Lost in the Game {Brollins}

| Chapter 67 |

The group as a whole seemed to be much better, and everyone who was dealing with some sort of problem was quickly healing. Rebecca thought that once they made it to this point, she would feel better. However, something was still bothering her, and all signs pointed to Colby.

She had gotten over her short-lived issue with Joseph, and she and Jonathan were perfectly fine. Mercedes hadn't faced a relapse, Pamela seemed to be happier with every check-in, and Ashley was healthy and back to normal.

All that was left was him.

She continuously felt overwhelmed and no matter how hard she suppressed it, it continued to resurface. Everything that used to be simple just felt suffocating.

Meanwhile, Colby laid awake in bed, thinking about his conversation the day before with Joseph. It seemed like his response was normal, but the weird way he acted before Colby clarified what he was talking about, was bothering him.

So much so, that when he watched the sun rise from his window and knew Joseph would be awake, he went straight over to his house to get answers.

Colby knocked on the door before taking a step back, wondering if he was overstepping his boundaries. However, when Joseph opened the door and welcomed him in warmly, it ebbed away some of his nerves.

"So what's up?" Joseph slid him a coffee mug before taking a sip of his.

Colby tried to sound calm, "What do you mean?"

"Dude, you're here at six in the morning and by the looks of things you haven't even hit the gym." Joseph chuckled, "So, what's up?"

"I, uh-" Colby paused, shaking his head, "It's stupid."

"Spill it, Lopez." He said squinting his eyes at Colby.

He just chuckled, "You sound like Rebecca when you say that."

Joseph smiled, "She's got a knack for rubbing off on people."

"Well speaking of her..." Colby cleared his throat, fidgeting with the mug in front of him, "Why'd you act so weird when I started talking about you and her yesterday?"

"Ah, that's what this is about." Joseph's smile quickly dimmed, and Colby watched him mull over his response. "I mean obviously you know we've been close since we were little."

Colby nodded and he continued, "There had just always been some, unspoken feelings... when it came to us."

Colby felt his heart begin to race as the silence grew, while Joseph took a breath, before looking at Colby and continuing.

"But I lost my chance." He smiled sadly, "I was too dumb to capitalize on it. I waited too long, and well... now I'm not her go-to anymore."

"What do you mean?" Colby immediately furrowed his eyebrows.

"I'm not the one she tells everything to first or the one she spends all of her day with." Joseph leaned back against his counter. "I'm the one who knew he loved her and did nothing about it."

"It doesn't exactly sound like a past thing." Colby felt his nerves quickly resurfacing.

"It's not." He stared at the floor dimly, "I don't think it ever will be. Not for me."

"How'd you know?" Colby questioned, "That she liked you?"

"A feeling." Joseph smiled as he reminisced, "The way she looked at me like nobody else mattered, the way she'd smile whenever she saw me. All of that cheesy shit you see in the movies could never do the real thing justice."

Colby ignored the feeling in his chest, "But she still adores you."

"Maybe. But it's not the same. I'm not the one she's interested in anymore." He looked up, "I just hope, when all is said and done, I didn't ruin the idea of love for her."

Meanwhile, Rebecca had been hanging out with the rest of the group outside. She'd been mindlessly studying the bare tree branches on a large tree in front of her, as she sat with the group at a nearby picnic table.

"Becks?" She snapped out of her distant state, turning towards Jonathan. "You gonna be there?"

"Uh, yeah." She nodded before backtracking, "Wait, where?"

"Girl." Mercedes laughed, "The bonfire we're doing in Ashley's backyard on Friday."

"Uh, sure, yeah." She nodded, forcing herself to smile.

For the next three days, nobody heard from or saw Rebecca.

When Friday rolled around, she was still nowhere to be seen. Throughout the span of her absence, they all flooded her phone with messages, called numerous times, and tried stopping by her house to see if she was okay.

But Rebecca, just watched the messages appear on her phone's screen, let their calls ring through and go to voicemail, and listened to their knocks at her window until they eventually stopped.

She sat on the edge of her bed, wiping a tear off her cheek before her mother stormed in. "You need help."

"I don't have the energy for this." Rebecca shook her head.

Her mother let out a chilling cackle, "Good."

"Great." Rebecca stood up, grabbing her things to leave the house.

"You are insufferable." Her mother raised her voice, "The happiest day of my life will be when you leave!"

Rebecca froze, her heart pounding as she felt herself lose complete hope for whatever chance of a relationship she wished she could salvage with her mother.

She looked at the stranger standing across from her, hiding the agony she felt. "Same here."

On top of the issues and emotions she was already dealing with, this was just another layer of stress Rebecca couldn't handle anymore.

She needed to get away.

When the rest of the group met up at Ashley's house, they noticed Rebecca was still missing. Her absence definitely left a dent, and their group felt empty without her.

"Anyone seen Becca?" Pamela looked around uneasily.

Nobody knew where she was, and concern was quickly kicking in. As they tried to figure out what was going on, Jonathan remembered something and broke his silent state, "I think I know where she is."