Young Folks (Ross Lynch AU)

fourteen.

"Fuck," Ross muttered under his breath.

"Oh my God," I whispered, clamping my hand over my mouth and biting my lip hard to stop from screaming in fear. We both looked around, panicking (at the disco 😏), and praying to the dear lord in heaven above that this was all just a dream.

"Oh my fucking God," I murmured. Ross and I exchanged glances, then took of running in the direction the group went, yelling and screaming their names and shouts for help. But we quickly found ourselves at a fork in the path, and neither of us knew which way they went.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" I screamed. Ross, on the other hand, seemed fairly calm, but probably just for my sanity.

"I say we split up," Ross said. "Each go down one road and meet back here in ten minutes."

"No way. No way in hell. Splitting up will only cause more problems. That's the last thing we want to do. I say we just pick one and go with it. They'll figure out we aren't around soon enough and come looking for us eventually," I shrugged.

"Okay," Ross agreed. I started walking down the path on the right, praying that it was the right one. Ross didn't object, and we both set off at a brisk pace down the beaten path.

After what seemed like two hours, but was only twenty minutes, I turned to Ross, defeated.

"I don't think they went this way," I stated sadly.

"Their probably walking at the same pace that we are, so we won't catch up right away. Let's just keep going and see what happens, okay?" Ross encouraged.

"Okay," I said meekly. We both started walking down the path once again, but this time we were both filled with less hope.

I think even at that point we knew that there was no use. We wouldn't be able to find them. Not in this maze of rocky  mountains and winding trails. We were stranded, lost, in the heart of the mountains with little food and water. No shelter, and only the clothes on our backs.

We were hopeless.

After about another hour, we stopped and sat on the path. We both took small sips of water and a bit of food, hoping we could ration everything throughout the next few days. Even an hour after we got separated from the group, we new we had no hope.

We both sat there in silence, not daring to look at each other. I wasn't sure about his reasoning, but I knew that I didn't want to look at him for fear that I would burst into tears. The whole reality of the situation hadn't really sunk in, and I knew that if I looked at him, it would all hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Aspen?" Ross asked quietly, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?" I answered without looking up from the water I was holding in my hand.

"Do you think they're gonna find us?" His voice shaking with fear. The vulnerability was clear, and as strange as it was, in that moment, he reminded me of my little brother, Hunter.

"I don't know, Hunter," I said quietly, then realized what I said. I mentally slapped myself, then quickly covered my tracks. "Ross. Sorry, I meant Ross."

"Who's Hunter?" The blonde asked.

"My little brother. I don't even know why that slipped out of my mouth. I guess I just miss him," I lied, knowing that Ross probably wouldn't like to be compared to an eight year old boy who still crawled into bed with my dad every so often when he was scared.

"It's fine," Ross said. I looked over at him and his eyes met mine. And that was when I broke down.

The tears quickly filled my eyes and overflowed, running down my cheeks. Quiet sobs escaped my lips and I buried my face in my hands and rested my elbows on my knees.

We were lost.

There was no hope of anyone finding is anytime soon.

"Hey, Aspen, it's okay, it'll all be fine," Ross comforted, scooting closer to me and awkwardly wrapping me in his arms before rubbing my back.

"How can you say that, Ross? We're stranded. No one is gonna. Be able to find us. This is a fucking maze of mountains, and we're in the dead center. People can easily get lost here. There's no way that anyone is gonna find us soon," I sobbed.

"You don't know that. They could be searching for us right now," Ross tried to soothe me, but it wasn't working.

"And if they are, they're not gonna find us," I countered, tears streaming now down my cheeks. Ross was silent for a few moments, though he was still holding me in his arms and rubbing my back.

"They'll find us soon, I promise," Ross stated, though I could hear the doubt in his voice. I just shrugged as I started to calm down. The tears slowed, and my sobs subsided. I just unraveled myself from Ross, took a sip of my water, and smiled at him sadly.

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

Sorry this ones a bit shorter but I felt like it was a good place to stop.

Pic of a sunset I saw this weekend.

GUYS I GOT TO RIDE ON A FUCKING SEGWAY OH MY GOD IT WAS SO MUCH FUN