Chapter 2, thank you for the reviews and favorites :) I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas, hope everyone has a great 2024!

(Also, wanna quickly talk about a little Mandela effect with JESSE'S name, I just recently read the book and I so distinctively remember it being spelt as Jess, which is why I wrote it as Jess in the first chapter. But I saw somewhere someone saying it's Jesse, I thought surely not. I checked the blurb of the book. And yep. It's JESSE, not JESS. But I wrote c1 as Jess, so I might just keep it as Jess just to not make it sound confusing, maybe I'll edit chapter 1 and reupload it If I don't feel lazy lol)

-Twigyzz

Jess's heart stopped, the downpour that was plastering on his face was filtered out as his heart ran cold, she was gone. She didn't wait for him. He broke out of his frozen state with a cry.

"LESLIE!"

He turned to run down the path but was halted by a raging force that roared in his face, he had never experienced wind like it, it whipped his fringe back into his eyes obstructing his vision dramatically, it was so powerful it felt like it was shaking the ground beneath him. Looking through his shielding arm, he saw the destruction that it had left in its trail. Collapsed trees, uprooted flowers, the highest and proudest branches discarded on the forest floor, the Burke's fence was about to blow off its hinges. He took a step forward preparing to dash faster than he ever had before, when he suddenly stopped as he felt stiff cold water enter the bottom of his impaired shoes. He gazed down to see the flooding sadistically forming on the ground of the path. He took a few steps back as it engulfed his last pair of shoes. Despite every warning the storm was giving him to back off and go home, the only thing he could think about was the height and ferocity of the water at that rope.

He crashed and burned through the sea of destruction, his sister's shoes swiftly sank, submerged in the water. His clothes were destroyed as they stuck to his skin, he felt like a soldier running through no man's land through the heart of battle, the wind booming like canons narrowly missing his face.

"What the hell were you thinking Leslie, damn you!" he softly murmured to himself as he continued to scuffle his way through the hostility of the storm.

Drenched and tired he reached the fence to the entrance of the colossal field that he and Leslie had graciously raced through every day since they had met, he scanned across the field helplessly, hoping to catch a glimpse of anything, that beetroot red coat, those signature wellington boots, or her beautiful golden hair.

To his horror, he still couldn't see her.

"LESLIE!" He cried as he panickily fidgeted with the fence lock and bellowed through the tall grass, his legs screaming as the wind continued to put immense pressure on his small body. He had never felt such pain in his life. He let out desperate cries as each step sent burning shockwaves of pain to his brain.

He couldn't stop now, he had to get to her. He let out a final, deep cry of pain and defiance, his legs were in searing agony, it felt like if he didn't stop right now, he'd never be able to run again.

But what would running be, without her by his side?

He couldn't think with that thought, he had to get to that rope, even if it was the last thing he did.

He reached the edge of the field and the entrance to the forest, the vegetation shaking ferociously as he clambered his way through the heart of the woods. With the turbulent wind, he lost his sense of direction, their usual path decimated by the repercussions of the storm. He continued to tussle through the many impediments of havoc. He came to a clearing and found himself on the mount of a steep hill, he instinctively leaps across to cover more ground, and on his landing, is immediately ensnared in a thick thorn bush, he hazardously heaved his leg upwards in a perilous attempt to free himself, gritting his teeth subconsciously as he feels his drenched pants beginning to rip and tear, he suddenly breaks free of the thorn's grasp and unexpectedly trips and smashes face-first into a large hard rock. Splitting and slashing his cheek cut from his father's slap into two, like a knife through butter. He raised his shaky, stiff hand to his cheek as blood splattered excessively on his fingertips. Blankly staring at it. He pulls himself up and kept going, he wretchedly bellowed again.

"LESLIE!"

He stopped and shouted, trying to cancel out the frenzied wind howling in his ears and the numbness of his limbs.

"Jess!" A faint, joyful voice in the distance shouted back, it was her.

"Leslie!" Jess replied as he made a beeline for the noise, the adrenaline of happiness decapitating his wounds, a big smile plastered on his battle-hardened face.

She was safe, she was ok.

"Jess!" She called out again.

"Leslie I'm coming!"
"JESS!" Jess immediately stiffens upon hearing her again. The tone in her voice had changed the joy he thought he heard initially instantly extinguished, it sounded like not a cry of joy, but a cry for help.

