There was a call out from somewhere near if everything was okay. How many people were in this place? The sheriff’s ‘Everything’s fine’ didn’t seem accurate. Nothing was fine. He was the one handcuffed after all.
And then he’s left behind with Sweatpants there who seemed just as confused going by the look on his face.
Nope. A whole lot of nope. Jeff side stepped in front of the counter, the kitchen island between them, as he watched Sweatpants watch him. “Uh. No need. Not going to do anything stupid. Warm in here. Cold out there. I’m staying put.” Contrary to the statement, he took another side step away. What to do? What to do? Emma left!
His eyes darted towards the direction she went. No clue where she went really, but in that moment, he would much rather stick around with a familiar person rather than this guy who may or may not be the weirdo that lived there. Though the sweatpants did give cause to doubt that assumption. Likely not.
“I’m just gonna…” Following the path Emma took while she was apparently making a phone call, Jeff rounded the island, shot a nervous glance at the other man, and jogged towards the direction where he heard the other feminine voice, his hands cuffed before him. Stopping just in the threshold to another room, he saw exactly who had called out. No wonder the voice was familiar. It was that kid that called him a schizo at the library! And… and maybe… why did she remind him of childish pranks like drawing mustaches on sleeping nurses? “You,” he started to say.
But the sharp bite of chemicals in the air caught his attention. Looking to the right, he saw the source. The bucket on the floor, the red streak trailing across the wall leading to a grand entrance way door. This was a crime scene! His eyebrows shot up. Why was everyone so calm with bloody walls? The girl (what was her name again?) was just sitting there. They were all crazy! And Jeff was the one handcuffed right in the middle of them all!
Fine is all Paige gets in the form of an explanation of whatever the hell is going on. Even if she’s a teenager, even if they think she’s too young, too emotionally vulnerable to handle it, it’s better to receive the truth than something sugar coated. Still with the muffled voices and no explanations from the kitchen. Footsteps she’d know anywhere (is it pathetic that she knows him that well?) approaching the living room where she was. Maybe it was to assure the teenager once more that everything will be okay - not just between them but in general. It was difficult to believe that anything could be salvaged from this day, let alone her relationship. But when asked if the hot cocoa was ruined and reading between the lines, she stated it wasn’t. That is…
Paige’s head jerks up to stare straight towards the doorway. Her brows arch and her jaw drops at the sight before her. Not, Grace, not Paige, not sweetheart, not anything but a You? devoid of any softness she’d received earlier. It was… Oh, god! Whatever had happened from the point she left Jeff to when he comes in handcuffed and staring back at her, any signs of the other side of him are replaced with the asshole who had the nerve to call her a brat or pretended that after their fall out nothing had happened during her day at the hospital.
Unsure of how long the pair had been staring at each other in silence, she has to remind herself that this is just who he is. Or apart of who he is. That didn’t erase the sting that comes with each time she meets her least favorite persona. “I have a name, you know,” she snarks back throwing off the blanket. “And it’s not You,” she mutters under her breath. The shock coupled with whatever happened - and thanks to Killian who aided her - not long ago, her legs felt wobbly on her two feet. Not even caring if he’s skittish Paige does her best to remain steady with each step. Stopping just short of where he stood, her eyes searching his for any trace of the other Jeff only to come up empty. “You could remember me for once.”
It doesn’t take her as long as she thought it would to get through to someone at the fire station, which is awesome. Not surprisingly they’ve been inundated with calls – likes she suspected earlier, the whole town is without power. But the town is also currently without a sheriff, so that makes her request for help a higher priority. The faster they can get that damn tree off the road, the sooner she can actually help. It’s a win/win.
The snow seems to have stopped (apparently, she didn’t notice when she was out there but she’ll take their word for it), so now it’s just a waiting game – they’ll get there when they get there. But even with the vague ETA, Emma feels a sense of relief when she ends the phone call. There is an end to the madness. Light is at the end of the tunnel, just a little longer now. Hell, she might even manage to get both Jeff and Paige out of here without her ever having to see him in cuffs.
As she turns to make her way back to the kitchen she can see Jeff. In the living room. Standing right in front of Paige. Fuck. Can this guy stay still for like five minutes?
“Oh come on – really?” Emma grumbles. She’s not even annoyed with him at this point, she should have expected this. She’s just exhausted – from the chase, and Jeff’s mood swings, and the whole week – it’s been a lot. And it’s that exhaustion that informs her demeanor as she changes her direction and makes her way towards them.
“Dude, I told you I’d be right back,” she calls. Not that it really matters, whatever she’d been trying to avoid has happened, but she is surprised – hadn’t Jefferson run from her to avoid just this?
“Wha-hey!” he exclaimed as Jeff moved past him and out of the kitchen. Alright, so all he was told was to make sure Jeff didn’t do anything stupid... Technically, leaving the kitchen wasn’t included, right? And apart from wrestling the man, what was Killian meant to do to stop him? Besides, he was already in the living room. There wasn’t much else to do. Something strange was going on, however. Jeff had been nothing but kind to Paige since they’d entered this horrible house, and now... Well, calling her ‘you’ wasn’t exactly unkind, per se, but it felt odd. It looked odd.
Paige didn’t seem surprised at all, furthering Killian’s confusion. She walked right up to Jeff and stared him down, saying he could remember her for once. What in the world? He wanted to intervene, although he wasn’t sure if there was really a situation yet or not. Killian stepped closer to Paige, just in case.
And then Emma returned, and Killian honestly felt relieved. Jeff was in cuffs of course, but with her back he could leave it up to her to determine if there was a problem. Killian didn’t trust himself, not with his lack of memories, nor with the way he had reacted to a previous situation with Jeff. All he knew was that something felt off, and Killian had no idea what it was.
He looked over at Emma sheepishly, acknowledging that he failed in her request.
