Dignified

Chapter twenty five

"But he wasn't even that great!" Ryan said, laughing and nudging Peyton. "I don't get why everyone liked him so much! His jaw was so weird looking.."

"Yes he was! His jaw was cute, if you ask me." Peyton grinned, walking alongside Ryan as they left the coffee shop. "Ew, he was a teacher, Peyton!"

"So? He was still cute."

Ryan laughed, but couldn't help to feel worried. Something felt wrong when it should have been feeling perfect. He had just spent about an hour with his arm around Peyton, sipping hot chocolate. What could possibly be wrong? "I miss Brassford, but not Mr. Strain." He said, laughing slightly.

"It's not as much fun anymore. Nobody is as fun as you." She said, poking him. Ryan raised an eyebrow at her and poked her back. "I know, I'm a fun guy." He sighed slightly as their apartments building came into view. That meant they'd be departing soon. He frowned slightly as his phone went off, reaching into his pocket to answer it. "Hello?"

"Ryan. It's Clark. Get over here. Now." Clark's voice was shaky, but low. He hung up as easily as he had called. "Who was that?" Asked Peyton, raising an eyebrow.

"Clark. He sounded worried. C'mon, let's go see what he wanted." He said, walking faster.

"Do you think everything is alright?"

"I don't know.. Maybe." He said as they arrived. "The elevator's too slow. C'mon over here." He grabbed ahold of Peyton's arm and pulled her towards the back of the building. "You're not scared of heights, are you?" Asked Ryan, smirking slightly.

"No, why?"

Ryan turned around and picked her up from beneath her legs, grinning at her. She gasped slightly and immediately wrapped her arms around his neck. "Wait, Ryan. What are you-"

He didn't give her a chance of finish. He pushed off the ground and flew straight up, laughing as his eyes teared up a bit. Peyton screamed and dug her head into the crook of his neck, her hands tightly gripping his shirt. The entire thing took but three seconds, Ryan's feet soon touching the tile of the terrace. She jumped from his hold, punching him in the shoulder. "Ryan McKinley, don't you ever do that to me again!" She said, shoving him. He laughed, following after her as she walked inside. "Don't worry, I will." He teased. Clark ran down from the stairs, his eyes wide. "Hey, what'd you want?" Ryan asked, raising an eyebrow at Clark.

"It's Zach." He said lowly, running his fingers through his hair.

"Well, what about Zach? Where is he?"

"That's the thing. I found him in his room earlier cutting himself. He was cutting himself, Ryan."

"What the hell? Well, where is he now?" Ryan asked, his eyebrows pressed together.

"I kind of yelled at him for it, and well... Estemus showed up. I started yelling at Zach more because he's been talking to Estemus. It looks like he'd been trying to convince him to go somewhere with him, and well, my yelling finally ticked Zach off and he disappeared with Estemus." Said Clark, the shame in his voice noticeable.

"You're so heartless, Clark. You found Zach cutting himself, which obviously means something's troubling him, so you yell at him? What the fuck's wrong with you?" Ryan's voice was rising slightly, his frustration towards his brother growing.

"Yes, I know. I shouldn't have done that, but that's not the important thing here. The important thing is that we find Zach and get him ask far away from Estemus as we can."

"Well, maybe if you hadn't run him off we wouldn't have to."

All three of them turned as Trace walked in the living room, giving them a confused look as he saw the worry on their faces. "What's wrong?" He asked, setting his things down on the countertop. Clark quickly explained to him what was going on and sat down on a stool. "How're we going to find him?" Ryan asked, pulling himself onto the countertop. "I have no idea. My best guess is that Estemus took him to Chronis. You know how he wanted our Chronics? Oh, man. He's probably going to try and take Zach's chronic.." Said Clark, trailing off.