That Night √

Epilogue

« NOW »

Butterflies, they were everywhere.

The colorful hues flying around the small park looked almost unreal but breathtakingly beautiful at the same time. At least that's what Grace thought as she leaned against the wooden fence surrounding the clear blue lake.

Jack, however, who was standing right beside her, couldn't help but flinch every time a tiny butterfly zipped past his face.

"This is so beautiful," Grace repeated for the third time since they both had stepped inside the park. She glanced over at Jack with a wide grin. "Isn't it?"

Jack took his time to answer her. His eyes darted across the lake and towards the small white pup jumping around the grass in circles. A bit horrified, Jack realized that Frost was trying to eat the butterflies.

"It's...colorful." He finally responded, sounding a lot unsure than he had meant to.

Grace looked over at him and her smile seemed to waver a bit, morphing into a worried one. That happened a lot. Jack was almost getting used to the way people acted so worried around him, especially his sister.

It was weird, he thought.

"I mean, it is beautiful." He added on quickly. And since he was obviously forcing out those words now, Grace seemed a lot more worried. She wanted him to be truthful but she didn't want to constantly pressurize him to do that either.

Grace nodded and looked towards the lake once again. The morning was slightly chilly, a little less since the sun was up in the sky. It hadn't snowed yet in Hayward and Grace seemed to miss the snowy atmosphere.

"So," She spoke up, aware of how short conversations seemed to go between the two of them. It had been months since they escaped that horrifying place, the Research Department, but things still seemed so much similar when they should've changed. "Have you decided yet?"

"About what?" Jack asked, ruffling his dirty blond hair when a coral blue butterfly flew past him.

"The winter camp I told you about."

It was just silence and Frost's small barks.

Jack didn't really express what he felt at that moment. In moments like such, he felt clueless as to how he should act. Should he even act?

"Did you think about it?" Grace asked, trying not to feel too bothered by his silence.

"I don't have to think about it." He slowly murmured.

Grace let out a small sigh. She agreed with his opinion. She really didn't want him to go out there to some random camp program, away from her, when she had just gotten used to having her little brother around.

But that really wasn't her place to decide. Jack's therapist thought that he slowly needed to get out more. Marleen thought the same. And the best way for him to feel normal again was to go on a summer camp, except that this was in the winter.

"I know that it's happening so suddenly and I understand if—"

"I don't know what to feel about it." He cut her off, his eyes still trained at the lake. "I don't know."

Grace pulled the corners of her jacket closer against herself, letting her eyes wander off to the light blue sky above.

"Just be honest with me, Jack. Be truthful." She murmured slowly. "I promise I'll hear you out."

Jack knew that she was telling the truth. He knew that Grace would never lie about that. He hadn't even meant to say what he said earlier. It wasn't even the feelings he was so confused about, it was the expectations.