Justin got home with his coffee in his hand and his keys in his other. He closer the door to his apartment, taking in the silence. It was difficult living alone, but anything to move away from Evergreen. There were people he missed a lot, that he wouldn't even speak to, let alone see. Like Zach, or Clay, or dare he admit it, some of the team.

After hearing about losing the trial, and all Clay's family did for him, he gave up. He decided it was enough and had to end. He found himself at the edge of the bridge, about to throw himself off to end the constant shit in his life. None of the cars even stopped to help him, like you see in those articles and videos online. But he stared at the city skyline, at all the myriad of lights. His tears had clouded his vision, making them seem like brightly coloured stars. There was a whole world outside of this town, billions more people he could meet, millions of jobs and houses and schools. This town wasn't it for him anymore.

He couldn't do it alone, but he couldn't take anyone with him. Nobody had the same willingness as he did, nobody felt so strongly about their hate for this town enough to leave it and never return. He wasn't proud of what he had done to leave, it felt wrong on so many levels. He'd stolen every bit of money from his mom's apartment, not leaving so much as a dime behind. He only informed one person that he was leaving, and that was Clay. He left a note on their shared fridge, the paper wet with tears. He explained that he was leaving, and not to look for him or try to rescue him, as he didn't need rescuing. Clay was an extremely nervous person, so Justin at least gave him the peace of mind, saying that he intended to stay clean and get his life together elsewhere, promising to contact when he had things sorted. And that he will always be his brother.

Justin didn't have the money for drugs anyway, so that was even more of a good push for him. He'd taken Seth's gun, wrapping it in a shirt he had shoved into his bag. His next trip was to Bryce's house, of whom resided in a empty house most of the time.

"Justy?" Bryce questioned, almost convincing himself he was hallucinating. "What are you doing here?" Justin didn't say anything, instead, he let himself into the house. After spending so many years there, he knew only the outside had security cameras.

Justin had entered through to the foyer, scoffing at the horrendous smell of vodka. Reminding him of the parties he'd had here, and God knows what he'd been doing. Reaching into his bag, he unfolded the shirt and lifted the heavy, metal piece into his hand. His hands shaking, he couldn't believe he was about to do this. Turning to face his, once, best friend, he placed the muzzle on the back of his neck. Instantly, Bryce's hands shot up into the air for surrender, making Justin even more scared.

Everything this man had gotten away with, it wasn't fair. And he can walk away with three months probation for ruining a girls life. Justin will never stop blaming himself, but the real monster had his hands up and was fearing his life. Was he here for revenge? He had fallen out of love with Jessica, but she deserved some peace, peace that Justin could never give her.

"Let's talk about this." Bryce spike slowly, turning his body around to face him. Justin's hand remained still, the muzzle bow on the middle of his forehead. "What do you want?"

"I don't need to talk about this. There's so many things I want, that not even the richest man could give me. I'm leaving. Forever. I'm not coming back to this shithole town where people like you live." Justin spat, his voice remaining at a low level. But he could burst at any time. "I need money. Lots of it, and I'll never see you or anyone again."

Bryce, with his hands still up, had dropped his tense features. If money was what he wanted, he got it. "Cash or card, brother?" Hearing the word made him sick. Bryce was the furthest thing from his brother. Clay was his brother, Zach was his brother, Charlie was his brother. Not him, not anymore.

"Card." Bryce reached for his phone. The transaction took a few minutes, especially money of this amount. "What are you planning to do with this money?" Justin hadn't even thought about that. He can't just move to a new town, and pick a place. These things could take months.

"I need a lot. I'm looking for a place in a new town, I want enough for a few weeks in a hotel." Justin explained. "I need a car." Bryce had grabbed his keys, shoving them into Justin's chest. He was being so generous, but was it because Justin had the power of a gun? "Why are you doing this?"

"I know the shit I did was bad." Bryce started. "But you're my brother. Even if you don't feel the same. Anything you need, let me know. If you wanna leave forever, by all means, take my entire bank account. Nothing will ever relieve what I did to you and Jess." Justin put the gun down, the transaction now complete. He left the house after tucking it back into his bag, entering his new Range Rover. It was immediately getting exchanged for a different car.

That was the last he saw of that town. He did as planned, spending a month or two in a hotel, searching for furnished apartments, as he couldn't afford furniture. Looking for jobs, so he could cover himself whenever he ran out of Bryce's sympathy cash. He'd signed himself up for the a school near his new apartment. And just like that, he had his new life. But the same pain, the same memories, the same nightmares, the same trauma. Just a new location.