Jeff the Killer in: I'M BACK IN THE FUCKING BUILDING AGAIN!

by Astrophel_the_star_lover

Summary:

Jeff didn't mean it litterally when he said he would come back, he really didn't, but apparently the universe did.

Or: the time travel Jeff the Killer Au no one asked for.

Notes:

Am i starting another fanfic despiste not having finished my last ones? Yeah, but don't worry, those will be updated soon enough since their chapter are almost done, this was just too good and too cringe to not post.

Chapter 1: I really don't deserve this second chance lol

Jeff felt himself falling to the floor, laughter still forcing it's way out his sore throat and winning him more bullets, which only made him laugh harder, the police officer in front of him looked disturbed, distraught, slightly disappointed, and scared, Jeff liked that, he should be scared, he should be terrified of Jeff, even in his final moments Jeff should be striking fear, event to his own killer.

"S- STOP IT!" Officer Roger (Jeff thinks thats his name) screamed, trying to cover his terror by shooting his thigh, it only made Jeff's laugh harder. "STOP LAUGHING!" Another shot straight to his stomach, he was getting dizzy, how many have been by now? eitht? he doesn't know, but considering Rogers screams for him to "DIE ALREADY!" he can guess it's been a lot.

"But i'll never truly die will i Rogers?" Jeff said between chuckles and giggles. "I'll always come back, i'll always come back to haunt you, to remind you that YOU COULD NEVER EVER SAVE NIN-"

Fifteen... There were fifteen bullets inside his body. Two in his thighs, three in his stomach, two in his shoulders, two in his hands, four in his back, one in his chest, and now, one in his head.

What a glorious day it's been.

 

---

 

Truth be told, when he said he would come back, he did not mean litterally, in fact, he meant mentally, revenge never helped you long term, it was more of a quick fix that would blow out in your face earlier than later, like putting a bandaid on a pipe leak, it would be temporary, and once it wore down the crack will be even larger.

Even though Roger killed him and got his revenge Jeff would always be in the back of his mind, would be in his dreams, in the corner of his eye, in side window of his car, he would remember him when he saw a white hoodie, when he stared into the fire of a candle, when he saw blue eyes attached to a pale face, when he heard The Smiths from radio, when he saw long black hair.

But apparently the universe took him litterally because he woke up, woke up after litterally being shot in the head! And even weirder, woke up in his thirteen year old body, staring up the celling of his old room.

He looked around to see boxes still on the floor, like they've been after they moved houses. his room was a mess, the clean freak inside him rowled at him to clean it up, it sounded suspiciously like his mother.

Despiste all that, his first course of action was getting up and walking to his old school bag on the corner of the room. Forcing himself to move slowly despiste wanting to throw himself at it. If this was what it looked like he had to be the logical and calculating Jeff, not the impusive and rekless Jeff.

He opened the bag and grabbed his old pencil case, reaching beneath all the pencils to find an used box cutter. Pain always grounded him when he wasn't thinking straight, the sting helped remind him he was human, although most people
would call it harmful the blade actually helped him not become a serial killer before he was thirteen, it would have probably stopped it all together if it had not been for the fire. He would have probably lived a normal life, found a job, move out, get a therapist to not need the box cutter anymore, and most of the people he ruined would be alive and happy, unaware of the past dangers lurking in the shadows. He could have that life now if he was right about the situation, he thought. But as the feeling of blood started to leave his veins as the blade cut through his pants and thigh, that thought disappeared completely, he could never live a normal life, not with how much he liked the life he had lived.

He stared at the blood on his leg and the now cut pajamas pants he was a wearing, then he looked around, nothing changed, his room still looked the same, his hands were still weirdly small, his skin too... Skin colored... And the hair that fell in front of his eyes was brown, not to mention, he could blink now, he never noticed how much he missed blinking until now.

So he really was in the past. If he was anyone else he would start questioning everything from the reason of why he of all people was sent back to the meaning of life all together. But after various encounters with inumerous non-human creatures and indescribable horrors, he wasn't all that worried. The universe didn't make sense, it never did and it never would, this isn't the worst thing that could happen after his death. (He was actually expecting to wake up somewhere warmer.)

But what he did wonder was... What now? What would a serial killer do after being put back in the past?... They would probably start killing again, at least Jeff will, but how? Should he reclaim his future title or make a new one, go after the same victims or just say fuck it we ball and start going after random people? Go after the bullies before they could get him or-... actually that didn't sound half bad... But then again he didn't know where they lived and had no idea if he already met them or not, he might as well get out of the room to hear his parents talking about how Liu got arrested, he hopes the universe was kind enough to send him to a time before the first confrontation, but then again, he couldn't hope for too much, the universe was a bitch after all.

Well, there was only one way to know. Jeff slowly got up and walked to his closet, looking over at his alarm, it was 03:19 AM, no one should be awake by now, so he wouldn't need to hide the cut on his thigh while walking to the bathroom. He grabbed some random pants and a random black shirt from a band he didn't recognise before starting to dig in his closet, pulling out anything that looked white enough to be his old white hoodie.

After some digging (a lot of digging) he finally pulled out his beloved hoodie, it might seen silly to have such an attachment to a piece of clothing, but it was what he was wearing when he commited his first murder, so he has a pass. He hugged the hoodie tightly against his chest, the texture was horrible and it lacked the smell of blood and smoke it used to have, but it was still especial, it was the og hoodie, the one he wore so many years ago, or, i guess he didn't wear it yet in this timeline, but the point still stands.

He shook his head to get rid of the sentimental mood, quickly grabbing boxers before getting up  and walking out of the room. When he was thirteen he rarely showered more than once a week, as it was the american way, but now that he's wiser, he knows he can't smell like shit if he doesn't want the police to get on his tail, they catch onto the weirdest things. He swears to god even one small sign of mental illness is all they need to make you a suspect, so he can't have depression until he decides if he wants to stay out of radar or cause a big scene.

Getting inside the bathroom brought back memories, it was weird seeing it without blood on the sink or bloody writting on the mirror, but it was even weirder to look at his reflection after he turned on the light.

It might sound surprising, but he actually forgot how he looked when he was thirteen, sure, he had vague memories in the past, things like the color of his eyes and the color of his hair and what style he levitated towards, but nothing too specific.

So it's probably understandable that he was surprised by what looked back at him from the mirror. His hair was brown obviously, but it was a softer lighter shade than he remembered, his skin was slightly tanned, even having the subtle hint of freckles on his cheeks and neck, his nose was straight, it was clear that it was never broken before, and his cheeks were just starting to get rid of the baby fat, making him have a rounder face shape contrary to the sharp triangular face he would grow up to have. He looked ridiculous, it actually made him gag as shame and embarrassement filled his body. Was that what he looked like when he tried to defend his brother from a bunch of older kids? Was that what people saw when he tried to look intimidating? That's humiliating! He made a fool of himself more times than he can count!

