LABYRINTH | ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ᴅᴀᴡɴ. ✔︎

THREE

𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚 :
BREAK INTO YOUR OWN LODGE 

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     THEY GOT OUT of the cable car and began up the long path to the Washington's Lodge. As they started to near the building, Chris started complaining about how much he was struggling.

"Man, I feel like this mountain gets bigger every time I climb it," Chris huffed, stopping to take a breath. They were just around the corner to the Lodge.

"Oh yeah? Feels the same to me." Came a familiar voice from in front of them. Standing by a tree was none other than Josh, his arms crossed and his head low. (F/N)'s heartbeat picked up at the sight of him.

"Oh come on, you grew up here. It probably feels like it's shrinking." Chris pointed out.

Josh cracked a smile, taking a few steps forward as he gave in, "I guess that's true."

     "It's nice to see you, man." Chris grinned at his friend. They shared a short hug having just hung out not too long ago.

     "It is." Josh nodded in agreement, motioning to beside Chris where Sam was standing, "And I see you brought Sam too."

     "We rode up in the cable car." Sam shrugged, moving forward to take Josh in a small hug.

     Chris perked up as he got an idea, "That reminds me." Chris moved to the side, allowing Josh to finally see (F/N) and vice versa. The two simply blinked at each other for a moment.

Josh appeared to be in better health than he had in the video, his eye bags gone and his hair freshly trimmed. Even though he looked practically the same as when they had stopped seeing each other in person, it was strange seeing him.

"Hold on—Is that my favorite girl?" Josh's mouth slowly formed into a smile as he looked over her, "You're here?"

"In the flesh." The girl stuck her arms out and took a step forward, grinning when Josh did too. They met in the middle for a hug. It was as though they had never been apart as they wrapped their arms around each other. "It's so nice to see you." She muttered.

"It's definitely better to see you." Josh playfully gave her a small squeeze, pulling away from the hug but still keeping contact between their arms. He observed her face, "How have you been?"

"Oh—" She diverted her eyes for a second as she lied, "Good. You?"

Josh knew she was lying, he always could tell, so he raised his eyebrows, "Good." He mimicked, tilting his head slightly.

Before she could dwell on his answer, Chris interrupted the moment, "When are you gonna install some cell towers up here? I'm getting withdrawals already." He motioned to his phone that had zero bars, a bright SOS at the top.

"Enjoy the nature around you." (F/N) argued, turning to him, "It's good for your health."

"Yeah, Chris," Josh added, an arm wrapping around her midsection as they began to walk past the man. As they did, he leaned closer and piped, "It's good for your health."