Bit by Bit [II AU]

Blackouts

Words of the past often plague my mind. I try to grasp onto the context of these words, but the memories refuse to present themselves.

Do you know what it's like? The feeling of nothingness? It's not pitch black like when you close your eyes, no.

Close one eye.

That is nothingness.

That is how it feels when I try to dig deep into my mind. Nothing.

I end up walking back downstairs, hoping that what I said to Balloon passed by everyone.

The second I took the last step, I was greeted by dozens of eyes staring daggers at me.

Shit.

Paper walked over to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "OJ... I think we should talk."

—

OJ stared at Paper, trying to hold back a gulp. He was in trouble, wasn't he?

Paper took OJ over to the couch as he tried desperately not to tear up. No, no you're not supposed to cry now. It's not that big of a deal, just a quick talk and you can go back to work.

"So.. um.." Salt tried to find the right words to start everyone off. "OJ, since you bought the hotel, you've been acting.. a lot different."

Pepper chimed in. "Yeah, you're a lot more... tense? A bit aggressive?"

"I-I-I-I'd argue m-more than just a.. a-a bit.." Bomb mumbled.

OJ could feel sweat dripping down his face. Why was he panicking like this?

"What we're trying to say is.. we're worried about you." Salt continued. "You know you can tell us anything, right?"

OJ looked up at Salt. Her eyes felt like they were piercing right through him. He wanted to speak, but the lump in his throat stopped him.

"We're all worried for you, man." Pickle stood up and walked over to him. "I know we can't force you to say anything, but... we promise to help you, alright?"

His stomach felt like it was knotting, and his face burned from trying to hold back everything. OJ felt like his whole brain was gonna explode into nothing but waterworks, but it didn't feel right to do. Everyone was watching him. Staring. Judging. It felt wrong.

"I'm fine, guys." He finally said, a smile forming on his face awkwardly. "Just stressed out from bills and what-not! Haha! Hahaha!"

His uncomfortable laughs only seemed to make the others in the hotel worry more.

"Um.. before we continue, can someone tell me what bills are?" Apple asked, Marshmallow hitting her across the back of the head after.

OJ eventually stood up and attempted to walk away. "Speaking of which, they're due by the end of the week, do I should get to it-" he was interrupted by Lightbulb standing in front of him.

"Look, OJ, O-to-the-J, Mr. Glass of Citrus, there's clearly more to that." Lightbulb said in a somewhat cheerful way. "All day yesterday you were doing nothing but wandering aimlessly around the hotel. You were even screaming over it at some points! It's... well- a bit unsettling! So if you could just, maybe, tell us a little bit about what's going on?"

He looked at her, anxiety beginning to overtake him. He never liked confrontation, especially on something he felt uncomfortable with.

—

That's just object nature, isn't it?

—

OJ shook his head. "Look, everything's fine! I mean it! Just a lot of pressure keeping up the hotel, ya know? But I can do it on my own! Honest! I mean I bought it after all!"

"OJ, taking care of a hotel on your own is a lot of responsibility!" Paper walked over to him and held his hand. "Please, let me help you! Let us help you!"

—

I quickly pulled away from Paper's grasp. "I told you, I don't need help! You- you guys deserve a break anyway! After everything that happened with the competition-"

"But-"

"No! No stop bothering me about this! It's my hotel! I know how to run it! I DON'T NEED ANY HELP-

—

"BECAUSE IM FINE!"

As OJ finished that sentence, a large wooden pole suddenly fell through the ceiling, piercing deep into the floor in between OJ and Paper, centimeters away from both of their faces.

—

Oh my god.

One wrong step and I would've been dead. I stared at the pole, the patterns on the wood morphing and twisting, splinters sticking out of each side.

Paper was on the other side of the plank, shaking violently. I felt myself shake, too.

What the fuck?! How is this even possible?! The hotel's barely a year old! Even the oldest of buildings don't fall apart like this!

I could hear the others freaking out and rushing over to us to make sure we weren't injured. I could feel my juice in my glass boiling from the rage of what just happened.

My hotel is falling apart.

—

"OJ! Are you okay?!" Pickle yelled, shaking him and trying to snap him out of whatever trance he was in.

All OJ could do was stare at the pole, backing away from it in sheer horror.

"This place was built 9 months ago..."

"OJ-"

"It's already falling apart."

"Listen, buddy-"

"I knew something was wrong here." OJ quickly ran into his office, calling the landlord as fast as he could, hoping she would pick up quickly. He could hear the others freaking out over what just happened, and even hearing a few cries from Paper.

Paper... OJ wanted to help him. He wanted to rush over, sweep him up in his arms and hug him as tight as a torn up teddy bear, to comfort him like a terrified puppy, but his body couldn't move.

He had to make this call. He had to fix the hotel. Everyone would be in danger if he didn't.

—

At 3:00, the landlord finally came over to check on the situation. Unfortunately, she was completely clueless as to how this could've happened. She ended up calling the company who had helped with the construction of the hotel, who sent over a few workers to fix the pole. Overall fix would take two to three days to complete, which left half of the lobby blocked off until then.

The usual hangout became the kitchen. No one seemed to mind that other than Paper and OJ. 

OJ would spend the next few days watching the construction workers fix the ceiling and the floor. He was still confused and concerned as to how this happened in the first place. It was all that could occupy his mind. He paced back and forth in his office, occasionally looking out of the door's window to check on the progress.

Just a couple days. OJ thought to himself. Everything will be back to normal afterwards. 

He felt somewhat satisfied knowing now what was wrong with the hotel. Just a faulty pole! How silly and outrageously dangerous! 

--

It almost killed us, you useless fuck.

--

The feeling of uneasiness that had finally faded away suddenly swooped right back as he looked in the reflection of his computer screen. 

Suddenly, there was a knock on the office door. "Come in!" OJ chimed, believing this to be one of the workers coming in to update him. Instead, he was met with a different face. A familiar face, but also one of unfamiliarity.

"OJ," they said. "You and I need to have a serious talk."