Jeff took a deep breath, it was fine, nothing a little fire can't fix, he has to focus on the task at hand first, take a shower, put a band-aid on his cut, and pin point exactly when he is in time, he could do that. Definitely.

 

---

 

After sucessfully finishing the awkward quest of feeling like a creep while showering his own 13 year old body he stepped out of the shower with a clearer idea of what needed to be changed and what needed to stay, first order of business: get black hair dye, he hated his brown hair. Second order of business: keep Liu safe AT ANY COST, be it killing, dying, and anything in between, he might have not regretted killing his parents, but he sure as hell regret killing Liu from the day after the accident to the day of his death, so no Liu death this time. Third order of bussiness: not letting Liu get arrested if he isn't already, get him out if he already is. Seems like a completely reacheable plan if he says so himself.

He got dressed in the clothes he grabbed of the closet, now he could see the random pants he grabbed were actually black tight jeans, and the shirt was a My chemical romance t-shirt, he's ashemed to admit he forgot what the fashion was back in the 2000's, he was expecting to find basic shit in his closet but apparently he forgot his past self had a my space account, thinking back on it, he probably blocked it out actually.

After the fact that younger him said rawr XD in a daily basis settled in, he got dressed as quickly as possible, putting his white hoodie over the, admittedly cool, design of the shirt, and cursing himself when he realized that, after putting the tight jeans if he may add, he didn't bring socks to the bathroom. He opened the door to the hallway with a groan, his pjs in hand as he walked towards the laundry room, he would just put his boxers and shirt in the washing machine, the pants he would burn to get rid of evidence in the backyard, he can't have his parents asking why his pants were cut and covered in blood. So he just threw everything but his pants in the washing machine and walked back to his room to get socks and shoes on before going to feed his pyromaniac tendencies in the woods at the back of the house.

 

---

 

Most people would think that being burned and deformed by fire would traumatize him, and that's valid, it was very traumatic at first, when the flames started going up his legs and burning his skin, he thought he was going to die, he was desperate at the moment, screaming and crying and trying to get to any body of water he could find, when he first woke up in the hospital he thought he would never be able to look at fire again without the feeling of flames resurfacing to his skin and making his flight or fight response trigger.

But the thing is, although at first it might have been horrifying, it was the after that was important. Jeff never liked the way he looked, he recognised himself as attractive sure, and there was enough proof to confirm that he was and always has been above avarage in that aspect, but there was always something about him that felt wrong, that face did not belong to him, it was too round, his eyes were too soft, his mouth was too small, his nose was too straight, his hair was too tamed, his skin was too tanned, his smile wasn't wide enough, if someone asked him back then about everything wrong about his appearance he would have gladly described in detail every single thing defective about it, from the way his teeth were too straight to the way his hair fell over his shoulders.

And the day those bandages were cut off and he could see the new him in the mirror, he felt as if the fire knew all along, it was as if it had listened to his every complaint he never voiced out loud, gone was his tanned skin and round cheeks, the fire burnt most of the fat on his face and the chlorine lightened his skin to a completely white color, his brown hair was inexplicably turned black and now refused to stay down, there were teeth missing because of the fight, and his eyes had some kind of glow in them they never had before, as if they would still shine even if all lights were turned off, the only thing he could complain about was that smiling was hard, but that could be solved later with a knife.

At that moment, his family and the doctors looked at him with pity, watched him stare the reflection in the mirror in shock, sending him silent condolences as if saying sorry they couldn't do more to avoid heavy scarring, waiting for the moment the shock passed and tears started to fall, but after one minute standing there, he started laughing, Liu was the only one relieved by the act.

All that's to say, Jeff absolutely loved fire, it was incredible, it was perfect, it was beautiful and it made him beautiful too, the fire caught onto his dirty skin and cleansed it of all inhibitions, he would be a fool to not worship it's path in every way he could, it was why he burnt down their house after he was done, it was why he shared the fire with Nina, it was why arson was his second most commited crime, and in his last moments, the burn of the bullets comforted him in a way no one else could, and all of that contributed with the want to throw himself at the fire he created in the woods, stopping himself wasn't an easy task, but he had to stay alive at least till 40 now, to surpass his high score.

Once the piece of clothing was completely burnt to ashes Jeff took the flames out with a water bottle, he got up and started to walk back home, jumping over the fences that separated his backyard from the forest he made his way to the back doors, he paused for a moment and only a moment to watch the sunrise before going in, today was going to be a great day, he could feel it in his bones.

Chapter 2: Maniac episode? No no, i'm always like this :)

Summary:

The brother's are living in complete different genres, Jeff is in a slice of life, Liu is in a psychological horror.

It was morning when Liu woke up with the radio from down stairs, what he recognised as The Smiths Old House blasting out of it and filling up the whole house, Liu tried to go back to sleep, trying to muffle the noise with his pillow, but to no avail, it was when the song switched to Theres A Light That Never Goes Out that he gave up and pulled himself up to a sitting position, looking over to the clock on his bedside table, it just turned 6 Am.

Beneath the music he could hear what sounded like cutlery and pans being moved around, so it was probably his mom taking everything out the boxes and organizing it, weird, normally she hated loud music while working, said it distracted her.

He sighed before getting out of bed, weird or not, he can't sleep anymore so he might aswell go help her, maybe he'll find his console in one of those boxes while at it, he started to walk to his door before stopping in his tracks completely.

His room was... Not how he left it yesterday. The only thing they did on the night before was build the beds and closets before going to sleep, but from his desk to his console it was all out of the boxes and organized, his floor was clean, so was the furniture, and there was an extra blanket on his bed he didn't remember putting there.

Did his mom do this? No, she couldn't, Liu was a fairly light sleeper he would have woken up if someone was walking around and messing with his room... Unless he was too tired to bother to wake up... Yeah, that was it, his mom probably decided to organize his room for some reason, he'll ask her about it.

He opened the door and walked to and down the stairs, wincing as the music got louder the closer he got to the source, 

"Mom can you turn the radio down please?!" Liu said loudly as he entered the kitchen, only for his mother to not be there, instead, he found his younger brother.

Jeff was standing in front of the sink, scrubbing the plates and pans excessively clean while humming to the radio, after cleaning the last dish he turned around to look Liu in the eyes.

"Good morning Liu-Liu, what's up?" He said in a happy voice.

"Liu-Liu?" Liu repeated quietly, Jeff hasn't called him that since they were single digits, Liu quickly shook his head to clear his mind, sighing in relief as Jeff turned the radio down. "Morning umm... Wheres mom?" Liu said after a moment.

