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Chapter Seven | Jon

The moment Uni's words left his mouth, the tension level in the room rose. Nick took in a sharp breath. Sal's nose twitched. Tommy's entire body tensed, causing Ashlie to pull herself from Nick and go to Tommy's side, wrapping her arms around him.

"I thought we agreed to not talk about him," Tommy's voice was soft and quiet, abnormal compared to his usually loud and energetic tone. "I thought we did."

The group fell silent for a moment, all but Ashlie, who was still comforting him, turning to avoid eye contact with Tommy.

"I still remember..." Tommy whispered.

"Tommy, no," Uni told him. Tommy had tried to many times to tell them what happened. They didn't want to know.

"I still remember," Tommy repeated, his voice still quiet, but now forceful. "I remember his face. I remember the exact fucking look on his face. He didn't even look angry. He wasn't angry that his life ended so early. He wasn't angry he would never get married. He wasn't angry he wouldn't go to prom. He wasn't even angry that I couldn't help."

The others couldn't tell how vivid the images were in the masked man's head. Jon hanging from a hook, it slowly ripping through his shoulder as gravity pulled him down. The dark crimson flower of blood that spread out across his shirt as soon as Tommy pulled him down.

"He just said, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I couldn't be more help." He died in my arms, and I couldn't do anything," Tommy's voice cracked as he spoke. "I just watched him." A soft sob escaped his lips as Ashlie's hold on him tightened.

Ashlie's eyes flickered up to Uni, who's hand was tangled in his hair. Uni wasn't the closest to Jon. He was only trike close to Cory, and that was due to their childhood friendship remaining with them.

So he didn't know how to react to Jon's death then.

And he didn't know how to deal with Tommy's pent up grief now.

However, he knew how to react. He turned from the others and stepped out of the room, his footsteps now accompanying Tommy's sobs in the silence.