|Eight|

•Week Three• (7)

(bro I was watching this show and in it this abusive husband got his wife pregnant and then freaked out at her, but than this girl murdered the husband and the pregnant girl and the murderer girl fell in love and were gonna run away together to raise the baby. I personally think that's beautiful.)

This chapter is gonna be ANGSTY and I HATE it.

I was so confused. I needed answers, but I didn't know where to go from here.

What was Ryan hiding? And why was he hiding something?

Am I asking the wrong questions?

For some reason I felt betrayed. Maybe it was because I thought Ryan told me everything, I thought he trusted me. Did I do something wrong?

Despite part of me warning myself to not ask Ryan what was going on, the other part of me had already made an agreement to do it.

I just needed to see Jack first, and something told me I had to see Nova if I wanted answers. Maybe if I actually saw the body up close I could pick out some clues.
I wasn't a detective at all, so I wasn't sure how that would work out.

"Adam?" Ryan interrupted my thoughts. I hadn't even noticed that the officer left, and that surprised me. I was slipping, I was in my head too much. I needed to clear out everything and get my thoughts together.

Ryan didn't wait for me to respond. "So, now that that's over with," he began, a hint of….. disgust? In his voice.
"Jack's probably wondering where we are."

I slowly nodded, my eyes tracing Ryan's expression. He looked confused, scared, and…. Happy? Why did he tell me so much, yet so little?

"Yeah…." I muttered. "I think I want to try and see Nova before it's too late."

"No!" He blurted out.
I raised an eyebrow, wondering why he didn't want me to see Nova.

He nervously laughed. "Well, it's just that- Jack needs us right now…."

I sighed, he was right. But Nova could lead me farther in the direction I needed to go. Why didn't Ryan want me to find the truth?

"What aren't you telling me?" I asked, backing away from him a little. I didn't know why, though.

"What do you mean?" Ryan looked confused and hurt.

"You've been acting weird this whole time! I know you're scared, but I thought you wanted to find the murderer as much as I do!" I hated the fact that I was raising my voice, but a part of me didn't even care about that anymore.

I saw panic flash across Ryan's face, and something else. An expression I've never seen him wear.

"Please," he begged. "I don't want to fight, can't we just go see Jack?"

"I want to, but I really feel like I can't trust you." I said, the words slipping from my tongue.

"What?" He looked even more confused and hurt. "You don't trust me? Why?"

"Because you won't let me see Nova, you've been acting weird, you've been hiding something behind your back this whole time, and I can tell you've lied to me several times for seemingly no reason!" I ranted, I didn't think Ryan himself was really hiding something, I was scared someone else (like Jasper) was forcing him to. I needed to let him know he could trust me, even if it seems like he can't. I'll always be on his side, no matter what.

Ryan sighed, a deep and empty sound. "Fine, I'm sorry…… I just feel like…. I don't know, maybe we're in over our heads? Maybe if we just…. Stop. Everything would be fine."

"Ry, we can't stop. There's innocent people being murdered, and we're the only people with the list of victims, besides the Detective but I don't trust him."

"So? We can leave, no one else has to die."

I didn't know what he meant by that. What was he saying? Did Jasper get into his head more than I thought?

"Is Jasper doing this to you?" I asked instead of addressing what he said. I dropped my arms to my sides, tearing my eyes away from Ryan.
"Did he promise you he'd leave me and Jack alone if you convinced us to stop snooping in his business?"

I felt a twinge of guilt when Ryan started to cry, and I knew I was right.

"Please," he said, trying to wipe his tears away. "I just want this to stop."

I pulled him into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry. But I promise you, it'll be okay." I felt like I was lying. "I wish we could stop, I really do, but I can't just walk away when people are dying."

Ryan sobbed harder when I said that, and I could feel him tremble.
He put whatever he was holding behind his back in his pocket, and finally returned my hug.

I could feel the pure exhaustion radiating from his body, he was just trying to appease Jasper. I couldn't be mad at him for that, he only wanted to protect us. But he was going about saving us the wrong way.

I opened the door to Jack's hospital room, and helped Ryan in.

He sat down on one of the plush chairs, still sobbing uncontrollably.

Jack sat up in his hospital bed, confused but when he saw me his expression turned happy.

"It took you guys forever to get back!" He said. Ryan just cried in response, and I came over to sit next to his bed.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

"Great!" Jack smiled. "I feel like the nurse just scooped out all the poison, or doctor. I was asleep so I don't really know who did it." He laughed awkwardly.

"That's good, I'm so relieved you're okay."

"Yeah, me too. Also, why's Ry crying?"

"It's complicated…. I think I need you to watch him, make sure he doesn't go anywhere," I said, turning to look where Ryan was curled up on the chairs.

"Why? Where are you going?"

I lowered my voice more, hoping Ryan wouldn't be able to hear me over his wails. "I'm going to see if I can catch a glimpse of Nova."

Jack's eyes widened but he didn't say anything.

"I'm hoping I can find any clues, y'know? Ryan doesn't want me to because he's scared something will happen, but there's so many cops around I doubt Jasper will try anything. I just need you to make sure Ry doesn't try to stop me, alright?"

Jack's gaze darted between Ryan and I, contemplating what I said. He looked nervous, but eventually nodded.
"For Ryan," he breathed out. "Just make sure you're careful."

I smiled. "For Ryan." I paused before adding "and I'm always careful, unlike some people I know."

Jack rolled his eyes. "I'm just so careful the universe decides it needs to make something bad happen so I don't become too powerful."

"Nah, I think you're just stupid."

Jack made some kind of offended noise, but before he could respond, I had already left the room.

After exiting the hospital room, I let out a deep breath. I knew I could trust Jack to keep an eye on Ryan, and with that out of the way, I could find Nova and hopefully something that will help us find the murderer.