Abandoned

chapter twenty-three.

I ducked under Justin's arm and scanned the place. It looked like a clearing, accustom with a decent sized lake. On the edge of the lake that was nearly frozen over, a giant rock jutted out over the water. With the trees all bare and the ice lake, it looked like some kind of winter wonderland. If only there was still snow.

"C'mon," Justin said, walking over to the boulder. I followed him and watched as he climbed up the thing, ending up on the long flat surface at the top. He turned and reached a hand out to me, helping me up once I grabbed it.

We both settled on the rock, laying side by side on our stomachs, facing the water and the woods surrounding us. I crossed my arms in front of me and rested my chin there, staring ahead.

"It's really pretty." I commented, and it was.

"Yeah, it's best during the fall, but I never got a chance to come out here this year." He said, having crossed his arms the same way. We were a good distance above the water. I looked down at tiny cracks hardly noticeable in the ice.

"Me and my dad found it back when I was a kid." He said. I tilted my head to look at him.

"It reminds you of him?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "But just about everything reminds me of him."

I frowned, surprised at the pang of sadness I felt for him. "I wish I had something that reminded me of my mom. For Rose, at least." Justin nodded.

"When you left the apartment there was nothing left?"

"Don't know." I shrugged lazily. "I couldn't see inside, the door was just blocked off with an eviction notice. The whole place is shut down now, though." I noted, having driven past it just out of curiosity. The place was a shit hole.

"It's just abandoned?"

"Yep."

"Maybe it's possible, if they shut it down soon after you left, they never cleared everything out." I looked at him, having never considered that before. Everything could be just how I left it.

"Maybe." I agreed. "I'll check it out."

"I'll come." He said easily.

"Who said you were invited?" I twisted around on my side.

"Hey, this was my idea, Angel. Plus you're gonna need someone to keep watch, obviously."

"Is the lighting still being weird?" I asked, regarding the name, though I highly doubted it considering all of the trees shading us.

"No, I just like it."

"We'll, I don't." I said. "And I'm perfectly capable of breaking into an abandoned apartment complex alone, thank you."

"Do you ever listen to how stubborn you are?" He said, a hint of laughter behind his words.

"No," I shook my head. "You act like I'm your responsibility or something."

"I... don't-"

"Why do you even like hanging around me? Because you feel bad? You need to keep an eye on me incase I have a nervous breakdown?" I blurted out harshly.

I'm an idiot, I realized immediately. Let me just take this one halfway decent thing in my life and intentionally fuck it up for no good reason.

"Seriously?" He lifted his head towards me, the crease in his brows showing his frustration. "That's what you think?"

"Justin..." I sighed. I could've sworn I saw pain flash across his features, like hearing his name, or hearing me say his name, hurt him.

"You know what I think, then?" He paused. "The reason you refuse to get close to me is because I'm so screwed up. You can blame it on whatever, but that's why. I get it, though..." He trailed off.