Corin knew how much losing Frisk hurt Fern and Jay and their Uncle Jamie, so she spent months painting the most striking portrait any of them has ever seen, of Frisk. It was buried with Jamie twenty years later.
My eyes shot down to the hand in mine and within seven milliseconds, I knew who it belonged to, and it wasn't Jay. I knew each crease and fold of every knuckle; I knew the freckle on the inside of the ring finger; I knew the scar on the back of the hand caused by none other than me, myself and I; I knew who's hand I was holding.
"Frisk."
"Yeah, I know." Fern said, dragging me by the hand she'd just grabbed. "I heard you two shouting him. Where's Jay?"
"Where did you come from?" I eyed her suspiciously.
"Not important; we need to find Daniels." We ran, hand in hand, after Jay. Anyone else would've stumbled over the thick, branching tree roots. Anyone else would've lost their way in the darkness of the mossy undergrowth. Anyone else would've been scared of the noises buried deep in the trees around them. Anyone else, but us. We knew these forests like the backs of our hands. "Corin." Fern brought back my attention before stopping, putting out an arm to bring me to a halt as well. I looked ahead into the clearing to see the reason for her furrowed brows, spotting a curled up bundle of sobs at the side of the main road leading out of Worcester. Fern began to move, but i stopped her. Jay didn't need Fern. Especially not right now.
My boots crunched the autumn below me as my senses heightened to my surroundings of pure nature, earth and night sky. Crouching next to him, my hand moved gently to the space between his shoulder blades, an act of comforting, before slowly tracing his spine with my ring finger. "He- he l-left, Co-Corin." He spluttered between sobs, "The c-car, it picked him u-up. D-drove away, he's g-gone. Corin, he-he's,"
"Shhhhh, breathe Jay darling, it's okay." I whispered through the cold, crisp air. An hour and twenty-seven minutes passed, Fern returned home and I was sitting cross-legged on the pavement looking up at the stars, Jay's head in my lap as he did the same. He had his back to the pavement and his knees bent slightly in front of me. I gased down at him occasionally, stroking his hair and taking in the green in his eyes. He truly was something to behold, to treasure. And so I did. We stayed there for hours, until he fell asleep. That was the last night I ever did appreciate the beauty of Jayden Alexander Daniels.
"Jay?" I whispered, gently stirring him, "Jay, hunny, you need to wake up." I continued to shake him until his eyes connected, upside down, with my own.
"Hello there." He groggily mumbled, his much loved grin overtaking the lower half of his face and gently touching the corners of his eyes.
"Hey, you." I smile back.
"Thank you." I looked at him after he spoke, asking what he was thanking me for. "Caring about me back in primary, taking me in with you and Fern like family, looking after me and Sasha when mum walked out on us, taking the time to learn everything about me and how much I needed you, showing me the ropes around high school, helping me through Dad's and Frisk's deaths. Everything. Thank you, I love you."
"I love you too, Daniels. C'mon, up." He sat up, leaning back on his hands, waiting for me to help him up. I extended my hand out to him and he reached to meet it. His sleeve rose up.
"Jay, what are those?" I asked sternly, almost angrily, which probably wasn't the best idea. He pulled his arm back so quickly it was as though he hoped I'd blink and miss him do it. "Jay? Jay, I saw it, you can't expect me to just-"
"Yes?" He spat, "Yes, I can. I can expect you to pretend it never happened. Pretend you never saw anything. I can and I am doing." I reached to hold his hand again but he smacked me away. As he hit me so did the image of what I'd just seen. Each delicate, long and straight line across his wrist, overlapping and dancing alongside countless others. In that split second, I saw and felt every cut, every burn and ever bruise he'd ever made. I felt the pain that my best friend had felt for God knows how long. I understood.
"Jay, I care too much to pretend I don't know you need me." I said softly.
"I'm okay, Corin. Honestly. Just leave it, alright?"
"Jay, I-"
"Just leave it! I said leave it, so leave it, okay?" He snapped, the anger rising in his throat.
"No, Jay! You're in pain!"
"No, Corin. I'm not," he said, before shouting, "and even if I was, what would it be to you?"
"You're my best friend, Jay! That's what it would be to me! I'm just trying to make sure you have someone here."
"But I'm not your best friend, am I?! Fern is! I'll never be anything more than you fucking back-up friend. I'm constantly second-best now Frisk is gone, I'm never necessary. I'm just... there." He gushed.
"Jay, that's not true. I need you as much as you need me."
"No. No. No, that's it. There it is. That's your problem right there, Corin Winslow. You walk into rooms with that fucking look 'And now you're all going to be all over me' like we don't see what you're like. Like we don't know that you're a manipulative, nosy, interfering little bitch, Like we don't all dread what you're going to say next, like you're not a complete shit-faced know-it-all who puts us down every second she gets. Like we don't all know your jealousy towards Frisk, like we don't all know that you just pretend to miss him. Because you don't have emotions, Corin. You live your life tearing apart other peoples' and not caring in the slightest. Your problem is that, for some reason, you seem to thin that everybody loves you, everybody 'needs' you. But you know what? I don't love anyone. Not anymore. And I don't fucking need anyone, either. Not Fern, not you. Especially not you."
Jay was crying, but Corin wasn't.
