Page 105 of The Lodge

River’s voice flits through my memory:It’s been hard watching you spend so many years alone. We wantmorefor you.

“… how much I’d been missing,” he finally finishes. “I didn’t realize how many parts of me I’d left for dead until you came along and made me feel alive.”

“Sostay.”

“It’s not that simple—”

“It doesn’t have to be that hard, either.”

His expression darkens. “You don’t know what it’s like to have your every move scrutinized,” he says bitterly. “You don’t know how it feels to have the entire world salivating, just waiting for you to make a mistake so they can feast on it. You don’t know how it feels likefirefor people to pass judgment on your life when they don’t know the first real thing about it—and how it burns your soul to ash when no one sees you for who you actually are. You don’t know what it’s like, Alix. So forgive me if I don’t want to show my face aftereight yearsonly to be torn apart all over again—I let the entire world think I was gone for good and dragged my best friends into lying for me. Some people will say that’s unforgivable.”

His words hang between us, like he’s just painted a black streak through the bright white sky, until the wind whips them away.

Silence takes over, thick and heavy.

“I never said I thought it would be easy,” I say carefully. “I just think you’re strong enough to handle it—stronger than you give yourself credit for.” I inhale, the cold air sharp and stinging.

Tyler considers my words.

“Also,” I go on, while I still have the boldness, “I truly believe that for every person angry with you for the choices you made, there will be more who understand. People who’d bethrilledto see you back—and not just because they write clickbaity articles, but because they loved and missedyou, Tyler. Not everyone is a Sebastian fan, you know. You could tell your own story.”

When he finally looks at me again, those gorgeous eyes are filled with more sadness than I’ve ever seen on him—but otherwise, he’s unreadable.

“You said it yourself,” Tyler says evenly. “You haven’t been in my life long at all. I appreciate the confidence—but I’m not sure I’m as strong as you think I am. I’m sorry, Alix. You should go somewhere warm before you get hypothermia.”

I should. I really should.

But I’m frozen, and not just in the literal sense.

“Where willyougo?” I ask.

I want so badly for him to see that heisstrong enough.

“Wherever I end up,” he says, “I’ll find some way to let you know I’m safe. I trust you, Alix—”

His voice breaks. I hate this for him. I hate it forme.

But it was always going to come down to this, wasn’t it? There’s no way we could ever have been together for more than just a fling unless he left his life of reclusion behind—I can’t imagine loving someone so intensely in secret for the rest of my life.

Still, there was part of me that hoped we’d sparked something special enough, rare enough, to make him consider abandoning his life of perpetual anonymity and loneliness.

I leave him alone on the lookout bench. It takes everything in me not to turn around for one last glance.

Dewdrops • /TrueNorth

#theories #JettBeckett #SebastianGreen #JettIsAlive

u/jettbeckettconspiracytheorist

12:08PM • March 9, 2025

Okay hi, hello, what is happening—

That photo of the True North guys making the rounds today: LET’S DISCUSS. (Jett Beckett?????!!?)

1.1m • 788.7k • 503.6k

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