F.A.F // H2OVanoss [Completed]

Chapter 44

Footsteps echoed on the sidewalk beside the empty street, dim moonlight illuminating the group's path as they kept a steady pace to their friend's house. Hopefully, he would be there, hopefully he had seen their text.

Unfortunately, he did not.

Luke is constantly darting his eyes around the place, knowing that if Evan was going to be anywhere it would not be his own house. Tyler knew where he lived, Evan would be too scared and anxious to stay there after the party. Especially with that drug in his system, everything would be warped and unfamiliar.

A noise comes from his right, it almost sounds like a splash, and fear knots in his stomach. He didn't want to alert the rest of his group in case it was nothing, so he tried to make up an excuse to leave them.

"Guys, I'm gonna make sure Tyler isn't around, you know? If Evan sees him after what just happened, that probably won't be good, right?" They look at each before nodding at him, allowing him to leave. It was natural, of course, Luke was only connected to the group because of Jonathan, nothing else. They didn't need him there, they probably didn't want him there either.

He backtracks until he's out of their sight for sure, then he veers off into the wooded area behind the row of houses. The sound of water sounded faintly in his ears as he hurried forward. Luke checks his watch, it's been about twenty minutes since they had last seen Evan, since Tyler had said he would take him home.

Luke thought back to the fear that had flashed in Evan's eyes as he was dragged out of the room, it hadn't come from the drugs, it was very real.

Like it had happened before.

The boy stumbles across a lake, peaceful and he knew it was what he had been hearing. He looks around in the darkness for a few moments before noticing the body that floated in the dark waters.

Luke runs, pulling his keys, wallet, and phone out of his pocket and throwing them onto the ground before plunging into the water. After a few steps he begins to swim towards the body, calling the boy's name as he drew closer. He's gasping, never having to swim so fast in his life, thank god he had gotten over his fear of water a couple of years ago.

He reaches the body, gripping the soaked cotton t-shirt and pulling the unconscious boy close to him, making sure to keep his head as above the water as possible as he swam back to the dry land as fast as he could. He heaved for breath, but couldn't afford to stop.

The two are soaked once they reach the shore, Luke diving immediately for his phone as soon as Evan is lying face-up on the shoreline. He dials in '911' before tucking the device between his shoulder and ear as he tries to remember how to do CPR.

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"

Luke felt warmth roll down his cheeks and he realizes he's crying as he tries to keep Evan alive. Stress and fear mixes in his stomach.

"My best friend's boyfriend tried to commit suicide, please help me. Please."

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"The door's open....why is the door open?" Brock panicked as they reached Evan's house, turning the knob instead of knocking. The house itself was dark, void of any noise, the air itself was dead. "I don't like this." His voice echoed throughout the house despite the fact that furniture filled its walls.

"We need to go to Evan's room." Craig's voice had a slight shake to it as the group piled inside, heading for the stairs and trying to prepare themselves for anything they might find. There was a stillness around them, dread hung onto their shoulders.

The room was empty, the light revealing the messy room in all its glory, a backpack slumped against the leg of his desk, a jacket hanging over the back of his chair, papers and notebooks stacked atop his desk's surface. Pencils and pens all stood upright in holders off to the side of the papers. A few posters had been scattered on the walls, the bed had different sheets than the last time they had seen it, it hardly looked slept in. A pillow had been discarded on the ground.

Craig locks onto the paper and CD before his friends, walking to the bed on shaky legs and exhaling somewhat smoothly. Evan's familiar handwriting seemed foreign to him, alien and unfamiliar as if he had never seen it before in his life. Even though he had, countless times, he felt like he couldn't read it as he gripped it gently in one hand, eyes scanning the page from left to right as he read it.

Read every apology Evan had.

Read between every line to find the reasons he had for doing this.

Read through his friend's pain that had been summed up all on one page of paper.

Read how Tyler was one of the reasons for this.

Over his shoulder, the guys read along, Brock speed reading and looking around to find something to play the CD on. He spots Evan's laptop on the nightstand, he grabs it, setting it off to the side of where the letter had been.

"Wait, do we really want to listen to this?" Brian says, pointing to the disc. "This could change a lot of things, if this is one of the reasons Evan would-you know." Everyone takes a few seconds, but they nod.

"We need to know, Brian, we need to know." Craig hands the disc to Brock, who guessed Evan's password easily and placed the disc inside. It took a few minutes to load.

The cursor hovered over the play button, hesitation reflected off his eyes and onto the digital screen. Behind him, the guys nod with a gulp, a lump seeming to be stuck in their throats. Just a couple of seconds in, you could tell it was an accidental recording, and the guys felt their hearts drop to their feet as they kept listening. Forced drunken laughter came from Evan, suspicious sober sweetness came from Tyler, fear and malice collided.

"Turn it off," Jonathan said a few minutes in, unable to move and complete the action himself. No one moved either, just stayed there and forced themselves to listen to their friend's agony. He couldn't imagine what Evan must have been going through, and Jonathan felt guilty for not trying to tell him the truth better, for not trying to help him after he trusted him so much. It wasn't fair to him, it wasn't fair.

Misery and disgust disguised the blaring ambulance sirens.