Save Me

Chapter 45

He took his backpack, pushed in a few clothes and his pink teddy bear, before climbing out of the Window and running. It was getting cold. Alex was still walking around somewhere, after running away from his sister's house. Yet again, he didn't know where to go. He figured that his friends came to the house after school, so he didn't want to go to them, because they would tell his sister. He needed a place, that everyone didn't know about, so that he could submerge for a few days maybe, to clear out his thoughts. After some thinking he  remembered that Willie told him about his place. He ran there, so he wouldn't freeze anymore and because he had no other place to be. He found the key exactly where Willie told him and entered Willie's place. He put his backpack down, got his Teddy out and sat down on the couch. Alex sat there for a moment before looking around. In Willie's bedroom he found the closet, opened it and a hoodie fell out on his face. He could smell the hoodie and it smelled like Willie. This was enough for him to drop to his knees, starting to cry and cuddling the hoodie and the pink teddy bear. 

The next day Allison calmed mostly down. She never wanted to scream at Alex, it just overtook her. She went upstairs to her brothers room and knocked. "Hey Lexi? I'm sorry. Please...open the door..." There was no answer. "Alex...please…" Still there was no answer. "Hey...what's going on?" Shawn asked her. "We fought...then he locked himself inside his room…" She explained her fiancé. "Wait...you two don't fight...what happened?" He asked her and she told him what went down. "Here…" He gave her a key. "What...what's the key for?" Allison asked him. "It's for Alex's room...I got it after he locked himself in, the first time." Shawn explained her. "Thanks, I love you!" Allison opened the door, only to see that the room is empty and the window open. "He ran away...Shawn...we need to find him!" Shawn nodded and rushed with her downstairs. "Where could he be?" He asked her fiancé. "I...I don't know...one of his friends...the studio...mom and dads house...I really don't know…" She said worried. "We will find him...lets go to your parents house first, the others are still in school." Shawn suggested and Allison nodded. On the ride to the Mercer house, Allison was a ball of nervousness. As soon as Shawn stopped the car, the woman sprung up, running into the house. "Alex! Alex! Are you here?" She shouted through the house. They looked through the whole house, only to be disappointed that Alex was not there. "I'm worried...I just...He never ran away…" Allison said, with tears falling down. "I know...how about we go to the school and wait for the others?" Shawn said, cupping her face gently and wiping her tears away.

Even though they didn’t have to wait for long, it felt like eternity. Allison was still crying silently, wondering where he could be. Shawn tried his best to calm her down, hugging her, stroking her hair etc. When the school bell rang she practically sprung out of the car and ran towards the front door, immediately waiting for her brother's friends. “Luke, Julie, where are Reggie and Jules?” She asked them, “they should be out in just a second, are you okay? Julie asked, as she saw how Allison looked. “No,no I’m not…..Alex ran away….I can’t find him anywhere..” Shea started crying again. When Reg and Jules joined them, they guided the dissolved Allison back to the car. “Shhh…come here baby…we will find him.” Her finacé took her into a little embrace, stroking her back as he pulled her tighter. “He didn’t come to see you guys did he?” Shawn asked, over her shoulder. The kids shook their heads. “No we haven’t seen him since that one time after the trial….” Reggie said, as he pulled his girlfriend closer to him. “Why would he run away? Did something happen?” Jules asked now, wanting to get closer to Alli to comfort her. “He came back, after you guys left….and then we had a fight….I thought he only locked himself in his room but I didn’t think he would just go…” her voice was shaky and quiet. She was scared, what if he got into an accident? What if he is lying injured in a bush? What if he is dead? The thoughts we’re making her sadder and sadder by the second. 

They looked for Alex the whole day, even after it got dark, but they didn't find him. The more time passed the more worried Allison got. "It could have happened anything…" She mumbled in the car on their way back to their own house. "I know...we will find him…" Shawn said, squeezing her hand. The house was quiet without Alex. He wasn’t a very loud boy in general but it was more quiet now. It made her crazy. “Come here Ali….we will search for him tomorrow so you need to sleep now.” When she laid down, Shawn pulled her closer. “We will find him, okay? We will!” But Allison couldn’t sleep, not one bit. ‘I can’t sleep, what if he comes back in the middle of the night? What if he calls me and I don’t hear the phone and he dies? Okay Alli, calm down. Just believe the others. Alex is fine….he is fine…..but what if he isn’t…’ her thoughts were taking over.  When she knew that Shawn was fully asleep, she wiggled out of his grip and went downstairs, sitting on the couch and waiting for her dear brother to come back home. After some waiting, she fell asleep on the couch, tears rolling down her cheek. 

“Awi…why you cwying?” Little Alex came into her room, as he heard some sobs escape it. She looked up at him, with red eyes and a sobby nose. “It’s nothing Lexi…I’m fine.” He toddled into her room and made grabby hands next to her bed, so she would sit him on her lap. “I don’t bewieve you…youw eyes wet.” He took his hand and touched her cheeks, proving to her that she’s not fine. “It’s nothing, really…James broke up with me.” By the mention of her first ex-boyfriends name, tears welled up in your eyes again. “He stupid, he wevt you.” She loved how her little brother couldn’t say the “L” . It made him so innocent and cute. “Oh Lexi.” She took him into a hug. “You don’t need anyone ewse but me.” What Alex just said made her laugh a little, “Don’t ever leave me okay?” Alex broke the hug and looked at her with his big eyes. “I wouwd nevew weave you Awi, it wouwd huwt you and I wuv you toooooooo much.” He said, exaggerating the ‘too’, to show her how much. As a few tears slipped out, Alex said, “No teaws.” And wiped them away with his hands. “I sing you a song.” He started humming a melody, which Allison couldn’t make out at first but then as he started singing she noticed it. “You got a fwiend in me, you got a fwiend in me.” After a little bit he stood up onto her legs and performed his little dancy dance, which made him really tired. “Come sit down again, it’s almost naptime.” She looked at the clock. “ ‘M tiwed…” he rubbed his eyes, as he leaned into his sister's chest and shortly after fell asleep. “Goodnight Lex…” just minutes after she fell asleep too, holding her little brother close to  her. 

It was getting early, when Shawn woke Allison up from the couch. “Hey babe….what are you doing here?” He asked her calmly. “I was hoping Alex might come back and so I came downstairs to wait, but I guess I fell asleep. They shared a kiss, when suddenly someone was knocking on the door. “Alex?” Allison stood up from the couch now.