"Mom and dad are working, they'll be out for quite a while." Jeff said, putting detergent on the sponge and walking to the counter.

"I thought they were taking a break from work to settle in the neighborhood properly." Liu said, but it sounded more like a question.

"They were, but things changed, they realized that if they took too much time off work they might not get their holiday break, so they called their boss and went straight to work this morning!" The younger teen sounded way too excited about the news, he didn't even look at Liu, still completely focused on cleaning the already clean counter, but Liu could practically see the smile in Jeff's face. "So, why don't you go take a shower? Breakfast will be probably ready by the time you're finished."

"But i already showered yesterday-"

"Go take a shower Liu." Jeff stopped cleaning, his voice getting darker.

After what felt like an hour, but it was probably just a minute or two of just standing there staring at his younger brother, Liu walked upstairs to get his clothes and a towel.

 

---

 

Today was going wonderfully, Jeff was able to do so many of the things he wanted to do, he cleaned his room, Liu's room, the living room, he was finishing cleaning the kitchen and then he would clean the bathroom after he and Liu came back from school today, he was also able to get their parents out of the house for the entire day!

It was actually ridiculously easy to get them out, just mention their break here plant paranoia there and they were out the door in the blink of an eye.

Not only that, but today he'll be able to put the plan he made while cleaning in practice! He'll just have to wait until Randy and his buddies came to fuck with them and everything will fall into place, oh he can almost feel the fire burning through his skin!

But first, he has to take care of the now, and the now meant he had to make breakfast. Jeff was never a good cook, the only thing that changed through the years was that he became half decent, even though he mostly cooked human because E.J decided he was the best pick to crash at when too injured to cook for himself, for some reason.

But frying eggs for his brother shouldn't be too different from frying thinly cut human liver for an injured cannibalistic demon, probably.

(After ten failed attempts he decided to stop wasting eggs and just make pancakes.)

 

---

It was 6:43 when Liu got out of the bathroom, already dried and clothed, the earlier interaction still fresh in his mind, it was already weird to see his brother up early, even weirder to see him doing chores, and even weider for him to offer to do breakfast.

Liu rationalized that it was a one time thing, probably would only last for a week or so and then things will go back to normal, everyone had those phases of change after moving.

Walking down the stairs the smell of pancakes filled his nostrils, so Jeff really did make breakfast huh?

"Yo Liu! You like pancakes right?" Jeff asked as soon as Liu entered his line of vision. "C'mon eat up, we got school today!"

"You're... Incredibly excited to go to class..." Liu said as he sat down in front of the plate Jeff prepared for him.

The pancakes looked great, too great even, the syrup was made into a perfect spiral around the butter on top of the pancakes and besides it a handful of blueberries and a handful of strawberries near them, it looked like something out of TV, Liu didn't even know they had berries at home.

"So, the birthday party, are you going?" Jeff asked with his mouth full. "If you're not going i'm not either."

"I guess i'm going? I mean, it'll be good to get settled in the neighborhood." Liu said while he cut his own pancakes, as soon as he put the fork in his mouth his eyes widen. "You've been letting me cook this whole time while you knew how to make stuff like this?!" Liu exclaimed after swallowing his food.

Jeff just shrugged. "Glad you liked it." He said smiling widely, way too wide.

"... Did something happen while i was sleeping?" Liu asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I guess you could say i'm... Happier with where i am in life..." Jeff said, for some reason it sounded weird, like Jeff knew something Liu didn't, it was almost mocking in a way.

"Sure..." Liu said before going back to eating, a small voice in the back of his head reminded him that sudden euphoria could mean a maniac episode, he tried to muffle it.

 

---

Walking to the bus stop was somehow even weirder than breakfast, Jeff kept giggling under his breath and his steps seemed to be calculated to form some kind of pattern.

When he wasn't giggling, he was clicking his teeth, or whistling, or pulling on his own hair. Liu's mind was racing, what happened? Jeff said he was happier, but this didn't feel like just "happy".

"So umm... Jeff, what if we... Skipped today?" Liu said, smiling nervously, he wasn't sure if Jeff at school would be good when he's like this, maybe they could go back home and Liu would make some coco and they could sit down together and try to calm down, maybe watch one of those bloody zombie movies Jeff liked and practice some breathing exercises.

Jeff stopped walking as soon as Liu finished his sentence, staring at Liu like he said something atrocious, Liu stopped too, staring back at Jeff with a pleading look.

The giggling stopped, so did the whistling, and the clicking, and the pulling. "Why? Is something wrong? Are you feeling okay?" Jeff took a step forward, and Liu took a step back.

"No- i mean, yes, i'm feeling okay i just... Feel Like... you're... not feeling okay..." Liu forced out, Jeff's stare somehow got deeper, his eyes wide and his pupils were wide enough that his blue irises almost disappeared, Liu's lips trembled, he tried rationalizing that Jeff would never hurt him, even when he wasn't himself, Jeff was his little brother, Liu knew his little brother, Liu took care of him for their whole life, Jeff wasn't going to hurt him... He hoped. "I... I'm just... Su- sudden bursts of energy and increased activity can be k- key signs of a ma- maniac episode."

"You think i'm a maniac?" Jeff took another step forward.

"NO! Th- that's not what i meant!" Liu stammered out. "It's just... It's just this was a sudden change of environment, and moving to a new neighborhood or school or- or anything it's- it's stressful and stress can end up causing a maniac episode, but that doesn't mean you're maniac! You're just... Going through some stuff..."

Jeff stared at Liu, Liu stared at Jeff, there was silence between the two, an extended silence that made Liu's skin crawl, and just he started to feel himself disappearing, Jeff smiled again.

"Sure! Let's go back home, but i have one request before we go." Jeff said making Liu wake up from his dissociative state. "I want to dye my hair black, and you're going to help me! That's the only way i'm walking back home."

The older boy stood there for a moment, in silence, before speaking in a shocked tone. "Y- YEAH, sure, i'll help you dye your hair!"

"Well, it's a deal, let's go." Jeff turned around and started walking, Liu followed right behind.

Liu thought that the relief in his chest could probably be the same as a parent hearing their child cry for the first time, an immediate confirmation that everything would be fine, he felt like he could breathe again.

And then of course, something went wrong. "Ow!" Liu exclaimed as he felt something hit the back of his head, looking at the floor behind him, he saw it was a rock, not a small one either.

"Well well well, seems like we have some new meat." A raspy child-ish voice said, Liu looked at the owner, a twelve year old kid, with ripped jeans and an aeropostale shirt, two older kids stood next to the first one.

From the corner of his eye, Liu could see Jeff starting to smile.

 

Notes:

Liu is such an interesting character to write, he's litterally just a kid with a weird as shit brother.

