𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐊 . . . 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝

𝟑𝟐. 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝

32. beginning of the end

season three, episode twelve: and then the hurricane hit

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Zachary Dempsey was incredibly fired up, and this only intensified in the tunnels as he shouted with his team, ready to make a statement tonight. His captaincy motivated him everyday, and he was positive that tonight was going to be one to remember.

That thought was only proved correct the second he heard a voice call out for him in the tunnels.

"Hey, number 85!" The sweet voice of Chloe Rice echoed through the hollow halls as Zach turned around, elated.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Zach asked as he walked up to her, greeting her with a smile.

"Still your official cheerleader, aren't I?" Chloe said sweetly.

"Wouldn't trade you for anyone else." Zach said as he hugged her, earning a giggle from the girl. "I gotta go, but I'll see you after."

Chloe nodded, smiling as she continued down the halls until she heard a jarring voice, causing her to stop dead in her tracks.

"Hey, Chloe." Bryce called out. "Wait up."

"Hey." Bryce said when he jogged up to the girl, who greeted him with a very small smile, almost nonexistent. "It's nice to see you."

"I should probably get outside." Chloe said as she tried to turn on her heel, but Bryce stopped her.

"Woah, hold up. I...You seem great." he tried to talk smoothly, but failed.

"Yeah, I'm doing really good." Chloe told him.

"Good," he replied. "It's nice to see you happy. You've always had this...spark. And I'm just glad that after everything I put you through, you still have it."

Chloe didn't respond, and Bryce tried to save himself.

"Not that I could take anything away from you." he quickly added. "I mean, you're one of the strongest people that I know."

"Bryce, you should know I was pregnant." Chloe blurted out, and a solemn look overtook Bryce's face. "It was yours. I had an abortion. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before."

Bryce looked around, and it almost seemed like there were tears in his eyes. "Ah...are you okay?"

Chloe didn't answer once again, and Bryce just sighed, shaking his head. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that alone."

"I wasn't alone." Chloe said sharply. "I had Zach, Nessa too. They were with me. Through all of it."

"Good." Bryce said dryly. "Good, good. I should go."

He walked away, and Chloe did too. She felt powerful, but Bryce only felt revenge.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Nessa watched the entire game from the sidelines that day, waiting for their time to shine. She saw every dispute between her brother and her rapist. She filled with anger each time that Bryce tried to play dirty with him. She watched Zach prevail, even when Bryce had started a fight with him.

She hoped and prayed that he had given a kickass speech at halftime to motivate his team, because she knew that he needed that more than anything. Her brother thrived on confidence, motivation, dominance and strength. She knew that about him, and she wanted that for him.