[sub][h3][center]Archie[/center][/h3][/sub][hr] [i]I'm going to see my dealer. Go to the picnic table by the woods down past that coffee shop we went to last time you busted me out.[/i] Archie read over the lines a few times. He wasn't a particularly smart man- he knew that, Lynn knew that, everyone he had ever met probably knew that. He wasn't one for grand gestures or long winded, beautifully worded dialogue... But he wasn't stupid. He knew people well enough- or at least, he [i]got[/i] people. This was textbook- girl shares and tender moment with someone she cares about and she, from what Archie had been told, is so unused to trusting someone with anything that the feeling of vulnerability is too much that she runs. And he [i]got[/i] it, he did. Archie realized that the last person she had trusted had quite literally shot her in the back. That didn't mean it wasn't at least somewhat hurtful. Archie rubbed the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb and sighed. Yes, this wasn't [i]that[/i] big of a deal. He'd see her again, but the last interaction they had was when she had burnt his hands and... well, he cared about Lynn. A lot. He didn't want to have to go through more deal and destruction just to speak to her again. That wasn't right, or fair, or just, or... He sighed, and took the sticky note. He folded it neatly and tossed it in the garbage. Lynn wouldn't want the doctors knowing that she was going to buy drugs. Everyone in his life had left him in some way at some point when things got hard, or complicated. Whether it had been by choice or not was irrelevant- the people who were supposed didn't. His mom was volatile and left as soon as the money dried up. His dad died. His brother was arrested. His adoptive father pointed a gun at his head. Natalie shut him out. Lynn was running. He just hoped that Lynn would give him the time of day. A chance to forge some trust like Natalie had. Archie wasn't entirely sure what to make of the Natalie situation yet, if he was being honest. More pressing things had been on his mind and he wasn't very good at thinking about more than one thing at a time. He opened his phone and took a quick glance at her contact picture. It was a picture of them on Homecoming night- he had a beer in his hand and she was laughing at something that he or someone else had said. It was a good memory. He grabs his jacket and sets out. He'd been well enough for a while and, if he was being honest he was in more for observation at this point than anything else. He'd get himself checked out tomorrow, after he had seen to what he needed to with the group. The picnic tables past the coffee shop that he had visited when he had given Lynn flowers, and when they had found the body- that's where he needed to go. As he walked he selected Natalie's profile, separate from the rest. [i]Hey[/i] He frowns at that. Stupid, he is. The absolute stupidest. And Eli's not even here to tell him whether or not that's a word or if that message is a good idea. He backspaces. [i]So, how are you?[/i] Ugh, he thinks. It sounds so strained, like the small talk you make when you don't really want to be having the conversation. While he erases that message, too, he wonders if he should just call her. That'd probably be selfish, though, because he wouldn't listen to a word she would say, but, rather, he'd listen to her voice and commit the sound to memory. He's nearly forgotten the way she can make every word sound beautiful, and it's something he never wants to lose. [i]Thinking of you[/i] And that— that's what he should really say. That's what he's thinking, after all, and a lot of girls used to say they could never get in his head. There's something that won't let him send it, though. Maybe it's the fact that it's almost too candid; too sincere. She might take it the wrong way. He doesn't want her to. All he knows is that they're both due for a lot of conversation and that in between whatever plan they make when they group up the time will be spread thin. He feels like it's his duty to warn her, even if she knows herself. He erases the 'Thinking of you' and types, 'Be prepared for a lot of questions.' He hates that too, though, hates absolutely every word that's coming to his mind. He might even dislike himself a little at this point, and he's admittedly furious with himself for letting them fall apart when it's the last thing he wanted. Archie stuffs his phone in his pocket in a huff and keeps walking. He's getting close to the woods now, and he hates walking alone near the woods. It was weird, but expected given everything that had happened. Finding the body, watching Eli nearly die, watching Radvi blow half his face off... He doubted it would ever go away at this point. The woods up here weren't like they were down where he was from. They're so thick in places that the trees block out the sun almost completely. He had grown up wading through thickets of trees and shrubbery, so he wasn't scared of being out alone, things had gone wrong up here. More than at home, and he found himself scanning behind the treeline for signs of movement- the kind that danced at the edges of your vision and convinced you there was something there. His inner predator was taking over just enough to remind him that that he was not safe here. His heart monitor beeped, and he released a breath he didn't know he was holding. He looked down and silenced the device. When the beeping had subsided, he heard voices. Thankfully, voices he recognized. Archie cast a sidelong glance at the trees again and quickened his pace. It was Eli, Natalie, and a person whom he had not been acquainted with. Cara had just spoken up as he had arrived, and he unfolded like a six foot jackknife, sliding to a stop behind them and almost tripping on his own two feet as he slowed his pace a [i]little[/i] too rapidly. He managed to catch himself without introducing his face to the dirt, but his stumbling had probably alerted them that we was coming up behind them. It was a sidewalk, but given everything that had happened, it was probably not a good idea to surprise [i]anyone[/i] right now. Eli was... she looked disheveled. Not in the way that she she dressed or walked, but in the way that she carried herself. She seemed stiff, if not a little jerky- as if she was ready to book it at a moments notice like deer. Given everything that happened- he couldn't blame her. He carried a big stick inside him, and he found some solace in that- but she had been fairly safe up until recently. [i]Until she met you[/i] a voice chastised in his head. He hoped that whatever had put the fear of god in her wasn't him. Natalie seemed better, and attention catching at that. She smiled easily, and he was pretty sure he had heard her laugh on his way over. What beautiful things those were. Archie remembered the amount of times he had seen that before- in a Natalie that while similar in appearance acted in a totally different way. It was funny- almost like Eli and Natalie had switched dispositions. He smiled at her as he regained his balance and stood straight up again- running a hand through his hair. Words were always hard to form around her, and as his eyes went over this 'new' Natalie all he managed was a "Hey, Nat." The last one was new to him. Familiar, but not. Archie was okay with names but excellent with faces. He was certain that he had never seen this person in his life. He was shorter, about Eli's height- but he was fit. He stood with his shoulders back and there was an edge to him that Archie couldn't quite place. The other man leered back at him with dark eyes, and Archie was momentarily taken aback by the intensity of the man's gaze. There was a shrill [i]pop[/i]- coming from Archie's spine, and Archie realized he loomed over them in this moment. He was probably a hair over six foot right now, but his previous discomfort had brought out enough of his other side to warrant the beginnings of a change. He shook his head and tried his best to move on. Don't give it any attention, Archie- you'll make it worse if you draw attention to it. He smiled. "I, uh..." he began, trying to find his words. Nat always made him- it. Nat always made it hard. To find his words. "Hi. It's... on the way. Where we're going and-" He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was never this awkward. Then again this was the first time he had seen them since he tried to kill them. That always made things complicated. "God, sorry. I'm Archie." he said, extending his hand to the stranger. Any friend of Eli and Natalie's was a friend of his. Assuming, that was, they still considered [i]him[/i] a friend.