Code Red >> l.h. au

january 28th ; quinn

The sound of crickets, quiet music, and crunching chips filled the park. The five of us were laying in an open field, eating chips and salsa and staring at the sky. Luke had in fact piled us all into his Jeep. For several hours we just drove around, debating quite loudly where we were going to hang out. The group finally agreed on coming to the park, and luckily we were all wearing warm winter clothes. Luke didn't need anyone to ask for him to stop and get a blanket, though I had to persuade Luke to stop for chips and salsa. I mean, it didn't take that much persuading, but it was enough to make me question our friendship.

For some reason, we were all laying in a line, with the chips and salsa between Michael and I. Which didn't really make that much sense because Michael was on the end. But then again, Michael and I would throw a fit if we didn't have our food. I was somehow deemed the chip-passer, and the job was becoming extremely annoying. The fact that the boys found my job hilarious and would shout at me for chips was annoying as well but, as they say, children will be children.

"What do you think is out there?" Cal spoke up and snapped me out of my internal rant.

"The fucking sun, that's what." I huffed and Michael laughed like it was the funniest thing he had ever heard. I rolled my eyes and laughed at him, and soon everyone of us was laughing incredibly hard. Our laughter slowly died down and we went back to sharing a comfortable silence.

"No seriously. What do you think is out there?" Calum said again and Michael sighed.

"Other galaxies with god knows what in them." He replied.

"Holy shit. Cal-Pal. We forgot to celebrate your birthday." I suddenly blurted out and sat up, turning to look at my step brother. He sat up and shrugged.

"It's nothing. There were more important things going on."

"Um. Cal there really weren't." I paused, hitting the home button on my phone to check the time. "It was only two days ago."

"Two days ago you weren't talking and we had family therapy." He countered.

"Cal that's no excuse. God we're such a shitty family." I said and sighed. Before he could reply, Ashton sat up.

"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you." He sang and Luke joined in. "Happy birthday dear Calum." We all had joined in by this point, shouting out, "Happy birthday to you!" A tear rolled down my cheek and I laughed. Michael rubbed my back and I smiled at him gratefully.

"Hey hey don't cry. Why are you crying?" Luke asked and pulled me back down to the ground.

"Ian and Cal didn't have their annual birthday Cross Fit Madness. They would spend all day at that damn gym while Chels and I baked cakes. We needed two god damn cakes to be able to feed everyone." I whispered and wiped a tear off of my cheek. "You know, I haven't even gone to see them. I'm such a shitty friend." I said loudly with a hint of bitter feelings in my voice.

"We could go see them." Luke suggested and I laughed.

"Luke, it's like 2am. That's a completely insane idea."

"No it's not. It's a good idea. We should all go see them." Ashton piped up and stood to his feet. Calum popped up and turned to face me.

"It's not a bad idea sis." He said, looking at me expectantly. I turned to Michael, who shrugged and stood up.

"It wouldn't hurt, Quinntin." He said and smiled softly.

"Ok, fine. Let's go." I said and stoop up, pulling Luke up with me.

The ride to the cemetery was at least a half hour. I wound up falling asleep, so the car was uneventful to me. Mikey shook me awake and I slowly climbed out of the Jeep. Luke came to my side of the jeep and grabbed my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. I turned to Ashton, motioning for him to lead the way. Since I had never been to their plots, I wasn't exactly sure where they were. We walked a few feet and then I pulled Luke to a stop, pausing at a head stone. The others slowly stopped but I motioned for them to keep going. Being teenage boys, they proved to be shitty listeners.

"Guys. You can go on." I mumbled and sat down. Not bothering to check if they were still there, I kept talking. "Hey Mom. It's Quinn. I um- I'm sorry I haven't been here in a while. Some things, well a lot of things happened. I got shot. Aaron got shot. Cal got shot. And, as you probably know by now, Chels and Ian, they uh- yeah. But uh. We forgot Cal's birthday. I know, I know. He's my brother. I wasn't supposed to forget that. But who wants to bake one sad cake by themselves? Sorry, I'm being a downer. Mikey dyed his hair since the last time. He really does look like a lost boy with his stupid skunk stripe. Ash is, well you know Ash. The only thing is he's less giggly. I miss his stupid laughs, Mom. They were always so happy. I miss everyone being happy. Luke. He's been so sweet to me, Mom. He committed to UF. Isn't that crazy? I don't even know where I'm going yet. I mean I applied to a bunch of places. So I'm bound to get in somewhere I guess. Dad's good. For the most part. He misses you. A lot. But Joy helps him out a lot." I wiped some tears from my eyes and tried to keep talking, but I couldn't think of anything. I would start a sentence, but trail off after the second word. I was getting frustrated, and soon started to cry harder. Apparently, getting shot turns you into a raging hormonal bitch. I was about to just give up when I felt a hand on my back. I immediately leaned into whoever it was and kept crying. I could feel his chest rise and fall, and then rumble when he cleared his throat.

"Hey Mrs. Evans. I know your beautiful daughter told you a lot and you may not want to hear what I have to say, but just listen a bit longer." Cal said and took a deep breath. "Your daughter was trapped in her first period class when 4 sick sons of bitches walked into our school and decided to shoot it up. Being the pubescent prick I am, I didn't really want to listen to the morning biology lecture, so I said I had to go to the bathroom. Unfortunately for me, I was stuck in the bathroom. When the people found me, they grabbed me. They quizzed me about which classrooms had kids. When I wouldn't tell them, they shot me in the leg so I couldn't run." Cal coughed and took a strangled breath before continuing on.

"They made me watch while they shot my best friend, my sister, and her best friend. I thought I wasn't gonna pull through when they left me in that hallway, but I did. And you know the one thing that kept me going? Quinn. She was still breathing. So I went and I sat with her until SWAT found us. And I lived. And she lived. And we're better off for it. We're stronger and closer. So I just want to thank you for bringing this girl I to the world. Because without her, I might be a just a name on a piece of marble in this place." Cal said and rubbed my shoulder. "Not that you are Mrs. Evans." He said hurriedly and I laughed. He smiled and me and helped me to my feet. I finally looked around to see every one of the guys standing there. I laughed nervously looked down at my feet.

"Did you guys um... did you guys hear all of that?" I asked while fiddling with my thumbs.

"Every bit. I appreciate the sentiment about being a lost boy." Mikey said and I laughed.

"It's true man. You do resemble the skunk one." Cal threw and and Michael punched his shoulder. I smiled at the gesture. Yeah, my friends and I were standing in a cemetery where some of our loved ones were. But the thing is, we're standing.

----------------------------------------

chapter song : drink a beer - luke bryan

hi i'm not dead just a terrible procrastinator.

if you haven't already ((I know you haven't seriously I'm not dumb)) go check out my prologue for run! If you vote for this chapter and the prologue, the next chapter on Run and on Code Red will be dedicated to you!!

i am dedicating this chapter to peppermintash ((?? I can't spell??)) cause she's my bae and her story is freaking awesome so go check it out!! voting for that story will improve your chances for the chapter dedication!

aight that's all I won't have the next chapters up until next week soz i have school :(.

ONE MORE THING

i am about to post a new story and if you guys vote and comment on that, i have a hella awesome surprise for you. comment your name on the author's note of it and you may just get picked.

love y'all i'm out ♡