I want you guys to understand that Jeff is a control freak, please understand that Jeff is a control freak, it's his way or the high way no in between.

Chapter 3: The fight

Summary:

Jeff and Randy fight, it is very unfair.

Randy and his lackeys looked as pathetic as ever, Randy was smaller than both him and Liu, but his friends were bigger and older than them, how did a twelve year old got two fourteen year olds following him around protecting him, Jeff didn't know, but it didn't really matter at the end of the day.

"Since you're new here, i'll like to introduce ourselves, over there is Keith." He pointed at the skeleton that was keith, his skin clung to his bones, his bones looked easily breakable. "And he's Troy." He pointed at the bigger kid, Troy wasn't as big as he remembered, he looked to be more like medium size, but then again, what the 2010's considered skinny was starving. "And i, am Randy."

"Now, for all the kids in this neighborhood theres a small price for bus fare, if you catch my drift." Randy continued, he really was trying to be suave huh?

"Look, we don't have any money, and we're not even going to use the bus okay? Now if you excuse us." Liu grabbed Jeff's arm, ready to drag his brother away from danger, and then came Jeff's favorite part.

Randy pulled out a knife. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, i was hoping you would be more cooperative, but it see-" Laughter, Randy was interrupted by uneven laughter.

Jeff tried to hold his laughter in, but it was inevitable, the excitement refused to stay inside his body and wanted anywhere to get out. It started with a snort, then a giggle, and suddenly he was laughing, he just couldn't help it, Randy was adorable trying to be all intimidating and cool and gangsta, he was exactly the type of victim fourteen year old Jeff would go after, kids that think they're better than they actually are.

"What are you laughing at freak?!" Randy demanded, pointing at Jeff, which just made Jeff laugh harder.

"OH MY GOD." Jeff said between loud laughter, his voice raspy and strangely deep in Liu's ears. "You're adorable! Simply adorable! It's like watching a stray kitten wave it's claws at you." Jeff finally got control over himself again, only faint giggles could be heard as he hid his face with his hands while whispering nonsense under his breath.

"J- Jeff are you with me?" Liu broke out of his shock, reaching for his brother to try and calm him down, his hand was stopped by Jeff with a too strong hold.

"I've never been more, Liu." He said before letting Liu's hand go, leaving a red mark. "Now, Randy right? What a good name for such a misbehaving child, i would consider giving it to my future kid, but now you ruined it for me." Jeff finally let his hands fall to his side, leaning foward towards Randy's knife.

Jeff's smile was wide, too wide, it almost broke his face in half, Randy felt sweat drip down his cheek, there was something wrong with this guy, normally the posh kids around here just gave in at a simple threat, this guy was almost stabbing himself with Randy's own knife.

"W-..." He took a deep breath to stop himself from stuttering. "What are you? Some kind of masochistic weirdo? Or you just think you'll get out of it by acting tough?!"

Jeff let out a chuckle. "A secret third thing." Before Randy could ask what that meant he fell to the ground because of a too well thrown punch, his eyes getting filled with tears as his hands went to grab his dislocated jaw, he looked at his friends for help, but they looked too shocked to move.

"I'm Jeffrey, Jeffrey Woods, but everyone calls me Jeff." he walked to Randy's fallen knife, grabbing it and weightning it in his hands, it was perfect. "I'm thirteen years old, which makes me a year older than you." Randy felt a kick to his spine, a pained groan left his lips. "And when i grow up, i want to be a serial killer." Jeff bent down to look at Randy's eyes as he spoke, he relished in the fear he saw before bringing the knife up. "Let's make an example out of you!" And down the knife went, sadly Jeff couldn't kill him, not yet, he still needed them at the birthday party, so the knife missed the neck, leaving just a light cut beside it.

Liu watched as his brother got up, knife in hands, knuckles bloodied, a smile on his face as he walked away from the other kids. "C'mon Liu, you got hair to dye today." And just like that, Liu knew it wasn't just a maniac episode.

 

---

 

The walk home was awkwardly silent, the only sound in the air was Jeff's humming a song Liu didn't recognised, he looked carefree, as if he didn't just almost kill someone.

They stopped at a store and Jeff grabbed the dye and walked out without paying for it. Liu was too tired to reprimand him so he just played along, once mom and dad got home surely he could get them to take his little brother to the hospital, right?...

"Who are you trying to fool? hospitals cost money, they're not wasting it till Jeff has a knife to their face, and even then, they might just shoot him." Something said in his head, it's been with him for a while and didn't feel like him, Liu hated that it was right.

The door to their house opened without a single sound, as if it was mocking him, nothing changed inside either, the world was moving on, the world was moving on after his brother, his little brother he took care of since they were kids, had admitted to wanting to kill people. Where did he gone wrong, did he do something particularly violent? Did he teach him bad things during his black outs? Was it the movies they watched? The documentaries?

"Maybe he's just a natural at it." was echoed through his mind, something innocent said years ago after Jeff sucessfully carved out a perfect cardinal in their summer camp, at the time the blackouts were worse, he considered himself lucky to have this memory.

But now he sat besides Jeff in an empty bathtub, wondering if it could be said in this situation, Jeff was a natural. A natural at hurting people.

"Are you reading the instructions? what's taking so long?" Jeff said playfully as he leaned back.

Liu woke up from his wonderings. "I- I am, i never... Done this before." A lie, Liu was the one helping his mother dye her hair blonde since early childhood.

The process of applying the dye was kick, the long part was waiting for the dye to be ready to wash off.

They stood there in silence as they waited, Liu didn't know what to say, what to do, he needed to say something, anything. "You didn't mean it... Right?" Liu asked, his voice shakier than intended.

"Mean what?"

"What you said to them... That you wanted to be a..."

"Oh that? No, not completely at least, i just said that to scare them." Liu was ready to let out a sigh of relief, but then Jeff continued. "I want to be a hitman, serial killer don't bring money."

"... This isn't funny... You just beat someone half to death, i need to know if you want to finish the job or not... Please."

"... I'm not planning on doing anything if they also don't."

"That's good enough for me... Did you... Want to do that?"

"Wha'?"

"i mean... Did you want to hurt them or did you just... Blackout?.." he looked at Jeff, meeting his questioning stare, and took his silence as a cue to keep talking. "Sometimes i blackout and do things, sometimes i remember them, sometimes i don't, and sometimes i do... I do things i don't like doing those times, like eating something i don't like, or being confrontational... I've never done anything like you did, but maybe it's different from case to case."

"... Liu... I know this is hard to accept but i wanted to do that... Having people fear me, seeing them squirm, hearing the bone break and seeing the blood gushing... It brings me joy." Jeff gave him what Liu thinks was supposed to be a comforting smile, but it was too wide, too comfortable to admit his less than favorable tastes, too casual, too laid back, too happy with all of this. It made Liu sick.

