone away, you felt like you opened your eyes after a long sleep. He turned away to walk out of the room and in a sudden panic, you grabbed onto the fabric of his pants. “Wait.” he stopped and looked at you.
“Where are you going? Are you going home?”
“No,” he said. “I don’t feel good leaving you alone, so I’m going to sleep in the living room.”
“No!” you said, probably a bit too loudly. “I want...I want you to stay in here with me.…”
He paused. “Yare, yare. Are you really that scared?” He leaned against the wall and sunk down to the floor, sitting right beside your bed.
“Thank you…” you said. You didn’t know why, but you suddenly felt like crying. “Can I hold your hand?” You asked, your throat tightening up.
“Do what you want.”
You dangled your arm off the bed, trying to find his hand without looking. He opened up his hand so you could find it easier, and when you did you grasped onto it, interlocking your fingers. You contentedly sighed. The last thing you remembered before passing out was a soft, “Yare yare daze,” from Jotaro.
