In real life

Bad

The dark landscape outside the car's windows seemed to change shape and form as we sped past. It twisted and turned and made my head spin. I was about ready to throw up. I was so scared. It had been another half an hour and I hadn't seen anything that could give me a clue of where Jack was. Neither had Louis. I felt guilty as fuck and wished that I had kept my mouth shot earlier. But most of all I just whished that Jack would be okay.

"Taylor?" Louis said.

I hummed to make him understand that I had heard him, but I didn't tear my eyes from the window.

Louis sighed. "Maybe we should turn back."

I spun around in my seat and stared at him. "What?" I said. "We can't just stop looking!"

"Taylor, we've been looking for over an hour. There's no sign of him."

"That doesn't mean that we can just give up!"

"We're not giving up, if he isn't back by the morning we'll start looking again."

I sighed. "Okay", I said and turned back towards the window. I still didn't like the idea of cutting the search short.

Louis turned the car around and we started to drive back. The dark squares that were the windows of the houses around us seemed to look at me, taunting. They were calling out to me with loud voices. You failed, they said. Fuck off, I told them.

We kept going, passing block after block with dark buildings. We drove by a closed down supermarket, then a park with tall oaks surrounding a tiny lake. The trees were just silhouettes against the dark night sky. Under one of the trees I got a glimpse of a bench, and not just any bench. It was a bench with someone laying on it. A someone with a dark hoodie and jeans, just like the guy with the red hair I had met earlier. But this time I was sure it wasn't a mysterious stranger. For a split second the moonlight had lit up the persons face, and the features I saw were awfully familiar. It was him. It was Jack.

I registered all this in the matter of seconds, but before I got to voice my thoughts the car had already sped past the park. I almost started to panic.

"Turn the car!" I screamed and Louis jumped in his seat. He looked at me like I was out of my mind but still turned the car around without questions. I must have looked pretty desperate.

Soon the bench came into view again and I was practically shaking with excitement and nerves. Was he okay?

"Here. Stop here."

Louis obeyed my orders and I got out of the car. My legs were a little wobbly as I started to walk towards the bench. Please let him be okay please let him be okay.

"Jack?" I whispered as I finally reached the person lying on the bench.

I put a hand on his shoulder flipped him over. Jack's face looked pail in the moonlight, and he was shivering like crazy. He had curled himself into a little ball in his sleep, his long arms wrapped around his own shaking form. I pushed a strand of hair away from his face and cupped his cheek. The skin pressing against my palm felt cold as ice.

"Did you find him?" Louis called from behind me.

"Yes!" I called back. "Be there in a second!"

I shook Jacks shoulder and he slowly blinked his eyes open.

"Taylor?" he said, his voice coming out raspy and low. He winced and moved his left hand to his throat, gently rubbing his vocal chords.

I smiled softly at him. "Come on, let's get you home."

Jack leaned heavily on me as we made our way over to the car. Louis helped us both get in the backseat and then drove off. As we drove Louis and I kept quiet conversation while Jack dozed off again against my shoulder.