"... Why?"

"I don't know." Jeff leaned back against the tub, dirtying the wall behind him with the wet dye, he looked at the celling as if looking for a meaning, trying to understand his own tastes and prefferences. "I imagine that all humans have a bit of sadism inside them, it's only natural to feel satisfied when you back a prey against the wall and sink your teeth in, be it an animal or another person. But for me it's more complicated, it's less a satisfaction for the hunt and more a satisfaction and pleasure for the fear i can cause others, blood is also a complicated subject, i like blood, i like seeing it, but i don't know whether it's because it symbolizes pain or something else, if someone didn't feel pain when bleeding it wouldn't be as satisfying to see them bleed." Jeff remembered when he saw Toby fall and break his arm, the sound was incredible but the bleeding was lackluster when not followed by screams, and he liked Toby, so maybe the worry and care overshadowed his sadistic desire to see more. "But at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter, and i'll never know the subconscious reasons i do shit, what matters is that i would never hurt you, no matter how good that might feel."

Liu looked at his little brother, and when did he look away again? It felt hard to look at Jeff when he's speaking like that, when he's looking so happy at something so disturbing. It made Liu want to vomit, it made Liu want to grab Jeff's shoulders and shake him till he stopped saying this stuff, but instead he stayed still, instead he stared at the abyss, and the abyss smiled at him and said it was time to wash out the dye.

 

---

 

Jeff took a shower after the dye came off, then he made Liu take one, and then he started cleaning the bathroom, he was itching to do it, it was all so dirty, it didn't look like it was, but Jeff could feel it in his veins that it was filthy, scrubbed the sink over and over again, and then he did it on the floor, and the toilet, and the bathtub, he kept cleaning till his hands were red and arms sore, and then he cleaned some more, trying to tire himself out of he adrenaline still in his veins.

It was 8 pm by the time he finished, he walked down the stairs to see Liu on the computer, he was searching psychology in an anonymous tab, Jeff giggles at the sight, it was so cute that Liu cared.

"Liu~" Jeff grabbed Liu's shoulders, making his brother flinch and close the tab instinctively, making Jeff chuckle. "It's time for kids like you to go to bed!"

"What? It's 8 pm, and i'm older than you!" Liu protested, shaking his little brother's hands off.

"Today was a stressful day for you, which means you need to rest, come on now, to bed you go." Jeff grabbed Liu's arms and pulled him from the chair before pushing Liu upstairs, Liu eventually relented and went along with his baby brother's whims, being tucked in like a child and watching as jeff walked out the door.

Liu laid there for a while, a long while, imagining Jeff on the other side of the door waiting, maybe he had a knife, maybe not, maybe he would use his own hands or-

Wait, what is he thinking? Jeff wouldn't hurt him... Jeff wouldn't hurt him... Jeff wouldn't... Would he?

He felt the red hand mark burning wrist.

Notes:

Sorry for the wait, theres no funny quotes here so instead let me vent: I HATE MY FUCKING BROTHE I HOPE HE GETS IN A CARCRASH AND FORGETS WE EXIST AND START A NEW LIFE IN CHINA WITH A RANDOM WOMAM AWAY FROM USSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!! thank you

Also this chapter is kinda shitty :|

Chapter 4: ROGER YOU FUCKE- Oh wait i can use you.

Summary:

TW: heavily implied suicide

 

Morning came around like it always did, the sun rose, the birds sung, and the police knocked on the door looking for Jeff, a completely normal morning.

Jeff got up with the noise from downstairs and walked to the bathroom, he smiled softly at his now black hair, and took his sweet time brushing his teeth and washing his face before messing up his hair to the best of his abilities, thirteen years old him had straight silky hair, so it did not look even close to the level of messiness post-fire him had going on, but it should be enough.

He crouched and started to raid the cabinets of the bathroom for something to help him out with the police, he quickly found some of his mother's eye shadow, he smiled widely before picking it up.

Something Jeff learned very early into his emo career was that he was mildly allergic to most makeup. Eyeshadows, lipstick, blush, foundation, even eye liner made his eyes tear up and gave him a stuffy nose. 

He couldn't cry on command, no matter how hard he tried, so it was good to have an alternative.

He carefully applied red eyeshadow around his eyes and around his nostrils, just enough to be visible but not enough to look like too much, he then grabbed some darker tones and applied a little under the red, to look like eye bags.

He was hoping it would work, if it didn't, well, guess you can't really change everything.

Jeff took a deep breath before opening the bathroom door, the eyeshadow was already making his eyes water, good, he just needed to get into the mindset.

"You're thirteen, you're innocent, you didn't do anything anything wrong, and you can prove it." He whispered under his breath, and then repeated it inside his head, if he was able to clutch this Liu would never have to step a foot inside juvie again.

He slowly walked towards and down the stairs, trying to appear tired and anxious, he's not sure if he's succeeding, he's hoping they'll not pay too much attention on how he moves.

"Jeff! There you are!" His mother exclaimed in an angry and exasperated tone as soon as he came into her line of sight, he had to fight the smile threatning to take over, it was always fun making people angry at him. "These officers are telling me you got into a fight! There were knives involved and a kid got his jaw dislocated!" His mom grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the officers.

"I- i..." He stuttered, and tried to remember all the advice the theater teacher gave him in junior high, except the only adivice she gave was smile, stand still, and don't speak because he was always the tree! "It wasn't my fault, they tried robbing us and then they pulled out knives! An- and they wanted to attack Liu so i... I..." He forced the tears in his eyes to come out, and thank god his mother only wore water proof makeup, to add to the effect he included some sniffs.

"Look son." A hand grabbed his shoulder, and he flinched back hard, not because of the touch, but because of the voice, the voice he recognised as clear as day, would recognise anywhere, the voice he heard before he took his last breath, officer Roger stood in front of him, he looked younger, didn't have the grey in his hair yet, the lines on his face weren't as prominent, some not even existing yet, and he looked at Jeff like he pittied him, like he knew. "You seen like a good kid, i want to believe you i really do, but i need proof, do you have any?.." Roger pulled his hand away at Jeff's flinch, yet he kept proximity, after Jeff stayed in silence the officer sighed. "We have a kid with a dislocated jaw, a cut on his neck, and a hurt spine, we have two witnesses that said you attempted to stab him, and one witness saying you fled the scene without calling the police or an ambulance, you know how that looks right?.."

