you didn’t agree with the others while they’d torn into jackie, hitting her where it hurts the most. especially shauna.

you understood the situation, sure, always trying to be there for the both of them, but there’s only so much you could do.

when they kicked her out, you asked her to stay, to just take a walk, and then, come back once she’s cooled down, but even that didn’t do much.

jackie, if anything, is very stubborn, and she definitely wasn’t going to be the bigger person.

not after what shauna had said to her.

it was way too hurtful, and shauna knew that because jackie had trusted both her and yourself enough to vent to about it.

even when everyone moved on from it, you didn’t.

it was cold out there, and you knew that.

you knew that anything could happen. especially out with the wilderness with no idea how far the darkness will go to taint everyone even more than it already has.

shauna and tai told you to let it be, but you wouldn’t.

“now isn’t the time to be petty mean girls, don’t you think?” you’d snapped back, angry and annoyed and mainly directing it at shauna.

she may be one of your best friends, but so is jackie.

and shauna had no right to treat her the way that she did.

shauna’s big doe eyes glaze over with guilt and regret, not objecting when you turn back around to go outside and find jackie.

it’s only when you step outside in the night air that you realize how cold it really is. it makes your worry increase.

with a shiver running through you, you catch a glance of her sitting on the ground by the nearly out fire that she actually managed to get going, shivering in just that blue blanket that’s wrapped tightly around her as if it’ll actually help.

“hey, jacks.” you start out, calling out that familiar nickname, stopping just behind her, riddled with worry.

she whips her head up when she hears both your footsteps crunching on the ground and your small little ‘hey.’

when she doesn’t say anything, trying her best not to cry, you kneel down with a small frown on your face. “i’m sorry about what happened back there.”

when she still says nothing, clearly still hurt — as she should, because it wasn’t fair to be ganged up on like that by everyone, and then, insulted in the worst way by one of her own best friends — you sigh softly and speak in a soft whisper, pleading:

“come back inside. please.”

you didn’t care if the others had anything to say about it.

this was jackie, your best friend — and maybe even a little more than that, considering your... feelings that have changed over time.

maybe shauna was okay with letting her sleep outside, but you weren’t.

and you weren’t going to ignore jackie or decide to not check on her. especially not with you all being stuck here, trying to survive.

let alone the fact that she’s been through enough.

and like i said before, anything could happen.

and you just can’t let her sleep outside — something inside you tells you that it’s just not right.