Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The taller, blackish-blondie laughed at my horrible parking skills as we pulled into a fast food restaurant to pick up some food before we headed home for the night. The rain added to the calm setting of the night, As it was relatively late since we were coming back from Vidcon. Adam was starving, so was I.
I turned the engine off with a paranoid expression as I watched the downpour of the rain batter against the road and the softer terrain surrounding the areas of the parking lot.
Adam removed his jacket and swiftly went to the driver's side, using it as an umbrella almost. "Hurry up bro!" He laughed, I got out and ran with him inside of the building. When we met the entrance, we got inside hastily and was accompanied by the laughter of the cashier.

"Rough out there, huh?" She joked. I shook off some water that got on my purplish hair and my glasses, before walking up to the counter with a grin. "Yeah, pretty bad-"
The cashier cleared her menu as she smiled and met my gaze. "Welcome to McDonald's, what can I get you?"
I swiftly put in my order and turned to Adam for his. He smiled, spoke it softly to the cashier, before swatting my hand away from the card reader and paying it himself.
"ADAMM!" I screeched, trying to take his hands off of the card reader but he restrained me with his free arm. The cashier and other workers looked judgingly yet worryingly at us argue, until Adam's card went through after a measly few seconds.

I folded my arms and turned away as Adam laughed and grabbed our food bags once they came out, and I carried the drinks. We ended up having to run back out in a time-sensitive manner to avoid being drenched in cold water.
I started the car and cranked up the heater as we both huffed out of breath- the heater was for our clothes, specifically so neither of us would get sick. Or, probably just me, as my immune system is pretty garbage.


We sat in the car for a hot minute before chowing down on our food ..-For the most part, as Adam made it his life mission to make me laugh while I was drinking my soda. Eventually it came out of my nose, and splashed all on my white shirt. Adam bursted out laughing; "HAHA, GOT YOU!" and thrashed against his seat in a fit of laughter. I jokingly and lightly threw some jabs at him as I yelled at him for ruining my new shirt, but more for making an obvious stain that would be a pain to get out later.

Adam reached behind my seat and pulled out a white bag with a grin. "Okay okay, sorry, but I did get you a hoodie- I just left it here for like, the past week-" He nervously laughed. I looked at him with a confused reaction until I saw the hoodie was from our new line of merch, with Boxy on it!
"Woah, I thought these weren't coming for another few months?!" I smiled stupidly and admired the hoodie. "Well, it's in my size, but I do like the anime-themed one you got me- So keep it, I don't mind." Adam warmly gave me the bag. I put it to the side of me and hugged Adam tightly, before stretching; "Alright Adam, let me drive us home, You can sleep if you want." I offered, eyeing his tired look. He rolled his eyes and laid back in his seat comfortably.

I put the car into reverse and exited the badly painted parking lot, only to be met with a fairly desolate road. It was now foggy combined with the rain, and the road was beginning to get flooded due to the excessive amount of rain.
I slowed down as I began becoming paranoid due to the unsafe driving conditions and I saw Adam out of the corner of my eyes, watching the rear-view mirror with a worried expression. "Is everything okay?" I ask timidly.
"Everythings fine Justie, just a bit worried about the weather." He reassured me. I re-focused on the road for a few moments, before I heard swerving- Loud swerving. I panicked, went to pull over, before the car was hooked by its rear and spun around.

Impulsively, I yelled as Adam reached over and covered me from potentially getting hit with any shards of glass. "JUSTIN, LOOK OUT!" I heard faintly before I lost my consciousness, from a mixture of the panic and force of the impact of the car hitting some sort of tree or post of some sort.

Chapter Text

I woke up with my body aching in pain as if I had gotten ran over by a bus. My surroundings filled themselves in blurrily, I couldn't see well without my glasses. I heard the tapping of a clipboard, a monitor beeping and some sort of talking. "Justin? Justin, are you awake?" I heard a familiar face call.
I painfully sat up and my eyes widened. "What happened? Where am I??" I began to panic. My glasses were adjusted on my face- however, one of the lenses were shattered. I looked at myself, as my body was covered in plasters, bandages and small band-aids for fresh cuts.
I scanned the room and my heart dropped to see that I was in fact laying in a hospital bed, the tapping was from a doctor and the person beside me who had put my glasses on my face was not Adam, but a good friend of mine- KreekCraft. 

"I got the call about that person who hit you, and I got here as fast as I could.."

 His voice trailed off. Outside I saw his partner, TanqR, talking with a doctor with a worried expression. My face met the male doctor and Kreeks who both looked equally as worried.
"Wreck?" I spoke softly, in disbelief. "There was a wreck? I just heard skidding, and-"
The doctor cut me off. "A drunk driver hit you head-on, it's a miracle you're even alive." The doctor sighed. "Your car spun wildly for a solid 20 seconds, before it crashed into a telephone pole."
My eyes widened and my heart skipped a beat. I felt tears swelling in my eyes. "Where's Adam.." I groggily spoke, my throat was dry and hurt from whatever medicine I was given. The doctor looked at Kreek, who stepped outside respectfully.

