Chapter Four —
Trapped

Rosa always ended up regretting a lot of her life decisions, but nothing had ever hit her worse than the hangover she found herself with the morning after the party.

She sat curled up on the steps outside the church, clutching her throbbing head, desperately wanting to go back to sleep. Harry was half awake beside her, face held in his hands, whilst Luke rested against the brick wall, eyes closed shut to avoid the low morning sunlight.

Will LeClair and Sam Eliot had arrived earlier, but stood a little out the way, allowing the three of them to deal with their agonising hangovers in peace.

The sound of approaching footsteps prompted Rosa to lift her head, squinting slightly to make out the familiar figures of Cassandra and Allie Pressman. In warning, she nudged Harry's leg with her knee, earning a grumble from the boy until he eventually looked up, catching sight of his high school rival. Harry sighed heavily, making his exasperation known as the sisters reached the five of them.

Cassandra leaned against one of the pillars, holding up a pack of ibuprofen and a bottle of water. In that moment, it was possibly the most heavenly sight Rosa had ever seen.

"Oh my god marry me," was all Rosa said, relief overcoming her as Cassandra tossed the medicine and water towards her, the blonde not bothering to hide her smile at the comment.

Rosa hurriedly flipped open the ibuprofen cap, tipping two tablets into her hand before unscrewing the water bottle cap.

"I'll get a car and go to Greenwich to get help," Cassandra stated.

"Why you?" Harry asked, leaning his head against his hand as he watched Cassandra through narrowed eyes.

"Someone has to find out where everyone went," she replied. "We can't all go."

"I'll do it," Harry said, earning a look of surprise from Rosa as she popped the two ibuprofen caplets into her mouth, not expecting Harry to offer to do anything helpful – other than throw a party of course.

Rosa took a drink of water before passing the medication over to him. Cassandra raised her eyebrows at Harry, watching him tip two tablets into his palm. "You're sober."

"Fuck you, Cassandra." The two teenagers stared intensely at each other for a moment, until Cassandra eventually rolled her eyes and turned away. Harry glanced over at Luke, elbowing him awake. "Luke, you want to see if we can get some of the guys to come with?"

Luke started to lift his head from the wall, slowly opening his eyes, seeming to take a moment to process what Harry had just asked him. "Yeah."

"I'll go too," Rosa offered.

Harry looked over at her. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." She nodded, placing a hand on Luke's shoulder for balance as she climbed unsteadily to her feet. "Come on, sleeping beauty, let's go."

Luke groaned as she nudged him again, slowly getting up from the ground.

They left the others behind at church, trudging slowly to Harry's car, which Rosa was more than excited about getting to ride in, calling shotgun before Luke could – though he didn't put up much of a fight, too hungover to bother arguing. They drove to Grizz's house, upon Rosa's request, picking him up, despite his complaints about it being such an ungodly hour, and then Clark, the five of them setting off to Greenwich together.

"How's the hangover, Ro?" Grizz asked her. Rosa didn't even have to look at him to know that he was grinning. Still, she turned around to face him, the bags under her eyes shielded by Harry's expensive sunglasses.

"I'm never drinking again," she stated simply, earning a light chuckle from her best friend, who had heard that response from her many times before. "Feel like my head's about to explode."

"Great night though, right?"

Rosa slipped her hand into her pocket, pulling a wad of cash out and waving it in the air. "Easiest money I ever made."

"Holy shit." A choked laugh escaped Harry's lips as he glanced over at her. "Beer pong?"

"Yep. Turns out you're not the only loser around here." Rosa bit down on her bottom lip to hide her smile as Harry lightly shook his head, their playful eyes meeting for a few moments.

"Hey," Clark spoke up. "Where are we actually going?"

Rosa looked back over her shoulder at the boys, who were all squeezed into the back of the car, the three of them shifting uncomfortably as they tried to find room. She smiled in amusement, turning back around as Harry looked up at Clark through the rearview mirror. "Greenwich."

"Okay," Grizz began. "So as a rule, the more bizarre a thing seems, the less mysterious it is."

"Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?" Rosa wondered, earning raised eyebrows from Harry as he glanced at her again, surprised that she'd know something like that. "Focus on your terrible driving, Bingham."

"Hey, you know this shit?" Clark asked, turning to Luke, who sighed exasperatedly.

"No."

Clark shook his head, completely clueless. "I don't know this shit."

