Station 429

the night of heartbeats

the night of heartbeats

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"This is weird, isn't it?" Owen said after an odd silence inside the train.

Colleen looked up from the picture of the couple in her hands and glanced at the group (minus two). She had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't realized that no one was really talking. It made sense, though, that the station was considerably quieter—two of its members were absent.

"Yeah, it's definitely weird," Foster agreed.

"We've been coming here for, what, two years?" Kendall said. "Not once has anyone actually left like this."

"They're coming back," Nathan said absently. His nose was buried in a psychology textbook, and he had a notebook in his lap in order to take notes as he read. It amazed Colleen how he could multi-task like that.

"Yeah, I know," Kendall said. "It's still weird, though."

Colleen went back to examining her picture. Twenties, dating, dogs.Her past, his future. Humor. Stability. And,she paused, trying to come up with something else. They met on the train.

"Okay Colleen," Kendall suddenly asked, causing Colleen to snap her head up. "What's on that paper that is so intriguing?"

Colleen creased her eyebrows. "What?"

"Don't try to act innocent. We've all noticed that you've had your eyes glued to that thing the whole night. So, what is it?"

She looked down at it again, running her thumbs over the two faces."It's just a picture," she said, reaching across the room to hand it to Kendall. "I found it inside that broken compartment up there."

Kendall examined the picture as Owen leaned over to do so as well."I still don't understand," Owen said. "What's so special about it?"

"Nothing, if you don't have an imagination," she said as Kendall handed the picture back to her.

"I take offense to that," Owen said.

Colleen rolled her eyes. "I didn't say that you don't have an imagination, did I?"

"Not directly."

"Anyway, I've been trying to make up a story about them, and that's why I keep staring at the picture."

"What do you have so far?" Foster asked, slipping the picture from between Colleen's fingertips.

She proceeded to tell them what all she had come up with, then Owen said, "You could say that they were going on a long trip."

"What makes you say that?" Kendall asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. This train seems like it would be used for longer commutes since it has really comfy seats."

Kendall rolled her eyes, giving him trouble as she always did."Yeah, okay."

Owen let the comment slide. Smart boy.

"I'll add it to the list," Colleen told him with a small smile.

That was probably the longest, most interesting conversation they've had all night. Dustin and Misty had been gone for about a week, and it was definitely beginning to show. Misty was set to be back in two days, but no one knew when Dustin would be back, not even Nathan. It was obvious he was nervous about the whole thing, what with him basically being Dustin's older brother. That's probably why he picked up more classes in school—he needed a distraction.

The remaining had all received messages from them during the first few days, including a few from Mia, telling them that they arrived safely and everything was going okay. As the week progressed, though,the message count dwindled, then disappeared all together. But they figured that they would have gotten a message if things started going downhill.

As the night's end began to show itself, and Nathan, Owen, and Kendall began to gather up whatever belongings they brought with them, Kendall said, "I guess we won't be seeing you guys next week."

Colleen furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Well, since Dustin and Misty decided to take some trips, we decided to set some up for ourselves," Owen said.

"Yeah," Kendall said, "I'm going to visit my parents in rehab."

"Really?" Colleen said. "Where are you guys going?" she asked the other boys.

"I'm going to visit one of my friends back home," Owen said.

"And I'm going to visit a college closer to my hometown," said Nathan as he closed his textbook. "Hopefully, if things work out,I'll be able to see my family more often."

"Guys, that's awesome. I'm really happy for you."

Kendall smiled at her. "Thanks Colleen. We'll keep you guys posted on how things go."

They said their goodbyes, and then it was just Colleen and Foster left. Colleen felt a little strange, because she was pretty sure she knew what he was planning on doing, but he hadn't told her for sure yet. So there she was, putting the pieces together, wondering when she was going to get a little help from Foster, or if she was even going to get any at all.

"Literally everyone is gone," Colleen said, breaking the silence.

"I know," Foster said. "I mean, I've been here from the beginning. We built this place together. And now, the people who built it with me are gone."

"That must really suck."

"Yeah, it does." Foster sighed. "Now who's this all for, if they're not here?"

It was a loaded question, and the weight of it settled on Colleen's shoulders, like so much else. Colleen knew he didn't really want an answer, but she couldn't stop herself from trying to think of one.Inevitably, she drew a blank.

"They're coming back," was what she decided to say, which she didn't feel satisfied with. But what else could she have done,really?

"That's what I keep hearing," he looked at her, drawing her into his stormy eyes, "but are they really? If everything goes okay,then they won't be broken anymore. Which is great, don't get me wrong, but it's what this place thrived on. It thrived on broken pieces coming together to be whole. But when the pieces become whole,this place dies."

Colleen, not for the first time, had no idea what he was talking about. Yes, the station felt weird to her, what with everyone being gone, but she could still feel it pulsing through her. The station had felt just as alive as it had the first night she had been here."This place won't die, Foster," she told him.

Foster gave her a sad smile. "Thanks, Colleen, but I'm not feeling a heartbeat. Are you?"

And the thing is, she did. She did feel a heartbeat, but no matter how hard she tried, there was no way for her to force Foster to feel it. It's something he had to come to on his own, so all she did was add it to the ever growing list of things that made her sad and sat for the rest of their time together in silence.

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song is heartbeat slowing down by the all american rejects. (and another cheesy lyric video for your viewing pleasure lol.)

there's only two more chapters holy cow that's crazy.

the rest of the updates will be coming up pretty fast. there will be one tomorrow for sure, then i'm looking at monday for the last chapter, so be on the lookout for those!

thanks for reading! please leave a vote or a comment if you liked it, and don't be afraid to leave feedback!

-abby xx