Rook stared reluctantly at the watchtower.
The last time he had been here was the first time he met Faith in person, the location was chosen at her discretion, right before Nick's kid was born, and now she had asked for yet another meeting there a little over an hour ago. He didn't expect things to go well all things withstanding, but he couldn't say no to Faith Seed, he had been so desperate to get to her the past few days, this was his golden goose, but as good as it was, it felt to good to be true, just to be safe, he kept his handgun tucked readily in his waistband, and all along the watchtower trip, he mustered up the courage to do whatever needed to be done, regardless of how guilty he thought she was.
And when he arrived, the watchtower was just as idyllic and untouched as it was the first time he was here. With each step he took up the rickety staircase, a painfully loud creak could be heard, sending shivers up Rook's spine, he feared it was going to give him away, and in turn killed. To his surprise, once he reached the top, he saw Faith standing at the other end of the watchtower, discarded was the ratted clothes she was forced to adorn herself with and wore her almost timeless snow white sundress again, her presence it created some sort of shudder within him, it wasn't her waiting for him like she said, it was how she looked, she appeared, agitated, cross, almost stoic, it reminded her of John and Jacob, yet she looked completely normal, like this was a normal thing for her, to him her visage was the normal look in these parts, and he had quickly become accustom to it.
"Hey there Faith" Rook said slowly as he walked towards her just as slowly.
He didn't want to take things to fast and spook her, she was just as tense as he was.
"Benjamin" Faith nodded back, almost looking down her nose at him.
"So uh, what's up, it's not everyday you call me out here out of the blue" Rook said, eyeing the approaching sunset, if he was holding a hat, he'd be wringing it tightly, he didn't like what was going on with Faith, even though she said one word, it was the coldest she had ever sounded.
"Listen to me Ben, I have tried and tried again and again to get you to see why we do the things we do in hopes you would see the light within the darkness if our actions and help us preserve mankind, I have also taken your refusals in stride, in hoping I could persuade you another time but no more, this is it, I have brought you here to ask you one last time to join with Eden's Gate and do the right thing" Faith explained, there was a echo of impatience in her voice, it matched her aggravated look.
"Faith, you don't understand, it's not as cut and dry as you think, I can't just swap sides like this is a soccer team" Rook sighed, he felt like he was poking a sleeping bear, just the way she looked at him felt different, like there was a lack of warm, a lack of compassion.
"No! you don't understand, you don't understand what I have been through and what I've had to do to accommodate you! With every step you take, with every action you make you make things that much harder for me" Faith argued, getting loud.
"Then stop trying, I'm clearly not worth it by the sounds of it" Rook offered, trying to sound reasonable.
"But you are worth it Benjamin, I truly, truly care about you and I will not let you drown in your sins, I won't stop just because you asked me to, God, through the Father ordained me to save you, and I will, as I said, I care for you and won't let you die, even if you'll hate me for it, or you could embrace it, we can even start a life together as we wait out The Collapse and let it flourish as we step into the new dawn, please just stop fighting me on this! if I can't get stop you in one way or another then the Father will kill me!" Faith yelled, anger slowly building despite trying to calm herself, it was like she was welcoming the anger, using it then dismissing it.
Despite her variety of emotions she exhibited, she remained rather confident and strong, but yet she showed signs of cracking, Rook not listening to her was tightening her screws to tight, perhaps she already pushed to far and was taking additional pressure.
"Knowing that, why do you still choose to follow him, y'all lose more and more by the day, it's clear he's going to lose this fight, how many hundreds of peggies are there left? Six? Five? At this rate we will be at yours and Joseph's door in weeks, and if we don't kill you then and there, you're going to be sent to the electric chair along side him!" Rook insisted, trying to sound as logical as he could, he didn't want to scare her, nor did he what to come off as threatening.
"Because it's all I have!" Faith cried as her voice cracked, finally showing genuine pain.
"Faith…" Rook almost sighed as he fought himself not to hold out a hand to her as if to offer comfort, he didn't have to look hard to see the tears dotting the corners of her eyes as she remained uncharacteristically tough towards him, but he couldn't blame her.
But he pushed those feelings aside, those feelings were going to get him, make him weak, vulnerable to Faith, she would use that against him, and that would be the end of him.
"Your right, I don't know what's happened to you recently, but even if I decide to just do as you ask, do you really think everyone else would be fine with it, I've killed so many, your goons won't be happy to see me" Rook suggested.