"It's Sherlock Holmes you idiots," Rosa informed, rolling her eyes at the blank stares she received. "Some of us pay attention in school."

"The point is," Grizz continued. "There's an explanation for everything."

Clark's eyebrows drew together in confusion. "What does that have to do with the Arthur Conan Boyle dude?"

Grizz sighed, sharing an exasperated look with Rosa, who simply shook her head, giving up. "It's Doyle and you're hopeless."

"Oh, shit."

Rosa whirled her head back around at the sound of Harry's voice, eyebrows furrowing together in confusion. "Holy crap."

"What the fuck is going on?"

The car skidded to a halt as they reached the upcoming exit, which had been completely shrouded by fallen trees and overgrown greenery, blocking their way out of West Ham.

Rosa fumbled with the handle of the car door, hurriedly pushing it open and stepping onto the road. Her mouth parted slightly as she stared at the sight ahead of them. Harry got out of the other side of car, the two of them cautiously beginning to approach the woods.

They came to a stop at the end of the road, Rosa's eyes scanning over the seemingly never ending forestry as she blinked in disbelief at what she was seeing. Harry took a step forwards, kicking a piece of bark from one of the fallen trees, as if testing to see if the whole thing was even real.

Curiously, Rosa started to move past him, only for Harry's fingers to latch around her wrist, preventing her from going any further. "Careful." Rosa retracted her foot from where she was about to step, looking up at Harry in confusion, who glanced from her to the equally as puzzled boys in the car, motioning his head back in their direction. "Come on, let's go."

They wasted no time rushing back to the car, Rosa quickly sliding into the passenger seat and buckling herself in. Harry immediately put his foot down on the gas pedal, the car doing an incredibly fast u-turn before speeding to the opposite side of town.

Rosa's eyes widened as the vehicle raced towards the bridge, realisation dawning on her that they were facing the exact same situation as before, the road completely blocked by the overgrown woods. Harry slammed hard on the breaks, and the car screeched loudly as it came to an abrupt stop. Rosa lurched forward, placing her hands on the dashboard to steady herself.

The five of them flung open the car doors, exiting in a hurry. Rosa immediately rushed towards the railings of the bridge, knowing the train tracks were beneath it, but she soon halted upon catching sight of them, her fleeting flash of hope diminishing as she realised it led to nothing but roots and trees.

"Shit."

Rosa ran a hand through her tangled hair as she took a staggered step backwards, slowly turning around to take everything in around her.

There was no way out.

Her stomach churched, nausea clawing at her throat – most likely an effect of the hangover, Harry's reckless driving and the unbearable nerves knotting in her stomach as she desperately tried to comprehend what the actual fuck was going on.

"Hey, you okay?" Luke asked from beside her, Harry also turning in concern as the colour began to drain from Rosa's face.

"I think...I think I'm gonna throw up," she managed to get out, seconds before her stomach contracted, giving her just enough time to lean out the way before the contents of her stomach emerged.

"Hey, hey, hey," Grizz was at her side almost instantly, a hand on her shoulder as she heaved again. Gently, he moved her hair out of her face, carefully scooping it into a low ponytail. He slid the black tie from his wrist, securing it loosely around her hair. "It's alright."

"Thanks," Rosa said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Her eyes watered from the burning sensation in her throat, and she swallowed thickly, grimacing at the acidic taste. "Fuck."

"You good?" Luke asked in concern, placing a hand on her shoulder. Rosa nodded her head in response.

Harry returned from the car with a bottle of water. He tossed it towards Grizz, who caught it swiftly in his hand, passing it over to Rosa.

"You sure you're okay?" Grizz double checked as she unscrewed the cap, grimacing at the unsatisfying taste when she took a sip.

"It's warm," she complained, pulling the bottle away from her mouth in disgust.

Grizz couldn't help but smile slightly at her expression, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Always gotta be a drama queen, huh?" He teased.

Rosa smiled softly up at him, but was not in the mood to respond in her usual playful manner. Her carefree attitude that had lingered from last night was now completely dampened by the revelation that they were trapped.

Rosa and Grizz began to make their way back towards the others, the five of them meeting in the middle of the bridge, confused eyes scanning once more over the baffling scenes around them. Never mind their parents not coming back for them – by the looks of it, the teenagers of West Ham weren't getting out of town anytime soon.

A/N

Yes, you are absolutely allowed to ship Rosa with everyone other than Grizz.