I Never Told a Lie, and That Makes Me a Liar

"Let go of me, Jack!" I exclaimed, struggling to get my wrist free from him as he dragged me down the pier. "You have no idea what you're doing to yourself! You need to let go and pretend like you never even saw me!" Jack scoffed, tightening his grip on my wrist.

"Not a chance, Wendy," he told me. "We've been looking for you for a month! Zack won't sleep anymore, and Alex..." he trailed off, shaking his head. "Don't even get me started on Alex. Rian spends any free moment on the computer, looking for anything to do about you. I'm not letting go, they need to see you."

"Jack!" I exclaimed.

"Save it, Wendy. You're facing them," he snapped. "And that's final."

***

"You're...you're alive." I nodded.

"I'm alive," I repeated.

"An...and you're blonde." I nodded again.

"I'm blonde," I sighed. Zack stood in front of me, staring at me like I was back from the grave.

"Look, it's not a good idea for me to be here," I told him, looking back at Jack. "If Jayden finds me here with you guys....you're going to get it worse than I will and I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"You're alive," Zack repeated, sighing with relief. He bent down, putting his arms around my waist and lifting me up off the ground. "Jesus, Wendy. I was so fucking worried," he told me.

"We all were," Jack added, nodding. Zack nodded, squeezing me.

"Zack, can you put me down now?" I asked, squirming in his arms. He nodded, bending down so my feet touched the ground. I smiled weakly at him, turning to face Jack.

"Where's Rian and Alex?" I asked. I knew I wouldn't be able to leave until I saw them.

"Out looking for you," he sighed, "I'm going to call them now." With that, he shoved his hand into his pocket, getting off the bus. I turned to face Zack, raising an eyebrow at him. He put his hand on my shoulder.

"Zack...?" I raised my other eyebrow at him.

"I missed you, Wendy," he told me honestly, squeezing my shoulder. "I promise, I won't let him hurt you." He leaned down, pressing my his lips to mine for a moment before he was forced to pull away as the door opened and Jack climbed on with two people behind him.

"She's blonde," was Rian's first words when he saw me. I rolled my eyes.

"We've established that, Rian," I told him. Alex tilted his head at me.

"And wearing the sweatshirt I lost," Alex added. I chuckled awkwardly, pulling on the sleeve.

"Bout that..." I trailed off. "I'm reeeeaaaalllyy sorry." Alex crossed his arms.

"Is that what happened to my forty too?" he asked. "Our forties, I should say." I chuckled awkwardly again.

"Bout that...." I trailed off again. "I'm reeeeaaaalllyy sorry 'bout that too." Alex hung his head for a moment.

"You have to understand!" I added quickly, looking at each of the guys in turn. "I saw Jayden that night. I didn't know what else to do! I was scared!" I groaned, rubbing my face. "I never wanted to, but I needed to get out of town before he found me again."

"Why do I feel like you're still not telling us everything?" Jack hissed. I groaned again, shaking my head.

"Because he'll kill you if you knew," I mumbled. "I couldn't have that on my head." Zack put his hands on my arms, rubbing them.

"I think we can take care of ourselves," he told me. "Now explain." I sighed.

"Do I have to?" I mumbled.

"Yes," all four of them said at once.

"Fine," I sighed, leaning my head against Zack's chest, almost melting. "You've been working out?" I asked Zack. He smirked, nodding.

"Just a bit," he told me. I smiled, turning to face him.

"I can tell." Jack sighed.

"JUST TALK!" he shouted. I rolled my eyes.

"Fine," I groaned again, leaning myself against Zack again, thinking of where to start.