'𝐓𝐈𝐋 𝐃𝐀𝐖𝐍 𝐃𝐎 𝐖𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞

"I'm home!" You called, pocketing the key to your apartment before shuffling in through the dark entryway. It was incredibly late now, but traffic was insane and you had to stop a few times to run errands that you knew you wouldn't feel like getting up and doing after you got home. "Sam?" You called out for your roommate, dropping the plastic grocery bag on the table. 

 You knew she would give you hell later for not using one of her reusable grocery bags, but right now all you cared about was getting off of your feet and starting on your mountain of homework.

Winter break was in just four days and all of your professors took it as an opportunity to assign as much work as they possibly could. You'd always been a good student, but you seriously considered flunking out when you saw the packet that was due on the first day back from vacation.

The entryway was eerily quiet. Usually you could hear Sam's indie music pumping through the walls, or one of her cheesy work-out videos blaring on the TV. But the lights weren't even on when you kicked off your shoes. Weird. "Are you home?" You asked in a whisper this time, ducking around the corner to peak into your shared living room.

You spotted her familiar head of bleach-blond hair right away from where she was seated on the couch facing the TV on the far side of the room. Her back was toward you, laptop open in front of her. Stepping into the light of the room, you couldn't help but take a quick glance over her shoulder to see exactly what had grabbed her attention so fiercely. 

Right away, you wished you hadn't.

"Is that..."

Sam whipped around, slamming her laptop shut and discarding it on the couch beside her. The image of Josh standing alone in the kitchen of the Washington's winter lodge went away just as quickly, but it was already printed inside of your brain. "(Y/N)," Sam breathed, gingerly running a hand through her hair. "Hey. I-I mean, I don't-"

"Was that Josh?"

Her breath hitched and she looked back down to her laptop, kicking it further away from her with the heel of her sock-clad foot. "No," she answered, her voice unsure.

"Yes it was," you tested, reaching for the device. Josh Washington was a name you hadn't heard in a little less than a year. He rarely showed up to the court proceedings that followed the incident that occured on his family's mountain. The last time you actually saw him in person was at his twin sisters' funeral in January.

The authorities told the Washington family that it was just safe at that point to assume that the girls were dead. They listened, despite wanting to hold off as long as they possibly could. You remembered how devastated Josh looked then, head ducked with snow sprinkling into drifts on top of his dark hair.

He stayed, blinking down at the identical gravestones that belonged to his baby sisters, long after everyone else left. It was December now, and the images of his face conjured by your brain were fuzzy at best. But seeing him on Sam's laptop sent shockwaves of memories through your body.

She gulped and made a grab for the computer, pulling it into her arms protectively and standing up off of the couch. "What is your problem?" You scoffed, shaking your head as she continued to back up until the backs of her knees bumped against the coffee table.

"It's nothing," Sam insisted. "I mean, it's stupid."

"Is something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing like that," She bit her lip and averted her gaze. She was the only one you stayed close with after the falling out of your friend group. You'd think something like two of your friends going missing would compel you all to stick together. But after the psuedo-funeral, Mike and Emily made a run for the hills, followed closely by Matt and Jess. 

 Chris and Ashley stuck around for a good month before returning to their respective schools several hours from the town you all grew up in. The town that Hannah and Beth Washington were now buried six feet under.

"What is it then?"

Sam shot you a nervous look before looking at her hands and sighing deeply. "It's Josh...he sent all of us these crazy videos. He...He wants us all to go back to the mountain."

You furrowed your eyebrows and walked around the couch where she was patting the spot next to her, offering you a seat. "I didn't get any videos," you commented, watching as she clicked back onto the tab displaying Josh's face behind a grey pause button. 

Even from that still image, you could tell that his siblings' death had taken a massive toll on him. His usually short hair had grown into long wisps that framed his steel-blue eyes, dark off-purple bags growing under them from an obvious lack of sleep. But nonetheless, he was smiling wickedly.

Sam seemed concerned for a moment before masking it with a sympathetic pout. "Are you sure? Everyone was texting me that they got theirs this morning." You shook your head at her suggestion and she huffed, diverting her attention back to the screen. "I spent all day analyzing it, trying to look for indicators that he's driven himself insane. I mean, this is insane!" She laughed nervously to herself and you pursed your lips.

"Are you going?" You asked timidly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "To the mountain, I mean. Because if leaving me alone is what has you worried, I'm totally fine here."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence and you could almost feel the cogs turning in her brain like they always did when she needed to work something out. "Yeah," she said quietly, her voice just above a whisper. "Yeah, I will go. And you'll come with me."

"What?" You nearly shot up in your seat. "I wasn't even invited! I-I mean, you know Josh. He thinks of everything. If he wanted me there, he would have invited me."

"(Y/N), you need this just as much as he does. You need each other." She spoke so definitively that you were almost tempted to agree. "I have homework," you argued. "And I don't even know if I can afford to leave."

"One week," Sam said, standing up to grab you by the shoulders and hold you in place. She had the same look in her eye that she did when she first convinced you to go mountain biking with her last summer. "You can reminisce with everyone, have some deep psychological closure with Josh, we can all get wasted on his parents fancy booze, and then I will take you straight home."

Your mind was still reeling at the idea of going back. Would you even make it up to the lodge before bursting into a fit of tears? Would everyone else be as excited to see you as Sam was leading on?

"One week," you parroted, choosing to ignore the hopeful smile that plastered itself over her face as you did so.

"One week," she confirmed, squeezing your shoulders tightly before letting go to skip back to her bedroom to get a head start on packing. "You won't regret it."

"Yeah," you murmured, watching her leave before letting your eyes fall down to the open laptop that she had abandoned on the sofa. The screen was on and you dared yourself to steal just one more look at Josh before retiring to your own room. 

 You understood what made Sam so eager for you to join her on the little excursion. There just was something about Josh Washington that made everyone around him want to please him. Wanted him to be happy.

"One week," you reminded yourself for the umpteenth time, reaching over to slap the lid of the computer shut. 

One week. 

A/N: Ok I'm finally getting back on track with updating this fic. I promised someone an update like 2 months ago...oops. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! We go into further detail about the incident outside of the reader's perspective in the next chapter so be ready! Let me know if you see any mistakes! Coming back later to make some major edits before posting the next chapter. Thanks so much for reading and my DMs are open if you have any questions!)