"The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places."

- Ernest Hemingway

IT WAS as if someone had chosen a new palette for his life. A painter, or perhaps a cinematographer, deciding the mood of his surroundings, each tone carefully thought out, depicting an exact feeling. Of course, like the depressing movie that his life would perhaps be, everything, to him at least, was in monochrome; the grey pavements and the dull, washed out tones of the houses around him seemed to follow him wherever he went, no matter how far he ventured.

It was clear from the minute it happened, everything had changed since her death. The world had faded into a nothingness. An empty, soulless essence of everything he was so desperate never to see. But no matter how many times he tried to forget it, she had died, and he had no choice but to live through it, for there was someone more important, more impressionable than himself, someone that needed the guidance of what little family he had left to, possibly, see another light of day.

As he unlocked and opened the door of their flat, Levi could hear the sounds of the TV wailing through the house, the screen seeming to be the only light that illuminated the rest of the place. Hunter was sat on the sofa, his eyes glued to it with one leg up and his chin leaning upon it, whilst one of his hands tapped the cushion next to him repeatedly.

One thing that Levi noticed about his brother was that he seemed to have almost, as best he could describe it, folded into himself. Ever since her death, Hunter was incredibly reclusive and withdrawn; less of the happy-go-lucky little brother he used to be. He had grown up more in the last few weeks than he had in years, a sudden heightening of his maturity and awareness, as if death was the educator itself.

Levi stepped over the plate left on the carpet to reach the TV, turning it off and plunging them into darkness. "How long has this thing been on?"

"Dunno." Hunter shrugged, the outlines of his shoulders just visible from the streetlights shining into their window.

Sighing, Levi reached to the light switch behind him, exhausted from his responsibilities, upset at Hunter's blatant disregard to almost everything around him. "You can't be like this forever, Hunter." He spoke eventually, his voice softer and surprisingly calm. "I know Mom died, and I know that's been hard on you, but..." He paused, watching the way Hunter lowered his head. Levi sat next to him. "But remember when Mom was like this? Never any life behind her eyes, never any real, proper expressions? Do you really want to live like that?"

Hunter was silent for a minute, tugging at one of the threads off the sofa cushion. Then he lifted his eyes up to his brother and swallowed. "I just...I can't believe that it could happen. Every time I try to-" He wiped away one of his tears angrily, staring up at the ceiling to prevent its departure. "Every time I try to think about it, it just seems wrong." His lip trembled. "Why did she have to die? Why do we have to live through that?"

"I know." Levi struggled to watch his brother, feeling his own emotions well up: that tightening of his throat, the thoughts repeatedly bashing around his mind like stabs of pain, reminding him of every bit of miserable misfortune they had. "It's not fair. But, I know that what's really not fair is if we don't even get one more shot at happiness. Hunt, we're young. We're so young. This is just something that we have to get past, okay? And we can."

"But I don't want to live like this, hating every day without her." His body began shaking, his face screwing up. At this point, Hunter was so overwhelmed by sadness that he had forgotten how to prevent it from coming out, waves and waves of despair pouring over him, suffocating his senses. "I feel so lonely."

"Hey, hey." Levi squeezed him hard, his arms encircling his little brother, enveloping their warmths together. "You're never lonely. Never. You've got me, haven't you?"

As they broke apart, Hunter looked up to him, his eyes red and glistening. "But you'll forget about me."

"What?" Levi yelled. "Forget about you? You're the most important person I've got, Hunt. You really think I can just forget you even exist? Come on, that was a stupid thing to say."

"Well then not forget..." He shrugged. "Like, stop caring."

"Do you think you'll stop caring about me?"

Hunter sniffed. "No."

"Then why do you think I would? Just because I'm older? That's messed up, little bro." He smiled, pushing his brother's arm lightly. "I got you. And you've gotta look out for me too, you know."

"Really?"

"Course. I mean, I need someone to help me choose what takeaway we're getting tonight."

Hunter's eyes lit up like a fire. "But you said..."

"I'll splash out just this once. What can I say? I'm the best brother a dude could wish for."

♥♥♥

He had felt the empty space beside him the minute his body woke from its sleep, her pillow still dented with her impression, the bed still warmth from her touch.

For a minute Levi lay there, silent, trying to hear any sounds to indicate that Iris was merely awake and just elsewhere in the hotel, perhaps speaking to Wrench and Ember next door, or getting some food from the vending machine down the hall. But after five solid minutes, there was nothing of the sort, and he was beginning to drive himself mad with every scenario he thought might have happened.

After rapidly changing into his clothes, he began pounding the others' door, unsympathetic to Ember's glare as she eventually threw it open.

"She's gone." Levi said, the fear he had hoped to dial down a little dripping with each word. "There's no sign of her. I don't know where, or when, but she's fucking gone."

Ember's eyes widened with shock. "You think they've taken her or something?"

"No, no. I don't." Levi shook his head, pacing about the room, his hands knotted in his hair. Even Wrench had bolted upright, his face solemn.

"You think she's gone..." Ember trailed off quietly, knowing what Levi was thinking.

"She's gone there alone. Yes. I don't know why, maybe because she thinks she can give them what they want?" He clenched his jaw angrily. "I mean, she's a fucking idiot. What, she thinks that's smart? Just going somewhere in the middle of nowhere and everything is gonna turn out okay?"

"Levi, calm down." Ember said. She touched his arm, her eyes staring into his reassuringly. "I know you're worried about her, but-"

"If...if she's gone too, I..." He sat down on the edge of their bed. Wrench, stirring beside him, placed a hand on his shoulder. "She's all I've got left. I don't know if Hunter is okay, and now her? What if-"

"Let's not think like that." Ember tugged a jumper over her head, already collecting her belongings. "Have we got someone we can call? She'll have taken the car already."