"I am willing to overlook what you have done to the statue I had built, and all those you have taken from us, what you have done to John and Jacob will take some time to smooth over but it's not impossible" Faith offered.
"Faith, I found your diar-" Rook tried to speak but was quickly silenced.
"Don't!" Faith threatened, for a moment her voice was loud and strong, the very voiced she used to the many defected peggies she had put down.
"I am not here for a discussion, I am here for an answer" she demanded before glowering at him in silence.
The way she looked at him reminded him of Jess, how she could easy burn a whole through him with her stare, anger to hide hurt, she wasn't kidding when she said something had happened to her, who knows what her own followers could have done to her. But even then, he couldn't just turn his back on everything, he had to deny her then take her back to the prison by force if need be, he hoped she came her by herself to show her sincerity, if peggies came out of nowhere to stop him, he couldn't stop them all.
"I'm sorry Faith, I'm not joining your cult" Rook said softly,
She sighed deeply through her nose, the disappointment palpable.
"Very well, so be it" Faith said before taking out her satellite radio and brought it to her mouth, before she spoke, her features softened to her just enough to look like herself again, she even looked a little sad.
"What are you doing?" Rook asked, to stunned to do anything, he feared he was about to be surrounded and attacked.
"Cameron, can you hear me Mister Burke?" She asked, her glaring eyes still glue to Rook like a predator watching its prey, and just like prey, Rook felt a fear like no other, he had forgotten he had given a walkie to Burke, he had inadvertently given him a line straight to his master.
"I hear you ma'am" Burke responded, his voice devoid of emotion and sounded just like the rest of the mindless drones that bowed before the Seeds.
"Begin" she commanded, a never before heard confidence surfing from her voice and inspiring despair with Rook.
"It will be done, praise be to the Father" Burke said before disconnecting.
"Praise be to the Father" Faith said, putting away the phone.
"What did you do?!" Rook gasped.
"If violence is the only language you speak, then I will speak your language… I'm sorry but this is for our own good" Faith hissed, her visage turned to one of pure contempt.
"What did you do!?" Rook said again, louder this time, his anger spiking now the initial fear had subsided.
"I don't understand, did you think you could do whatever you wished without fear of consequences, what have I done to displease you? I've been reasonable, I've been fair, but you never stop pushing, all so you could be what? a hero? As your arrogance driven you that far?" Faith sighed, still ignoring the question.
"I'm just trying to do the right thing! I don't don't give a shit about being the hero, so tell me what you did!" Rook yelled louder.
"Do you know what arrogance is? Its arrogance before the gods, the Greeks saw it as a dangerous form of pride that invoked the goddess Nemesis who would seek retribution" Faith cooed.
"If you planning to kill me, this would be your chance, but I have the sneaking suspicion that you're not carrying a weapon!" Rook warned, eyeing her dress that had no pockets or any means of concealment.
"I have no intention on fighting you, I intend to make you return to your friends and save them from the men I have sent to silence the sinners" Faith said before her visage hardened again.
"I have done what is had too, I'm sorry… but you just made your choice and I, mine" she said.
"You did what!?" Rook exclaimed, hands raising as if to strangle her but he restraint himself with grit teeth.
"Sure, you could do anything you want to me, but every second you spend dealing with me, is a second you could have spent saving your friends, choose wisely" Faith nodded.
Her words brought him pause, he considered his options, deal with Faith or the prison, he couldn't care less about anyone there, well except for Jess, regardless of how they parted, if he was going save save at least on person, it would be her.
With a scoff, Rook turned and ran down the watchtower with Jess on his mind, barking warnings that the next time he and Faith met, there will be no more beating around the bush, to which Faith agreed to, for to long he she been to soft on him.
She needed to be more like Rook himself.
When Rook returned to the prison, it was a shitshow, shockingly more peggies had come to attack the prison, and even more shockingly, they had made it inside and were killing people, the sheer surprise of it all, so soon after the siege a little over two hours ago, no one expected it, it made everyone easy pickings, the peggies were undoubtedly let in by Burke somehow, but how he replicated the key to the manacle that chained him in the infirmary was beyond Rook's understanding. The only silver lining to this conundrum was that there were significantly less peggies than last time, dozens had trudged they're way through the hundreds that were melted onto the courtyard and breached the prison, the small amount of peggies was almost inconsequential to Rook, as he came up the prison's front entrance and moved in for the kill. The peggies didn't expect Rook to come in from behind, stealing guns from the fallen, he shot the cultists in the back, they didn't know what was happening until it was to late, and by then so too did the resistance, attacking the cult from both sides.
