Do I Know You? || James Marriott AU

3: White Noise, Blackened Din

[A/N NOTE!]

there are depictions of beginning violence and brief descriptions of wounding, along with beginning noting of manipulations. if this triggers you or makes you uneasy, please don't read this story for your benefit, i have plenty of other reads in the works and my "1975 oneshots"(on AO3) so you're not going to just get angst here, (i care a lot about you all<3)

[I DO NOT ROMANTICISE THIS TOXICITY IN FRIENDSHIP/MANIPULATIONS OR ABUSE, I DO NOT SUPPORT ANY ABUSERS AND DO NOT WISH TO MAKE THIS AS A NOTE TO STATE IT'S OKAY! ABUSE IS NOT OKAY AND YOU ALL DESERVE TO STAY SAFE, AGAIN I LOVE YOU ALL GUYS🫶]

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The next thing that was noted was Will waking up, however when he was regaining his consciousness and ability to see, he was convinced he was still dazed when he noticed the room he was in was cloaked in darkness like he was still unconscious. He didn't know where he was, but he knew it wasn't at a train station or on a train going home, that's for sure.

"Mmh, my head.." Will finally groaned, holding his unusually throbbing head in one hand as he scrunched his eyes up, before reopening them fully to meet the guest of darkness a second time, just as dubious as the first time. "Where the hell am I?"

He didn't really expect a response, as he was seemingly alone in a dark place of god knows what, however something he heard suddenly made him terrified.

"Stop overreacting Will. I never hit you that hard, you're just soft for your own good man."

Clear as day. James' voice.

That voice was deep and somewhat chilling to Will now, as his eyes squinted to hopefully deem his suspicion rightly, despite James' voice coming out clear as day to his earshot. The only right thing to do, Will thought, was to reply toward this and ponder why it even came to this.

"James, where am I?" He asks, his voice hesitant.

"It's obvious Will. You're in my fucking flat aren't you not?"

Will seemed to shake his head a bit hoping to alleviate the pounding that it felt continuously, then that's when his angst turned to anger. "Turn the fucking light on, I can't even see you. Then explain what the hell you've done to me." He snarled, while still writhing on the floor blindly to comfort himself.

"I don't think you can tell me what to do with you. It's my flat, it's my choice. I think this placement suits you and I. You can't run in darkness, you'd be running blind!" He seemed to cackle almost, and that just scared Will even more, not understanding what changed in James to make him act like a maniac.

"Turn the damn lights on James!" Will shouts, again this time straining his voice and presenting his accent thicker than it usually posed to friends.

The padding of footsteps came up, and then next thing known, yet another harsh blow towards Will's ribs, a rock like fist being the assailant like before, while Will hit the floor like a flailing fish, "Ow fuck you! I just asked one simple thing, please don't hurt me mate.." His eyes watered, he felt the tears lingering in his tear ducts ready to be of use and fall.

"Well, like I said.." James left the sentence midway unfinished while he retraced his steps, which were slow like before when he met Will face to face in the dark, going up to the previous point he stood at admiring the handiwork, but this time, flicking on a light switch after all this time in darkness, and the room reacted with crackling illumination, "It's fun to watch us in the right places for once."

That's when a pained Will struggling to hold his head up, managed to see James fully and he looked the same as prior at the cafe meet, but his hands had what seemed to be blood stains and the seams of his cream jumper, yet he was opposite Will, so he could've been making that up to freak himself out more over the whole thing which he just stopped believing for his own sake.