Can You Keep A Secret?

Chapter One Hundred and Four

-Rye's POV-

"Let's play flashlight tag!" Jack exclaimed, beaming with pride at his own good idea. We'd all been laying around, bored, temporarily relieved from our band busywork now that Mikey wasn't around.

"Great! Let's do it," Andy said, already sliding out of bed and putting his shoes on. I liked the idea – It felt like life was finally returning to normal.

"Can I join, too?" Brooklyn asked, sitting up in bed. When his fever had faded, so had his willingness to lounge around in bed all day – As soon as the antibiotics had kicked into action and he'd started feeling better, he'd gotten restless.

"I don't think so," I said, sticking to the role of caregiver, which had turned from "lovingly taking care of him" to "sticking with the unpleasant rules." I now understood what being a parent felt like.

"UGH!" He moaned. "Am I going to have to stay in this bed forever?"

"You will if you push getting better. Trust me, you'll benefit from this in the long run."

"But-"

"Good night, Brook!" I called out loudly as the others and I headed out the door. I was filled with a youthful sort of jubilation as we thudded down the stairs and out into the night air.

"Should we ask the girls to come join us as well?" Jack asked, pointing to the group of fans who were still waiting outside.

"The more the merrier, right?" I said, adrenaline pumping through my veins. I was more than ready for a little fun in my life. Andy ran over to explain the game to them, and, for the first time since Andy had jumped into the pond, I felt perfectly alright. An unexplained sense of joy filled me as we walked over and discussed whether we should choose teams or go with an "all for oneself" approach.

After deciding that teams would be too complicated to create and maintain, Jack volunteered to be "It" first – He already had the flashlight and was pumped up on sugar – And with that, we were off, running around the playground while he chased us. For a while, it was the same sort of fun that I had with my friends when I was a kid – Just running, laughing, sweat and the air and a few disputes over whether or not somebody had been caught. I even felt a little bad that I'd made Brooklyn miss this, but only for a second – I let myself fully enjoy the moment. For the first time in a long time, the darkness didn't seem sinister to me.

We took a break after a few rounds, everyone panting and smiling, and one of the girls fixing her hair. We sat down in a crooked attempt of a circle, and I felt connected with the Roadies in a way that I had lost for a while. Sometimes it had been hard to feel close to even the boys when the whole world seemed so dangerous, and it had been easy to lose touch of the best part of this job – The amazing people that we got to connect with.

"So, where's Brooklyn and Mikey?" Somebody asked, clearly hoping for the full band to make an appearance after having waited such a long time.

"Brooklyn's sick," Andy explained, and I quickly added in, "And Mikey's looking after him."

"Still?" She seemed a little suspicious, and with how odd things had been lately, I didn't blame her.

"He's got pneumonia," I said by ways of explanation, and my sentence was punctuated by a cough from Jack.

Several heads darted to face him, and he cried out, "I'm not ill, I swear! I feel fine! I'm the one who came up with the idea for flashlight tag!"

"Speaking of which...Who wants one more round before we head in?" I asked, having to bite back saying "We probably shouldn't leave Brooklyn alone for too long," considering I'd just said that Mikey was there with him. Everyone agreed, and I stretched out my muscles – I hadn't been tagged yet, and I didn't plan to ruin my winning streak.

"I have an idea for a bet," Andy said, walking over to me.

"Hit me with it," I said, watching as Jack handed the flashlight over to one of the girls.

"If neither of us get caught, then we both get ice cream. But if one of us does, then we have to pay for a free meal for the winner."

"Oh, you're on," I smiled, waiting for the countdown, and then taking off. Darting around the swings, I felt good about it, nearly certain that Andy was about to owe me a dinner date, when it happened – The flashlight hit somebody's red shirt, and time stood still.

The alarm blared in my ears, the girls running around playing tag turned into the frantic, screaming crowd, and my heart tore its way out of my chest. He was coming. He was coming. He was coming. My shoulder throbbed, bracing for impact. I had to get out of there, had to save them, but I couldn't do anything – Couldn't move, couldn't scream, couldn't run. All I could do was stand there, frozen, and wait to die for the thousandth time.