𝘽𝙇𝙐𝙀, colby brock.

004.

still missing..

valerie's life used to be normal. she'd thought it was at least. the forest had ruined all of that, just as it was already trying to ruin her life more by bringing her back into this mess. but she couldn't just sit back and watch while sam friends, sam family, found him dead in that forest. it wasn't who she was and it would never be.

the group had just finished their break, which was basically valerie trying to calm down and pretending to be ok. she only had to pretend for a little longer, maybe just a few more hours. it wouldn't kill her.

she hated being in the forest. she hated to way it looked. she hated how she would always trip over at least one root every single time she was there. she hated the memories it brought back, god they were horrible.

valerie couldn't just walk here and wish things would be different. nothing would change if she did that. you had to work for something you wanted, if you put your mind to it you could do it.

they were going to find sam and that was final. if she doubted herself then they weren't going to find him. val just needed to believe in herself. just believe, nothing more, nothing less.

valerie wasn't with the others anymore. she was off in her own world. sure, she could be right next to them walking but she wasn't there mentally. the girl was too caught up in her own mind. daydreaming.

"are you sure you're okay?" colby asked, looking over at the girl who was hugging herself. she hummed before looking up at the boy, he repeated his question.

"yeah i'm fine." she smiled at the boy before looking forward again.

"tell me about yourself," colby said as he walked to the girl's side. she didn't want to let him know too much about herself, she just wasn't open about that sort of stuff. a little hut wouldn't hurt though.

"well, i'm valerie and i don't work at the police station in town." the girl said with a laugh causing the boy next to her to nod.

"well, i'm colby and i don't work at the bell witch cave."

"really!? i totally thought you did!" the girl laughed, rolling her eyes playfully at the boy.

the two held up a conversation for a while. it wasn't hard since the two just clicked. valerie couldn't help but distance herself from him, could she really do this again? would she be able to make it out this time?

"well we came down here-," he interrupted himself, "you okay?"

"uh, yeah. i'm fine." the girl said with a smile, looking up at the boy. she wasn't necessarily paying attention to what the boy had just said but it didn't matter.

"what were we talking about?" she mumbled, looking ahead of herself. looking out into the forest.

it had felt like forever since they began their search. they had at least walked a couple of miles, maybe more. the dark-haired girl wasn't lying when she said it went on forever. they had probably been out there for a couple of hours at this point, she'd have to check later.

"well, i think it's time for me to wrap this up." the girl said, swinging her arms by her side. kat had finally turned around to look at the two. she nodded before walking towards the two, then past towards where they had been walking from. colby and val then made their way to kat, following the girl before catching up with her.

they walked in silence just as they did before val and colby started talking to each other. it wasn't necessarily comfortable but there wasn't much to say.

sam was missing still. almost one day down and they had found nothing. the dark-haired girl was too busy talking to some boy than to look for his missing friend. she felt guilty in a way. like she had failed in trying to help. another thing the girl wanted to do but didn't.

eventually, they all went their separate ways and dispersed from the group they had formed. valerie is back at her house while colby and kat are at the hotel they were staying at. kat had slightly slammed her door closed once they reached their room. why? colby didn't know. had he said something to tick her off? had he done something to make her mad?

no, well yes actually. he might have said something to make the girl mad but he couldn't seem to remember what. he couldn't just go and ask her what was wrong because she would just claim she was ok and drop the whole thing before it turned into an argument. at least that's what colby thought.

in reality, kat was curled up in her hotel bed, crying over the lost boy in the forest. she missed him and you couldn't blame her for it. the love of her life had disappeared and nobody knew where he was, it seemed as though colby didn't care either. another person who didn't care.

part of her knew he did but the way he was just effortlessly talking to valerie while his best friend was missing had made her rethink. maybe he didn't care enough to look? either way, he was still missing at the end of the day.

kat heard a faint knock at the door connecting the two rooms. great, now the girl would have to explain to the boy why she thought he wasn't trying. how he didn't bother to try and look for sam.

"come in." colby said, mocking kat's voice as he walked through the door, his face falling once he saw the girl. a gunshot through his heart.

he loved kat, he really did. maybe not in the way his friend did but still, he loved the girl. more as a sister than a lover. it hurt to watch kat go through so much pain. maybe what he did was really screwed up.

"hey," he whispered, now walking over to the girl wanting to comfort her.

"please go away."

"you know that's not happening, what happened?"

"nothing."

"you wouldn't be crying if nothing happened." colby raised his eyebrows as kat looked up at him.

"please just go away."

"i guess if you really want me to," he said sarcastically rolling his eyes in an effort to make kat laugh.

"please." the girl whispered so quietly she was sure colby hadn't heard her. but he had, and he listened. he left the room quietly closing the door behind him as he sighed. he really messed up and he didn't even know how.

he felt guilty for bugging the girl but also for how he had upset kat. for all he knew she could have been crying for different reasons other than him. still didn't change the fact he felt bad for her.

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word count - 1167