It didn't take long for the problem to be quelled, and after that no one moved out of fear, Rook came in right behind the peggies and many assumed he was with them at first, killing Pratt had made him a borderline enemy, but yet Rook waved it off, angrily ordering them to start securing the place, and treating the wounded. It was that what snapped them back into motion, acting as if Rook was a friendly again. With the problem solved, he almost ran to the infirmary, but he had an increasing feeling that Burke would not be in there, God only knew what Faith had ordered him to do. With each rushed step to the makeshift hospital, Rook cursed and berated himself for his stupidity, after all that he had seen, why the actual fuck would he give a Stockholm syndrome, brainwashed, indoctrinated cultist a direct connection to they're master, maybe if he wasn't so focused on pushing his own agenda, maybe he would have seen his faults, the only way he could possibly write this off as not a failure was to deal with Burke, grab Jess, the run for the hills before anyone who's actually capable noticed.
Rook practically shoulder tackled the infirmary doors open, the willingness to bark Burke's name dancing on the tip of his tongue, but to his disappointment, the infirmary was empty, not even the usual suspects rested unconscious in the cots, but Rook was uninterested in that, he wanted to see the chain that bonded Burke to the infirmary wall, he expected a planned and intricate escape, but instead found the chain and manacle that kept him at his post, it was intact and showed no signs of tampering, but yet how Burke escaped was plain has day, the manacle was soaked with blood and was accompanied by a blunted hacksaw and severed foot, all resting peaceful on an undisturbed puddle of blood
"Son of a bitch" Rook muttered to himself, narrowing his eyes at the blood.
He couldn't help but feel stumped, yes, he cut his foot off and then what? where would he go? What would he do? Surely, he couldn't not have gone far. Upon closer inspection, there was a little tray full of various used medical supplies, things one would need for an amputation, then little nickel sized drop of blood trailed back the way he came, there had to be something that was indicative as to where he would have gone, what would be worth cutting his foot off for?
No matter what that thing was, Rook would never know as his investigation was cut short as someone had entered the room.
"There you are you motherfucker!" Nick's angry voice shouted from behind.
With a tense sigh, Rook slowly turned to see Nick Rye standing furiously in the doorway as if he caught Rook doing something scrupulous.
Aside from the apparent rage the exuded behind his ever-present aviators, flecks of blood stained his clothes here and there, no of which was his, but he was not untouched by the cult's violence as he sported a few scraps, bruises and light cuts that would quickly heal.
Without another word, Nick stomped his way over to Rook, disregarding the scene around them.
"I know what you did you son of a bitch, everyone knows!" Nick threated as he painfully poked a finger into Rook's chest a few times.
"Everyone knows exactly what you did, you killed Pratt to cover up your tracks, I bet you did a lot off slimy shit!" Nick inferred.
"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about!" Rook snarked, he really didn't want to do this.
"You killing that Pratt guy proved everything I believed about you, you killed th' Sheriff too, God knows who else you killed!
"Nick for real, I don't have time for this, move aside, I gotta find Burke" Rook said casually before trying to sidestep him.
"Oh no you don't" Nick barked, holding an arm out to prevent him from leaving.
"For all I care, you let him out just so you could swoop in and save the day to get back in everyone's good graces, but that ain't happening!" Nick yelled, sticking a finger in Rook's face.
"Nick, I don't have time for this, I have work to do and a lot of people are dead" Rook scoffed, swatting the hand away.
"You're not going anywhere, we're putting you in a cell until we know what to do with you" Nick exclaimed as he produced a knife, it was small and straight, by no means was it a pocketknife, but something you would use at dinner.
Looking closer, Rook noticed Nick's hands shook lightly, proving under his rage he was apprehensive to follow through with his threats should he need to, but then again, he should be afraid, Rook could crush him in an instant, with all the time he spent in his plane, physical confrontation was fee and far between. And Rook counted on it, calling his bluff he took a step closer to Nick, his voice dropping deadly low.
"Is this what you really what to do Nicholas?" Rook asked unblinkingly.
