Chapter 18: Where Is Jay

Edward sat in his office, looking at a picture of Jay and him after the brunette’s first victory in a mixed martial arts competition when he was 13. He was thinking about what the tall brunette had told him before leaving. The feeling of someone watching him. Edward had always been overly protective of his adoptive son, and he too had noticed someone following Jay around. Last week, when he was talking to Jay and Danial in the parking lot after work, there was a figure watching them from behind one of the cars on the far end of the lot. He also noticed that the stranger's eyes seemed to be focused on Jay.

That wasn’t the only time either. So, in hopes to keep an eye on the brunette, the older male had started hanging out in the bar before opening to make sure Jay made it into work and could keep an eye on the parking lot from one of the side windows.

Skyler walked into the office, seeing the far off look in the dark eyes of his boss. Wondering what he was thinking about before brown eyes saw the picture in the other’s hand. He walked over to sit on the couch against the wall, eyes filled with concern as he spoke.

“I’m worried about Jay. I know you must have noticed the strange person that shows up sometimes at the windows too.” Skyler said, resting his arms on the back of the couch, still studying Edward.

“Yes. I’ve seen them a couple of times. Tonight, just made it worse. The fact that this… stalker is getting bolder.” Edward said, putting down the picture and turning to look at the concerned friend. Skyler nodded, thinking about something.

“Do you think we should tell Danial? Have him keep an eye on Jay when we can’t? Or see if he has noticed anything?” He asks the raven-haired male, who was nodding along to what Skyler was saying.

“I will head over to the Bennett’s Boutique tomorrow and talk to Danial. Hopefully it’s just here that the person comes around and they will get bored and leave soon.” Edward’s words were filled with concern, even though he knew perfectly well that Jay could take care of himself physically, but mentally. Who knows what this could do to the brunette’s healing psyche. Sure, Danial has done an amazing job repairing the broken pieces of their favorite brunette.

All they could do was hope for the best as they wondered who could possibly be watching Jay.

~Next Day~

Danial was helping Laura tailor a custom dress for a customer when Edward walked through the front doors, the bell alerting them to a new customer, going off in the back, drawing Danial’s attention. He groans as he straightens and puts down his pins and his wristband pincushion and pulls off his reading glasses and puts them on the counter with the rest of the stuff.

“Hello, welcome to Bennett’s Boutique, how may I… Oh Edward, what are you doing here? Is Jay okay?!” Danial says, fear slowly crawling up his spine as he thinks about the reasons Edward could be here. Edward smiles at him, walking over to stand in front of the small blonde.

“Oh no, Jay is fine. I was hoping to talk to you about something, if you have the time of course.” The older man says, hands in his pockets as his dark eyes met relieved storm-blue eyes.

“Sure, follow me, we can talk in my office.” The duo walks into Danial's office upstairs and takes a seat on the two chairs in front of Danial’s desk. The blonde could tell something was wrong and wondered if it was about the unease, he had been sensing from Jay for the past week. He had tried getting Jay to talk about it, but all he would say was that he felt like someone was watching him at work and it was making him nervous. Danial wanted to ask more but thought better of it. In his worry for his boyfriend, he had started keeping an eye out for anything strange. He never noticed anything off until one day, when Jay and him were walking home from the bar.

“Is this about the person who has been watching Deku?” Danial said, suddenly, making Edward’s mouth draw tight in a worried frown, nodding his head.

“Yes. Last night wasn’t the first time I had noticed someone watching him at the bar, but I hoped they would stop. I’ve been keeping a close eye on Jay, and I know he can take care of himself, but I am still worried for him.” The older said, sitting back in his chair, hands clasped on his lap.

“Deku told me about what happened last night. He was really nervous when he got home. I’ve noticed someone following him when we are out, but I’ve never been able to see their face. I didn’t know if I should say something to him or not. I don’t want to make him more scared if it’s nothing, but I’m starting to fear something bad is going to happen to him.” The blonde said, eyes swirling with indecision as he fiddles with his fingers, leaning forward in his chair to rest his forearms on the arm rests.

“I am in the same boat, honestly. I also have to wonder if telling him together would be easier.” Edward was contemplating who it could be, when a name popped into his head, Britney Gunderson. “I think I might know who it is.”

“Me too. Especially after the last time we saw her. And I think we should sit down together to talk to him about it, as well.” They talked for another half an hour before Danial was called to the front to talk to a customer about a custom wedding dress and Edward had stuff he needed to get done as well. They said their goodbyes, promising to get together to talk to Jay about the stalker.

