The Cards that Keep Turning

Chapter 12 ~ Trying

Third Person - Max Hughes (Hughes) P.O.V

"Reedie! Tay! Have you both finished piecing together the last of the clues?" Miles asked as he moved away from the tensed boys and towards their beds of leaves and wood.

"Yes Miles," Tay replied, choking back a sob. With Tay being slightly frightened of Miles, he had shifted from his position, moving behind Hughes and Reedie.

"Good!" Miles shouted, giving the boys a little fright, "Start to pack up then, we're going to start to make our way home, all in one trip, alright?"

Miles turned his head face the three, distant boys, wanting to hear their thoughts on his idea, but they hadn't given him a full response. Instead of commenting or adding to his idea, all they did was finish the conversation with a nod and started to push and shove each other towards the camp set up, first dragging Hughes to a tree for him to lean upon before they start.

Miles could tell they were scared, he could tell they were unsure if they were supposed to add to the conversation or not. He just decided to smile and let them walk past him, letting Hughes come into view. Miles decided to take this opportunity to talk to Hughes about before, I mean it was his fault after all wasn't it? It was his fault that his friend was in pain, more then he should be.

As Miles walked over to Hughes, he could feel the thick and unsettling tension that rained over them. The tension made Miles worry and upset about what had happened within the past twenty-four hours.

"We'll start to pack things up now Miles!" bellowed Reedie, as shuffling noises started to appear in the back.

"Um... Yeah... Yeah, good idea, I will be over to help in a couple of minutes," Miles stuttered out, his eyes still glued on the injured leaning tower of Hughes.

"Hey... Hughes... ?"

There was no reply.

"Umm, I would like to say that I am sorry for what I had done to you before hand, I wasn't in a good mental state earlier on. Just knowing that two of our friends-"

"I thought we weren't going to speak of them anymore?!" Hughes questioned, annoyance dripping out of every word.

"Yeah... right. Look I just really want to apologise for beating you up about it, I was just upset and I didn't know how to control it. I wasn't there when it happened... when they... when they passed. I felt responsible for the situation because I wasn't there to watch over them, especially when we all noticed the state they were-"

"FOR FUCKS SAKE MILES!!!"

Miles looked down to the ground with his hands behind his back, not saying a single word. Reedie and Tay had also stopped what they were doing and looked up at the pair, still keeping their distance.

"When I was laying on ground, holding my ribs with blood dripping out of my mouth, you told me that we would not speak of this... DID YOU NOT?!"

"I did say that..."

"Then why talk about it?!"

Nothing more was said by Miles, he wasn't going to say anything more. he was scared that he was going to upset Hughes and the boys behind him even more.

"Have you heard of the saying 'Respect your Elders' Miles?"

"Yes I have."

"I know that I am only three years older than you, but its about time that you consider me apart of this group, and that I actually have thoughts to contribute with feelings behind them. I was sitting there... watching them disappear... I couldn't do anything Miles..."

"I know you-"

"THEN LEAVE IT THE FUCK ALONE!!! ALRIGHT?!"

"Alright..."

"Good... now go and help the boys pack up!"

"Okay..."

Once Miles ran off to the camp set up, Hughes was able to release a heavy sigh that could be heard from miles away. He fell back onto the tree and slid down, pain shooting through his entire body, but he didn't care, he just wanted to get out of this mess, he just wanted home. It's not like Hughes wanted to be angry or upset with Miles, nor did he want to yell at him, but he didn't think he was able to get his point across any other way.

"We'll sleep tonight, just pack up what you can and leave the beds for the morning."

Miles tried to come off as calm while saying that sentence, with a small smile being forced onto his face. Although, Hughes was still able to recognise the sadness within him, he could tell by the boys posture and hand gestures, he could just sense his sadness, it was basically radiating off of him. He shouldn't feel bad about yelling at Miles, but he did. Hughes cared way too much for the boys, acting as a motherly figure to the rest of them, that's how they would describe him anyways. Hughes would often tell the boys off for causing mischief in or around the group, he would spoil them like parents do to their children and he would also go into their rooms at night to tuck them in and say goodnight.

But all of that was slowly changing over the period of time they were there; they were growing apart. Instead of giving them special treatment, he would be getting frustrated and telling them off, instead of giving them small gifts he would give them small task, and instead of tucking them in and saying goodnight he would just turn away and drift off to sleep, completely ignoring their 'good nights' or 'sleep wells'.

He was remembering all the small things he'd done to make them feel welcome or to feel safe, it made him feel bad for what he was doing the past few days; what he hadn't been doing.

With a quivering lip and teary eyes, Hughes had shaken his head and looked the other way, wanting to get the thoughts out of his head. He knew they were only going to be a distraction and only get in the way of what is more important, he couldn't let them get in the way. He will work on building up their trust and friendship once everything is solved, once they are back home and reunited with their families and Baker.

"Umm...Hughes?"Reedie said, pulling Hughes out of his thoughts.

"Oh Reedie?! What is it?" he answered back, gripping his arm afraid that something has happened.

"It's just that... I wanted to ask... if you were ok from the incident before with Miles. Oh! Its also time to sleep, we are getting an early wake up call from Miles to find our way back."

"I'm fine with that, could you please help me hop over there ha-ha..."

"Yeah sure!"

Reedie gently grabbed Hughes arms and swung them over his shoulders, slowly and carefully making their way over the leave beds. The distance from the tree Hughes was leaning against and the beds was only small, but for Hughes it was a little bit of a stretch due to his current physical state. Either way they had made their way over at a a suitable pace, but something was different this time. The tension from Miles and Hughes little break out had died down ever so slightly. It was still present and both the boys had realised it, they had just chose to except it and keep moving, meaning they had to just walk in the awkward silence.

"Thanks."

"For helping you? No problem, anytime!"

"No, not that Reedie. I was talking about you asking me if I was alright, and yeah... I'm fine."

There wasn't any response from Reedie, he only turned his the other way and nodded.

"Lets not argue anymore... lets get home and fix this mess... lets become brothers again."

This time Hughes was the one that was nodding as a response, the only difference was is that he added a small smile, it was sad but reassuring. He wanted to prove to the others that he was alright and that he was able to hold it together, at least until they get back home. They managed to get back to the beds, they might be out of breath but they made it.

"Good night Hughes!"

"...Good night... Reedie."

And with that, they were out, The Light consuming all of them.

They tried their hardest, but they'll make it.

They made it.