I sniffled as the news was broken to me. "Your friends lucky to be alive, but he's in a deep coma. You would have died from the collision itself if it weren't for him." The doctor spoke softly, letting me dissect his words piece by piece. "Now your wounds.. You will need crutches, and you need to stay on antibiotics for a few weeks. We had to cut some glass shards out of your right leg, the wound itself doesn't look like it'll scar miraculously."
My voice shuddered. "Thank you.." I whispered. Beside me, I saw the pink hoodie Adam had given me, the same one that had been beside me before we crashed. I eyed it sadly, and peered back up at the doctor with tired eyes.
"Would you like me to put that over your gown?" He asked, walking over to the plastic bag and removing the perfectly untouched hoodie from its encasement. I stared at the pink hue and remembered Adam's voice, bringing tears to my eyes once I saw it.

"Hold on, okay Justin? I'm gonna give you your medicine in your IV, if you fall asleep that's completely fine- We'll take care of you." The doctor reassured me as he slipped the hoodie carefully over my arms and onto my now frail figure.
The doctor left assumedly to get my medicine as I was left alone now- It hurt to move, so all I did was tiredly shrug my shoulders and slowly move my head to ever so briefly catch his scent on the clothing article. Usually I could care less if Adam was doing his own thing, but the thought of me being bedridden while he's stuck in a coma.. the thought made me feel sick.

The few moments that I longed for peace ended as a different doctor came into the from, flicking a needle briefly before setting it to inject into my IV.
The medicine took a moment to set in, so I laid restless as Kreek and TanqR went into my room and attempted to make small talk with me until I fell into a slumber once more.

Chapter Text

I felt like all I did was blink- But this wasn't my hospital room. I was hazily standing upright, nothing in my body hurt. I felt lifeless, and a part of me thought I died until I took a breath.
My eyes widened and looked around suddenly as I realized this wasn't my death realm, instead most likely a dream- another lucid one. "Again?" I groaned lightly, just to myself. It had to be another lucid dream or something- which wasn't all too bad considering the occurrences that had happened already.
My legs were wet with what I assumed to be water, and I was on the stairs to what seemed to be a subway of some sort. It looked.. abandoned, yet there were no cobwebs or any sign of human life for that instance.
Of course this beautiful place had to be created by a human, but the sounds, the atmosphere.. It was unreal.

I used the cold railings to make my way down the shaft, my fingerprints were the first ones on that handlebar. It gave me chills, but almost a sense of security knowing I was most likely the only one here.
The water was pool-like but yet I couldn't find where it was flowing from. And somehow the area didn't flood, it just stayed like this thin body of water despite the various water displacements from the steps and different doorways.
Exploring the area was so calming and peaceful- My hands touched the tiles of the wall and I looked down at the cyan water that was misty yet clear in a way. There were tinted gray windows around along with lights that illuminated this serene space, they were tinted pinkish which only reflected off of the water and further added to the beauty of this area.

I felt like I didn't want to leave. My troubles felt wished away as I ventured more, seeing the remnants of a once populated area which now was desolate and seemingly alone.

When I finally got to the gate, a few train cars were there. I mainly noticed them because the rain had poured onto the tracks and now had been evening itself out on the rails, working to make a clear sheet of water underneath the train itself.
I noticed the yellow-dimmed lights inside of the train and I dragged my feet to the outside of the structure and held my hand out weakly to see the doors automatically open, implying the station I had woken up in was still in function. The train itself of course wasn't normal- instead inviting. The floor was littered with grass instead of steel panels, and flowers of all different bright colors had sprouted and almost rooted itself along the man-made seats and bars of the train.

I found myself stepping inside as water dripped from my lower-pant legs and onto the floral terrain under me. I found myself walking into the direction of the front of the train, in a haze almost. The farther I went, the more and more I began to feel connected to this strange place.
Each new set of flowers seemed to grow up to my thigh and I felt weightless walking through them. The flowers reminded me of the ones I saw at the film festival with Adam, all of the different shades led me to different memories of him. All ones I refused to let go, all of them leading to the bond we have.. despite his [now] absence.

It took me about an hour to get to the front terminal, which consisted of a beautiful view of the water flowing into the tracks and the subliminal lights that further boosted the vibe of this place.
There was a driver's seat where I sat calmly inside, and one rusted lever with a red ball on it. It seemed simple enough, as I pushed it the train lightly began to swing into motion.
I sunk back into the seat and watched around me calmly as the train slowly began to move faster, but still at a speed that I would be able to watch the sights from afar.

And yet, part of me still felt uneasy.

Chapter Text

3RD PERSON POV

Justin had been asleep for a little bit more than a day before he abruptly awoke to the doctor's pulling gun from his rather liminal dream. It was just as he was going to pick some flowers too, he was plucked from the surreal place that had calmed him for a majority of his time as he was asleep. The air was so forgiving, the hospitals reeked of despair.

By now Justin was awake, functioning and well enough after a few weeks to be discharged from the hospital. The immense pain of the crash's after-effects were still there, and he had to make various trips to the hospital both for his medicine and to see Adam. Adam was lost in his coma, deemed unresponsive and unable to breathe without the 24/7 ventilator hooked up to his respiratory system.

Justin opened the door to Adams room and let tears strike down his face as he gently lifted the hand of his unconscious companion with a sad expression. His emotions shattered as he laid his head in Adam's hand, listening to his pulse beat ever so lowly. "I'm sorry.." he murmured. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, wake up.." Justin spoke. Each word leading him farther into a spiral of regret. "It should have been me, please, come back to me.."