For the next week, they surprisingly didn’t notice the mysterious person in the shadows around the brunette. Edward and Danial, figuring the person finally got bored and left, decided in the end to not say anything to Jay in hopes that it would all just feel like a bad dream. But that was the complete opposite from what happened.

Danial was just getting home from work when he felt like his heart was being ripped from his chest. Stormy-blue eyes suddenly went wide in terror, as a painful gasp escaped his throat in a strangled cry as he stumbled to the floor. It was 8:30pm and he was just walking through the door of their apartment clutching the counter, trying to support himself. ‘What the fuck?’ He thought in confusion, before realizing the last time he felt like this was when Jay was having the panic attack at work during the whole Britney incident. Fear coursed through his veins as he reached into his pocket to call Jay, praying to every god out there that he was just overreacting, or this horrible pain had nothing to do with his tall brunette. But when Jay’s phone rang and rang till it went to voicemail, he started to panic. ‘No, no this can’t be happening!’

With his mind racing a million miles an hour about why Jay wouldn’t answer his phone. Danial calls Edward, hoping it was just because Jay was working late, or his phone died. As the line rings, the nervous blonde starts to pace in their entry way. ‘Pick up, pick up!’

“Hello, Danial?” The older male's voice said, his usual tired tone traveling through the line.

“Is Jay there? I can’t reach him, and I have a really bad feeling something is wrong.” Danial said, with a panic tone. He was still pacing and chewing his thumb nail anxiously. On the other end, Edward’s tired dark eyes widened in shock, before he got up and walked out into the bar. Looking around for Jay or Skyler.

He finally found Skyler at the hostess station looking over the reservation book for the restaurant half of his establishment. When the younger dark-haired male finally looked up at his boss, his brown eyes widened in surprise from the alarmed look on the man's face.

“Have you seen Jay?” Edward asked, still on the phone with Danial who was listening intently to the other end of the phone.

“No. He just left a couple of minutes ago. Why? Is something wrong?” It was now Skyler’s turn to start getting worried about his friend.

“Danial, he’s gone. Did he walk to work today?” The older male's voice was thick with concern. Danial stopped pacing, his face draining of every drop of blood.

“Yes, he said… he said he wanted to check on something… after work. Edward, do you think something happened to him?!” The blonde was in full panic mode now, as that horrible feeling once again squeezed his heart in a vice-like grip. “Ugh! Fuck!” Danial groaned in pain, once again gripping the counter, taking deep breaths. Edward and Skyler were both beyond terrified for the brunette and Danial who was whining in pain over the phone.

“Danial, are you okay? What’s wrong?” Danial took a couple of deep breaths, listening to Edward’s concerned voice.

“We need to find Jay, NOW! I am headed down there right now!” With that, the panicked blonde hung up the phone, racing to the door after grabbing his keys. He looked out for Jay the entire time he was driving to the bar. When he finally parked, he noticed the duo standing off to the side, near the front of the building, Skyler was holding what looked like a bag in his hands. Danial ran over to him, not even bothering to lock his car. When he finally saw the exact bag the black haired man was holding, his blood ran cold. That was Jay’s bag. He always took that bag with him everywhere. That stupid dorky yellow messenger bag. Tears filled his storm-blue eyes as he stopped dead in his tracks, a hand going up to cover his mouth as a sob tried to break through. The other two noticed him, they rushed to his side, trying to think of anything to say to calm the nearly sobbing blonde.

“We found the bag beside the dumpsters. We didn’t find anything else.” Skyler said, handing the bag over to Danial. The blonde opened the bag to find Jay’s phone inside, along with a small velvet box, but before he could open it, Edward spoke up.

“We need to call the police.” Edward pulled out his phone, dialing 911. Danial could only stare at Jay's phone, a picture of the brunette and him at the festival last week as his lock screen. Tears still slowly falling down his pale cheeks. ‘Deku, where are you?’

~With Jay~

“Jay… Jay.” Someone whispered, with a slight seductive tone. “It’s time to wake up, sleepy head.” A woman's voice said in his ear as emerald eyes finally, painfully, opened with a stunned gasp on his lips once his eyes adjusted to the light pointed right at his face. His eyes focused on the last person he ever thought he would see. ‘What the fuck is going on?’