"Is this really worth risking your life over? Do you really think you can stop me with just a knife? if you really want to go down this road, you're going to need a much bigger knife" he threatened calmly, his own appearance reflected back at him from Nick's glasses.
"I told you I'd protect my home matter what" Nick replied, narrowing his eyes at his former friend.
"Then so be it" Rook nodded, still calm.
The two stood there in silence for a second, placid and unflinching, sizing each other up before both snapped into action like springs stretched out to long, Nick trying to stab him and Rook trying to confiscate the blade.
But just as Rook theorized, he was faster then the pilot, he grabbed the arm that held the knife and rotated it clockwise, pulling the knife up from the belt line up to shoulder height before stopping, Nick's arm could not twist of bend any further, knowing this Rook still pushed further, causing him to make a cry of pain as he was forced to let go of the knife, a technique he learned long ago in the police academy to disarm bladed attackers, but he didn't stop there, as the blade fell, Rook snatched it before it hit the floor, keeping it tight in his grip as he eyed Nick's abdomen, and in one calculated movement, he stuck the blade between Nick's ribs, it didn't go right down to the hilt, Rook disallowed it, regardless of how deep the blade went, Nick toppled over like David vanquishing Goliath.
As Nick squirmed and writhed on the floor, coughing and wheezing, Rook couldn't help but stare down at his bleeding friend, he felt nothing for what he did, it was either Nick or himself, and he needed to save the county.
"You killed me! You fucking killed me!" Nick wheezed as he crumpled onto his back.
"No, you won't, nothing vital was hit, just don't pull it out and keep pressure on it" Rook offered before turning away, off to find Burke.
He was intent on following the shallow trail of blood, he hoped it wasn't muddled by anyone else's blood. Ready to get to the bottom of it, he opened the infirmary doors, hoping to flee the premises for good with Jess before anyone found out what he did, but to his despair, as he flung the doors open, there stood Armstrong, looking for him specifically, Sharky and Hurk flanking either side of her. For one glorious, peace filled second, the three were relatively calm, but then they saw Nick on the ground, clutching the knife in his person, bleeding profusely. Rook didn't have time to swear or even put up a fight before Grace pointed her famous rifle at him, all the while the cousins couldn't contain their disbelief.
"Jesus Christ on a crutch! What happened in here!?" Hurk bellowed in shock.
Grace was unflinching, staring dangerously at him, he was looking at the hardened and vitriol glower of a seasoned vet, it told him if he tried to resist, argue, or even move, she wouldn't hesitate to shoot, and he knew she would.
"Like holy shit Sheriff, did a Peggie stab him or somethin' where is that sum bitch?! I'll teach him a lesson or two!" Hurk yelled again, trying to muster up some bravado, before entering another tirade about how he'd fight all the peggies in the world given the chance.
"Hurk! Shut up!" Grace yelled her voice raw and cracked, the attack had taken its toll on even her, and the revelation of Rook's villainy it shook her greatly, she had heard all the rumor's and stories of what he was really capable of, now she had no reason to doubt any of it.
Thankfully Hurk did as he was asked, but instead of defaulting to his usual jovial state, he seemed rather timid, shoulders hiked up, he lowered, a furrowed brow, even he could tell something was wrong.
"Put your hands on your head!" Grace ordered loudly, turning her attention back to Rook.
"Grace, co-" Rook tried to reason with her but was quickly cut off by the deafening boom of her rifle.
For a second Rook thought she actually shot him, but thankfully, she raised her rifle again, pointing at center mass, a moment ago she was pointing between his feet.
"Put your hands on your head!" Grace ordered again, even more loudly.
Again, Rook was staring down her gun, her gaze just as deadly, he knew she was going to make things much worse if he resisted, he had no choice but to concede, placing his hands on his head with a grimace, a disgruntled scowl now on his face.
"Charlemagne, search him" Grace ordered.
"You got it, Boss" Sharky said, determined to do what was asked of him, whatever happened in Rook's absence, something sharpened Sharky's resolve.
As his hands patted down Rook's body, he had to bite his lip to keep himself from saying anything damning, he didn't like the country hick feeling him up like this, but he had to endure for the time being, then he'd have his revenge.
"Ah-ha, here we go" Sharky said tauntingly as he pulled the handgun from Rook's waistband.
"Good work, hold on to that in case he tries anything" Grace warned.