After a good hour of letting the tears out, he limped out of the room after composing himself emotionally and had to have a friend of his drive him to the pharmacy for a prescription or two. Justin adjusted his glasses as he drifted inside, looking around at the different products- That was until he had to wait on the god awfully long line just to pick up painkillers and over the counter antibiotic pills.

Waiting on the line was hell itself, but as he whipped out his phone, he was almost driven to tears as he saw the lockscreen was Adam and himself from Vidcon. His screen was shattered on the side where Adam's face was, how convenient.

Adam was the only thing on his mind for that next 20 ish-or so minutes. He spoke softly to the pharmacist as she gave Justin his first doses of medicine, which were free on Justin's insurance.

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Justin got dropped off at his and Adam's house after the few stops he made, and he sadly limped into the house and past the empty rooms. He wasn't greeted by the black-haired boy who was constantly cracking jokes- He didn't come home to the smell of horribly cooked eggs- No. He didn't come home to see Adam there in general. What was this freaky world he was living in?

Justin walked over to the kitchen but couldn't bring himself to eat. Instead, his fingers brushed upon the sensation of the themed-utensils of their channel, he opened the fridge to see old food from Adam- this was horrible. Everything was Adam this, Adam that, where was his Adam?

The correct answer was in a hotel bed, stuck in a dream that maybe, just maybe, he didn't want to leave. Maybe it was a similar scenario to how he himself had felt in this strange dream he had in the hospital, with whatever space he imagined himself inside of.

Justin slowly dragged himself upstairs, opened Adam's door and plopped himself on Adam's bed. He laid there on his stomach for a good ten ish or so minutes with no luck of sleeping, so he ended up resulting to running downstairs [which he shouldn't have due to his sprained ankle] and Justin took double the recommended amount of sleeping pills, Adam had them due to him having insomnia at some point.

The drowsy effects kicked in as soon as Justin managed to plop back into Adam's bed- his head spun as he silently hugged his hoodie sleeves and felt drowsy, before succumbing to his overdosed exhaustion.

Chapter Text

3RD PERSON POV

Justin had been asleep for a little bit more than a day before he abruptly awoke to the doctor's pulling gun from his rather liminal dream. It was just as he was going to pick some flowers too, he was plucked from the surreal place that had calmed him for a majority of his time as he was asleep. The air was so forgiving, the hospitals reeked of despair.
By now Justin was awake, functioning and well enough after a few weeks to be discharged from the hospital. The immense pain of the crash's after-effects were still there, and he had to make various trips to the hospital both for his medicine and to see Adam. Adam was lost in his coma, deemed unresponsive and unable to breathe without the 24/7 ventilator hooked up to his respiratory system.

Justin opened the door to Adams room and let tears strike down his face as he gently lifted the hand of his unconscious companion with a sad expression. His emotions shattered as he laid his head in Adam's hand, listening to his pulse beat ever so lowly. "I'm sorry.." he murmured. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, wake up.." Justin spoke. Each word leading him farther into a spiral of regret. "It should have been me, please, come back to me.."

After a good hour of letting the tears out, he limped out of the room after composing himself emotionally and had to have a friend of his drive him to the pharmacy for a prescription or two. Justin adjusted his glasses as he drifted inside, looking around at the different products- That was until he had to wait on the god awfully long line just to pick up painkillers and over the counter antibiotic pills.
Waiting on the line was hell itself, but as he whipped out his phone, he was almost driven to tears as he saw the lockscreen was Adam and himself from Vidcon. His screen was shattered on the side where Adam's face was, how convenient.
Adam was the only thing on his mind for that next 20 ish-or so minutes. He spoke softly to the pharmacist as she gave Justin his first doses of medicine, which were free on Justin's insurance.

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Justin got dropped off at his and Adam's house after the few stops he made, and he sadly limped into the house and past the empty rooms. He wasn't greeted by the black-haired boy who was constantly cracking jokes- He didn't come home to the smell of horribly cooked eggs- No. He didn't come home to see Adam there in general. What was this freaky world he was living in?

Justin walked over to the kitchen but couldn't bring himself to eat. Instead, his fingers brushed upon the sensation of the themed-utensils of their channel, he opened the fridge to see old food from Adam- this was horrible. Everything was Adam this, Adam that, where was his Adam?

The correct answer was in a hotel bed, stuck in a dream that maybe, just maybe, he didn't want to leave. Maybe it was a similar scenario to how he himself had felt in this strange dream he had in the hospital, with whatever space he imagined himself inside of.
Justin slowly dragged himself upstairs, opened Adam's door and plopped himself on Adam's bed. He laid there on his stomach for a good ten ish or so minutes with no luck of sleeping, so he ended up resulting to running downstairs [which he shouldn't have due to his sprained ankle] and Justin took double the recommended amount of sleeping pills, Adam had them due to him having insomnia at some point.

The drowsy effects kicked in as soon as Justin managed to plop back into Adam's bed- his head spun as he silently hugged his hoodie sleeves and felt drowsy, before succumbing to his overdosed exhaustion.

Chapter Text

JUSTINS POV:


I woke up still tired- back into this strange dimension of a place. This time, I was off the train, and everything was a foggy blur. There wasn't much I could see, so walking and looking around became my only option.
Something felt off about the air but I chose not to question it, after all, this was just a simple dream.

