When Jimmy fell to the ground, he couldn't stay balanced and ended up falling back to the ground.

"Ow shoot my feet!" When Alex fell though, he managed to do it properly. Going in with his feet and rolling instead of falling.

"Jesus, you don't know how to jump out a window correctly?"

"No, I fucking don't why would I! I think I broke an ankle."

"Here get on my back, I'll get us out of here." Without many options left, Jimmy did so and Alex began speeding ahead. The wind blew right into Jimmy's face making him keep his eyes at a squint. Weaving in and out of the few passing cars on the road, they only seemed to get further from the men chasing them. They ran for a good five minutes before whatever adrenaline Alex had faded. Putting him down Jimmy held back a quiet cry at the pressure in his foot. "Which one is hurting you?"

"My right foot I think... your left."

"Here sit down. I'm not much of a medical expert but I'll see what I can do." Collapsing onto the sidewalk, Alex kneeled down to his level and picked up the foot. "...Well, you have an ankle there for starters. It's not completely gone."

"No shit sherlock tell me something I don't know."

"Does this hurt?" Before Jimmy could comprehend, Alex started moving his ankle.

"Mhm ya please stop." Taking in a deep breath, his ankle was dropped back down.

"The bone feels pretty similar to how my own is so I don't think it's broken. It's probably just twisted or sprain."

"Oh thank god ok. It'll heal naturally." 

"We're about a 15-minute walk from Disney, you put your weight on me but I think if we keep a good pace we can get there and see about having one of the doctors take a look at it. Probably you'll just need some ice and bandages."

"Ok fine... here help me up." Jimmy reluctantly allowed Alex to act as basically a crutch for him. Leaning against him, Jimmy wondered when was the last time he had positive human contact. Before finding Alex, it was probably six months ago, when he still lived in a house with four walls and a roof and had friends who to some degree cared about him. Part of him longed for that kind of affection again. Of course, it was weird but all he wanted was that kind of security. But as always, he shoved it into the depths of his mind. He couldn't depend on anyone else. Once he could walk on both feet again he was gone. He wasn't about to threaten his friend's safety for something as minuscule as his own selfish desires.

"Um, you ok there... you seemed to zone out for a minute there?"

"Ya... just thinking..."

***

"Well if your going to be in the parks still I can give you crutches or a wheelchair to use..." Jimmy felt as if things were going a bit far. His foot, now being held up, had ice bags wrapped around it. On his lap was Alex's phone, which was playing one of the Discord's Got Talent episodes. Good memories. But Jimmy's mind wasn't there, it was panicking at being in such a vulnerable state. While Alex and the nurse talked about suitable options for a day in the theme park, he felt trapped. Like walls were closing in on him. 

"Alright, we're done, we've got about two hours to kill till park opening. Wanna wait in here?"

"No... I feel like I can't breathe in here. Too claustrophobic."

"Ok, we can wait by the gates then. You're gonna have to use crutches though."

"I don't, I can walk just fine!" Standing up, only a slight twinge of pain coursed through his leg when he put pressure on it. 

"Jimmy don't do that! That'll just hurt it more." Immediately grabbing onto him, the nurse handed the crutches to which Jimmy started using them. After leaving the building, he took a deep breath of the cool morning air, feeling relieved that the sickly feeling had left him. A few minutes later, the pair were back at the front gates. Silence fell between them and Jimmy fixated his gaze to the flickering lights just ahead of him. Alex finally broke it, his tone quieter and calmer then it was before.

"I bought an extra ticket when I got mine for Disney under the impression I was going to give it away to a fan. But unless if you wanna get out of town early I can use it on you." 

"Mhm..."

"...Your gonna use it as a way to get out of here aren't you?" Jimmy decided it was useless to lie. He saw to much of Chandler's uncanny intuition in him.

"I mean you're not wrong..."

"Why are you so dead-set on isolating yourself from other people? You'll never be able to heal from whatever trauma that happened without a little help."

"What makes you assume it's some sort of trauma. Maybe I just don't like people anymore."

"I might've only done collabs you with twice but I know you too well, you thrive off of human interaction. Besides, I've seen that look you have in your eyes before, hell I've had it myself. It's the look of someone who's in complete fear of what's going to happen next." Alex noticed Jimmy subconsciously attempt to erase it, but to little avail.

"I don't want anyone else intertwined in my situation, I'm sure if you were in my position, you wouldn't either. I let myself be intimidated by them and now I face the consequences-"

"-There the Indian mafia, no shit you'd be intimidated by them." Alex quickly dropped the edge in his tone when feeling the slightest tense from the other's small frame that was leaning a bit on his side.

"Please just let me go, it'll make things easier for both of us." In a sudden feeling of desperation, Alex grabbed Jimmy's hands and looked him dead in the eyes.

"Let me save you. I'm not just going to watch you suffer like this."

"I don't want to be saved Alex... I want to be set free."

"Oh my god, Quackity!!!" The two looked up to a squealing 12-year-old. Her eyes were lit up in the presence of him as if she encountered God. If the conversation just before wasn't so serious, he'd probably have taken this as a small chance to boost his ego but all he did was quietly laugh.

"Heh, yep that's me." Trying to process words, the bubbling fans rapidly explained her situation, to which Alex half-heartedly listened.

"I can't believe your actually here the early! I was gonna just wait until you showed up so I can catch you but this is so much easier. My lazy fat bitch of a mom wouldn't have even left the parking lot yet!" Ignoring the girl's rude front, Alex quickly offered to sign something and get a photo. The girl accepted and once finished, looked down to Jimmy who was trying his best to hide his face.

"Who's he?"

"My friend... he's... er... mute! He's mute!" She suddenly gasped.

"Wait is he a YouTuber to?" Before either could react, she pulled the hood part up revealing his scarred face.

"What the hell kid you don't just do that to people!" The girl didn't know how to react and instead ignored him. Jimmy had already pulled the hood back down.

"Have I seen you somewhere before?"

"No you haven't, he doesn't have an online persona."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm completely sure. I think you should go find your mom."

"Your right, more YouTuber's to stalk. Karen where the hell are you!" Running off, Alex took a few breaths before turning back to Jimmy, soured by the fan's mean personality. 

"Hey Jimmy, you o- Woah hey! Just breathe, look at me she's gone!" Upon seeing him, he noticed his trembling and knees curled to his chest. Slowly pulling up the hood, he did nothing to stop Alex and revealed his red face, tears beginning to trickle down.

"Sh-she saw my face Alex! What... what if she reco-recognizes me later an-and posts ab-about it... or... or sends a t-tip to the police or Desire Drive!"

"I don't think she'll be smart enough to try contacting anyone about it. At worst she remembers who you are and makes a Reddit post with little evidence backing up her findings."

"B...but what if someone else re-reports it to them!"

"Look, you've been living on the streets for like 6 months and you haven't been recognized, I think you'll be fine. Just... just breathe ok." After a few shaky breaths, Jimmy leaned on his side again and the panic died down. That's when Jimmy realized something. 

He was starting to rely on Alex.

And the thought absolutely horrified him. 

~~~

Original Publication Date: February 20th, 2020