Past the Tipping Point

\ Chapter 9 /

"This is what we get for leaving the boys on Rebecca duty." Mercedes rolled her eyes as she watched her breath fog up in the cold.

"Well, maybe if we didn't have to deal with the douchebag, we could've seen where she went." Jonathan continued to talk about Colby as if he wasn't around as they walked through the streets to try and locate Rebecca.

"For the last time, Colby is here to help." Pamela sighed, and Colby wisely stayed quiet. Even though he wanted to come to Pamela's defence, he wasn't sure another punch to the face would do either of them any good. "I did what I thought would be best for Becky. Sometimes a hard dose of reality is just that."

"Really?" Joseph laughed with a shake of the head. "After he got us into this mess in the first place?"

"You can't put all that blame on him." Pamela fought back, and Colby had to give her credit for her growth when it came to confrontation. In the past, it wasn't out of character for her to stay quiet, but he wondered if she had no choice during her time looking after Rebecca.

Jonathan shook his head. "If he had just told us, or her at least, before he decided to disappear and find a whole new life, things would be different."

"I wanted to." Colby spoke up, trying not to sound defensive and keeping his eyes away from the group as he searched for Rebecca. "I was going to."

"But you didn't." Joseph replied harshly. "And what? Suddenly you're back again wandering around? Still all without explanation."

Colby rolled his eyes, feeling himself getting worked up. "Well, I didn't exactly get the chance."

"You lost it." Joseph sneered through his teeth. "Years ago."

"Well, if you won't give me a shot, you can't really fucking hold it against me then can you?!" Colby lost his composure unexpectedly, quickly silencing himself afterwards. He tried to steady his breaths knowing he, in turn, couldn't truthfully hold their distaste toward him against them.

Suddenly, he was being lifted off the ground by Joseph, who took two large fistfuls of his hoodie in his hands, slamming Colby against the nearby brick wall. "I don't particularly agree with Pam's social experiment involving you, but I'm gonna support her because that's what family does. Something you clearly know very little about."

Colby stayed silent as Joseph's fists tightened. "You better not prove her faith in you wrong."

"Okay, the two of you." To Colby's surprise, Mercedes interjected. "We're all here right now for the same reason."

"Yeah, but that's just the thing." Jonathan spoke up again, moving over to Joseph. "We've been here. As in the four of us."

Joseph spoke up again, feeling Jonathan place a hand on his shoulder. "He fled."

"And I'm sorry, alright?!" Colby admitted, "I was sorry from the moment I got on the train to leave, and I was sorry every second after that."

They all stared at him before Jonathan muttered to Joseph. "Come on, big guy."

"Give him a break. At least right now." Pamela began to feel irritated, tapping her foot like an impatient mother. "We have more important matters at hand."

"I still am... sorry." Colby spoke to himself more than anyone else. Like it was some sort of confession. "I'm still sorry."

They continued to walk for what felt like hours, and Colby was absolutely regretting his choice to come. He was not only physically tired, but he was also emotionally drained as well. As the group checked some of Rebecca's other regular spots, and Colby recalled a few older ones, they walked on, still on the lookout.

"Hey... uh, don't take it personally. It's just an adjustment for us. This whole thing has been... hard for all of us. We all need the break." Not only was Colby caught off guard because of the sudden whispers. He was also surprised at the fact that it was Mercedes, and she wasn't in the process of trying to rip his face off. "But don't think this means you can act stupid, and I'll defend you. I'll deny this conversation."

"Noted." Colby nodded, and the conversation ended there. It may not have been a lot, but it was the type of silent support that Colby knew he needed at the moment, even if Mercedes didn't particularly like him.

It just caused him to force his mind to focus on the task at hand instead of wandering into the past. A past where they all got along and hung out on the daily. One where he fit in perfectly, and they all accepted him. That was dead now, and although he was the one to make things that way, it was a brutal truth to face.

Colby was about to silently disappear and call it a night until he slowed his walk when he noticed a strange alleyway with neon lights reflecting against parts of the walls. It gave the narrow path a depth to its darkness.

He heard the group talking as they continued to walk, and instead of saying anything and potentially being harped on by the guys, he slipped into the alley and cautiously stepped forward. It was mainly full of trash at the beginning, but the longer the seemingly never-ending path went, the more and more alive it became.

Since it was so narrow, Colby had to squeeze by some trash bins, and eventually, some people making out, and others worse. He saw windows letting wanderers peer into eclectic shops and had a feeling he was getting closer to Rebecca the brighter the lights got.

Just as he reached the last window before the dead end, he peered into the building, his eyes immediately gravitating towards the familiar redhead. It was when Colby truly took a second to take everything in that he had no other choice but to pause and chuckle to himself. "Well... shit."