The cityscape was darkened and the places around followed this cue, looking dark and abandoned. There were a few various questionable sights, as I saw different.. floating eyes? As well as dark thunderclouds holding little to no rain inside of them. The area seemed lit up well- yet dark, with no moon in sight.
A few of the buildings around looked desolate besides a brighter building that seemed lit up for the most part. It was massive, some sort of complex mall or plaza centerpiece that was overgrown with ferns and other floral patterns engulfing the sides of the building.

I wiped my old tears away as I sprung up to the building and pushed the glass door open, stepping inside as my lungs filled with an oddly familiar smell, yet so nostalgic I couldn't remember where it was from. The place itself consisted of multiple stories and reminded me like daggers of how Adam and myself went to a mall to meet our fans one time and watch our merch sell out in hours upon it dropping in certain stores. But no, this mall was abandoned, forgotten even. It looked raised, some glass was shattered whilst others had iron bars over the stores to avoid entry.
Very few lights worked and if some did, they flickered hastily and dimmed loudly with a buzz.

I explored this area with hesitation as this area no longer seemed to be calming and desolate. It seemed almost as if all eyes were on me, even after I looked through my reflection though windows and such.

I stopped in my track as I felt a chill trickle down my spine. "Okay, this isn't funny, wake me up!" I called out, seemingly to my body. No response of course.. I was spiritually away from my body. I called out a few more times but nothing happened.
I kicked something on the fl- Wait. Something on the floor?
I looked down and there it was. Adam's car keys. No, not a random pair- Adam's. The black Tesla keys with an iconic holographic Boxy sticker on the back of it.
I grabbed the keys and jingled them in my hands. I felt my eyes beam off of them with anticipation as I talked to myself;

 
"I take that back. I need to find Adam."

Chapter Text

As I ventured through this world, the farther I got.. the more beautiful it became. At some point I entered a beautiful room in which the floor was water, but the outside had morphed into a beautiful view of just clouds and grass.
I felt.. oddly at peace. If Adam was here, I see why he would be lost or deep in this world.. Whatever this dream place was, it was like an imaginary heaven.

Walking around the seemingly meaningless house, I reverted to a new door and walked through it to be greeted with a lovely neighborhood- however it looked oddly perfect, everywhere it looked the same.. Each house had been decorated with the same patterned houses, the colors were identical, the cars were the same.. It was like this was intentional, meant to be perfect, but felt off-putting instead of having a nice look and feel to it.

I looked around as it became a bit late, and suddenly I was.. feeling sleepy, in my dream?
As my eyes shut themselves, I clutched Adam's watch in my hands before I was hit with stone cold reality.
I awoke to my normal house and bed that was sloppily made. Looking at my alarm clock, it was intimidatingly early in the morning but once I checked my phone, I hadn't even been asleep for a few hours.

I got up painfully and limped, before looking down at the watch in my hand. My head pounded in sync with my heart, how is this even.. relatively happening or possible?
I threw the watch on my bed as my overthinking was beginning to make me feel lightheaded. Then, in a state of paranoia, I limped downstairs to get a drink and pre-record a video.

I eventually ventured downstairs and grabbed a water bottle before coming back up, as I already felt fatigued. Even though in that dream world.. It felt like numerous days had passed from me viewing the beauty of the world itself. But that watch.. the dream world is fake, so theoretically, it shouldn't exist. So when I come back up, the watch shouldn't be there. I had to have been hallucinating.

Before walking back inside I took a swig of water with pretty shaky breaths, before I grabbed my door handle and took a sharp breath, and when I re-opened my door the watch was laying on my pillow harmlessly.
My heart skipped a beat but I ran over despite my legs discomfort, and I placed the water bottle down beside my bedside drawer and ruffled my covers open, as I picked up the watch once more and crawled back into bed.

I layered my blanket back onto me as I felt as if I was weighted to my bed. I held Adam's Watch up to my face and watched the holographic sticker glimmer with the little moonlight that reflected from the window. But as I fell back asleep, I just clutched it to my chest with a low murmur;

"Take me to him. Please."

Chapter Text

I woke up with a figure in front of me. At first I saw their clothes as per usual, but this ‘person' had an eyeball for a face. They had lots of colorful accessories that complimented their rather kiddish clothing and I sat there a bit bewildered.


“0h, H1 tR4v3l3R!!” The distorted voice spoke. I blinked and stared at them a bit overwhelmed since I couldn't make out a word they said. The voice made an ‘Ohhh' sound before clearing their throat.

“Hi traveler! Welcome to the weirdcore part of dreamcore! What brings you here?” The eyeball somehow spoke. I stuttered. “The- The weirdcore..?”
“Yuppers! Weirdcore is the other side of Dreamcore, we deal with traumatic events, sadness, loss and acceptance in your life- except we just help you express it through your dreams since real life is probably not goin’ too well for ya’!” The voice giggled.
“Trauma response? No, I'm looking for a friend, but he was in a coma, and I was just in dreamcore, I found his watch and it-”
I was cut off. “Oh, we get those sometimes. Did the watch appear in reality? You know, like, the watch actually existed?” They asked.
I held up the watch. “Yup, I guess it came with me to this weird place too..”
“Huh. Guess you two share dreams! You two must be very close, it's rare to have paired dreamers down here.” Their voice distorted briefly.
I stared at the watch and stuffed it in the jacket pocket. “Do you.. think you can help me find him? He'd probably be down here since I came back to this world.. twice.”
“Twice? Well then pal, my name's Story, and I can easily help you find him! Except, I'd like to show you around first if that's okay?”
I nodded to Story. “Yeah, that'd be great!”
“Awesome! Follow me!” Story took my sleeve respectfully as we walked on a platform that was checkered and a bit trippy to look at. Around us were mushrooms scattered with eyes, and at the end of the boardwalk was a portal of some sort.

