Chapter Text
Tulip refused to admit that this was a bad idea.
The doubt had started nibbling at her when she got to the start of the forest trail and kept on gnawing the further she walked. First it was the practical stuff about how she could wait to leave until tomorrow morning and take the bus. Then her brain tried to guilt her into turning back by pointing out how worried Mom would be, and how she would call Dad and then he would be worried, and then they would call everyone trying to find her and it would be a whole mess of worrying.
Plus, when Lake found out that their ‘perfect sibling’ did something irresponsible, they would never let her hear the end of it.
But Tulip smothered every fact with the memory of arguing with Mom. With how she didn’t even try to find another way to get her to camp. With how dad forgot about her just by not living in the same house as her anymore. With how Lake had just stood there and not said anything despite the fact that they were supposed to have each other’s backs. Each attempt by the logical part of her to make her turn back was crushed under the sheer desire to not be in that place with those people.
So Tulip kept walking even after the sun went down, her phone’s flashlight illuminating the path through the woods. It was an old hiking trail that reached the next town. She would get there, pay for a cheap room at a motel, and buy a ticket for the earliest bus the next morning. Yeah, she would get to camp a day late, but that would’ve been the case no matter what, since the buses stopped running for the day by the time Mom broke the news.
Or at least Tulip thought they did. She didn’t check before she left, but it didn’t matter anyway. She was out of that house and that was what she was focused on.
Another hour passed and the snow was starting to fall harder. The town was about three hours away, and according to her phone she had been walking for three and a half. Though that original time didn’t account for snow so it made sense that she was going a bit slower. She would be getting there soon. And then she’d be in a bed and then she’d-wait, if she let her parents know where she was they’d just demand she come home. So she’d wait until she got to camp to let them know she made it and didn’t just disappear. But would they just make her come back? Obviously they’d be upset that she left, but that was their own fault. And she could take care of herself; she got there just fine didn’t she? What would they do, clear their oh-so busy schedules to drive to the camp and bring her back? Of course they would do that to punish her and not to just take her there in the first place. It’s a six-ish hour drive, it’s not that complicated!
Tulip got so lost in her thoughts that when she finally checked her phone again, it said another two hours had passed.
What the hell? How was that possible? That couldn’t be right; she was still surrounded by forest and she would’ve been in the town long by now. She knew the trail couldn’t be that long, even with the snow. Years of hiking with Lake and Dad meant she had walked this trail and every other nearby trail countless times, so she knew what she was doing-
Oh, right; the long trail that led to the next town also connected to a bunch of other trails, some looping and some letting out somewhere. Tulip had been using the distance between the trees to see where the path was, since it was buried under the snow, but that meant all the trails looked the same. She must’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere.
Alright, easy mistake to fix. Just walk back down the path until she got back to the main trail, it was a basic trick in hiking.
Half an hour later, she was still walking when she noticed that footprints in front of her had disappeared. Ok, so the snow filled them in. She still had the path, the large spacing between the trees made it visible even with all the snow. Wow it was snowing a lot, she hadn’t noticed until now but it was coming down hard. W-Whatever. Just follow the path and keep moving-
…Did she pass that rock when she first went this way? She didn’t remember doing that, but she’d been walking for a long time. Wow her legs hurt. Actually, wait, they didn’t hurt as much as they should’ve. They were so cold they were numb.
Now that she’d let the thought slip in, Tulip couldn’t ignore how cold she was. It wasn’t something she thought about much; she lived in Minnesota, you can’t live in Minnesota if you can’t handle the cold! Stuff needed doing, snow or no snow, so she had learned to suck it up and put on a jacket. But God damn it was cold.
And she definitely didn’t climb over that log before.
There was no denying it. She was lost, big time.
The logic part of her brain finally spoke up again, and it would’ve been going ‘I told you so’ if it wasn’t currently terrified. She was lost, in the woods, at night, in winter.
Without any further thought she called 911.
And immediately felt like panicking when the call didn’t go through. Of course it didn’t. It’s the middle of the fucking woods, of course there’s no signal out here. Ok, ok , she just had to keep moving. That’s what you had to do in the snow, right? Keep moving so you stay warmer.
So Tulip kept moving.
And then her phone died.
Oh God it was DARK. It was like the entire world just stopped existing. She couldn’t-Tulip waved a hand in front of her face-she literally couldn’t see an inch in front of her. Don’t panic, she couldn’t panic. Just keep moving, and when the sun came up she’d be able to see and she could find her way home.
What had she been thinking? Why did she try to walk? She could’ve waited until morning to leave and just taken the fucking bus . Lake would never stop lording this over her; every time she made a dumb choice from now on lake would say ‘Well it’s not the worst decision you’ve ever made.’ and then they’d give that stupid smirk they always did whenever she was wrong about something…
But that would only be after enough time had passed that this was a ‘laugh about it later’ moment, because Lake would definitely be too upset to joke about it for a bit. Tulip remembered when they had broken their leg trying to do some stupid tree-climbing trick when they were young. After they were healed she teased them endlessly about their recklessness. But at the time there was a lot of screaming and crying and worrying whenever they stumbled with their crutches.
Mom and Dad would stay in the upset zone for way longer. There would be lectures, and grounding, and I-thought-I-raised-you-to-be-smarter-than-this rants. And there would be hugs, and constant checkups to make sure she was ok, and that kind of parent-type crying that always makes her cry too.
Tulip just had to keep moving. When she got home she would apologize to Mom and probably cry for a while as she warmed up. And Mom was definitely looking for her right now. She always stuck her head into her room to say goodnight, even when they argued. She would see that Tulip was gone and see the open window and put two and two together. Mom would’ve called search and rescue when she and Lake couldn't find her nearby and she’s waiting at home right now. She’s probably had to stop Lake from going out and looking for her themselves and she’s in the living room waiting for an update on the search.
She would’ve called Dad. They’re probably both staying up waiting for news. Or maybe Dad came to the house because he wanted to make sure Mom and Lake were ok, and they’re all waiting together.
Tulip wouldn’t make them wait. She just had to keep moving and everything would be fine. Lake was definitely telling them just that; she would be fine and ok and safe. Lake would always tell her stuff like that when she was upset. Unless they had proof things wouldn’t be fine they would try to make her feel better. And things would be fine. She just had to keep moving.
She had to keep moving.
Was she moving?
She couldn’t see if she was moving.
She couldn’t feel anything anymore.
She was so tired.
Maybe she could rest now.
Just for a while.