Treat You Better

19.

I shivered in my sleep, the cold breeze blowing through the entrance of the tent and nipping at my bare skin. I peeled Lucas' arm off me, placing it on the side of his thigh and sat up pulling my frozen jumper on top of me. I shiver at the feel of it and attempted to pull my underwear back on without waking him up. I looked at his sleeping body and traced my finger over some of his small, black tattoos but as I did it my stomach filled with guilt.

What have we done?

I peered outside of the tent, light stinging my eyes- I wasn't quite sure what time it was but it was early enough. I shook Lucas awake mumbling that we needed to get back; I wasn't really sure of what to say.

"What time is it?" He asked.

"I don't know, my phones dead." I explained and started getting things together. "We should get back." Lucas nodded and began to do the same, neither of us made eye contact and neither of us spoke. We climbed out of the tent and collapsed it, rolling it back into its case, I picked up the firewood that I had collected last night and we both made our way back to the cabin.

My head pounded, the daylight burning my eyes and my steps weighing heavy on my body- mirroring the feeling of being hit by a truck. The only sound was the whistling of the wind in the trees and the crunching of the twigs beneath my feet. We walked slow, it took us nearly half an hour to reach the cabin, once we had got there we opened the door to the cabin to find an empty space- the lodge almost as quiet as the woods outside. Lucas and I tiptoed into the kitchen only to find everyone sat in silence and eating breakfast.

"Hi." I mumbled, announcing Lucas' and I's presence. They looked at us like they were hallucinating, with wide eyes and mouths agape. Tyler stood up and walked over to me, holding me at a distance.

"You look awful." He whispered scrutinizing me, I don't know what he was looking for but he didn't like what he saw. I broke from his hold and stepped back, placing the bag of firewood on the floor.

"I'm going to take a shower." I mumbled again, I turned around and was met with Lucas' pitiful gaze, I sighed and wandered up the stairs, into the bathroom and locked the door. I saw my reflection in the mirror and nearly sobbed.

I wasn't just pale, I was grey with purple bags under my eyes. There were tiny cuts and scrapes littered my face and neck- I must have ran into branches while trying to find my way back last night, the cold must have numbed my skin so I wouldn't have felt it. My hair was greasy and still a little bit wet, all matted and messy like a bird's nest.

For the final time, I peeled my sodden clothes off and left them in a pile on the floor- I climbed into the shower and let the burning hot water soothe my aching bones; sleeping on the ground isn't very comfortable. Little bits of dirt fell of my body and mixed in with the shower water, turning it a brown-grey colour before it circled the drain.

I don't know how long I was in there but it was closer to an hour that I'd care to admit. I wrapped one of the towels around my body and scooped up my dirty clothes before unlocking the door and making my way back to Tyler's room. I brushed through my hair before collapsing on the bed and closing my eyes.

Flashbacks of last night kept bleeding into my mind, making me squirm. The memories of his touch and how it felt flooded my mind making me feel sick to my stomach. I attempted to fall asleep, hoping it would numb the feeling for a while but it didn't work- I couldn't sleep. Therefore, I was left to lie in my towel on the bed with my eyes closed just hoping no one would disturb me.

Much to my dismay, someone walked in- Lucas. He sat on the bed next in front of me and resting his hand on my waist.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Why didn't you tell me about the scrapes?" I asked back, ignoring his question.

"I didn't want to scare you." He replied lightly, I nodded and nuzzled into the pillow. "I got you something, while you were in the shower." I hadn't noticed the small plastic back in his hand, he dove into it and pulled out a bottle of water and a small white box- Plan B.

"We didn't..." I trailed off.

"No, we didn't use a condom." He said handing me the box and water. I took it quick and lay back down on the bed.

"Do you feel as bad about it as I do?" I asked, tears in my eyes.

"I don't know." Lucas whispered before leaving, I exhaled heavily and curled back up.

A few hours later, I got dressed. I slipped on some sweatpants and a hoodie then walked back down the stairs into the dark which was poorly illuminated by a few candles. I slummed into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of lemonade and took a few cookies out of the jar before going back into the living room.

"You missed dinner." Helen said as I sat down next to her.

"Sorry, I wasn't feeling up to anything," I shifted, "I'm a little shaken up from the storm." Tyler's mom rapped an arm around me and pulled me close to her, comforting me. I tuned into what the others were talking about- scary stories.

The most fitting and cliché thing to do in this situation- we are in a creepy cabin in the middle of the woods without lights and they want to tell scary stories, I feel like I've just been thrown in the middle of a horror movie.

I wasn't really listening to the story Tyler was telling but I knew it wasn't scary- he isn't one for those kind of things, neither is Ashley- I didn't even have to look to know that she is clung onto one of Lucas' arms like one of his tattoos. I didn't even know he had tattoos until this morning- he has hidden them so well, I'm not sure Tyler or his parents know about them.

"Riley, why don't you tell one." Ashley said looking over at me.

"That might not be the best idea." Lucas piped up, I looked over at him, confused and sat up straight.

"I'm fine." I defended and then took a minute to think of a story. I decided on one that I had seen on reddit that had freaked me out a little. "One school day, a boy named Tom was sitting in class and doing math. It was six more minutes until after school. As he was doing his homework, something caught his eye. His desk was next to the window, and he turned and looked to the grass outside. It looked like a picture. When school was over, he ran to the spot where he saw it. He ran fast so that no one else could grab it. He picked it up and smiled. It had a picture of the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She had a dress with tights on and red shoes, and her hand was formed into a peace sign. She was so beautiful he wanted to meet her, so he ran all over the school and asked everyone if they knew her or have ever seen her before. But everyone he asked said "No." He was devastated. When he was home, he asked his older sister if she knew the girl, but unfortunately, she also said "No." It was very late, so Tom walked up the stairs, placed the picture on his bedside table and went to sleep. In the middle of the night Tom was awakened by a tap on his window. It was like a nail tapping. He got scared. After the tapping he heard a giggle. He saw a shadow near his window, so he got out of his bed, walked toward his window, opened it up and followed the giggling. By the time he reached it, it was gone. The next day again he asked his neighbours if they knew her. Everybody said, "Sorry, no." When his mother came home he even asked her if she knew her. She said "No." He went to his room, placed the picture on his desk and fell asleep. Once again, he was awakened by a tapping. He took the picture and followed the giggling. He walked across the road, when suddenly he got hit by a car. He was dead with the picture in his hand. The driver got out of the car and tried to help him, but it was too late. Suddenly he saw the picture and picked it up. He saw a cute girl holding up three fingers."

"Woah." Tyler said sitting back in his seat. I nodded and smiled slightly knowing that I had freaked everyone out slightly. Ashley was almost as pale as me.

We continued telling scary stories until about midnight when we all decided to go to bed but when I lay down the sleep didn't come. Instead Tyler's arm around me felt like Lucas', weighing heavy on my body like it was holding me down, the wind knocked out of me.

I was shaking again, breaths became quicker as the reminder that I am a shitty person, cuddled into me.

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A/N

So what do you think. Hope you like it, thanks for reading.

~Jadey6688