Story walked through the portal once we got to it, and I followed hesitantly as I wasn't about to have a thousand eyes in real time staring directly at me.. it was unsettling.

Going through the portal made me nauseous somehow but on the other side was a rather.. abandoned looking remote area, with a school and different buildings all worn down. But around there were other people, no- not humans, but people with heads as inanimate objects. One of the people was a cloud, another was a microwave- I even saw some animals.

I stood out like a sore thumb as Story walked over to some ‘people'. They dragged me to the front with a smile, “Hey everyone, This is UH- [what's your name?]” They whispered.
“Justin-” I whispered back, and they finished their sentence.
A person with a TV head stepped out and shook my hand. “Hi! Hopefully you can understand me, I set me settings to English- I'm Amy!” Her computer screen had a smile on it. I shook her hand with a smile. “Hi Amy- So you guys are all like, people who live down here?” I ask, looking around.

“Well, I guess you can say that? We don't exist, Justin. Not in the real world anyway, each of us.. we've been down here in our own dreams since the beginning of time.” Someone with a clock head responds. That was.. pretty deep to say the least.
“But don't worry, we haven't had any new additions in a long time! Just a lot of new visitors.” Amy smiles again, turning to Story. “Is he a singular or a pair?”

“A pair, actually!” Story responds happily. I stand there confused before Amy and the clock-headed person look shocked. “Wow, we haven't had.. We haven't had a pair in a while. Your soul is connected to another persons?”
“I guess so. It's my best friend, Adam- he saved my life, I need to save his.”
“A coma?” Amy blurts. “Sorry, I'm just curious.”
“Yes, a coma..” I respond hazily. “It should've been me, but now I'm stuck alone without him because of my clumsiness.”

Amy came over and rested an.. invisible hand? On my shoulder reassuringly. “If it were you who saved Adam, I bet you he'd be doing the same thing for you.”
I let what Amy said sink in a little. “Yeah.. yeah, you're right. I just need to find him..”
“What's he look like?” The figure with a clock head asked, and I quickly responded; “Dirty blonde, very tall, anime-ish black and white hoodie, blue eyes..”

“Oh, I saw him a while ago!” The clock responds with a loud ticking noise coming from them. My eyes lit up almost immediately. “You did?! Where is he?!” I shriek uncontrollably. It felt like an eternity since I've last seen him.

“Story can take you to him.” Amy gestures, and Story nods. “But before we go-”
“What is it?” I cut them off.
“Wake up first. In the weirdcore world, time flies two times as fast, and the dreamcore world is half as slow-”
“Story, please. Just take me to him first, I don't care if it's next year in my own time.”
Story goes quiet but seems a bit happy that I'm so consistent about finding Adam.

They take my hand and awkwardly we are teleported to another area with inanimate-object heads, but in the midst of a crowd I see the dirty blonde tuffs of hair from a mile away.
“That's hi-”

.

Chapter Text

I wake up abruptly as my alarm goes off, it's already 3 PM. The keys and watch were still in my hand- Honestly, I forgot where this watch even came from, but I probably found it with the keys..


I smacked my alarm clock angrily and sighed loudly. I was so close, so close to finding him.. and now, I didn't even feel fatigued.
Unless...

I got up and ignored my now numbed pain, ran downstairs and came upstairs with sleeping medications that Adam had used for his own insomnia at some point. This would be perfect I think, just would take a minute to fall asleep..
I grabbed wherever I tossed that water bottle and downed 4 pills, two being the recommended serving for 24 hours- it didn't really matter anymore, I just needed to go back.

It took a few minutes to kick in, instead of the usual thirty minute wait due to the amount I took and the lack of sustenance in my system.
..

When I woke up back in the strange place, Story was talking to Adam. He pretty quickly saw me and his eyes widened in terror almost, but I found myself weightless as I ran over and clutched him rapidly.
It.. it hurt, because I couldn't feel him entirely. I felt the hug, just not his warmth. It was an entirely different feeling, one that seriously stunk.
Adam hugged me back and I felt him run circles on my back. “Justin.. What are you doing here?!” He asked, confused. “This is supposed to be my dream-”

“You two are connected! A pair, is what we call it.” Story smiled, interrupting us. “Justin has one of your personal items on his person, and so he was able to become reunited with you faster!”
I sheepishly handed him the watch and keys.
He inspected them and looked a bit shocked. “What?? I had these earlier-” Adam spoke lowly. “I found them in the mall area, ish..”

