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As I walk into the living room, I see Delaney standing by the couch, dressed in a sweater and leggings, a confused look on her face as she watches me walk past her and straight to Zoey’s room, clearly knowing exactly where I’m going.
I don’t knock, just open her door and when I flick on the light, it feels like my whole fucking world comes crashing down.
She’s not here.
She’s not here and her bed is empty and she’s not fucking here.
I knew she wouldn’t be though. She’d texted me earlier to say she was on her way. Her phone and bag were at the end of my drive. Why the fuck would she be here?
Turning, I walk back into the living room where Alex and Delaney both stand, clearly confused as to why their boss has shown up at their house in the middle of the night looking for Zoey.
“When’s the last time you spoke to Zoey?” I ask, still gripping her phone. Delaney glances at Alex who is staring at me like he can’t figure out what’s going on here. “Alex?” I prompt, my frustration growing. “Zoey, when is the last time you spoke to her?”
“Um, we haven’t,” he says, looking at Delaney. “We only just got back from Boston.”
“Fuck,” I mutter, exhaling hard as I shove a hand through my hair.
“I texted her when we got back,” Delaney says, even though I know this. “But she never responded. What’s going on, Ethan?” Delaney now asks. “Why are you here looking for Zoey? Where is she?”
My eyes close as I pinch the bridge of my nose. I know there’s no going back after this. Hell, I’ve probably already gone too far, but I don’t care, because I need to know what the fuck is going on here. I need to know where she is. Why she wasn’t outside coming to me like she’s been doing for so many nights now.
“She was coming over to my house,” I eventually say, my voice low. “She was coming over, only she didn’t show up and now I have…” I trail off, holding up her phone in my hand.
“What? What do you mean?” Delaney asks, clearly not getting it.
I open my eyes to find both Alex and Delaney staring at me, confused looks on their faces that tell me everything I already knew. They have no idea about Zoey and me. No idea we are together, no idea that for weeks she’s been sneaking out every chance she can get to spend the night with me.
No idea I am in love with her.
“Zoey and I,” I eventually say, the words lodged in my throat as my heart pounds in my chest. Even though we were going to tell everyone about us, this wasn’t how things were supposed to play out. Right now, no one knows what Zoey and I are to each other. No one knows how much she means to me, and I know admitting this out loud is going to change everything.
“Zoey and I,” I say, starting again, “we’re together. She was coming over because she…she was coming to my house to spend the night and I have no idea where she is and I…I found…” I trail off, holding up her phone again.
“That’s her phone?” Delaney now says and I can hear both the curiosity and the worry in her voice.
“Yes,” I say, my voice cracking. “I found it tossed at the end of my drive along with her overnight bag. I think…fuck.” I pause, exhaling hard. “I think something’s happened to her.”
“Jesus,” Alex breathes out. “Why? I mean, what the hell?”
“I don’t know!” I shout, louder than I mean to, my frustration and fear all but consuming me. I cannot lose this woman. Cannot lose the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.
“Okay, shit,” Alex now says, stepping closer as he puts a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll figure this out, Ethan, just…fuck, I don’t know, maybe I should get Max?”
“I need to call the police,” I say as I collapse onto the couch, my chest like a vice as I struggle to breathe, to make sense of what’s happening right now.
“Yes, we definitely should call them,” Delaney says, just as Alex says. “Let me get Max first. I’ll be back in a minute.”
I don’t respond, just sit on their couch, my head in my hands, my heart pounding in my chest as I try to make sense of all this. How can she have just disappeared?
I’m not sure how long I sit here for, but it feels like forever before I hear the front door open, slam shut, and then the sound of footsteps.
“Ethan?” I hear Alex say. I look up to find him standing before me, a coat now pulled around him and a concerned look on his face. “Max is here,” he adds, gesturing to Zoey’s brother who stands beside him, dressed in some sweats and looking equally concerned.
I stand from the couch, as Max steps toward me and says, “What’s going on? Why are you here looking for my sister?”
His tone is laced with suspicion and confusion and I’m guessing Alex didn’t waste too much time filling him in on the details when he went and got him just now. I know from Zoey, that Max only lives a couple of doors down. I suck in a deep breath, trying to calm down before I just let it all out and tell him. Tell him how Zoey and I are together. How we’ve been seeing each other for a while now and that she’s been sneaking out to spend nights with me. How she was supposed to be coming over tonight, but she didn’t show up and instead I found her phone and bag.
When I’m done, the three of them stand there watching me, a mix of emotions on their faces: fear, confusion, uncertainty. I’m sure they are wondering how the hell this all has happened, but I don’t have the energy for all the details right now.
