HI! So... I've managed to keep at this story for a year and five days as I type this. Crazy... time has really flown by for me.
"I should've told you, but I didn't. The sabers threatened to attack all of us if I didn't get Peaches alone in the forest within a week." My voice is fast and unsteady. I have at least one more day before anything might happen, but how's this going to go with Manny? I might not have to worry about anything tomorrow because Manny might just flatten me right here.
"What!?" Sid shouts. "Manny, we're not gunna let anyone hurt anybody… right?"
Manny's just staring at me distraughtly. I can tell he's contemplating whether or not to squash me.
"Boy, you sure got some explaining to do." Granny says, breaking the silence.
I ramble for several minutes about how I thought they were lying because they hadn't just attacked Peaches when she first found me, but then I concede that I, in truth, just completely forgot about it.
I sit quietly while Manny sort of freaks out. He eventually realizes that he's pretty much already been acting as if he knew, what with all the hide-in-a-cave-and-lock-everything-down-and-no-one-goes-out-alone-no-matter-what protocols he'd put into place. Having told him everything I really want and need to, I don't really feel like getting involved with the conversation, so I stay silent while Manny works over a new plan. Mainly he just seems to want to double-down security; maybe I'll get a stick and have to patrol the front of the cave. I don't really want that, but the idea's funny to think about. I bet Manny would actually go so far as to make people keep watch, though. Just to keep Peaches safe. I gotta hand it to him, he loves her… too. Wow, I sound like a jerk…
Is there any particular reason why I'm not daydreaming about Peaches right now? Ellie wouldn't let her go off alone, so Eddie probably told both of them that he likes James. This is becoming a bit too unstable. Do these "secrets" even count as secrets anymore?
After we finish gathering food, we head off to find Peaches, Ellie, and Eddie.
…
"So…" I nudge Eddie out of his staring contest with the sky and offer him a handful of berries while I sit down next to him. "How did they react?"
Eddie accepts the berries and plops one into his mouth. He resumes his scanning of the horizon without responding. We've been waiting outside the cave for Diego, Shira, Crash, and James to show up. Eddie's been sitting alone, a little too far away from the group for me not to worry, so I'm basically just here hoping he's not about to do, as I promised Ellie I wouldn't let him do, something stupid.
"Is Ellie okay with you…" Eddie stands up, still ignoring me. "Eddie?" I plead at him, "What's wrong?"
He opens his mouth to say something, but, right as he gulps for air to begin, Deigo's voice echoes, "Guys, we're back!"
Eddie drops the berries on the ground and says despondently, "…took them long enough,"
"Should we head over there?" I ask.
Eddie smirks, "Why don't we just let Crash and James come to us?" He says their names with disdain. At this point, I'm scared of what Eddie might do, although I can again reiterate that I'm often frightened by my own shadow… It occurs to me that I don't even really know Eddie all that well, I don't really know anyone all that well other that Peaches…
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. What is going on? After a few seconds, I hear someone coming towards us. I open my eyes just as James runs past us. I notice him sobbing as he brushes up against me without stopping. He runs right into the woods and keeps going.
"Wha-what's wrong with James?" Eddie asks uneasily. I have no idea, so I stay quiet. Seriously! What is going on!?
Crash races up to us, panting. Preoccupied and hopping from one foot to the other impatiently, he begs, "Did you guys see where James went!?"
"That way." I answer, pointing in the direction James ran. "Why? What happened?"
"What did you do to James, Crash?" Eddie asks suspiciously.
"I uh… He, well…" Crash feigningly tries to piece together a sentence.
"Spit it out already!" Eddie shouts.
"James asked me out… and I said 'ew' and… and faked being disgusted." Crash explains, bewildered. He looks at the ground regretfully while Eddie almost explodes.
"How could you do that!?" Eddie questions fanatically. He looks like he might strangle Crash.
"I thought he was joking!"
"You're so freaking stupid! You know that!? You're an idiot!" Eddie shoves Crash to the ground. Crash is immediately back on his feet and about to push Eddie back. I jump in between them.
Trying to reason with them, I say, "Guys, stop fighting! This isn't helping anyone. We have to find James. There's no time for this!"
They both stop begrudgingly. After cooling down a bit, Crash, at the verge of tears, says, "I'm sorry…"
Eddie mumbles, "I hope you get eaten by a hawk."
Crash whips his head up angrily. "I… I didn't mean for any of this to happen!" He says, "Louis, you can dig faster than we can run. Go catch up with James; we'll get there as fast as we can."
Figuring that they can make up after that little brawl on their own, I head off to find James. I don't, however, want to discount how disconcerting them being upset with each other is; I hope they don't try to hurt each other again…
I find James' tracks after digging for about ten minutes. He's nowhere near anything I've explored, so our only way back is going to have to be following the up tilled mound I left behind me. Thankfully though, James ran in an almost perfectly straight line, and I can see his paw prints in the dirt getting deeper and deeper as he runs out of energy and slackens his pace. He has to be nearby.
I stop digging between checks of his paw prints and just search above ground.
"James! Where are you?"
A sniffling, little voice replies, "I'm here…"
I find him a few meters further, slumped against a tree. He refuses to say anything more, so I stand by him. Crash and Eddie should be here any second, so there's not much point in being preoccupied with this, at least not right now.
We wait silently for several minutes. Nothing, except the plants being blown by the wind, moves as we stay awkwardly in our places. Where are they?
"Come on, James. We have to go." I announce, but it feels like the wind is the only thing that heard me.
After a far too drawn out pause, James finally starts talking. "I don't know how I'd ever face them again…" He says, defeated, "I can't go back."
"What are you talking about?" I say, worrying much more about why Crash and Eddie aren't here yet. "Of course you can."
"Louis…" He says weakly.
"Why hasn't anyone shown up yet?" I say, ignoring him. "It shouldn't be that hard to follow my tunnel."
"Louis." He says more forcefully.
Still paying little attention to him, I say, "I should go get Eddie and Crash. There's no way it could have taken them this long to get here."
I turn to dig back toward them.
"Louis!" I feel a sudden tug on my arm. James has a fragile grip on it. "D-don't leave me… alone…"
I stare at him for a couple seconds, perplexed, then plant myself at his side. I say down-castedly, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shrug you off or anything…"
James looks me in the eyes. His pupils are distended and he's got huge tears welling at his eyelids, just about to slide down his face. He sobs and sputters, "He, he doesn't like me…" He puts his head down into his hands and whimpers miserably. How on Earth am I supposed to know how to console people? I guess this whole never-talking-to-anybody thing hasn't helped my conversational abilities. James, the anti-socialite he seems to be, probably has just as much experience at this as I do… so none. So I might as well wing it.
I slide my arm across the back of his neck and rest my hand on his far shoulder. He doesn't protest, so I tug him closer to me. I swing my other arm around his front, hugging him while he shifts his head to cry on my shoulder.
"It's all gunna be okay." I say, trying really hard to believe that.
He buries his head in my chest. I hear a muffled, "Promise?"
"I don't know if I can, but yeah. I promise."
He rubs his face against my fur. I feel the edges of his mouth perk up as he smiles.
This is going to look awkward as hell, and probably be impossible to explain, to anyone who might, and should at any moment, show up. But I don't care. At least James is happy, if that's even the proper word…
Not sure exactly where I'm going with this anymore. I've got so many random and conflicting ideas, but I promise I'll work Shira and Diego into the next chapter like I've been trying to do for the last few...
This chapter's song is "Everything You Want" by Vertical Horizon.