Adam hugged me tightly and it took all of me not to break down in front of him. But then I looked around at the different ‘people' around him, who were looking at me just as confused as I was to them.
“Ohh, right, I haven't introduced you guys yet-” Adam laughed nervously. “We already met Story, but guys, this is Justin! My friend from the real Earth!” He smiled.
“Hi Justin. My names London.” A rather fancy person shook my hand, their object was a thundercloud. Another person shook my hand, rapidly. “Hiya! I'm Ferris!” I looked at them- and yeah, they had a miniature ferris wheel for a head.
“And the other guy over there is Freedom. He doesn't like to talk.” Ferris smiles. Freedom had a fishbowl and a goldfish as a head.
I looked at them for a moment; “So.. You guys all know each other?”
“Yeah!” Adam smiles warmly. “It's actually so nice here! I'll show you my favorite spots Justin!”
He takes my hand and leaves everyone else back at the area, Story seemed to be talking to them.

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“And this is the final view!” Adam sat on the cliffside and handed me his watch before patting the artificial grass next to him. Even though he was here, something was.. off, Adam felt.. Cold. Colder than usual. I shook it off though, and attempted to make small talk;
“Huh. This is.. actually kind of nice.” I stared into the dark and cloudy distance, but the dim lights of all of the people from this dream world kept the place alive to a degree.
“I know it is. I kind of.. forgot about reality, You know? It's just so nice here..” He inhales sharply and exhales, closing his eyes in peace.
I look at him then back around. “But don't you miss reality?” I ask, the words heavy on my tongue. He opens his eyes with a confused look and turns. “Well.. I mean, yeah, but I've felt oddly happy here.. with the people, no worries.. and, London, she's very nice! Like a girlfriend almost!”
The words skip over my heart and I hold the watch embarrassingly. I probably shouldn't be upset over that part, but I am. Adam's always been openly straight, but I've hid the fact that I'm pretty much only into men from him.
I shook off my own thoughts. “London? Wasn't that a literal cloud though?”
“Justin, nothing here is real. Plus, it's the personality that matters!” He responded hesitantly, “And I kinda of like this.. This place, the people.. I don't think I entirely want to leave..”

I pause for a long time. Then I feel myself getting drowsy as I hide the watch in my hoodie pocket. “Maybe.. Maybe you'll change your mind?” I say sadly. “I have to go, I'll be back..”
My vision went black briefly as I said this, and the last thing I saw was Adam looking away from me, mouthing "No.. No I won't."

Chapter Text

I woke up with it being late at night again, and I had tears swelling in my eyes. I was happier to see Adam than he was to see me.
My heart raced as I felt tears flowing down my face once more. In a way I felt pathetic, like.. this was all my fault, despite knowing it probably wasn't and it was up to Adam after all.


I opened my phone from the beside, scrolled past the different pictures of us- all the way down to the first time we met.. I shouldn't dwell on this dumb feeling.
I groggily got up in a state of sadness.. Briefly, I saw a text illuminate the screen: It was my twin sister Justina, but I usually refer to her as Justine.


I read her text outloud: “Hey Justin.. I heard about what happened with Adam. If you're up to it, I'd like you to come down to the central park and have a coffee or something. If not, that's fine and I completely understand.. but until then, I'll see you soon.”
My hands shakily embraced the keyboard. “Okay..” I typed. “I'll see you in five.”

I looked back at my vanity and just threw on the first pair of shoes I saw. The central park was no more than a jog away, I probably needed the fresh air anyway.
I made my way downstairs, stretched and not before long, left the house. I needed a break from.. that alternative reality, maybe just a break from this rabbit hole of emotions I got from seeing Adam.

Eventually I walked through a few streetlamps and I saw the familiar long-haired girl I remember from just a few weeks ago. She was holding coffee and handed me a cup as I approached closer.
“Oh Justin..” Justina sniffled, before hugging me tightly. “I thought you were a goner when I got that call..” She stammered, lightly crying into my shoulder. I hugged her back warmly and in a bit of pain, but I nesseled myself into her neck in return. “I wouldn't ever do that to you, I swear..”

She pulled back from me and scanned me up and down. “Are you alright? How hurt are you?”
“Well, I hurt some part of my leg but I'm pretty sure its miraculously healed- it's Adam who went through worse..” my voice trailed off as Justina picked up on it.
She took my hand and led me around, before opening her umbrella for the both of us. “That's kind of why I wanted to talk to you..”
I peered over and we stopped to look at growing flowers. They were drooped, getting ready to bloom any minute.

“You see, Justin, try picking one of those up.”
I confusingly looked at her but followed what she said, picking up one of the flowers from its flowerbed. Then, rain started to lightly patter against the umbrella.
“Picture.. the flower is Adam. You're holding onto him because you're obviously blaming yourself for the crash..”
I blinked and looked down at the small flower that was cupped in my hands with the soil. It reminded me a lot of Adam.. She was right, and I hated that.
“..But sometimes, no matter what you do, nothing could have prevented that from happening Justin. Not even you.”
I looked at her with a shimmer of hurt in my eyes. “What do you mean..” I hoarsely asked, examining the flower as the rain continued.
“That car crash was the universe's way of reality-checking you.” She continues, “It would have always happened.”
I thought about it for a moment just as she spoke again. “I think, you need to let him go. Wherever he is, he's alive. Just in a coma.. we don't know how long Justin.”
“I can't..” I whimpered.
“You can't what?” She asks, reassuringly.
“I can't let him go.. this is Adam, I mean, he's the other half of me..”