"Now that I can do" Sharky replied triumphantly as he pointed it at Rook.
"Now start marching" Grace barked at Rook twitching the barrel of her gun towards the door.
"Start marching to the cell block or I'll shoot you and drag you there myself!" She demanded to which Rook could only roll his eyes at.
But still he complied, as of right now it was better then being shot in the leg or whatever she had on mind.
"Wait, are we still deputies or what?" Hurk asked aloud, still unsure of what was happening.
"Naah man, Buddy was just usin' us" Sharky sighed with disgust, he felt dirty, used.
"Hurk, find someone to look after Nick" Grace commanded as she began to lead Rook out of the rook, gun trained on his back.
Hurk hastily agreed to getting the pilot help and ran ahead of everyone and turned right at the fork, meanwhile everyone turned left and into the main cell block.
As soon as Rook, Grace and Sharky entered the main cell block, everyone in the Henbane River Resistance that was still alive was there, hunched over from fatigue and fear, slowly cleaning the room, but once the three entered to room, they all stopped and stared to watch Grace and Sharky just about push Rook around, it didn't take a genius to understand what was happening, they all couldn't help but whisper in amazement that the threat that lived with them was finally being dealt with, meanwhile Rook could feel his chest heat up with anger, glaring angrily at the Resistance members, being paraded around like a defeated enemy stirred him up the point he wanted to spin around and steal Grace's rifle and finish her with it, but it was a fool's errand, Sharky, the backstabber, had a gun on him as well, if anything, this march should be the other way around, her and Nick were the bad guys, betraying him so closely after the Peggie attack.
His thoughts were cut short as he was pulled out of them by feeling Grace push him by poking the barrel of her gun into his back, she forced him up the stairs and two the second level of cells, where she led him to a cell in a dark corner, she quickly ordered him into the cell to which Rook dragged his feet at doing. As he slowly strode through the cell door, Grace must have gotten sick of him and roughly shoved him through, causing him to stumble forward, as he did, the cell door slammed behind him, the lock clamping down with a sickening thunk, the sound made him turn around with a clenched jaw and stared at his captures that stared back with cold unforgiving eyes, he hated the way Grace and Sharky looked at him, it reminded him of all the assholes and pieces of shit that ever tried to stop him, but for the first time, he didn't have the power to kill them, but yet still he tried, lurching forward grabbing the bars tightly.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill all of you!" He snarled as he tried to bend the bars as if they were rubber.
"That's what I thought, your just another bully lookin' to push us all around, you keep sayin' you're here to help us, bein' a hero an' all, but you ain't no hero, you're a menace" Sharky said, full of contempt and disgust.
But Rook didn't care, he wasn't going to let them know Sharky's words fazed him, heroes wouldn't let such bad mouthing bother them nor did he care everything was falling apart; being locked in a cell, friends turning against him, he knew that promising he would kill them was the last thing that would get him out of this, but he just couldn't help it, the stress and anger was just too much.
"Come on Charlemagne, I'm going to need your help maintaining order now that Virgil is gone, your more helpful than I thought" Grace noted, still not taking her eyes off Rook.
"I'll do what I can, Boss Lady" Sharky nodded.
And with that, the two left, leaving Rook to rot in the cell, after a while, he let go of the bars and angrily paced around the cell, if anything it was more like stomping but he didn't care, eventually he retired to the empty bed devoid of pillow or blanket, with an angry huff he sat down at the foot of the bed, his wrath blinded him, he had no idea how long he sat there, could have been minutes, could have been hours, he just lusted for everyone's downfall, he couldn't trust anyone anymore, they were all out for themselves. After a time passed, he eventually noticed that a figure standing at his cell, looking in, it surprised him, he expected them to taunt him, but yet the didn't, curious, he stood up and approached the bars, quiet as a shadow. As he drew close, he saw it was Jess.
"What do you want?" Rook spat quietly, he tried to quell his wrath for her sake.
But she didn't reply, she continued to stare at him, like a grumpy child at the zoo, staring at an old lion.
"You're a sack of shit" she finally growled.
"What?" Rook gulped, his voice had a tremor of surprise, he didn't expect Jess to turn on him too.
"Nick attacked me ok, I was trying to find Burke and he got all huffy thinking I did something and attacked and now here we are" Rook explained, he almost sounded like a child, quickly explaining what had transpired to avoid blame.
