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"We didn't know that would happen, Vince… I didn’t expect it either…" Lydia said with a small shrug, her eyes glued to the floor of the sidewalk as she walked with Vincent, both avoiding eye contact and instead opting to stare sadly at the sidewalk lit by the streetlights.
"It's... It's not fair," Vincent said with a sad shake of his head, his eyes brimming with tears that threatened to fall out any second. "Why did... why did Danny try to do that to... to Maxine? She..." Vincent pauses for a second, collecting himself and holding back a sob.
"She almost DIED, Lydia," Vincent says through clenched teeth. "We can't just forget that happened... Maxine almost died, and we did NOTHING! Alaine did nothing! She- She just watched! Does Alaine like Danny or something?!? Why did Cole do nothing…?! I thought he was… I thought he would…. Everyone just did... nothing. No one tried to stop it! Why did no one try to stop it?! Why did we-" Vincent cuts himself off to take a deep breath, closing his eyes as a harsh sob escapes his lips. He freezes as tears fall down his grief stricken face.
Lydia stares at Vincent with concern as she stops beside him, her hand reaching out to grab his shoulder. She can see the grief in his eyes, and she feels her own heart breaking for him. It's hard to see someone you see as your little brother, even if Vincent is nineteen, and Lydia herself is only eighteen, going through so much pain, and Lydia feels powerless about it.
Vincent lets out a deep breath as he attempts to compose himself, his voice shaking slightly and cracking with each word. "Maxine...I still can't believe what Danny was trying to do to her on the bridge, what he was going to do to US... I know we're all young and we’re all a bit messed up in our own ways, and we’ve all done some messed up things but..." Vincent abruptly stops mid-sentence, his eyes tightly shut as tears streamed down his face.
Lydia, still feeling despaired, takes Vincent's hand into hers. “Hey… it's okay. Don't blame yourself… It's okay to cry, Vincent… We're here for you… all of us are…" Lydia's voice was soft and reassuring, and she could see that Vincent was grateful for her kind hearted words.
Suddenly, Vincent let out a loud sob, and Lydia pulls him into a comforting hug. They stood there on the sidewalk, surrounded by the sounds of the suburban town, as Lydia felt Vincent's entire body shudder with each breath.
After a few moments, Vincent took a deep breath and wiped his tears away. "I'm sorry, Lydia. I don’t mean to make a scene." Vincent mumbles as he looks away from Lydia.
Lydia replies softly, "You don’t have to apologize Vince, You have a right to grieve, and I'm here for you. Let's go home and get some sleep? Is that ok with you?"
Vincent nods, his eyes puffy from crying as he lets Lydia guide him back to his house, both of them quite the entire walk.
“U-Uh…. Lydia…?” Vincent whispers with uncertainty, and a nervous look in his eyes.
“Yeah, Vincent? Are you ok….? Wait, that was a stupid question… uh… what’s up….?” Lydia says, looking at Vincent with a concerned look.
“C-Can you… stay the night…? I just… I just don’t want… him to…” Vincent cuts himself off, wincing slightly as he remembers what happened on the bridge.
“Yeah. Yeah… I’ll stay… I mean, you know what they say about never splitting up in horror movies!” Lydia says with a soft chuckle, attempting to lighten the mood. Even though this wasn’t a cliché horror movie. This was real. “Yeah… you’re right Lydia…” Vincent mumbles with a small smile of his own. “Never split up… ever…” Vincent looks up at Lydia with a happier smile.
Lydia gave Vincent another smile as they made their way towards his house. Vincent held the door open for Lydia, giving her a sophisticated bow as though he was her butler. They both burst into small giggles and they entered the home together, they made their way to the couch. As they both took their seats, they settled in for a moment of calm silence before Vincent spoke up.
“Soo…..” Vincent says with an awkward look on his face.
“Wanna watch a movie?” Lydia exclaims with a joyful tone. “Not a horror movie though. Don’t think I can do one of those.” Lydia mumbles with a shudder. After what just happened Lydia might never watch another horror movie again…
“Sure! I’m picking though!” Vincent teases as he grabs a vhs tape. Lydia notices the name and scoffs. “Seriously…? Airplane!? Again? We’ve watched that a million times…” Lydia protests as Vincent puts it in the vhs player. “Newsflash Lydia, this is the BEST movie to ever be made! It’s the most divine, perfect comedy and I love it!” Vincent exclaims in a mocking sophisticated tone.
“Yeah yeah…. Whatever… I’m making hot pockets…” Lydia says with a sigh as she grabs some hot pockets and throws them in the microwave. “Grab me a capri sun and some Doritos too! But the cool ranch kind, NOT the original ones!” Vincent yells over from the living room.
“Yeah yeah, want me to grab you a bar of twentyfour karat gold while I’m at it? Perhaps a five star meal as well?” Lydia yells back In a mocking tone as she scavenges the pantry for cool ranch Doritos, before finding a family sized bag. She grabs two capri suns from the fridge. When the hot pockets are ready she puts them on some paper plates that Vincent always has lying around. She waltzes over to the living room and mockingly hands the plate and capri sun to Vincent. “Your five star, exquisite meal prepared by the best chef in the world. Me!” Lydia declares as she gives a mock bow before sitting down near Vincent.
“Why thank you, my dear Lydia!” Vincent utters in the most posh accent possible. He takes a bite of his hot pocket, regretting it immediately as he burns the roof of his mouth. “Agh! Fuck! My mouth! It burns… why me… this is so unjust and cruel!” Vincent declares as he whines unhappily.
“Unjust…? Might wanna slow down with the big kid words Vincent… we both know you can barely multiply, no need to make your brain go into overdrive...” Lydia states with a smug smile on her face. “Hey!? That’s rude! I SO know how to multiply!” “What's eight times eight?” “Uh…. Next question…?” “Just as I thought. You, a SENIOR in highschool can’t figure out what eight times eight is.” “Oh shut up Lydia… let’s just finish the movie..” “Sure Vince…. Sureee….”
Vincent and Lydia settle back in to finish the movie, Vincent making frequent comments and pointing out details, while Lydia listens to his rants with intrest. Lydia ends up falling asleep halfway through the movie, and when it's over, Vincent pulls up a blanket around the both of them. As Vincent drifts into sleep, he has a final thought: Tomorrow will be hell as him and the group try to figure out what's going on, but he vows to always try to fix everything, even if it kills him...