A Message to Scott Cawthon: Reimagined

Chapter Three

After they finished getting unpacked, they all decided to spread out and work out which "facility" was the best. Baz and Ryan went to the PlayStation, to find the only games it had were Minecraft, Cuphead and Fortnite. They played Cuphead for a bit.

Lewis went to the hot tub outside, wasting no time to turn the jets onto full power and full heat. A problem with being tall is that your hands and feet often get cold from weird blood circulation. So, when he stepped in, he almost yelped at the sudden change in temperature and came close to dropping his camera.

Will and Rhys simply tested out the Wi-Fi by calling home to explain how their day had gone so far. The line kept crackling and voices from the other side kept breaking up. Eventually, they ended the call and resorted to sending a text which took a long time to send. Rhys went to get another coffee and Will went outside, also curious about the hot tub.

"What the blooming Hell have you two been talking about?" the musician said in a posh voice as he saw Lewis outside. He caught his friend off guard, but eventually the younger man laughed.

"Hey, Will!"

"So, how's the hot tub?"

"Ah, mate! It's lovely!" Lewis leaned back against the hot tub's wall as if that emphasised the point.

Will rolled up one of his black sleeves and dunked his hand into the water, feeling the jets push through his fingers. "It's not bad, isn't it?" he replied cheerfully, drifting his hand through the water in small circles and watching the ripples move around. He lifted his arm back up and shook it around to get most of the water off before saying goodbye to head back inside.

"Oh, wait!" Lewis called, "What time are we leaving for the restaurant?"

"Like, an hour and a half?"

Lewis nodded and ended the recording. "Would you mind if you could take this inside for me?" he asked, holding out the little black camera. Will nodded with a smile and leaned across the hot tub to grab it. Lewis wasn't making this easier for the musician.

"Can you pass it here then?" Will asked, the front of his body now leaning across the hot tub, his shirt dangerously close to becoming wet. The younger man inched the camera closer, the purple-haired man sighed, taking it as a joke. Finally, he reached the camera and had a firm grip on it. He grinned cheekily as an idea came into his head. "Okay, I'll see you in a bit then..." he began to straighten his back and suddenly pretended to lose his grip on the camera.

"Will!" Lewis shrieked. The musician burst out laughing, having to close his eyes as tears of laughter threatened to sting them. "You almost dropped it in the water!" the younger man continued in a rage.

"The look of sheer terror on your..."

"Was that supposed to be funny!?" Lewis yelled. Will opened his eyes to see Lewis directly in his face. He hadn't heard him get up from the water. The musician stopped laughing and took a step back, holding his free hand and the camera up as if he was about to be arrested.

"It was just a joke, Lew!" he said defensively. "I wouldn't have dropped it for real!" Lewis just stared at his older friend, his eyes flicking from Will's blue eyes to the camera in his hand. He blinked slowly. "Mate, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

And Lewis smiled.

Will realised that he had been caught hook lined and sinkered in his friend's joke. "I thought I had actually upset you!" he stammered. Lewis smiled reassuringly.

"You're a great singer mate but you need to work on your acting!" he replied, giving an imitation of Will supposedly dropping the camera, his movements forced and non-linear. Both men laughed. "See you in a bit, Will!" Lewis said as he sat back down in the water. The musician waved goodbye and went back inside, closing the balcony door.

Lewis watched and readjusted his sitting position, giving a massive yawn. The water was so warm and the day's excitement along with his earlier travel sickness had taken a lot out of him. I've got an hour yet, he thought. It won't matter if I closed my eyes for a while.

As Will walked back in, the others gave him a curious look. "What was the yelling about?" Ryan asked with a hint of concern creeping into his voice. Will explained the prank Lewis had pulled and that seemed to end the conversation. He then left to go to his room. Ryan wasn't pleased about that. He looked down at his wrist once again. The marks were pretty much gone but were still partially visible. That wasn't an accident, he thought nervously. Damn it, he was overthinking it again. It was an accident; it had to have been an accident. This was Lewis they were talking about, after all.

"It's a knockout!" the game said, as the level on Cuphead ended in victory.

"One more level?" Baz asked Ryan, glancing towards his friend as he could already sense the reluctance.

"Nah, someone else can play for a bit, mate," the younger man replied. Baz could tell something was on his mind but knew how unlikely it was to get a straight answer if he asked; so, he didn't. Rhys, who had been wanting to play Cuphead but had felt too awkward to ask moved out of his chair, shuffling awkwardly.

"Do you mind if I take the wheel for a bit?" he asked, Ryan nodded and handed him the controller, before following Will upstairs. As he came to the door to the musician's room, he knocked on it softly.

"You alright?" a voice asked from behind it.

"Can I come in a second?" Ryan replied, already opening the door.

"Yeah sure, come on in!" Will said, "What's up?" Ryan stepped into the room, taking note of how messy it was; clothes were thrown over the spare bed that Will wasn't using and anything that should have really been on a shelf or in a cupboard was currently lying on the floor. Ryan pushed his compulsive and organised thoughts down, trying his best to ignore the mess.

"Have you noticed anything... off... about Lewis today?" Ryan asked slowly as he kept his voice down, trying his best to form a sentence that wouldn't sound completely offensive. Will looked a little confused; that wasn't what he was expecting to be asked. He was expecting Ryan to say "Mate, I forgot my deodorant" or something similar.

"Off? Like what?"

"I don't know... I'm just worried about him. He hasn't seemed himself; he only really talks when he's vlogging, he keeps spacing out and..." Ryan saw one of Will's eyebrows raise. He sighed, "Ah, forget it. Forget I said anything." He went to walk out the room again.

"No, I..." Will began, wanting to reassure his younger friend. "I mean, he's probably still feeling a bit sick from this morning, right? Y'know, the whole car ride he thought he was going to throw up."

"Then why would he go on the roller coasters?"

Will's face screwed up in concentration. "He probably just didn't want to feel left out," he eventually explained. "Or didn't want to make us feel awkward. You know what he's like; always thinking of others before himself." Ryan couldn't think of anything to say. Will was right, his points made perfect sense. "Remind you of anyone?" Will said with a small yet infectious smile. Ryan shook his head and laughed a little. "Don't worry about him, mate. I'm sure he'll be fine." Ryan nodded doubtfully and began to walk out the room. He felt a little awkward for bringing this up.

"Is it okay if we..." he began.

"I won't tell anyone, don't worry."

Ryan sighed in relief. "Thanks, Will." He finally stepped out the room. The purple-haired man watched him go, and when Ryan closed the door he listened to his receding footsteps.

Ryan had good intentions, he just wanted to make sure their younger friend was okay. But good intentions or not, he had put the musician a little on edge.

"He'll be fine," Will told himself. "He will be fine."