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Alex had texted everyone in the group chat to meet him at his house. Charlie, of course, was the first one to arrive. He walked up to the front door and knocked. When no one answered, he opened it slightly and peeked inside.

"Alex?" Charlie called out, but received no answer again.

Charlie opened the door fully and cautiously entered the house. He wasn't too worried about running into Alex's parents, since Alex wouldn't have asked everyone to come over if they were home. He made his way to Alex's room and looked inside. Alex had headphones on and was pacing back and forth with his eyes closed.

"Alex?" Charlie tried again, but this time he walked up behind him and took of his headphones.

Alex jumped in surprise, "Jesus, don't sneak up on me like that."

Charlie held his hands up in defense, "Sorry, you didn't hear me before."

Alex took a seat on his bed, "It's fine. I didn't mean to snap at you."

Charlie smiled, "It's okay."

He sat down next to Alex. For a moment, they just looked into each other's eyes. Charlie began to lean closer as Alex's heart sped up-

Zach burst into Alex's room, "Hey guys!"

Charlie stood up from the bed so quickly, he almost fell down.

Zach looked between them, "Uh, did I interrupt something?"

"Nope. You didn't interrupt anything." Alex said immediately.

Charlie looked disappointed, but nodded, "Yeah, we were just waiting for everyone else to get here."

Zach looked unconvinced, but still accepted the answer. Soon enough, everyone had arrived at Alex's house. Alex and Charlie sat together on his bed, while Clay and Tyler were leaning against the wall. Tony was staring out the window, keeping lookout in case Alex's parents came home. Justin and Zach were seated on the floor as Jessica and Ani walked around the room.

"So what did you call us all here for?" Clay asked.

Alex sighed, "I'm thinking about confessing."

Everyone looked over at him in shock, "Alex, what the hell? You can't do that." Jessica told him.

Alex shook his head, "The guilt is getting to me. I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't even think half of the time."

"We can figure something out, we'll all help you get through it." Zach encouraged.

"We've already tried doing that, but I'm telling you guys, it's not enough. No matter what I do, I just keep seeing myself push him in the water." Alex put his head in his hands.

"Alex, we've all had guilt before, but-" Charlie started, but Alex cut him off.

"But you've never murdered anyone! Why don't any of you get that? I'm a fucking killer and someone went down for my crime."

"Monty is dead, case closed. We can move on." Justin said.

Ani nodded in agreement, "He's right. Alex, you deserve happiness. If you turn yourself in, you're going to lose any chance at that."

"I already lost any chance of being happy when I killed Bryce." Alex reminded them. Everyone was silent for a moment, trying to process their thoughts.

"I'm going to tell them that I was alone. You don't have to worry about anything, Jess." Alex reassured her.

"How can I not worry, Alex? You're my best friend. You've already tried to leave me once and now you're saying you're going to do it again?" Jessica shot back.

Alex didn't mean to upset her, "I wish I could take back what I did, you know that, but I'm not trying to leave anybody. I just can't go on living in this constant state of guilt."

No one knew what to say. Jessica's eyes slowly began to fill with tears. Alex broke the silence, again.

"Besides, if I don't confess, Diego, Estela, and Winston would probably just find proof."

Clay shook his head, "They wouldn't. We'd make sure of it."

"How are you gonna do that, Clay?" Alex asked.

"I-I, I don't know, but we'd figure it out." Clay stuttered.

"You all keep saying we can figure things out, but we never seem to actually be able to do that." Alex pointed out.

Tony looked away from the window, "We shouldn't be talking like this. Now's not the time to be arguing." Everyone murmured in agreement.

"Alex, if you confess, you'll probably go to jail for life." Tyler spoke up.

Alex went to reply, but didn't get the chance to, as he was interrupted by someone opening the door to his room. Everyone turned to see Alex's dad standing in the doorway, with three familiar faces behind him.

"I think I may have figured out a way around that." Deputy Standall said.

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