He finally came into the clearing, and the fear on his face was palpable. There she was. Violently being thrown about while desperately clinging to the rope.

"LESLIE!" He cried out to her. Her head turned to him, they locked eyes, everything slowed down, and there was a tremendous number of emotions conveyed through their eyes. Fear, worry but most of all relief.

Leslie opened her mouth as she was about to say something, the joy on her face palpable from the relief of seeing her favorite person in the world in her time of need.

This expression in the blink of an eye was quenched in an instant.

As the rope frays dramatically, plunging closer to the raging and churning water below. Leslie lets out a scream of terror as she tightens her grip on the crumbling rope.

"LESLIE HANG ON IM COMING" Jess yells as he runs up to the edge of the waterfall, when a sudden extremely powerful gust of wind sends his worn-out frame to the floor.

His horrified eyes locked with Leslie's. Everything filtered out as if like it were only the two of them in existence.

Tears filled her eyes, but she does not scream.

She forces a smile and mouths a "thank you" to Jess.

She inhales and squeezes her tearful eyes shut.

Jess screams in horror as he pulls his broken body up, but it's too late.

The sound of the rope breaking rips through Jess's ears, he watches as Leslie disappears and the rope drops.

Jess hears a large thud, then an excruciating, deafening crash.

Jess instinctively jumped and crashed through the waves. Resurfacing himself swiftly and desperately looked to see if he could see her in the violent water ahead. He opened his mouth to call her name, but immediately gargled as the water entered his mouth and into his lungs. His head jolted erratically as he tried to keep it above water. He bawled out as the freezing water cold pierced through his skin like a thousand knives. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't think. The pain was insufferable. He despairingly pulled himself above the waves again, an adrenaline rush instantly came over him as he saw her, she was reachable, and to his absolute horror, she was face down on the water, not moving. Blood began hauntingly approaching him from her position, she was bleeding.

The sight of her lying there triggered something inside him, he became numb as all the memories he had of them together flashed through his head, when she gave him that big box of paint and the feeling he had holding it, her laugh when he pretended to be PT, and yesterday, where he had never seen something so beautiful in his whole life, where she was like an angel. No. That "thank you" wasn't going to be it. This was not going to be the end.

He threw himself toward her like a man processed, he hurled the splashing water away as he pushed forward. He reached and wrapped his blood-stained hands around her waist and propelled himself towards a small opening he spotted up ahead, the water's current strengthened suddenly, forcing both Jess and Leslie under, Jess had just enough strength to keep himself afloat, throwing up the water that was choking him.

He didn't have enough strength to keep Leslie's head above as well.

The small opening was right there. In a moment of extraordinary and freakish strength, Jess leapt like a salmon with Leslie in his arms and onto the small ledge. He pulled the two of them a few inches away from the water, in fear of being sucked in by the power of the water passing by.

Jess rolled over, his head spinning and his body aching. He hawked up even more water and tried to steady his irregular breathing. He turned his head to his left, Leslie. Her joyful expression and vibrant skin had been wiped and flushed out; her eyes were motionless as her mouth hung eerily open.

"Leslie?" He muttered as he sat up to look down over her, "Leslie?" he said again, softly slapping her white cheek, looking for any reactions. There was none. It was just then he noticed the large gash on the top right of her forehead, blood poured from it slowly down her face and onto her neck.

"LESLIE" He shouted urgently. She didn't even flinch, he placed his hand on her cheek, it was completely ice cold.

"no…" he murmured "NO, NO" he began pumping on her chest, like he how saw his father did when Joyce Ann stopped breathing one night. He placed his bleeding mouth onto his best friend's ice-cold one, and breathed into it, and began pumping again.

Nothing.

His mind was in a whirl of dread and fear as he panicky repeated the actions 5 times. He rose from breathing into her mouth one last time, she was gone.

Upon realizing this his lip quivered as tears ran down his eyes, he sobbed as he slowly lowered his head onto her chest with his hands around her, hugging her tightly.

"Leslie pleaseeee…" he cried into her chest "please breath for me…" he sobbed for a few more seconds before abruptly rising and pounding his fists into her chest

"PLEASE!"

