Non Verbal

17

Hi remember to vote and comment:) i wrote this heavily hungover so sorry about the weird tone i think it has? I dunno- i hope it's ok. Happy reading x

Lottie's POV

I hate the woods.

The woods are terrifying, especially at night.

It's unnerving walking through them, but I guess it feels better to know there are so many people out here too.

Sutton and I were searching for Rowan.

My mum and dad were somewhere else in the woods too.

And so were a lot of others. Sutton's parents were here and so were Rowan and Fran's parents, all looking for him, or well helping in some sort of way.

Sutton and I head straight to walk along the riverside, but it wasn't as easy to do that, there wasn't a proper path so I was stumbling over branches as Sutton directed us through the light of the flashlight.

There were professionals here too, looking for him.

Which was not good because if they find him first, Sutton thinks that if he is fine, but they try and drag him back to where his parents were waiting, Rowan will kick off again and he might be sectioned properly this time.

So Sutton really wants to find him first, he says he needs gentle talk down, not force.

We haven't talked about the fact that if Rowan had entered the river like Sutton thinks he might have, that the river was dangerous this time of year. The water moves fast, I wouldn't be able to swim against it, I don't even think my oldest brother could and he swam almost professionally for years... Rowan wouldn't stand a chance in the water. 

And if he did, if he managed to get back out... it's February, he would be freezing.

So we are just searching. Ignoring and praying against the possibility of Rowan having entered the water. 

My fingers are crossed, I don't know why, or what I think it'll do. But they're crossed and I am hoping that the guy is ok.

"What were you guys even doing?" I ask. "Why'd he run off?"

"We got rid of your crystals, I told you this."

"Yeah, but why did that lead to him- what happened?"

"He just had a thought or something Lots, it's hard to explain," Sutton says and I lift my hand to his back, not stopping him from walking, or really even comforting him.

Maybe it was more comforting for me. The touch. That's how I am comforted. 

"I was such a dick tonight, I wasn't even really paying attention to him. I was so focused on Fran, like I should have said no to this whole thing."

"Stop it." I say gently. "If you hadn't have been with him he might have done this on his own and then no one would know where he was. At least you two were here with him."

"It's been two whole hours now." He says quietly. "He was never this bad before."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

Trees hung above us, the leaves wet and soggy beneath our shoes, the wind cold but less biting inside the woods. It was as the trees cushioned us in, or trapped us in...

I hate the woods. It's fucking claustrophobic.

"He's had this since he was like thirteen, I was with Fran when it got bad the first time. But he was never a danger to himself, he was just like this weird kid with a lot of little ticks - it was more amusing at first."