★ Paranoia

Chapter 4

When Mikey woke up, the morning light was barely starting to filter through the house. He readjusted lazily, planning to fall back asleep, when he suddenly noticed that JJ wasn't in the bed with him.

That stirred him awake to the fullest. Mikey sat up and looked around, but he didn't see him anywhere or hear him moving around. Yawning, Mikey eventually pulled himself from the bed, starting to wander around the house in search of him. A faint remembrance of the events from last night returned to him, sparking his worry for JJ and his desire to locate him.

Mikey arrived at the door to JJ's room, and carefully turned the knob and opened it. Inside, he found exactly who he was looking for - JJ was sitting in a chair, looking out of the spacious window. Mikey caught a glimpse of the view from where he was standing, as well as noticed the way the light shone in and gave the room a faint, golden glow, and had to admit to himself that it all looked very pretty. He could understand why JJ would want to take some time to himself to enjoy this, as well as the quiet atmosphere that came with it being this early in the morning.

JJ's head slowly turned, and Mikey jolted in surprise at first, thinking that JJ would find his presence invasive to his moment of peace. But instead, when JJ met his gaze, his demeanor was welcoming. He smiled despite how exhausted he looked, and gently moved aside in his chair to make space for another person, signaling for Mikey to join him.

Mikey was relieved that his presence hadn't come off the wrong way, and he carefully sat next to JJ. JJ then rested his head on Mikey's shoulder.

"I want to get away from here," He whispered softly. "And I want you to come with me."

"I'd go anywhere with you, JJ." Mikey mumbled truthfully.

"I want to go far, far away..." JJ's voice grew distant, and his clouded eyes narrowed at the scene outside of his window, picturing a fantasy in his head. "And build a small house. We could decide together what it's made out of. There'll be two beds side-by-side, for you and me, and we'll have plenty of food. We'll start a garden to sustain ourselves, with any kind of vegetables and fruit that you could think of. We could live far away from everyone else, and live out the rest of our lives in peace. We won't move from place to place anymore... it would be our true, forever home."

"Aw, JJ." The hybrid was touched by his imagery. "I've spent my life with you for as long as I can remember; I'd never want that to change. Of course I'll do this with you. But, what about when we need to go somewhere for a YouTube video? Will we rent a place instead?"

JJ faint smile faded.

"I don't want to do that anymore."

"What?"

"The YouTube videos. I don't want to do them anymore."

Mikey was at a loss for words. Their YouTube channel was something Mikey cherished deeply; it had been in his life for the longest time, and he loved the way that he could reach people of all ages in a positive way. He thought that JJ did too... what had changed?

"Are you sure you don't want to just take a break instead?" Mikey gently prompted. "Maybe you just need some time to regain your energy."

"No." JJ whispered. "That's in the past. Things are different now, Mikey. I want to spend the rest of my life focusing and taking care of you. I want to spend the rest of my life in... peace. Far away from everything. Retired."

"Retired?" Mikey echoed, his voice faintly humorous. "We're not old at all, JJ."

Indeed, mid thirties wasn't that old. But lately, Mikey noticed that ever since JJ had been released, his exhaustion and stressed demeanor was causing him to look older than he actually was.