She then grasped my shoulder lovingly. “Put the flower back in its bed, Justin.. You'll see.”
I sniffled but shakily put the flower down. The rain touched its retracted and drooped petals for a moment before the flower began to bloom, and open.

My eyes widened. Justina looked at me, amusingly. “Now you get it. Its gonna hurt, Justin, but once you let go.. you let another part of you bloom. He's gonna come back, just not on our time.”
I looked at her before hugging her tightly. “Thank you.. Thank you so much Justine, I really needed this.” I shakily said.
“I know you did, Justin.” She hugged me back tighter. “I'm gonna go for a bit, but I'm a call or text away. I love you bro, don't forget that.” She departed from the hug, leaving me be.

It took me a hot second to process what she had just told me. I put the hood up on my hoodie before waving and holding the watch that Adam gave me in my hands. I understand what she said.. And god, it was gonna hurt.

But then, I made the right decision. It stung like you wouldn't even believe, but.. It had to happen.

Chapter Text

...

Story greeted me again when I woke up. Adam was nowhere to be seen, same with the rest of his newfound friends.
“Where'd they go?” I ask, jumping the gun as I looked around.
“Ah, they're moving Adam in with London! I thought you were taking him back though..” Story's voice trailed off. My eyes widened from this, but I calmed down quickly.
I smiled dimly. “Yeah, me too. If you saw my memories from a few minutes ago, you'd know-”
“Oh, can I do that if you want to save some time!” Story enthusiastically said. “All of us have the ability to enter memories of humans!”
“..Really?” I ask, a bit unnerved. It was kind of a relief to hear that these people could potentially read my memories.. Because, If my plan were to work, I needed London to see and understand where I'm coming from.
“Yeah! Let me teleport you to them whilst I check what happened with you.” Story says, taking my hand. But as we teleport, my memory.. is on display all around me, as if I was seeing a projected movie from my own brain. I didn't know if anyone else could see it, but I recognized this.. memory, quickly, as if I was right there.. yet I wasn't. It was such a strange feeling..
.

We almost barged into the house that London and her friends were staying in, and Adam looked at me a bit coldly. “Justin, I said-”
“I wanna talk to London.” I said. Adam looked shocked at the firmness in my voice, but the cloud-figure stepped forward and led me into a separate room from everyone else, as Story's singular eye looked.. Shocked, from the memory. I think she understood what I was doing.

“What is it?” London asks, a bit coldly. I stared at them for a moment, before she continued; “Me and Adam, we're.. happy. I know I only met him a few days ago, but this human.. he's making me happy.”
The words hit me like rocks but I just nod. “I am not taking that away from you.” I lowly say, “Can you go look at my oldest memory of Adam?”
The figure looks a bit dumbfounded but I see her cloud nod, before she displays the memory around us. “Where are we..?” London asks, looking around my memory.
“This.. This is Vidcon, where I met Adam.” I smile and point out Adam.

The cloudy figure steps and walks towards us just meeting- as we were around flowers and other street vendors. “He looks so happy here, like how he saw me..” London peers at me and Adam in the past.
I feel tears pour down my face. “London, I can trust you, right?”
Her tone changed entirely, seeing me towards the back of the memory in my rather pathetic state. She seemed.. hurt, looking at me. “Yes.. Yes you can.”

I walked forward and took her arm out, before placing the watch in her hands. If she had eyes, I swear they would dart up and look at me confusedly.
“This specific watch, I got Adam for our 1 Million Subscriber-YouTube milestone..” I felt my eyes grow cloudy. Then, I heard her speak up. “Justin, what are you saying..”

“I want you to take care of him. Adam.. He hasn't been the same since I met him, since we did anything together.. This, this is what he wants. I respect his decision, and I think you two would make a great pair.." I shuddered and sobbed.
"Justin, wait-"
 She clutched the watch and with her free hand, went to grab my arm, but I was quickly sent back to my dawning reality.

…

I wish you the best, Adam..

Chapter Text

…

---

…

I woke up with no watch in my hands and an empty pit in my heart.
I took off the hoodie and eyed a notepad, in which I got up and ultimately wrote a small note on it, before de-attaching the singular note from its pad and taping it to the front of the hoodie.
Then, I walked downstairs and placed the hoodie by my car keys briefly.. Seeing Adam's weren't there, was a bit unnerving, but I had to move on.

I walked downstairs into our editing room and soon flipped on the camera.
I looked at how dull I seemed to be.. but, nevertheless, I had to post this…

“Hi, Lankybox fans.. Its uh, Justin, this is kind of a serious video..” I started off. I looked at my hands nervously. “As some of you may know, I got in a pretty bad accident with Adam a week or so ago.”
I felt my body swoon negatively as I had to pause again, to keep my composure. “He's in a coma. Because of me. Well.. he saved my life, stopped the impact from basically breaking my ribcage I think.. But uh. It's going to be just me for now on, unless Adam wakes up..” I looked away. “Which I don't think is happening.”
I flicked the off button on the camera and put the video to automatically post once it was uploaded. Then, with dedication, I got up and walked out of the studio, refusing to look back.

I grabbed my keys and the hoodie before I took a deep breath- this would be my first time driving since.. the incident. It wasn't going to be easy..


..