"And the address." Wrench added. His voice was still croaky from sleep. "The address was on the phone, and if we don't have that...?"

Levi nodded. "She took it too."

"Then how are we supposed to get there?" Wrench sighed. "I don't know if you guys remember it but it was pretty complicated."

"I wrote it down." Ember said, rolling her eyes at them. "You think I'm stupid enough to trust a phone that could potentially break or run out of charge at any moment? Just because you both were."

The two boys shrugged sheepishly, avoiding her pointed stares.

"Anyway, we can't just turn up." She continued, throwing her hands up in the air exasperatedly. "We have no weapons, no back up, no plan. This is basically a death sentence."

"Well I don't know what the fuck else to do." Levi rested his face in his hands, feeling his chest tightening with every thought of Iris' disappearance. Why couldn't she have given him a message? Why couldn't she have thought about this? It was certainly unlike Iris, just to make such a rash decision without at least thinking of the consequences. Sure, she was a little aggressive at times, maybe sometimes irresponsible, but she wasn't careless. Not like this.

Wrench stood up off the bed. "I say we get out of here, get some food. We're not thinking properly, we just woke up, and frankly, I'm starving."

"Of course you're one to think about food at a time like this." Ember said, rolling her eyes.

"No, he's right." Levi replied quietly. "As much as I want to help Iris, the best way we can do that is if we have a plan. Right now, we're going in circles."

"Okay." Ember inhaled deeply. Grabbing her bag, she headed towards the door with Levi at her tail, before at once stopping to look at Wrench still changing into his clothes.

"Aren't you going to wait for me?" He was desperately pushing one leg through his trousers, wobbling precariously before falling onto the floor in a heap.

"Nope." She blew a kiss to him. "You can follow us yourself."

"But where?" He called out, surprisingly worried. Levi would have laughed, had it not been for the pounding ache in his head.

"Relax you big baby. We're only going to the buffet downstairs."

Shutting the door behind them, Levi and Ember headed towards the lifts, carrying their minimal baggage.

"You're really going to leave him on his own?" Levi asked, raising his eyebrows.

Ember shrugged. "He needs to learn how to be independent, Levi."

Levi rolled his eyes at her stubbornness, but decided not to say anything. After all, Wrench had certainly changed for the better.

Also waiting for the lift was a grouping of four boys, all looking just as deflated and exhausted as the other two felt, strangely out of place in the hotel, with no baggage and no signs of a long stay.

"...thought they'd be here though." One was saying. He had a dark curly afro and towered above the others, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. His English accent was immediately recognisable, piercing into Levi's chest as he was reminded of Iris' own one, too.

As all four of them noticed Levi and Ember's arrival, they toned down their conversation, waiting awkwardly in silence as the lift began slowly making its way up to their level.

"Why don't we ask them?" A smaller one hissed to the others. He too shared the same accent. Perhaps they were all travelling to America from the UK on some vacation. Although they didn't look like the type to go on a holiday. The small one had a shaved head and a lean body, his eyes with dark circles underneath them. Maybe more like ex-prisoners.

The tall one shoved the other, hard. "Because this is a hotel, not a fucking house, idiot."

"I just don't get why we have to go here first." The smaller one continued. He was tapping his foot impatiently on the ground, his eyes trained on the lift meter. "We got this already."

"Because it's important. We were asked to, remember?" Another one replied. His skin was pale, and he had a long scar down his left cheek. Casting a look towards Levi and Ember, he hastily turned away and hissed something unheard.

Eventually the lift reached their level and in they all piled, waiting for the doors to close behind them.

"Ground floor?" The small one asked loudly, trying to offer a smile, which looked rather like a grimace. It was as if he had never used the expression before.

Ember nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

"I can't help but feel like we're headless chickens right now." The boy with a split lip resumed their previous conversation. He was the only one who hadn't spoken, his voice seeming more collected than the others.

"Oh, piss off. We'll just have to go there without them." The tall one snapped. "If they aren't here, they aren't here."

The group resumed the silence yet again, the whole lift once again descending in what felt like a never-ending series of awkwardness.

Ember cleared her throat. "So you're from England, I take it?"

Levi flashed her a look. Why did she have to make the situation even worse than it already was? He certainly didn't feel like talking to the idiots, especially given how stressed out he felt. Apparently, Ember didn't mind.

"Uh, yeah." The skinhead replied. "London, actually."

"Oh, really? My boyfriend is from London."

"Cool."

Ember nudged Levi. "Hey – I wonder if Wrench knows them."

"London is a huge place, Ember." Levi shook his head in disbelief. "I highly doubt-"

"What did you just say?" The boy with the afro asked, staring at Ember with a look of shock on his face.

Ember frowned. "I said I wonder if you know my boyfriend, Wrench."

The doors of the lift opened.

"I knew I could beat you down the stairs." Wrench was stood outside, oblivious to the four boys that had their backs to him, staring daggers at Ember. "See, I can actually function you know. In your-"

And then, as if all at once, the boys turned around, and Wrench's face drained. 

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡ 

AUTHORS NOTE: Hey guys, I'm SOOOOOOO sorry this was such a late update, I've been super super busy with working in my gap year and when I do have time I just can't seem to motivate myself to write another chapter!!!!!!

I think it's because I just don't want it to end, and also it's been difficult thinking about what I eventually want to happen! Sooo much thinking loool

The end is so so sooo close. I'd say maybe two/three more chapters at the very most?

:(

Who do you think the boys in the lift are? Any guesses???

Anyway, the next chapter will come soon!!! 

Love you all sooo much,