"Everyone is cleaning up the messes that you and Burke guy caused" Jess shrugged.
"What about Burke? What happened to him specifically?" Rook asked.
"Just as you saw, he cut off his foot and slunk out, you had him stationed in the infirmary, he had everything he needed to take care of his foot, then used the computers or whatever and opened all the electrical doors and let the peggies in and in the confusion, took Virgil hostage and made him help him escape, who knows where they are now" Jess explained.
"Fuck" was Rook could say,
"Fuck is right, you really screwed the pooch, again, and again, and again" Jess deadpanned.
"I get it" Rook cut her off, his tone becoming foul again.
"Why are you here, Jess?" He asked rudely.
"I don't know, guess I wanted to see if they really locked you up or not, they say they're going to keep you here until the government rolls in" Jess shrugged again.
"You gotta get me out of here, Grace and Nick have gone crazy, turned Hurk and Sharky against me and threw me in here, get me out of here and let go after Burke" Rook pleaded, shaking the bars lightly.
Jess hesitated for a moment before doing anything, then she moved to the cell door, she produced something from her pocket, and a moment later, the cell door opened.
"What?" Rook guffawed, not understanding how Jess was opening the door, was it really unlocked all this time?
"I picked the key off of Armstrong after she was done for you" Jess supposed.
"So, you believe me!? That I didn't do anything?!" Rook gasped, hoping rising as the door opened.
"Oh, no" Jess sighed as she closed the door again, it automatically locking, to make a point.
"Boy Scout… I've heard everything, you and Faith, the sheriff and after everything I've seen you do… yeah I believe it, your no good, even fore me" she said, a sadness running through her.
"I don't trust you, I wouldn't be surprised if you'd put a knife in my back to get what you want… but everyone knows your going to get worse the longer you're in here so…" Jess said before opening the cell door again, this time she threw her bow and quiver of arrows at his feet, the act made him pause, unsure of the action.
"You're going to need that to stop Faith and Joseph, after that, bring them back to them, then disappear from my life" she said.
"What?" Rook said again, this time falling to his knees and numbly picked up what Jess had gifted him.
"I told you, I don't trust you, I don't hang around people I don't trust… goodbye Ben" Jess said, her voice fluctuating before turning to leave.
"Jess, wait!" Rook called out, out stretching a hand to her, and by some miracle she did, her back still facing him.
"Jess, I'm sorry, please, I don't know what you heard but, I would never betray you, sure regardless of what happened I had to attack Nick, sure I was involved with Faith, but I'd never do anything to you… I love you, and I can't do this without you, I'm not strong enough, like you said, we can stop the cult together, so let's do it, right here, right now!" Rook pleaded as hard as he could, despite all his wrath and all his contempt, he genuinely cared for her and meant every word, he needed her and couldn't hurt her even if he tried.
Again, Jess was quiet for a moment, possibly thinking, possibly not caring, eventually she spoke.
"You're not the victim or the hero, stop acting like it" Jess said, her words barbed with sadness and coated in disappointment.
"Just do what you keep saying you'll do and kill the cult" she said before quickly leaving, vanishing from sight.
That was the second time Rook was told he wasn't the hero now but for some reason it cut him unfathomably deep, as he sat knelt in his cell, Jess's gifts in his lap. He felt something equally cold grace his cheek, curious he brought a tentative hand up and lightly dabbed the substance, it took a second for his senses to realize that a singular tear had snuck its way out of his eye and trailed down his dirty face. He quickly whipped the tear with a sniffle and rose to his feet, shaking, he holstered the bow and quiver before moving for the door, it opened with a creak and snuck out, carefully avoiding everyone as he quietly moved his way through the prison, there wasn't that many people inside these days, making it somewhat easy, it wasn't terribly hard to get out, and at that point, he made his way to Faith's bunker, he knew where it was, Faith had told him at some point. And once he got to Faith, he'd make her tell him where Joseph was and in turn deal with him, after that, that would be it, the cult would be finished without they're leader and he'd be a hero, he didn't care for the rewards or medals or even or the apologies from his former friends, it was all beneath him at this point.
All he wanted was to make things better with Jess, he was going to get her back, even if it was the last thing he did.
Thank you Hyperlightflux for the help!
Sorry this chapter is on the shorter side, but it's all set up for the last two chapters.