Here We Are || HG Sequel

Chapter Ten

About a week had passed after the party by the lake, with multiple unsuccessful tries to play Match-Maker, and many disappointments in the lack of progression in the relationship the two "love birds" seemed to have. They certainly have the potential to be a couple, but both of them refuse to acknowledge that. Ashton had gone out into the woods at night with Louis and Zayn pretty much every night since then, and slowly, they started giving him more information. They hadn't seen much since the first time, though.

"So can I have the full back story, now?" Ashton asks, as they make their way into the woods yet again.

"Sure," Louis finally agreed. "I do think you've earned it by now. When we first arrived Here, -all of us, I mean- we all decided that after what seemed like living Here for forever, we would try and look for a way off of this island. Well, we all set out into the woods, and low and behold, we came upon this wall. That's how we found out that this wall never ends. We walked around the perimeter of the entire thing; it's one huge circle entrapping us, just like..."

"An arena..." Ashton cuts him off. Louis nods.

"So, naturally, our curiosity was peaked. I found out how to unlock it, which wasn't that hard, and we were through the doorway in minutes. Remember how I said not to stand too close to the fence? Well, unfortunately Alex was the first to find that out. He turned away for a second, and something got him. It was dark by the time we figured out that we needed to go through the gate of the giant wall, so we never saw what attacked him. Crystal and Holland were able to free him. Zayn and I went back the next night, unknown to the others, to try and find what had attacked Alex. Though we weren't successful, and decided to leave. We hadn't gone back since. That is, until you guys showed up. When all of you crashed your hovercraft Here, Zayn and I were a little taken aback. We thought it had something to do with the Capital, or what was behind that wall."

"We ran over there as fast as we could," Zayn continues. "But the gate wouldn't open. It had locked itself, and this time, it refused to open, no matter how hard we tried. After that, we decided to scope out the crash."

"And what do you know, we met you guys," Louis picks back up. "I started going back into the woods once or twice before we brought you along, by myself. I never risked getting anywhere near the fence, and I would always go when there was still light. I only ever caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye. But I always felt like someone was watching me, like they were right there. Like a sort of presence was surrounding me."

"That seems pretty whacked up," Ashton admits. Louis and Zayn nod, unlocking the gate.

"What we saw with you, you know what you saw. Go on, say it," Louis said. "What was it?" Ashton hesitated, taking a deep breath.

"It looked like a human," he confesses. They stepped through again, and felt the atmosphere around them change. "I can feel that presence you were talking about," he agrees.

"Our mission today; find out exactly what we saw. There's still some light out, and we're gonna bait the creatures to come out."

"Bait them with what? Are you going to turn around and paint a piece of meat on your ass?"

"What a jokester," Louis rolls his eyes. "You don't have to. All you have to do is stand too close to their precious fence." When they make it there, Louis sacrifices himself to go first, standing relatively as close to where he was last time when he was attacked. "Come on," he gestures. Zayn moves forward, while Ashton continues to scope out their surroundings. "You too," Louis hisses in a hushed whisper.

"Shh! I think I hear something... Don't move..." He was correct. The ruffling of leaves, and a soft light humming sound were coming around the corner. He took it all in, and stared out at the spot he saw not too long ago, and could have sworn he recognized the face. "I saw something. It was what we saw the other day," he tells them.

"Well great, then get your ass over here," Louis chews him out.

"Wait," he refuses. His eyes widen, looking out passed the other boys. "Holy shit..." he whispers. "Don't fucking move," he warns. "Don't even turn your head." The creature which he saw from the bushes was emerging. It was almost completely revealed, when something in the distance made a loud, echoing noise, scaring the creature back into the shadows. "Fuck." Louis and Zayn stepped away from the fence, joining Ashton.

"What is it? What was it? What did you see?"

"Not here. Let's go," Ashton tells them, heading back for the gate. He would tell them, but that was not the time, or place. 

Back at the campground, Louis and Zayn dispersed after Ashton promised to tell them everything later. Suddenly, Taylor and Holland approach him. Normally he would huff and be annoyed, but he doesn't mind their presence. "Are you serious? You still haven't told her how you feel? Haven't opened up to her?" Taylor asks.

"No, I'm afraid I've been a bit busy." Holland crosses her arms over her chest.

"Are you kidding me? Okay, you know what, I tried not to play therapist, but now I'm playing therapist. Get over there, and tell her how you feel! I don't care what it takes." Holland shoves him to the area by their beds, where Karalyn was sitting. Walking over to her, Ashton ran a hand through his hair, thinking of what to say. "Can we talk now?" he asks nicely. At least, nicely for him. She doesn't respond. She hasn't spoken to him in a week. Clenching his fists, Ashton tried not to show his anger that she has been ignoring him. He's had to hide it for a week, and now he's had about enough. "Look, I really need to talk to you," he tells her, sitting down.

"That's nice." Ashton takes a deep breath, restraining himself.

"What's your problem? You've been ignoring me all week."

"Doesn't feel too good, does it?" she says, completely not giving him her full attention. 

"Are you going to talk to me, or sit there?"

"Sit here. I'm content with that." By this point, the frustration was so aggravating that Ashton wanted to punch a hole through a wall.

"Well I'm going to talk anyway!"

"So... talk," Karalyn shrugs. Ashton looks away from her, looking over at his bed with his belongings, and remembering the box he had opened earlier. Sighing, he turns back to Karalyn, and starts over.

"Look, I know I'm a jerk. I know that I shut people out and don't let anyone in, and I know that I have issues with my attitude. I know that I yell at you when you've done nothing wrong, I know that I give off mixed messages and I can't express myself to you, and I know you don't think I give a shit about you and that you're completely wrong. I know you don't understand me and realize that you never will unless I tell you about who I am as a person but I don't think you realize how hard that is.

"I know I can be bipolar and I know I call you names that aren't your own and even though you say you don't like them you've gotten used to them. I know I can't hold you to anything in The Games and I know that you have feelings for Luke and I know you're confused about all of this and me being an asshole isn't helping. I know that I'm nothing like Luke and I know I never will be. I never answer your questions because any answer I gave you would either be lousy or complete bullshit. I know sometimes I avoid you and I know you're doing the same thing to me now and I realize that I deserve it. I'm a complete asshole, and I deserve all of this. But I wasn't lying, any time that I said I care about you. You probably don't believe me because of all the shit I give you, but I'm in love with you." There was a moment of silence between them, and Karalyn did not respond. "Really? You have nothin-"

Before Ashton could continue his sentence, Karalyn kissed him. At first, Ashton was shocked, but after a moment, he moved closer to her, cupping her face with his hands, kissing her back, harder. When they pull away, she finally responds. "I'm in love with you."