LIABILITY ━━ until dawn.

chapter v.

chapter five – alone.

" Finally! " Sage exclaims as the door leading inside of the Washington Lodge was opened from the inside. She was freezing her ass off and just wanted to be by a warm fire.

Chris only rolls his eyes fondly at the overdramatic brunette before speaking, his tone full of humour, " Thank you, thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week– " He's quickly cut off by a blur darting out the front door and a scream escaping him. " Jeez! "

Sage, Ashley, and Sam all burst out laughing as Chris continues to panic, the whole ordeal entertaining to the three girls. " Crap, that thing scared me. " Chris mutters as Sage and Sam continued to laugh quietly, trying to stop themselves.

" What was that? Are you okay? " Ashley asks Chris quickly as she stares at him with a raised eyebrow. The concern she showed was obvious to Sage and made the girl smirk. Sage hoped the two of them got together soon.

" It was like a bear, or a tiger, or something– " Chris rushes out, still looking panicked from the thing darting past, as Sage snorts in amusement.

" Aw, it was just a cute little baby wolverine! " Sam exclaims, her tone turning into a mocking one, while looking completely entertained.

" Baby? " Chris repeats surprised.

Sage snorts in amusement again as she steps inside the Washington Lodge and pats Chris on his shoulder, " Don't worry, buddy. You'll be a big boy soon. " She then walks further inside as the others finally enter and utter sighs of relief about escaping the cold.

" Home sweet home. " Josh announces as the group seperates, exploring seperate parts of the main lounge as they settled in. Sage stood near the fireplace, starting to rub her hands against arms in hope of creating warmth for herself.

" Sweet isn't the word that I used to describe it. " Matt mutters while placing his and Emily's bags by the door. It was obvious that no one had been up to the lodge in ages, the furniture was covered and most of the place was caked in dust.

" I wouldn't use sweet to describe you either, bag boy. " Sage teases the jock, gesturing to pink luggage next to him. She knew Emily was the more dominant one in her realtionship with Matt and Sage thought it was the most entertaining thing in her opinion. Matt only shakes his head, ignoring the shorter girl's remark.

" Oh my gosh, it's so good to be inside. Even if it's still freezing in here. " Ashley announces as she looks around the open area, Chris by her side, as she starts to move around the room.

" I'll get a fire going. " Josh mutters, moving over to the fireplace that Sage stood by while waiting impatiently for Josh to start a fire. He grins at Sage, finding entertainment in how angry she looked.

" Finally! " Sage exclaims while glaring at the eldest Washington child. She gestures aimlessly at the fireplace, " I've been waiting since we walked in! "

" Don't be so dramatic, " Josh smirks as he starts to work on making a fire. He looks up at Sage from where he was now crouching, " Anger doesn't look good on you, S. "

" This place doesn't look any different. " Matt says looking around in surprise.

" Nobody's been up here. " Josh shrugs making Sage raise an eyebrow in curiousity.

" Not even with the police coming in and out like all the time? " Sage asks quietly as she looks down at Josh.

" Nope. " Josh replies as he doesn't look up at Sage which effectively cuts off the conversation.

Sage moves and starts to walk around the main lounge, finding herself staring at an portrait of the Washington Family. She stares at the portrait, mostly Hannah and Beth's smiling faces, before she hears the voice that she was regretting hearing again.

" What's up, party people! " Mike shouts as he walks into the main room, Jess following closely behind him.

Sage sighs as she glances up at the ceiling, hoping that Mike didn't say anything to her. She couldn't handle another conversation with Mike at the moment, her heart wouldn't be able to take it at all.

" Fuck, " Sage sighs again before running a hand over her face, ignoring the brewing argument between Mike and Matt until Emily and Jess started arguing also. She moved to stand behind the couch that Mike and Jess were on and quickly caught Emily's on, the raven haired girl smirking at her.

" Excuse me, did you say something? " Jess scoffs, her voice full of distaste for her former best friend, as she quickly stood up and approached Emily.

" Oh, did you not hear me? " Emily spits out while crossing her arms over her chest. The air had became tense as everyone watched Emily and Jess argue over basically nothing. " Was your sluttiness too loud? "

" Please, " Jess argues back as she looks at Emily angrily. She waves off the slightly taller girl, " Someone's just bitter they didn't make the cut. "

" Yeah. It's all a big cattle call with that dreamboat. Congrats, you're top cow. " Emily rolls her eyes as she mockingly claps for the blonde, it was obvious how much the two despised each other ever since the night that Hannah and Beth went missing and this made it even more obvious. Emily suddenly pauses, as if remembering something important, before smiling mockingly at Jess. " Are you sure that you're the top girl in his life though? "

As if finally figuring out that someone stood behind him, Mike finally turns around and holds back his surprise at seeing Sage willingly standing near him after earlier. Sage only glances at him, hoping to hear whatever Emily was continuing to say. Mike could wait.

" Maybe. . " Emily pauses as she glances over to where Mike sat and was still glancing back at Sage. " You're just a replacement until Sage and Mike finally admit their feelings for each other, huh? How do you feel about that, Jess? We all know that there's something between your boyfriend and Sage, ever since last year. "

" Mike– " Josh suddenly stands from his place next to fireplace, his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. He looks straight at Mike and ignores the sigh of relief that comes from Sage. " Why don't you go check out the guest cabin, huh? "

" Yeah, " Mike nodded immediately before turning to Jess and holding out his hand. " You wanna come with? "

" Any place without that whore and her sidekick. " Jess mutters, obviously referring to Emily and Sage, and grasps Mike's outstretched hand.

" It's just up the trail. " Josh tells the two, right before they quickly leave the main room. The tension leaves the room quickly after that making Sage and Matt sigh in relief.

" Thank god. " Sage mutters as Matt and Josh nod in agreement.

The brewing drama between Sage, Mike, and Jess could wait until another day.

━━━
authors note.

this was probably so bad, i'm sorry ): ! i'm trying to get to next chapter cause that's shit starts to quickly go down.