---

It took me about an hour to feel comfortable in the driver's seat again, and safely get over to the hospital. I was let in rather fast as a visitor to Adam, and I found myself walking down the dim hallway which still felt like walking on needles.

I rounded the corner to Adam's room: the door read ‘Adam McAuthur’ and had his state listed as ‘Coma’.
I walked in teary-eyed before leaving the jacket on his hand without an IV attached. I reviewed the note and my hand skimmed on top of Adam's as I squeezed his hand lightly, tears poured down my face; “You don't understand how much I'm going to miss you..”

But I got up shortly after.
I looked back once as Adam remained still on his bed. I still regret letting him save me in that accident.. But I'll never regret supporting his decision.

Chapter Text

3RD PERSON POV:

It was not too long after the video Justin posted blew up with overwhelming support. Everyone kind of in a way came together and ultimately put the past with Lankybox behind to in a way, support Justin with this news as best as possible.

But in the dream world..

Adam walked into the room with London, whos stormcloud was raining. She was.. Crying. What him and Adam had, it wasn't and shouldn't have been tampered with to begin with.
Adam ran over to comfort her, but London stopped crying. She and Story looked at each other from across the room, before she took Adams hand and placed the watch in it.

Adams heart sunk. Justin had this..
"Did he.."
"Adam." London cut off Adam. She walked away from Adam by a few feet before sighing. "I know.. This, seems great, but.. Justin, he needs you more than I need you. I have people like me all around, but you? You're the closest thing Justin has, I understand that now."
"What do you mean.." Adam asked timidly. He still wasn't sold on his whole idea.
"Justin thought that leaving you here was in your best interest.." London paused. "It shouldn't be. Goodbye Adam- Story, do it."
"Wait, wait he wh-"

...

Adams eyes groggily opened as he saw his surroundings. As he struggled to sit up, he saw the hoodie he gave to Justin sitting on his hand, and he read the small note that happened to be attached to it.
"Adam.. I'm giving this back because I think you may need this in your new life more than me." Adam paused, mid-paragraph. "I know you probably won't wake up, but if you ever do, Just know you don't have to stay. I saw how happy you were with London, and.. Despite her not being real, that was the happiest I've seen you in quite some time. But.. Truth is, I didn't let you go right away because I love you. I love you Adam, and I have to show this by leaving you be."
"From, Justie <3"

Adam's hands shook as he skimmed the letter. A nurse came in looking shocked but smiled afterwards. "Oh my, Adam! You're actually awake!" The nurse exclaimed, un-hooking him from probably the life support IV.

Adams breathing was scattered and he was mid-sobbing. "Where's Justin? Where is he?" He choked out, his throat and mouth were pretty dry. 

The nurse clicked her pen and checked the keyboard next to his bed. "Around two weeks ago was his last visit."
"Two weeks? How, I was asleep for only two more hours, how could he have-" Adams heart sunk, as he remembered time went two times as fast than actual reality in the world he was trapped in.
Adam sat up and eventually stood, with the nurse handing him his regular clothes. "If you feel alright to leave, we're going to do some small tests beforehand."
Adam nodded. "Okay.. I have someone to meet anyway."


......

Justin was mid-live with his fans, walking around the park. "I really wasn't planning on streaming after.. that video, if you couldn't tell by my state-" Justin laughed nervously. "But my sister said to come here and start streaming? Hopefully I'm doing this right-"
Justina walked into the frame and smiled. "Hey Justin.. I wanted you to see someone, I think we talked about this beforehand."
"Beforehand?" Justin asked as he looked around, before embracing his sister and hugged her. Then, he heard a familiar laugh before Justina took the camera.

Behind him, was the blonde figure- His hair was wet from a shower he took presumably before leaving the hospital, and he had a bandage over the right side of his face. Justin stood there dumbfounded before in the frame, Justin ran over to Adam and practically jumped on him- Adam was thankfully able to catch and hug Justin back.

Justina flipped the camera to herself with a evil smile. " I told him barely anything before- Oh oops, they're kissing-" Justina flipped the camera to expose the two, who were sobbing and embracing one another.

The chat filled with donations, happy praises, a few hate comments but a few big streamers like KreekCraft and Albertstuff had donated some big amounts and implied they had a feeling they'd see the 'ship sail eventually'.

"I thought you weren't coming back!" Justin sobbed. Adam hugged him tightly; "You.. You thought the best for me even though you knew I didn't want to come back, I owe you one eternally." Adam spoke in-between sniffles, before Justin got out of his arms, slapped him and sobbed loudly. "DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN DUDE!" Then, his anger caused another rollercoaster of a mood swing, he grabbed Adam's hoodie and kissed him right in front of the camera.

After a hot minute, Adam pulled away and softly spoke; "I love you too."
"What-??" Justin looked confused.
"Your note, dude.." Adam took the jacket from his hand and draped it over Justins shoulders before kissing his cheek. "I was stupid to think some fake reality was worth giving up you.. or everything we created."
Justin sniffled, " You think so..? I've only fantasized about this moment, oh gosh.. Stop, I'm getting emotional again.."
"Justie, come on man.." Adam hugged Justin again. "I know so. Now, you hungry? Lunch can be on me!"
Justin sniffled and smiled. "I mean, that's one way to come back from a coma.. Yeah, actually, I'm starving.."

END