Liu's footsteps upstairs woke Jeff up from his shocked state, he had to do something before Liu takes blame, who cares if Roger remembers, it's not like he can do anything against Jeff in this state, he seems to not even know Jeff is here too. "I have prove... I have one prove." Jeff said, trying to keep up the nervous tone, the adults gasped as he slowly lifted his shirt to reveal a stab wound badly wrapped up with gauze and tape, Jeff could do better, could do so much better, but that wouldn't fit the 'innocent teenager who got into a bad situation he's never been in before' image he was building. "They brought out knives and threatned Liu, so i jumped in front of him and got stabbed. After that i just did whatever it took to incapacitate them before running. Liu can confirm it!" 

Officer Roger nodded seriously before looking towards Jeff's mother. "Ma'am, can you call your other son please?" His mom nodded before going upstairs, Jeff heard Liu's silent footsteps rushing to his room so that they wouldn't think he was eavesdropping. "Thank you for telling us kid." Roger said looking at him with compassion. "We'll be sure to punish the boys to the best of our abilities, until then, you need some stitches."

 

---

 

After Liu confirmed Jeff's story, Roger offered them a drive to the hospital so they wouldn't have to pay for an ambulance, and despite Jeff not wanting to come even near his car, he accepted the ride.

Liu was looking at him with apprehension, but still offered comfort when Jeff hugged him to cry, his eyes were itching like a bitch, and he would take any chance he got to hug Liu and hear his heart beating, to know he was alive and well and not an hallucination.

He almost cried from actual sadness when Roger decided to stay a while longer to be sure Jeff was okay after the stitches done, he sat besides Jeff and patted him on the shoulder like his father used to do when they were little, he smiled at Jeff in a comforting way, and told him everything would be okay, and that they would catch those kids before anything bad happened, and then he got up and left.

Jeff looked at the door after Roger walked out, he waited until the footsteps disappeared in the distance, and then he stopped to think.

Roger left, his mother was busy rooms away talking with the doctor, and Liu was the only person in the room besides Jeff himself, yeah, he would say it was safe.

The patients on nearby rooms heard laughter for five minutes straight with no pause.

 

---

 

Even after he shoot the last shot Roger still couldn't feel at peace. "The monster's gone" he told himself, but couldn't believe it.

Roger was the only non wanted person who appeared at the funeral a week after Jeff's death, although it couldn't really be called a funeral at all, Jeff was buried besides Liu Woods with no ceremony, the others at the funeral all kept their distance from Roger, none of them were Woods or related to the Woods, Roger recognised them, every single one of them, from the man carrying two axes on his belt to the girl emitting the faint click of a clock from behind her eyepatch, he recognised them all from posters and news alike, yet he didn't do anything, didn't call anyone, it wasn't his problem anymore, wouldn't be his problem after tonight.

When he got home he turned on the lights and started cleaning, it's been years since he last properly cleaned his house, trash littered the floor, the dishes in the sink were growing mold, and the spider webs covered the celling, it would take a while, but if even a serial killer could clean an entire house in one night, he could too.

He picked up the trash and took it out, swept and wiped the floors, washed and dried the dishes, took down the webs, and took a deep breath before opening up the locked rooms.

His son's room was a mess, it was never organized after the incident, sure the cleaners did their job, but their job didn't involve organizing, only cleaning and getting rid of the bloodied sheets and stains.

And so he did the same process, swept, wiped, took down the webs, and organized everything, toys in the toy box, books on the bookshelf, new sheets on the bed, everything was where it should be, where Chris usually put them.

He did the same to his and his wife's room, he didn't sleep there anymore since everything, he couldn't bear to wake up everyday in their bed without seeing her besides him.

And then he moved to the hardest Room.

Nina's room was the only one slightly organized, her sheets were a mess, and there were magazines all over the floor, but there wasn't signs of struggle, no sign of a fight, so he simply made her bed and picked up the magazines, folded her clothes, and glued some of the loose posters back on.

He didn't want to leave a mess in his house for someone else to clean, he wanted to go out without leaving anything unfinished, he already paid all his debts last night, and apologised to everyone he hurt three days ago, he was ready.

He closed all doors without locking them, and laid on his bed for the first time in years, the pills were hard to swallow, especially all together, but he managed.

He closed his eyes and waited for them to make effect, he didn't leave a letter, didn't need to, no one would read it anyways.

 

---

 

Roger didn't expect to wake up, especially not with his wife's voice, but he wasn't complaining. He wasn't a religious man, but if heaven existed, he must be in it.

He hugged her tight and kissed her all over her face, she yelped and giggled and asked him what got into him, he just laughed in response.

It wasn't until he saw his daughter that he realized this wasn't heaven, because last he checked, Nina was alive when he died.

He wasn't in heaven, he was in the past.

Notes:

My main fic is still on hiatus, just wanted to write about cringy shit.

Roger: well, now that i, AND ONLY I, am in the past, i can stop every tragedy in my life by making sure Jeff never adds the killer to his name, this will be easy.
Jeff, the original time traveller: So about that....

Chapter 5: Jeff doesn't have a knife yet, Roger is a little bit too optimistic, and Liu needs a break.

Summary:

I hate how those freaks online changed our perception of a sibling relationship because everytime i write Jeff and Liu being loving with eachother i keep being paranoid cause i'm afraid people will think i ship them, even though they're just acting like normal siblings, it's weird, each day god is getting farther and farther away from humanity and it's no one's fault but our own.

Roger didn't know what entity he pleased to be given a second chance, but he wouldn't waste it. He had studied the Woods' case from start to end more times than he could count, he knew what would happen, when it would happen, and where it would happen, and he would use it.

Although a lot of the details related to the first incidents were vague, written by a lazy officer who only did enough to not lose his job, things like addresses, names and main injuries were mostly clear. Roger knew someone got stabbed, not who but still, he knew Liu, Jeff's brother, was unjustly imprisoned, and knew that it was what triggered Jeff's descent into insanity, which meant, stopping it from happening stopped Jeff from immediately snapping, should be easy, and surprisingly, it was!

It was easy to convince the other officer to give him the case, even easier to prove that Jeff was innocent, what was hard was to recognised that boy as Jeff at all.

Roger was expecting to find a young delinquent, or maybe a monster hiding behind human skin, convincing yet wrong in every way, he found neither, instead, he found a scared boy.

Jeff was nothing like he remembered, he wasn't cocky or hostile, wasn't full of himself or insensitive, wasn't scary and unstable, he was just a kid, a good kid even, a kid who's only sin was being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Roger wanted to keep it that way, keep the innocence he saw in the teen.

And as he watched the teen cry on his older brother's chest on the back of his car, he felt guilty to ever see Jeff as a born monster, no monster is born, they're created, and he'll be sure Jeff The Killer would never be created.

Or his name wasn't Roger Hopkins.

