Meet Me Halfway (EDITING)

Chapter 13: The Secret

The time escalated quickly to dusk, and the colours in the sky once again contained a mixture of warm colours, brightening up their evening walk.

"I was right. I knew something else was going to happen, and now we can't even get out of here," Jay protested, pointing at Chuck and continuously insisting to Chuck that he was right.

"Jay, let it go, would you? We're going to get back home! We're not going to get lost like Jack ok? That was last sum-" Chuck paused, cutting himself off in the middle of his sentence, realising he had just mentioned Jack for the first time since last summer. He stopped in the tracks, almost feeling Sarah bump into his back. They all knew they were all thinking of him, but never mentioned his name for real.

"What?" Sarah stopped walking ahead of them all, slowly spinning around in their sight. The boys all looked at each other cautiously, frozen in fear.

"Guys, who is Jack? What exactly happened last summer?" Sarah stood on one of her feet, leaning against a nearby tree. Chuck huffed, watching as the rest of the boys nodded to him, allowing him to get it off their chests for the first time in a year.

"You see...you know how, um...we camped out here every summer?" He scratched his scalp like he had head lice, scratching continuously at the speed of light, nervously.

"Yeah? What's the big deal? Did you all do something bad?" Sarah then took a seat beside them all, patting the ground and asking them to join her.

"Well, we had another friend - Jack. Last time we came here, obviously last summer, he kind of got lost a-and we kept it to ourselves becau-"

"He what?!" Sarah squeaked, frightening them all. They all slightly jumped, setting their eyes on hers. Their hairs pricked up and they slumped their shoulders in disappointment and guilt. Chuck tucked his fingers in his pocket, taking them out straight away and flattening his hair.

"In the morning we woke up to find he wasn't there in our cabin with us. We had no idea where he was. The thing is... we told our parents that we were sleeping at each other's houses and stuff...but Jack told us that his mum fell asleep earlier than usual that day from working a lot in her business - so he said she was taking the day off the following day and that she would sleep in. So he figured he'd be back before she woke up. So he sneaked out with us..."

Chuck took a breath, unaware the boys were all teary-eyed when listening - as well as Sarah. He hadn't realised how long he had kept it inside of himself. It was not like his parents were going to ever listen or care enough for him. He felt as if they couldn't care less if he had been missing instead.

He continued in between a sniffle, "When we got back home, our families had already heard Jack was missing when his mum woke up...but no one knew we were here in the campsite the night before. So, we didn't own up and we acted like he had been stolen or whatever...and we are all so guilty now but can't build up the strength to own up..." Chuck rushed through the last sentence of his successful speech. He was relieved he finally let it all out after a year or so, even if it was to a girl he had just met.

"Oh...well I'm v-very sorry..." Sarah mumbled, patting Chuck and Nate's back. She gave a sympathetic smile to Jay and Vince who sat across from her. They all slumped their shoulders, looking carelessly down at the ground.

"You know, there's not a day that goes by when we don't think of him. Days and days pass and he's on our mind as well as that nightmare that haunts us all the time," Chuck added, as if he ignored what Sarah had just said, not caring whether she apologised or not.

"You would think so," Sarah continued, nodding her head while a small tear fell from her left eye. She wiped it off briskly, looking up at Chuck with furrowed eyebrows.

"Wait, hang on. If you were so scared about that night then why did you come here again?" The boys all looked up at Chuck, knowing he was the reason that they were pressured to return.

"It doesn't matter," he responded swiftly, jumping to his feet.

"Hey, yes it does. Are you okay?" Sarah tugged at his arm, pulling him closer to her as he tried to walk away. A warming sensation filled inside both of them as she touched his arm. He forced a tiny smile, curving up one side of his lips, forming a small dimple to appear in his cheek.

"It's difficult at home, that's all," he replied, watching as her hand brushed away from his arm. Jay's eye twitched while he watched, although his feelings about Chuck having a bad life and the story of Jack stopped him from the jealousy between Chuck and Sarah. He had to let it go for now, no matter how much pain he experienced and the affects that it had on him.

Chuck made his way ahead of the others, not looking into either of their eyes or turning back to start a another conversation. Things had gotten really awkward now, and equally upsetting. Sarah looked at the others in response, not knowing whether she should break the tension or not.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine," Jay mumbled as he stumbled across to Sarah. He watched behind as Vince and Nate wandered along, keeping up in the tracks of Chuck's lead. The route they took a little further into the evening was extremely silent. Not a single word had been spoken about Jack or Chuck's life at home, nor the fact that Sarah's kidnapper was on the loose, roaming around ready to collect her again - and possibly more than just Sarah.