Page 99 of Ours
“Cory?” Nic sat Cory down and saw that he was unresponsive. “Cory?!”
“I think he’s in shock.” Derek walked over and checked his pulse and breathing. “We need to get him dry and warm.”
The two boys worked together quickly in removing Cory’s soaked clothing. Derek retrieved a towel from the cabin’s closet and then went back for two more when he realized how wet he and Nic were too. Once everyone was naked and dry, the two worked to pull out the couch’s bed, laying Cory in the center of it.
“No signal. Probably until the storm passes.” Derek looked at his phone, lips pinched in a frown. “Cory’s mom is probably pulling her hair out right now.”
“At least we found him.” Nic sat on the side of the bed, watching as Cory slept and rubbing a hand along his arm. “Fuck, D. He’s so cold.” Nic sounded scared.
Derek sat on the opposite end of the bed and also felt Cory’s skin. Then wordlessly, he climbed on and spooned Cory from behind. “Come on. We can help keep him warm.”
“Uhh…” Nic was skeptical. “I don’t really know if now is the right time to—”
“I just meant for the body heat, dumbass.” Derek rolled his eyes. “He’s fucking unconscious. Just get in here.”
Chastised, Nic climbed onto the bed and shuffled toward Cory’s front. Throwing an arm over his waist—and Derek’s—hewatched the sleeping boy’s face. Nic wasn’t sure if peaceful was the right word—he was asleep so of course he was peaceful—but he looked… Well, Nic didn’t know what he looked like. He was just happy to see him. He didn’t argue when Derek reached down to pull the blanket over the three of them.
The three boys laid there, one asleep as the two who were still awake listened to the storm raging outside. Neither said anything, just laid together in silence, their shared boy between them. Eventually, the two dozed off themselves, soothed by the sounds of rain against the cabin’s roof.
“Mmnnggh.” Cory began to stir a few hours later, waking both Derek and Nic who were still attempting to hold onto him tightly. The two moved toward either edge of the bed, giving Cory some breathing room in the center.
“Cory?” Derek watched, impatient as Cory continued to wake. “Dude, are his eyes open?”
“Cor?” It was Nic’s turn. He put his hand on Cory’s shoulder. “Cory, you awake?”
“Mmfff.” Cory rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Nic?”
“Yeah.” Nic smiled, happy to hear Cory say his name again.
“Cory?” Derek touched him on the shoulder this time, pulling it back when he caused Cory to jump in surprise. “Sorry.”
“Derek?” Cory flipped onto his back so he could see both of them. “What happened? Where are we?” Cory started running through the events of the night.
“You were lost in the woods in the middle of a storm,” Nic told him.
“We found you and brought you back to the cabin,” Derek explained next.
“Sounds like the storm’s still going too.” As Nic finished, a sudden crack of thunder rang through the cabin to prove his point.
“What do you remember?” Derek asked, watching as Cory struggled to do just that.
Cory sat up silently as he continued to process what had transpired. He remembered getting to the party. He remembered going into the woods with Jackson. Then he was still in the woods, and it was raining and—
“Where’s Jackson?” Cory asked.
“Probably home in his bed,” Derek said flatly. “He… We can talk about that later.”
“He left me out there,” Cory finished Derek’s original thought.
“I’m sorry, Cor.” Derek tentatively reached out to touch Cory’s shoulder again.
“For Jackson?” Cory looked at Derek.
“For everything.” Derek squeezed Cory’s shoulder.
“Why’d you guys come looking for me?” Cory looked down at his lap sadly.
“What?” Nic moved closer to Cory. “What do you mean? You were missing. We had to look for you.”
