chapter five:
welcome back

ten hours till dawn

With the harsh weather outside, Hazel stayed bundled inside her bedroom. Her phone would ding ever so often but she ignored it. Today of all days everyone decided to actually text her back for once, first it was Josh with that video. Then it was Sam asking how the girl was doing and if she needed a bus ticket. Hazel hated buses; they creeped her out but it's not like she can drive that well when she's pregnant.

So she took the defeat and bought herself a bus ticket, packed all the warm clothes she could carry and then hit the road to the bus stop. The snow had finally slowed down and she was relieved as she leaned into the window slightly. Her phone was neatly pressed into her hand as she clicked play on the video Josh sent to everyone the week prior.

"Well hello friends and fans" Josh sighed in annoyance before he adjusted the camera angle to zoom in on himself better. "Alright let's do that again" he smiled brightly "alright. Well hello friends and fans! It's beyond awesome to have you guys all
back this year".

Hazel paused the video as she looked outside the small window beside herself. She inhaled sharply before she looked back down at her phone, she didn't want to hit play. This entire thing just seemed so bizarre and awkward, it's almost as if nothing happened and it was odd. Josh looked happy, did he truly get better while he was away?

Did he not need her anymore? Was it all just a big act, that was slowly spiraling into her own downfall and not his. Maybe he blamed her for what happened.

"First off, I gotta say I am super excited to welcome all my pals to the annual Blackwood winter getaway!" He threw his hands back as he chuckled softly. His smile faded away as he looked more seriously into the camera "so, um... Let me just let you know, let's take a moment to address the Elephant in the room for a second. I know you're all probably worried about me, and I know it's gonna be tough on all of us going back. After what happened last year, but I just want you all to know it means.. Well it means so much to me that we're doing this. And I know it would mean so much to Hannah and Beth that we're all still together, thinking of them and just trying our best to keep going forward. I really want to spend some quality time with each and every one of you and share some memories we'll never forget, for the sake of my sisters, you know?".

Hazel's phone flew out of her hand when the bus came to a sharp stop. She pushed her hand forward catching herself just in time as it landed awkwardly on the bus floor. She could see the walk path for the lodge in her view as she carefully reached downward and grabbed her phone. The screen was shattered but she could still hear the sound of Josh's voice.

"Okay... so! Let's party like we're fucking porn stars, okay? And make this one a trip we will never forget, alright? This is gonna be the best night of our lives".

The voice turned disoriented as her phone completely turned off, the only sound she could hear was the hum of the bus as she made her way towards the doors. "Great, that's gonna cost a bunch to replace" she rubbed at her head in annoyance as she thanked the bus driver and got off. She shivered as she pushed her jacket around herself more, given the thick material, she was really hoping no one noticed her stomach.

It's not like she could hide it forever but maybe by some miracle they wouldn't notice and just think she's cold and has layers on. She did tend to do that a lot so it wouldn't be anything new for her. She looked up at the big Blackwood Pines sign and she felt anxious as she began to walk along the pathway.

She put her phone into her backpack before shoving gloves over her shaking hands. Of course they came back when a storm was on the way, it was colder than usual and all she had going for her was thick clothes. Maybe a bit of extra heat from being pregnant but that rarely helped her due to sweating a lot.

It was exhausting carrying around a literal baby inside of yourself, she adjusted her jacket as she neared the gate. They were shut and she groaned as she grabbed the note taped to it "great Josh, your parents are filthy rich but can't afford to fix a stupid gate".

She moved back looking at the gate and the walls around it, there wasn't any way she was climbing that wall unless she was gonna fall on her face. "Need some help?" She jumped and turned around at the sound of the voice. "Joshua... what are you doing out here?" the boy chuckled almost as if he was proud of startling her as he walked towards the gate.

"I was at the lodge, but then I realized. You're coming and I thought I'd test out my luck and see if you were the next person to show up". Hazel looked at the gate "Christopher could've put a step stool or something out here, I'm not that tall. Why is this thing broken anyways?". She approached the side of the wall as Josh teased her "to keep out monsters".

"How very cheesy of you" she mumbled under her breath as she carefully grabbed onto the wall and pushed herself upwards. "Are you sure you don't need help? I mean I aced Gym class". She rolled her eyes "you sound like Christopher. Besides as much as I hate climbing things, technically Samatha taught me how to sorta climb. That one Halloween party a few years back, I got wasted and...".

"Climbed the roof, nearly fell off. Yeah, you were pretty wild back then honey" she huffed as she sat on top of the wall, her breathing slightly heavy as she wiped at her face in exhaustion. She nearly fell when Josh appeared beside her, the boy climbed it far faster than she could. He grabbed her arm stopping her and she chuckled weakly "I would've been a pancake".

