Reconnection- Jake x Tom

Anxiety

Jake felt like he was going to explode with anxiety the longer Tom was gone. His mind was now on a spiral of ‘what-if-’s’ like ‘what if he left’ ‘what if he wasn’t coming back’ ‘what if he got kidnapped’, etc. It didn’t help that the sun had started to set and Tom had still not returned yet. Jake anxiously gripped the edge of his shirt and looked in the direction Tom had gone in. The sun had set and Tom was absolutely nowhere to be seen. With the sun setting, Jake’s anxiety was now at the breaking point. All of the what-if thoughts flooding his mind were getting extremely overwhelming and he was having trouble forcing himself to sit still. Jake was fighting the urge to get up and start pacing around the porch, or worse, going out and looking for Tom, even though the sun had set and it was getting dark. He was fidgeting slightly, gripping the edge of his shirt even harder in an attempt to stay somewhat calm. The sun had been down for a while now, and Jake had completely given up trying to stay calm. His breathing was speeding up and he had to force himself to stay sitting on the edge of the porch, as he was close to getting up to start walking around in circles or looking for Tom... Jake’s anxiety was at its peak. His breathing was more of a panicked hyperventilating now, he was so worried that his brain had almost completely blanked on what to do. By the time Tom was walking back, Jake was fully panic-stricken. The anxiety was now at a level where he couldn’t think straight and he could feel his body shaking every so slightly. The moment that he saw Tom finally walking back towards the cabin, a wave of relief passed over him. Before he could stop himself, he spoke in a shaky and panicked tone

Jake: T- Tom, what the hell! Where were you?!
Tom:hm-? Oh- I went on a walk
Jake: For that long? Y-you were gone for hours! Where did you go? Why didn't you come back faster!?
Tom: Chill Jake! I was gone for an hour, plus you said you didn't need me!

Tom leaned down and looked at Jake, he gently reached out to touch Jake's cheek. Hearing Tom try to convince him that he was only gone for an hour made Jake’s panic come back, as he knew that it had at least been two hours, if not longer. Hearing Tom say that he had said he didn’t need him was irritating him now.

When Tom reached out a hand to touch his cheek, he gently grabbed Tom’s wrist to stop him

“Stop- don’t touch me-“

Tom's eyes widened, he started feeling bad. He pulled his hand away and sighed.Jake knew he probably shouldn’t have told Tom not to touch him, he just lashed out from the panic and anxiety.

Jake: I- I’m sorry- I didn’t mean it-
Tom: i-its fine...

Jake frowned and looked down at the porch. He gently pulled on Tom’s arm to bring him closer

Jake: J-just stay with me for a minute….please…
Tom: Yeah, okay... I'm sorry for leaving so long...

Tom slightly squirmed away from Jake, he sat down on the porch. Jake got upset even more when Tom seemed to pull away. He desperately wanted him to be close, but it seemed like Tom was avoiding physical contact.

Jake: J- just… please- don’t pull away from me…. You just left me for hours… can you please just let me have some contact…
Tom: I know... I was just trying to tease you but I took it too far by walking away...

Tom scooted a bit closer to Jake. Jake gently grabbed Tom’s wrist and tried to pull him back onto his lap so that Tom was close again.

Jake: Y- yeah…. you took it too far…. I was already upset before you left, why did you think not coming back for so long was going to make it better?..