 

---

 

Roger took Jeff to the hospital for two reasons, one, to be sure he was okay, and two, to cement himself as a trusted adult in Jeff's life. Something Jeff loved to joke about in the future was his own tragedy, he loved to laugh about how instead of helping, his parents tried to kill him, Roger used to think they were right, used to wish they finished the job properly, now he sees they were the reason Jeff turned out the way he did.

Jeff needed someone he could trust to go to when he needed help, Roger would be that someone.

"We'll find him son, don't worry." He said patting Jeff on the shoulder, Roger was sitting on a chair while Jeff was sat on the hospital bed, the stitches were done, Jeff and Liu were awaiting to go home. It scared Roger that the boys' mom would be this comfortable to simply leave a stranger alone with her sons, he would never leave Nina or Chris alone with anyone he didn't fully trust and even then. "Till we find them though, try not to go to places they know you go, or will go, to."

The "Like birthday parties." was left unsaid, Roger hoped the boy would get the hint, but found it unlikely.

"I'll try not to." Jeff said looking up at him, his eyes were red from crying, his nose as well, and his cheeks were wet, but he still gave Roger a smile, nothing like Jeff The Killer's smile, no, Jeff Woods' smile was innocent, harmless, smaller, it almost looked like it didn't belong on his face.

"Good, everything will be fine, okay?" Roger slowly got from his chair, he had to go, he still had a job to do and a family to see, but before he went, he wanted to say one last thing. "You're a good kid Jeff, it takes a lot of courage to jump in front of a knife for your brother, keep being a good kid okay?.. No matter what other people do or think, no matter how much the world seems to suck right now, try to keep strong, everything will be fine." Roger tried his best to give him a comforting smile, he didn't know if his words would change anything, but he hoped they at least made an impact.

Jeff's eyes widened only for a moment, a small and quick movement, yet it told Roger all he needed to know, he smiled and walked away, ready to go home, unaware of the mocking laughter that came from the teen he just comforted right after he left.

 

---

 

The ride home was tense for the Woods, they had to take the bus since Roger couldn't stay to take them home, it was still cheaper than an ambulance, so honestly they couldn't complain, seriously, they couldn't.

One of the main rules of the house was "Everything bad that happens inside the family stays inside the family", it was how they kept their perfect reputation, well, almost perfect reputation.

Jeff was always the black sheep, the one who refused to follow the rules and insisted on getting in trouble, graffiti, destruction of property, shoplifting, you name it, Jeff has done every petty crime and random acts of rebellion he could think of, and honestly, Margaret was used to it, she would just sigh, apologize for her son's behavior, and throw a bit of money here and there to pay for the damage he caused, but Jeff has now reached a new low.

He had been doing so well yesterday, keeping his room organized, cleaning the house, making food, she could almost forgive the black hair and the abscence at school, after all, he wasn't causing any major trouble, or so she thought, because apparently he was provoking gangsters!

At home it was even tenser, Margaret grounded him, of course she did, he said he was just defending himself, but Margaret knew he was lying, he couldn't fool her with those crocodile tears. She was expecting screaming, arguing, more fake tears, anything she would have to shut down, but Jeff just... Smiled.

His postured changed, his sniffing stopped, and he looked at her with empty eyes. He simply agreed and walked upstairs, there was no emo music coming from his room or angry shouting about "hating this fucking family!" or even a loud bang from the door closing, there was nothing but silence. She should be happy, instead she felt nervous, felt as if something horrible was about to happen, she pushed the feeling down, and decided she had better things to worry about, she had to go to work, she was already hours late.

 

---

 

Jeff was glad to finally take the makeup off, it was making him sick, litterally. Mom was mad, when wasn't she honestly, she was always mad when it was with him, but he preferred that over his father ignoring his existence, it at least brought him entertainment, dad was just boring.

He decided to use the hours he'll spend grounded with planning his next moves, so he laid down on his bed and reached under his pillow. Yesterday he stole a notebook from his father's office, an empty one his father just bought, and started making a list, he could have grabbed one of the old ones his dad only used once or twice, but he was feeling petty that day.

First thing on the list was done: stop Liu from going to juvi. It took stabbing himself and an allergic reaction, but it worked and that's what mattered, now it was time for the second thing on the list: he needed a knife.

Don't get him wrong, he still had Randy's knife, but he hated that thing, it was dull and the handle didn't fit his hand, besides, if they find him with that, it'll be game over, he needed a new one, or rather, multiple new ones. Jeff didn't like walking around with only one blade, he had various in every part of his body where he could hide them, they all served specific purposes too, but right now, he will focus on his main.

The main knife was different because it was the first one he used to kill someone, a simple kitchen knife that he got at, you guessed it, the kitchen, he switched it to a hunting knife after it broke, with great sadness, but now he could pick and choose what knife will be his special one, after all, he technically hasn't killed anyone yet, not in this life at least, any knife he chooses will have the honor of his first kill, and that was a lovely thought.

He already had a pretty good idea of how he wanted it to be, so he excitedly started drawing as he kicked his feet.

He wanted the handle to be black, and he wanted it to be medium to big size, the rest he would customize to fit his tastes. He would get a permanent red marker, make some drawings just like he did to his previous knives, then he would cut triangles on the blade with pliers so it didn't just cut but also teared, he also needed a sheath and harness to keep it on his person every hour of the day, the harness and sheath NEEDED to be red-ish brown especifically or he will feel bugs under his skin, and-

*Knock knock knock*

His thoughts were interrupted by knocking, he stopped drawing and closed his notebook, putting it back under his pillow. "Enter." He said loudly, and sat up on his bed.

Just as he thought, Liu was the one who opened the door. "Hey... Wanted to check if you were okay." Liu said gently closing the door behind him, he looked at Jeff, his eyes quickly going to where the makeup used to be. "... Where are..."

"Oh, it was just makeup, don't worry." "Jeff waved his hand dismissively.

"You... YOU LIED TO THE POLI- HUMPH!" Liu was interrupted by Jeff, who had pratically jumped the distance between them to put a hand over his brother's mouth.

"Damn say it louder for everyone to hear won't yah?!" Jeff exclaimed. "It's not like i had any other choice! What was i supposed to say with no prove on our side huh!?" After a moment of silence, he stepped back, taking the hand off his brother's mouth. "Look, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, and what i gotta do is keep our asses out of juvi, we're lucky i didn't have to do more than stabbing myself to pull this off."

"YOU STA-" He stopped mid sentence. "You stabbed yourself?!" Liu continued, this time whisper yelling. "How did i not know about this? I would have heard you screaming in the middle of the night!"

"I didn't scream, i'm not a little bitch." 

"You what?!"

"That should be your catch phrase, you know?"

"I'm serious Jeff!"

