𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 | 𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 ✔️

↞ twelve

next morning
{olivia's pov}

the next morning as the sun was rising, gordie was standing guard when i woke up. i was the first one to actually wake up of course. we decided to go and sit on the tracks to talk about our nightmares we had at basically the same time. our dreams were oddly familiar too. both were about someone in our family who had sadly passed away, and they said the same exact words to us. it should've been you.

gordie and i were reading a comic in a magazine since we had nothing else to do. suddenly, there was movement in the bushes and both of us glanced up to see a deer right in front of our eyes. it looked up abruptly to meet our eyes, and before we knew it, it sprinted away. gordie and i exchanged glances and began finishing up the comic before we went to go to sleep with the guys again.

{chris's pov}

the freight had woke all of the guys, including me, and we began to roll up our sleeping bags again to resume our journey. i looked around at all of them and there was something missing. olivia. i furrowed my eyebrows as i looked around again.

"hey, uh, where's olivia?" i asked, beginning to get my things together again. all of the boys stopped and their eyes widened slightly.

"maybe the ghost of ray brower got her," teddy said, messing around like he always did.

"teddy, that isn't funny, all right? cut it out," i snapped, looking up at him. "seriously, does anyone know where she is? we have to start walking again."

"i-i don't know. i saw her just before i went back to sleep," gordie responded.

"i'll go look for her. you guys just get your things packed," i said, standing up and walking through the forest we had slept in. i called her name twice and there was no response. i began to worry that she might have gone missing or gotten hit by the train, just like ray brower did. but there was no way she could've, right? i felt sick to my stomach at the thought.

"liv! it's me, chris. just tell me where you are and i'll-" i stopped abruptly as i saw her sitting on the tracks, her arms hugging her legs and her back faced towards me. i sighed in relief as i walked towards her. "i thought i lost you or something." i sat down beside her and she didn't look at me. not once. she just stared at the ground in front of her feet. i put my hand on her shoulder.

"are you alright?" i asked quietly, leaning forward to look into her eyes. her eyes were glossed with tears and my heart immediately dropped. she shook her head slightly. i scooted closer to her and wrapped my arm around her.

"hey, what's wrong? you can tell me anything. i won't tell the other guys. it'll be our little secret," i said softly. she turned her head to look at me and i could see a tear roll down her cheek. "i swear," i said as i held up my pinky. she looked back at the ground.

"it's just.." her voice cracked. "i miss my parents ever since they died in that car accident. don't get me wrong, it's great and all hanging out with you and the others, but i miss them. my dad would always take me to get ice cream every sunday, and my mom, she would always make sure i knew she loved me," she explained as she began to sob. i placed my hand on her head as she leaned into my chest.

"you'll be ok, liv. i'm sure they were amazing parents. they're better now, i promise," i said, hoping i could help her. i wrapped my arm around her waist as she sat up, rubbing the back of her hand on her cheek to wipe away the tears. i turned her head to face me, and i wiped the one tear that was left on her face with my thumb. she smiled a little.

"thank you, chris. it means a lot that you care," she said sniffling. i kept the palm of my hand on her cheek as i looked down at her lips and back at her pretty eyes.

"of course i care about you, liv," i said gently as i tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. just then, i craved her lips on mine as we stared into each others eyes. i began to lean in and to my surprise, she did too. our lips collided and my body was filled with butterflies and adrenaline all at the same time. i could never describe the incredible feeling as our lips moved together perfectly. it was like a dream come true.

"holy shit, chambers," i heard a familiar voice mumble. olivia and i immediately pulled away from the kiss and stood up swiftly. we were faced with teddy staring at the two of us like he had been betrayed. he shook his head in disappointment. "i thought you were better than that, liv," he said, gesturing to me before he ran away. she started after him.

"teddy, wait! please!" she yelled. i kicked the rocks on the ground in frustration. i just ruined their strong bond with each other. i ruined mine and teddy's. i ruined it all. but it was worth it, right?

train tracks
{olivia's pov}

after the kiss had happened between me and chris, teddy spread the word to gordie and vern. they thought it was a big deal and got excited, while teddy's anger boiled up inside of him even more.

we began walking on the tracks again in awkward silence, eating breakfast.

"jeez, liv and gordie. why couldn't you guys have got some breakfast stuff. like twinkies and pez and root beer?" vern asked, deciding to break the silence. i chuckled a little.

"sorry, vern. i guess a more experienced shopper could have gotten more of your seven cents," gordie retorted. none of us laughed, but i almost did. i thought all the boys would start to laugh a little at gordie's comeback. i guess the tension never left teddy or chris. i rolled my eyes at the thought.

"teddy, lighten up," i said a little angrily.

"how the hell am i supposed to lighten up when i just witnessed my best friend kiss my cousin," he snapped. when he said it like that, it did sound pretty bad. but chris is different from any boy i've ever met before. he's caring and funny. he isn't like people supposedly say he is. he's better than just some chambers kid everyone sets him out to be.

"stop being such an asshole, teddy. we kissed, so what? i like her, so what? what's the big deal, man?" chris responded calmly.

"what do you mean what's the big deal? you're known as the no good chambers kid and if people find out you made out with my cousin, what does that mean for me and her?" teddy yelled. before they could beat each other up, teddy was held back by vern and gordie while i held chris. they continued to yell over each other.

"take that back, asshole," chris yelled.

"no way, you son of a bitch!" teddy shot back.

"you really think i'm not gonna take care of her, huh? is that what you really think of me?" chris yelled. "just a worthless chambers kid?" he asked, his voice softening. they both stopped trying to escape from the grips that were put on their arms and they calmed down.

"teddy. i promise, i'll be fine. i can take care of myself too, ya know," i said. chris held out his hand.

"skin it," he said. teddy rolled his eyes and looked between me and chris a few times before skinning it with chris.

"that doesn't mean you're getting away with this, chambers," teddy said. with our stomachs rumbling and the tension exiting our bodies, we pressed on toward the royal river. the reality of ray brower was growing and kept us moving, despite the heat. the idea of seeing that kid's dead body was starting to become an obsession. i'm sure it was for all of us, because we had never once thought of giving up on our little adventure.