Stonebrook High School

Chapter 52

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~*Ω*~

"I... I wasn't even there. It was–"

"I know. But I know what you feel despite that being the truth. Why are you putting so much blame onto yourself?"

Lukas leaned forward, clenching his teeth. "Because it's partly my fault even if others say it isn't."

Jess looked at him and scowled. "Then it's my fault, too."

"No, it isn't."

"Yes, it is. It's my fault even if others say it isn't my fault."

He turned back to view the snowy landscape, frustrated that she used his own words on him. "Look, I just..." He sighed in exasperation. "I don't understand. Why did I have to forget about Petra? Why couldn't I have helped Gabriel? Why did I have to be..." Lukas paused and angrily spat out the next part in both embarrassment and disappointment. "Why did I have to be scared?"

SMACK.

The blonde held his face in surprise, eyes wide open. Jess's hand was open, palm facing sideways, turning red with pain. He couldn't find the words to ask what had just happened and stared at her.

"I don't like it when you talk like that." Her fingers curled into a fist and she lowered her head. "We both were–"

"Why'd you have to hit me?"

She looked at him, confused. Her mouth opened to ask, "What?" but was swiftly interrupted by the male beside her.

"You didn't need to hit me!" Lukas's voice was rising and Jess was starting to get irritated.

"You were being stupid! Blaming yourself for all the dumb crap that happened. I don't even remember or know what went down but I know that it wasn't you!"

"What the hell are you talking about? Acting like a motivational anime character, aren't you?"

She growled and stood up. "I'm not trying to be one, I'm–"

He got up and shouted over her. "I don't need your pity, I don't need your 'help', and I don't need you to hold my hand! I especially don't need someone to smack me on the face, either!"

"I was never doing any of that, and I slapped you because you needed to snap out of it! I'm not a genie, I don't fucking know what you want! I don't even remember you, so how was I supposed to know you'd get all pissy about that?"

"Maybe some goddamn common sense?"

"Smartass, common sense doesn't exist when my entire life's memories have been sucked out by a flying, discontinued piece of shit!"

"It's not my fault you got sucked up by the Witherstorm! You should have been more careful!"

"More careful? That thing defies physics and you tell me to have been more careful?! At least I had the balls to try. You didn't volunteer to blow up the Storm. You're not injured from protecting someone. You can't let anything ruin your perfect hair, now, could you?"

"I've been here this entire time because you roped me into it by asking me to come with you to Gabriel's apartment and then take Jesse to the hospital. You've been gone all this time! You don't know anything, you don't know crap about what happened to us!"

With that last sentence, Lukas glared at her and turned away. "You know what, I'll go look for my real friends. They might have been jerks, but they at least respect me and remember who I am."

He walked away to fetch his horse and Jess crossed her arms. "I'll stay here. I'm not a coward like you. I'd rather die to the Witherstorm than spend one more second with you for talking to me like that when all I was trying to do was help you see that you were more than what you were saying." She spun around to face the edge again. "But, as it turns out, you are what you say you are."

Time began to move again and the snow returned as a blizzard, thrashing their figures and threatening to blow them off the cliff. No longer could they hear each other and neither one would stand down, so Jess continued to look over the forest as Lukas got ready to leave.

~*Ω*~

"Lukas, what are you doing?"

Gabriel leaned over him as he packed his items into his bag and he was annoyed that the Warrior would not go away.

"I'm... leaving."

He blinked in surprise. "... What?"

"I'm leaving. To find my friends. They're still out there and I'm not leaving them. You guys can fight the Witherstorm by yourselves."

"What... what brought this on?" Gabriel coughed and leaned against the wall for support.

"You wanna know why I'm leaving? Go ask Jess. I'm sure she'd know why." With a final toss into his bag, he stood up and slung it over his shoulder, walking out the entrance of the cave. Gabriel couldn't go after him due to his now-weaker condition and tripped over himself, falling to the floor. Soren noticed and ran up to his friend, helping him sit up.

"Gabriel! Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?" The Architect pressed gently against the Warrior's back.

"No, I'm okay," Gabriel grunted. "I'm okay. But Lukas... what is he doing?"

~*Ω*~

For some unknown reason, she grabbed her face and began to cry.