Bloom - Greta Van Fleet

Chapter Seven

"If I hear one more complaint from you," Jake turned around on the spot, shooting a harsh glare at Esme. The four of them had decided to go camping, or Josh had at least, dragging the other three along with him. 'Safety in numbers' was his excuse, but there was definitely something else happening. Currently, they were hiking up to a lake that Josh claimed existed, though there was yet to be any proof. They'd been walking for at least a few hours, and quite frankly, Esme was ready to give up. "I'm going to personally make sure they you don't see morning."

"What are you going to do?" She tested the waters, a smirk playing at her lips. "Smother me in my sleep? A bit dramatic, don't you think?"

Honestly, Esme would be enjoying the trip quite a lot more if it didn't feel like she was walking on eggshells whenever she stepped within a 50-metre radius of Sam. It's like overnight he decided to forget that they had any sort of relationship at all. It was like they were strangers all over again, and it taken quite the toll on Esme. Quite frankly, it both worried her and pissed her off. That's why the two were lagging behind. The twins had noticed the odd behaviour between the youngest members of the group, the group separating naturally when the awkward fog that seemed to settle over the group became too much.

Jake had lagged behind with Esme, thinking it would be better than the stale silence of Sam. As he rolled his eyes into the back of his head, he realised he'd made the wrong choice. 

"Esme, I'm begging you to shut up," He knew that she was trying to joke with him; he wasn't an idiot. But after the long few hours of useless chatter from her already, he'd finally reached the end of his tether. "Or at least just keep your useless thoughts to yourself!"

It was a little harsh, and the wounded look on Esme's face let him know that it was a mistake.

"Useless?" She matched his harsh tone, spitting the word back at him. "If I'm so useless, then why am I even here?" At that she began to walk, Jake swiftly following behind in an equally bad mood. "I knew I should've stayed home this weekend."

After their little spat was over, the pair fell into a deafening silence, just the shuffling of feet against the soil and the singing of birds to keep them going. If Jake didn't want to listen to Esme's 'useless thoughts', then she'd keep them to herself, even if it did make the air thicken uncomfortably between the two of them. Her lack of words didn't really do much though; Jake could practically hear her thoughts word for word in the loud sighs he could hear coming from her direction every few seconds. If he wasn't at his limit, he'd find her sour attitude funny. At that moment, though, it only served to irritate him more. 

It wasn't much better with pair of brothers walking ahead. After his conversation with Josh a few days prior, Sam had shrunk into a shell of himself. His usual joyous nature had taken a backseat, giving a much more reserved side of Sam time to shine. He barely spoke at all, and when he did it was in short sentences, as if he had a word limit that he was trying to stick to. Josh didn't find it so bad; he could talk a lot if he had a lot to say, which he usually did. Jake hated it, though, adding to the many reasons he'd chosen to stick behind with Esme.

Unfortunately, it was one of those rare occasions that Josh couldn't seem to get a word out. Maybe he'd just got tired of hearing his own voice, or maybe he was fed up of getting no response from his little brother. Either way, they too were walking in complete silence.

It bummed him out a little, even though he refused to show it. He'd wanted it to be a happy trip, hopefully one that would clear the air. But that was never going to happen with Esme and Jake walking half a mile behind and Sam traipsing behind him, looking a little bit like a kicked puppy. He'd hoped his unnecessary excitement would cheer people up, but it seemed like any attempt he made would be futile.