Nothing.

"PLEASE!"

Nothing.

"PLEASEEEEEEEEE!"

He bellowed as he slammed his head on her chest as his last ditch, the sounds of his cries ringing horrifically for miles, as his final attempt to resuscitate her failed…

And then she thrusted upwards. Vomiting up water and throwing Jess off of her chest, before crashing back on the floor.

Jess couldn't believe it. She was back, she was there, she was alive.
"LESLIE!" He shouted excitedly at her, tears still falling down his face.
"J-Jess?" Leslie moaned weakly.

"Oh my god, you're alive!" Jess said as he hugged her tightly "You're alive you're alive you're alive!"

Leslie began to say something but instead hawked up violent coughs.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"It's o-ok Jess" She coughed again, getting all the water it seemed out.

"You're safe Leslie, you're ok…" Jess cried with happiness
"Thanks to you, my king." She replied.

He reached down and hugged her again, and she had the strength to return the hug this time.

He let go of her, he rose, and their eyes met. They stared deeply at each other. Tears of joy ran down their faces as they smiled wider than either of them had ever smiled before. Leslie's smile faded as she put her feeble hand on Jess's cheek cut.

"What happened, w-why are you bleeding? Are you ok? What happened?" She said worriedly
Jess laughed and replied, "You are the last person who should be asking if someone's ok right now!"

She giggled in response, before resting her face and slowly rising from her position, she then placed her cold lips on Jess's uncut cheek, kissing him.

She pulled back and smiled at him, his eyes starstruck.

"Thank you Jess, I love you." she said, looking into his eyes. Taking a deep breath and coughing again before continuing. "I don't know if it's platonic… or romantic, but I know that I care about you deeply. You're my best friend, and I want to always be there for you no matter what. I hope that we can continue to grow together, no matter what the future holds." She finished in one final gasp of air, and wrapped her arms tightly around him, kissing his cheek again as she went in for the hug. They held each other for what felt like an eternity. Nothing else mattered, they had each other and they were together. It seemed strange to Jess on how she was able to get all that out, she wasn't breathing a few minutes ago, it was like she had just blurted everything she ever wanted to say to Jess that she never had the chance to tell him before.

Leslie released her grasp, and smiled again looking into his eyes, before slowly falling back to the ground, Jess notices this and catches her head.
"Leslie!" He said panickily "Leslie are you okay?!" He said holding her head in place.

"Yea.. yea…" She murmured fragilely "I just…" she paused "needa catch my breath… One sec…" She said closing her eyes, Jess laid down and she rested her head on his chest.

"Ok ok, just take all the time you need ok Leslie, all the time you need!" He said swiftly into her ear.

"rest…" she muttered weakly one more time, before going unconscious. Jess's anxiety rose again, as he checked up on her, she was breathing irregularly and wasn't responding.

"LESLIE?!" He cried trying to get her attention, he yelled out hopelessly "SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME, PLEASE!" The storm was still raging, he needed to get her out of there. But there was no way he could get them both back on his own.

"PLEASE HELP ME!" Jess cried out again "SOMEBODY, ANYBODY! HELP! Help…" Overwhelmed by it all, he cradled Leslie's head under his chin and wept.

Then, he suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"JESS?!"

"DAD!" He said as he shot up like a bullet.

"WHERE ARE YOU SON, I'M HERE!"

"I'M IN A CAVE THING ON THE WATERS BANK, LESLIE'S HURT!"

"I'VE ALREADY CALLED THE COPS, I'M COMING SON!" His dad shouted back as Jess heard his big footsteps over his head.

"You hear that Leslie!" Jess said excitedly into her ear "You're gonna be ok!"

She didn't respond.

HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED CHAPTER 2, I PROCASTINATED ON THIS FOR WEEKS, BUT I FINALLY FEEL SATISFIED WITH HOW IT TURNED OUT. IT WAS REALLY LOOKING UGLY IN THE EARLY DRAFTS LOL. CHAPTER 3 WONT TAKE AS LONG, COLLEGE STARTING UP AGAIN ON MONDAY (I know, so sad.) , SO MAYBE A WEEK OR TWO. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE REVIEWS AND FAVORITES I REALLY APPRECIATE THEM :)

-Twigyzz