A/N: I've been doing a little digging on this pairing and apparently there is a following for it. I think it makes sense; I don't want to go into detail about why in the author's notes, because I'd rather let the story do the telling.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or elements from the Until Dawn game or well-known entities mentioned in this story, and any original characters or unfamiliar characters in this story belong to me.

Dawn Part II

When they got to the police station, everyone was eerily quiet. No one had bothered to lift their head from staring hard at the floor, or at their shoes—anything but the person next to them or across from them.

Chris and Ashley sat hand in hand, as if someone were threatening to take them apart. Emily had tears brimming in her eyes as she hugged herself. Jessica appeared to be catatonic; she had the most injuries out of everyone. Her chest bared a gash, as well as her lip and her forehead. There was no telling what kind of bruises and scratches lay hidden under her clothes. Naturally, Mike was sitting close to her, seemingly unsure as to whether or not he should touch her.

Matt was next to Sam, shaking his head softly. Now that the adrenaline had left her body, her own wounds were coming to life. Her right leg had a gash from her fall in the mines, and the blood was caked onto her shaft. Taking a bath—a shower seemed more sensible at this point—would be torture, but she longed to be clean.

Finally, an officer came in and interrupted the silence. Thankfully, it wasn't the male cop with the robotic voice; it was a middle-aged woman with copper red hair. "We want to thank you all for giving us your statements. You all have been through a lot in one night, and you lost another friend."

"I wouldn't call him a friend after the mess we just went through," Emily scoffed. "We all look like crap."

"I understand how upset you all are, but your friend was sick." She had a gentle, calming voice. Her lapel read: Miranda Keller, Det.

"He was getting help. H-he had a psychologist who prescribed him medication," Chris added.

"Chris, Josh had stopped taking it weeks ago. He was literally out of his mind," Mike retorted. "What he did was sick, okay? Making us believe that he was dead and—"

"That was a symptom of his condition. He may not have even been aware of what he was doing," the detective threw in.

"How could he not?" Emily bit out, jumping to her feet. "I don't care if he was sick or not, that psycho nearly got me killed!"

"Even after everything that has happened, you can only think about yourself," Matt ground out in disgust. Sam was surprised to hear him speak; he had looked so out of tune with the conversation.

Emily turned to him, a mixture of surprise and shock on her face. "What did you say Matt?"

He got to his feet as well. Everyone had perked up at the tone in his voice; this new side of Matt was unsettling. "I said, you're selfish. All you can think about is yourself. I risked my life to save yours! That-that thing nearly hung me on a hook like a fish! I could've jumped to safety and left you to die! And what's more, you lied to me! To my face!" His chest heaved with burning anger.

"Hey, Matt calm down," Chris said. Ashley was cradling her head in her hands, letting the tears flow.

"No! I've had enough of this! I am done, Emily."

The color left the brunette's face and she went for him. "What does that mean, Matt? I'm your girlfriend, talk to—"

He snatched his arm away from her reach. "No, Emily. I'm done talking. We're done. End of story."

"Matthew," Miranda called after him. The door slammed shut, and Emily merely stood there, her hands balled into fists.

"That jerk dumped me! Me, of all girls! He'll come back, I know he will." But she didn't sound so sure. She looked around the room; all of her friends had their eyes on her. "What are you looking at? This isn't Jerry Springer." She sat back down and crossed her arms and legs.

Detective Keller took in a shallow breath. "We can continue without him. An SUV will be here soon to take you guys to the hospital. After that, is the road to recovery."

"None of us have lost any limbs or anything serious," Ashley hunched her shoulders.

"I'm not talking about a physical recovery."

.

After several weeks, Sam knew exactly what Detective Keller meant by her words.

She enjoyed thriller movies, but she hated the way her mind played tricks on her. It would take a few days for her to not turn off the light and sprint for her room like someone was chasing her. Her mom would look at her strange when she would double check all of the doors and windows.

But this…this was different.

She had actually lived through a horror movie. If the media ever got wind of their experiences, it would be a movie in a year.

Baths were out of the question.

She slept with her light on.

Scary movies were out of the question.

She didn't want to vacation anywhere near a mountain, forests, or snow.

And no more night walks to clear her head. She tried it once after she had returned home, and it only filled her with dread, anxiety, and fear.

Her mother asked her almost every day how she was doing, and while she appreciated it, it was starting to wear on her nerves. Were they expecting her to start sleeping with a gun under her pillow? Slit her wrists? Pop a whole bottle of sleeping pills?

Her dad offered to walk with her in the early evening right after dinner, get her a dog, and had even suggested volunteering at the hospital downtown.

When she asked why, he told her that focusing on something new and productive would purge the demons in her head.

Because she didn't want to schedule visits with a psychologist, she accepted all of his suggestions. They walked in silence most days with her new dog alongside them. Her dad had surprised her with a Husky pup with icy blue eyes and a grey coat.

At first, she had hesitated to volunteer at the hospital, but her teachers at the college had suggested she take off the rest of the spring semester.

So volunteer she did. She filed papers, sat at the front desk to greet patients, and helped restock the gift shop.

One day, she was carrying a stack of greeting cards in a box when she bumped hard into someone. Both of them went crashing to the floor, and she heard the person—apparently female—oof as they landed.

"I'm sorry," she apologized quickly, gathering the cards. The person's pills had rolled next to her, and she grabbed the bottle.

The name on the label read: "Riley, Jessica A".

Sam looked up; hazel met blue.

"Jess?"

xxx

First chapter done! Hopefully, this wasn't too boring for you guys. I wanted Matt to blow up at Emily so bad at some point. This story is dealing with the emotional aftermath of the lodge incident more than anything else. So there will be more tense situations.

Please review and let me know what you think. Is everyone in character? Is it too dry?