He let go of her arm as she looked downwards at the jump "you alway preferred waffles" she jumped and groaned when her hand awkwardly smacked into a rock. It's almost as if it was put there on purpose, she sat up holding her hand. "Woah, you alright?" Josh jumped beside her grabbing the rock and tossing it to the side. She watched as it dropped into the snow before she turned to face Josh.

"Why are you really here? I doubt it's to see if I was here, I mean I'm probably the last one to show up" Josh's eyes almost immediately turned dark but she didn't pay any attention. Her fingers rubbed at her hand "you're the one I wanted here the most".

She looked at him as he grabbed her wrist and looked at her palm, a small cut was on it making her wince. "I got lost, forgot to tell the bus driver Blackwood Pines, so we did two trips, twice the cash. Twice the annoyance and cold weather increased. Not like It would matter if I showed up late, no one here likes me and they all think I'm like some stuck up girl who's obsessed with you all the damn time".

She stood up wiping her hands off on her jeans as she fixed her jacket quickly when she noticed the lack of coverage. Josh didn't seem to notice and she was thankful as he began to walk along the pathway. She followed after him, making sure her bags didn't fall.

"You weren't obsessed, maybe just a tad bit hard to get away from, not that I didn't mind, a hot chick following me around all times of the day, I mean..." he paused when he saw her glare at him.

"Right, a beautiful chick?" She hit his shoulder softly before she walked up the flight of steps "that's right mister Washington, I'm beautiful, not like mega hot, that's Sam's department or maybe Emily? It doesn't matter though because we're back and things aren't well awkward between you and me and I'm glad for that".

She scratched the back of her neck slightly as she stopped walking, Josh who was hellbent on sprinting practically towards the next pathway didn't notice her stop. Not till he made a comment about how her boots were redder than usual, he didn't get any sassy responses back so he turned and saw it was just him.

"Hazel?" He turned again just to make sure he wasn't seeing things "where did you go". He mumbled to himself as he walked down the stairs "Haze?". Half way down Hazel jumped out at him screaming as she held onto a long tree branch. The boy gasped, his foot slipping "oh shit!" Hazel moved forward and yelped when her hand grabbed his arm and she slid right down the steps with him.

She screamed as they slid faster, Josh who had a slightly better grip managed to stop himself right before he smacked into a tree. Hazel kept sliding downward and he grabbed her hood so fast she gagged as it choked her, she heard his giggle as she finally slowed and hit the snow. She let out a heavy breath as Josh let go of her hood and approached her he was kneeled over laughing as she wiped snow off her face.

She grabbed at his ankle making him groan as he landed into the snow beside her face first. "That's right buddy, try laughing now mister" she almost grew tense when his laughter stopped and he looked at her. "What? I didn't hurt you did I?" She grabbed at his chin to check but then she yelled when he shoved snow down the back of her jacket.

"Joshua!" He laughed as he sprinted up the steps disappearing along the pathway. Hazel huffed as she stood up "not fair... I can't run that fast" she wiped the snow off her clothes before shaking her jacket off. After making sure her stomach was covered the best it could possibly be, she made her way up the stairs.

She kept walking and finally spotted the cable car, she walked inside and it was just Josh. "No one else here yet?" He turned as he walked into the cable car "Chris is down by the range, so it's just you and me on this lovely ride". She rolled her eyes as he helped her step inside, she sat down sighing.

"Ah, is the lady still scared of the cable car? The worst that could happen is it gets stuck, you're all stranded and can't get out, not a single cable car key in sight". Hazel held onto herself a bit more and Josh chuckled "kidding, none of that would ever happen, it's just us up here for a reason". When the cable car came to a stop Hazel carefully stepped off, Josh ran ahead of her as she grabbed her bags.

"Gotta keep up Haze if you want the best seats" she chuckled as she walked behind him "as long as it's next to the fire that's all that matters to me, I'm not freezing to death out here on this mountain".

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authors notes: gosh i swear it's so bland following the intro of this game, like you can either run into Sam or Chris. Or just downright have it to where your oc runs into anyone else, so I changed it a bit for the sake of my story. Like not gonna lie Josh is gonna terrorize tf outta Hazel because idk he's a tad bit insane. Like Chris and Sam both got it the worse for the prank and they're also the main ones he goes after when they weren't even involved with the prank. So of course it makes sense he'd go after Hazel the most too. Basic intro chapter of course for the game, then we get into all the drama soon! Enjoy!