Be Brave | Zach Mitchell [OLD VERSION]

[09]

"I better not be a rebound."

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Claire lead the trio to a van. She opened the doors, making Elle frown. 

"See? Totally safe," Claire told. "All right, get in." She ushered them in. "Come on. Get in there."

Elle glanced around, noticing there were only two seats. She sighed, knowing she was going to be the one on the floor. She sat perpendicular to the boys. 

"If you need me, I'll be right up front. Just open that window," she explained. "Okay? Put your seatbelts on," she instructed. 

They felt around, no seatbelts present. 

"Claire, I don't even have a seat," Elle voiced. 

"Okay, so just... hold hands," she replied, shutting the doors. 

There was a short pause before Gray held out his hand to his brother. Zach grabbed a hold of his hand and then placed his other hand in Elle's. She smiled up at him. 

"Nothing's getting in here, right?" Gray asked after they heard the sound of a dinosaur, most likely the Indominous Rex.

"Hey. Do you remember that ghost at the old house? Remember, the one in the garage? I protected you, right?" Zach asked. 

"You made a battle axe out of a ruler and a paper plate," Gray answered. 

"Yeah. Yeah, see, nothing is gonna get you while I'm around, okay?" Zach reassured. 

"But you're not always gonna be around," Gray argued, his voice soft and scared.

Elle watched the brotherly moment unfold. She said nothing, not wanting to interrupt. 

"Yeah, well- hey, we're brothers, okay? We'll always be brothers, and we'll always come back to one another," Zach comforted. "No matter what."

Elle smiled at them, tears welling up in her eyes as she watched on, wanting a family more than ever in that moment. She wanted her dad, even though he hadn't been around much, in that moment she wanted him to tell her everything will be okay, just like Zach was telling Gray. 

"No matter what?" Gray questioned. 

"No matter what," Zach repeated. 

Elle let a tear slide down her face. She quickly wiped it away, feeling selfish for her moment of weakness when the brothers were finally expressing the fact that they cared about one another. 

It wasn't long before the three of them began to watch the events unfold through the small window in the van after Zach opened it without Claire knowing. Elle watched on as they followed the raptors towards the killer dinosaur. She had a bad feeling about the whole thing. Something was going to go wrong, she knew it. 

"Your boyfriend's a badass," Zach spoke.

The trio didn't notice the small smile that made its way onto Claire's face. 

"Go Owen," Elle cheered as he rode alongside the raptors. 

They continued to watch the screen before the Raptors came to a stop and everyone began to approach the area.

"You know what? No, no, no. You guys are not gonna watch this. Keep the window closed," Claire instructed, shutting the small window.

Elle groaned in annoyance, staying where she was, waiting for when she could reopen the window. 

"You'd think owning the park would mean you get to watch," Elle muttered. She reopened the window after a few minutes and wished she hadn't 

"It's part raptor," Elle whispered.

"Is everybody dead?" Gray asked. 

"No, no, no," Claire reassured, hiding the footage. "Everyone is fine."

"Don't lie to him," Zach demanded. 

"He's scared. It's okay to lie when people are scared," Claire defended. 

"I wanna go home," Gray told. 

It was at that moment that Elle remembered how young he really was. The fear in his voice made her heartbreak. This was going to affect him for years to come. 

"Sweetheart, you will, okay? I promise. Tomorrow you will be home,and your mother will never let me see you again," she comforted, stroking the side of his face. 

The moment was interrupted by a bang. One of the men from the mission had hit their bloody hand against the window. Claire screamed. 

"Get out of here," he yelled. 

The trio quickly shut the window in fright. They sat back down.

"They're coming," another one of the men warned, attempting to jump into the back of the van. He was quickly pulled back by one of the raptors. Elle screamed in fright, crawling to the back of the van.

There was a banging on the window.

"Just hold on back there," she yelled. 

Elle stared at the open doors before she heard a scream. She watched as two raptors ran towards the van. She took a shaky breath before standing and making her way across the van, Zach joining her. She began to unstrap one of the oxygen tanks and with Zach's help, they rolled it out of the back of the van. 

Unfortunately, both Delta and Echo dodged it. Echo caught up to the van, going to the side but Claire moved the van into her, causing her to fall to the ground. Delta was still chasing them. Gray grabbed one of the tasers. Both him and Zach attempted to turn it on. 

"Turn it on," Gray shrieked.

"I don't know how," Zach yelled back. 

Elle watched as Delta grew closer. She grabbed the taser from the pair and began walking closer to the doors. She knelt in the middle of the van and as Delta leapt towards the van and began climbing in, she thrust it into her chest, causing her to fall off of the van. She watched to make sure Delta didn't get back up and when she didn't, she threw the taser down and crawled back to the back of the van.

"That's how it's done," she quipped despite her heart pounding so hard she could hear it. 

"That was hot," Zach told her. She sighed, turning to him, with a smile on her face despite everything. When she turned she found Zach was closer than she thought.

Maybe it was the fact that they'd learnt so much about each other over the last two days or maybe that they'd almost died on way too many occasions but whatever it was Elle knew what she wanted as she leant towards him. Zach knew he wanted to kiss her too so closed the gap before she could.

His hands held her waist as hers held his neck. The kiss was short but Elle really liked it. So did Zach as a smile made its way onto his face. 

"I better not be a rebound," she muttered so that only Zach heard her. 

"Never."

"Are you guys okay?" Claire asked. 

Gray opened the window. 

"Did you see that?" Zach questioned. 

"I can't wait to tell Mom," Gray exclaimed. 

"Please, no. Do not tell your mother about that, ever," Claire begged. 

They heard the familiar sound of Owen's motorcycle and sighed in relief, before yelling his name.