𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓓𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓵 𝓦𝓲𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷 『 𝚅𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝚡 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛』

8. Campfire

"OVERREACTING!? It's you who's UNDERreacting!"

You slowly began regaining consciousness and woke up to a serious headache. You sat up, ignoring the fact that this made your head hurt even more. You rubbed your head, groaning as you looked around.

It was very dark, and it took you some time to realize that you were in a tent. What the hell? Wasn't it noon a few seconds ago? What happened?

The last thing you could remember was Eugene saying something that didn't make sense. Something about Varian being the cause of another one's death. What did he even mean by that?

And then Varian got angry...Right? And then... Damn it got blurry now. Then you tried to calm him down, and he had...

Oh...

Oh.

He had hit you. Your best friend had knocked you unconscious. for hours.

What the actual fuck.

Where was he now? Was he okay?

You got out of the tent, once again ignoring the pain that it caused. You needed answers. Right now.

It was very dark, and the moonlight barely allowed you to see your surroundings. Therefore it was good that a torch was placed just outside your tent. You picked it up, and now you could see the forest just fine. You looked around to see other tents beside yours. You looked in each and everyone, but they were all empty. They hadn't left you behind, had they?

You looked around once again, and this time you saw the light of a campfire, not very far away. And as you got closer, you began hearing voices. It was Eugene, Rapunzel, and the others.

With the idea in the back of your mind, telling you they talked about something that they didn't want you to know, you put down your torch, and sneaked closer.

"I don't think it was his intention. He would never do that willingly." You heard Rapunzel say. You were now hiding behind a tree, only a couple feet away from them. You took a peek and saw the four adults: Rapunzel wore a worried face expression, hugging herself due to the cold breeze. Cass and Andrew just looked hella serious. Eugene had his back facing you. He was the only one who stood up.

"That's not an excuse for his actions!" Eugene spoke angrily. "He knocked the shit out of her! He hit my sister! And he tried to kill me!"

They talked about you and Varian. Of course, they did. You wanted so badly to interrupt him and say that it was okay and that he's overreacting. Of course, what Varian did was wrong, and you didn't know why he did it. Violence wasn't even in that boy's nature!

But you knew one thing; That Varian was still the Varian that you know and love, and you all have to be there for him, even though he's going through some shit right now.

"Eugene, you're overreacting." Cassandra sighed. You smiled to yourself, glad she agreed.

"OVERREACTING!? It's you who's UNDERreacting! Varian knocked (Y/n) unconscious! How come you're not telling the kid to get the hell out of here before he hurts her again. Have you forgot that he was the real reason Quirin died." Eugene spat, making aggressive hand movements.

Your jaw dropped, and your eyes winded. You thought that Quirin died because a black rock shot through his chest. How the hell was that Varian's fault?

"And have you forgot how that happened?!" Eugene continued angrily, about to answer your question.

"-Because Varian 'accidentally' dropped the potion over the black rocks, making them shoot up straight in the air, with such a speed that Quirin, who had just walked into his lab, couldn't get away in time. Varian can't remember this because he was so devastated and so in shock. But what if that was all just an act, and he's now making us breed a potion, so he can kill us the exact same way!?"

You appreciated that your brother was concerned for your welfare and all, but that was just way off line! You really had to maintain yourself from not defending Varian right then and there. This was absurd!

Your necklace began glowing red, and you forced yourself to calm down. You knew what your brother said wasn't true.

"Don't be dumb Eugene, Varian would never do that! Besides he didn't do it on purpose. Don't just jump to conclusions like that, just because of one accident."

"He. Hit. Her." Eugene said again, the light from the fire making his face even redder.

"We know. We saw. And that wasn't okay. But you seem to forget that Varian is currently struggling with the loss of his father and memory loss. Being accused of killing his own father when you can't remember much, is triggering enough to react in a way you wouldn't normally do." Cassandra explained calmly.

You nodded behind your tree. That what Cassandra just said, was exactly your point.

"So what, we're supposed to act normal?" Your brother asked.

"I think that would be the best for now - besides he doesn't even remember hitting her. Why tell him?" Andrew stepped in.

You gasped silently. He didn't remember hitting you? His brain erased that memory as well?

But maybe that was for the best after all. He would probably feel quite bad if he did remember it.

"Andrew's right. We have to pretend that nothing happened. But we'll keep an eye on him for now on." Rapunzel said, pointing her hands towards the fire for warmth.

Eugene clearly didn't agree, but he just sighed and nodded. "Okay but if he does something suspicious again, I'm sending him straight home!"

Everyone nodded and began talking about the black rocks. You sat there for a few moments to hear if they said something interesting, but they didn't. And then you went back towards your tent to get some sleep before the journey continued tomorrow.

You made sure to place your torch right where you had picked it up earlier, and without knowing why, you looked inside Varian's tent. He was curled up in a ball, sleeping peacefully.

You smiled. You really cared much about him. And you were going to help him through whatever he's going through.

But first, you needed some sleep.

-And of course, you were too tired to realize that Varian wasn't in his tent, the first time you checked...