"So am i!.." At Liu's pleading look, Jeff sighed. "I'm used to pain Liu, i'm the troublemaker, remember? Been in a lot of fights before."

"But-" 

"No butts." Jeff said, putting a finger over Liu's mouth before snickering. "Get it? Cuz but sound like- you get it. Anyways, what's done is done, nothing to do about it, let's be glad we're out here instead of inside a cell, 'kay?" He pats Liu on the head, turning on his heel to go lay down again.

Liu stared at his baby brother, he's been doing that a lot lately, the words "I'm the troublemaker." kept repeating in his head. Did Jeff seriously only saw himself as that? It would make sense, that's how their parents called him for his whole life, studies do show that hearing the same thing over and over again made it more likely for you to believe it's true either in a conscious or unconcious level, it also explained Jeff's current behavior.

If Jeff truly and honestly believe himself to be nothing more than a troublemaking child then why wouldn't he do more extreme things? Why wouldn't he laugh at someone's face while they're holding a knife? Why wouldn't he dislocate someone's jaw? Why wouldn't he stab himself to get away with it? If everything he  does is something to be punished for, and nothing he does will ever be good enough to be rewarded, then there wouldn't be any reason to have restraint, it didn't get him anything after all.

It didn't explain his cleaning habits changing, or his sudden energy, but it would explain the violence and nonchalance towards dangerous activities, Liu could see it now.

Before he knew it he was standing over Jeff, who laying on his bed while writting on a notebook Liu was pretty was their dad's, he looked up at Liu before he stopped writting, and tilted his head as if to ask "why are you still here?", Liu didn't answear the silent question, instead, he knealed in front of the bed.

"Jeff... I'm sorry." He said, his eyes starting to water just as the words left his mouth.

"... Wha'?"

"I shouldn't have stayed quiet when the fights happened, or when you were grounded for something we both did, or when they berated you for not being more like me, i should have spoke up, i should have defended you but..." He stopped talking as soon he felt his voice would start to crack.

"What are you... What are you talking about?" Jeff's eyes looked left and right as if there was a camera or audience that could explain to him what the fuck was happening, as if Liu had just said something out of script.

"I'm..." Liu tried to continued, a single tear escaped his eye, then another, and another, he felt his cheeks burn, he shouldn't be the one crying here, he should be the serious one, he should be the one comforting Jeff as he broke down, yet here he was, pathetically crying all over his baby brother's bed like a child.

And as if that alone wasn't embarrassing enough, he felt Jeff's arms wrap around him, pulling him up onto the bed and burying Liu's face on his chest. "Oh c'mon you big baby, it's gonna be okay." Jeff whispered as he craddled Liu's head, and Liu felt even more ashemed.

Jeff was always the less emotional brother, of course he wouldn't say Jeff was stoic or cool headed, in fact he was the farthest thing from it. Jeff was brash, impulsive and extremely quick to anger, when he was mad he would scream, scratch and bite like a wild animal, he would throw things, he would make small fires, he would hunt down small animals, he would do anything and everything he could think of doing until his anger was gone, and then next week he would get angry again, and the cycle continued.

So no, Jeff was not stoic, or, god forbid, nonchalant, but something about Jeff was that sadness didn't come easily to him, sadness, nervousness, anxiety, none of that was as present in Jeff's life as it was in every other person their age, which often resulted in a situation like this, with Jeff gently holding Liu as the older teen cried, it was the only times Liu would see Jeff's softer side, and yet he would always feel embarrassed by it, he should be one helping, not the one being helped, and yet.

"So, what brought the apologies up?" Jeff asked gently, well, as gentle as Jeff was able to speak.

"You said... You said you were the troublemaker... You said it as if it defined you, as if you truly believed it was all you were..." Liu buried himself further on his brother's chest, trying to hide his tear covered face, it's been a while since they were in a situation like this, Liu thought he outgrown it. "But it's not, you way more than that, no matter what mom and dad say, and i shouldn't have let them call you that in silence for so long... I'm sorry."

He could hear Jeff sighing again, his hand going down Liu's face to dry the tears with the end of his sleeve. "Don't get your big head worried about that, it's not like you could do anything, besides, i have been throwing everything they say about me into the trashcan for a long time now, nothing they say can affect me anymore." He says, and he means it, he learnt to stop listening after Liu went to juvi, when the roles switched and suddenly Jeff was the innocent bystander to Liu's rein of terror instead of the usual Jeff bad Liu good narrative, at the time it had blown Jeff's mind with how quickly they changed their behavior towards him, now though? Jeff has heard about enough shitty parents to not be surprised, you don't become friends with killers without hearing some crazy stories after all. "But if it makes you feel any better, i forgive you... There, done, now stop crying, you're ruining my My Chemical Romance shirt."

"Sorry." Liu pushed himself away from Jeff, sniffing and trying to dry his own tears with his hoodie sleeve.

"It's whatever, it's old anyways, and i guess the tears add to the aesthetic... Do you wanna take a nap here?" Jeff asked after a moment of silence, Liu thought for a moment, before noding. "Alright, lay down, i'll be here once you wake up." Jeff made space for Liu to fit on the small twin sized bed, the older teen immediately burying his face on the pillow and covering himself with the blankets.

They used to do this all the time when they were kids, running to eachother's rooms in the middle of the night after a nightmare or not being able to sleep after watching a scary movie. Or well, Liu ran to Jeff's room all the time, Jeff just endured the nightmares or paranoia, usually either sneaking out or listening to music till the sun rose, it was another thing that made Liu feel ashemed at the time.

"Goodnight Jeff."

"Nighty night Liu."

It was the last words they exchanged before a comfortable silence fell upon them, only the sound of pencil on paper being heard as Liu drafted into sleep.

He needed a break, these past three days has been so stressful, so so stressful, he can't handle the stress anymore, he really, really, needed a break.

Those were the final thoughts Liu had before fully falling asleep, he had a feeling he wouldn't wake up so soon.

Notes:

Roger: It's his parents fault.
Liu: It's our parents fault.
Litterally everyone who ever met the Woods': It's his parents fault.
Jeff, who is litterally just an evil and deranged being who would still be evil even if his parents were good: Why do THEY get all the credit?!

Roger: Wow, he's so innocent and sweet and scared, he's just an innocent little thirteen years old little bean who needs protection, the worst thing he's even done is probably jay walking!
Jeff with an allergic reaction and a dream: Yes i'm completely innocent, trust :)

Liu: I'm going to comfort my little brother, because that's what a big brother should do!
Ten minutes later:
Liu in his brother's arms: GODAMN IT!

Notes:

I am cringe, but i am free.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of I have writers block so I wrote bad fics to get better and finish my actual current fics
• Part 1 of Self indugence is the key to an open door