I'll Wait Forever

-40-

I felt the note fall from my grasp. He was leaving... actually leaving. A tear slipped down my cheek and landed on the note which now lay on the floor. I looked up at LynZ, but I couldn't form words enough to speak.

"I'm sorry, Gerard. He's right though, maybe this is for the best..." she sat down next to me and put her arm around my shoulder.

"It just doesn't make any sense... why would he leave?" I let my head fall into my hands, and I fought back letting more tears fall.

"It does make sense, Gerard. There was nothing for him here, just bad memories. It's for the best, you know that." She was trying to comfort me, but it didn't work. Nothing would.

"No... you don't understand. He didn't have much here, but he had more here than anywhere else. He wouldn't have left... he wouldn't have." My fingers twisted in my hair, pulling at the dark locks. I resisted the urge to rip them out completely just out of frustration.

"Gerard, he left. He's gone. I looked around his room- his guitar was gone, his toothbrush was gone, and it looked like clothes were missing from his drawers, too. It'll be okay. He's trying to move on, you should too."

"No... I have to find him... he wouldn't have just left, LynZ. I need to talk to him. I have to go..." and before I knew what I was doing, I was on my feet and out the door, my hair messy and my eyes red from crying. I heard LynZ calling out for me to stop, but I ignored her and jumped in my car and headed towards the first town over. I'd start there.

The drive wasn't long, but it felt like an eternity. When I finally arrived, I went to the bus station. I questioned every worker there to see if anyone had seen Frank, but none of them recalled having seen and fun-sized dark haired adorable mess. So, I moved on.

I drove around that city, resorting to just yelling his name out the window, but I got nothing in response. I left that town and decided to try the next one. And then the next one. And the next one. I searched for hours, just hoping to catch a glimpse of something- anything, that would help me find him.

But nothing did.

It just didn't make sense. He had just... vanished. Gone. Without a trace. No one had seen him leaving.

And then it hit me- maybe he hadn't left at all.

I turned around and headed back into Belleville; I needed to check the orphanage. As I drove, I called LynZ, "Gerard? Where the fuck are you?! And why haven't you been answering your phone?!"

"Sorry, Lyn. I've been looking for Frank. I've checked every town he could've made it to, but no one has seen him. I'm coming back to Belleville to look some more." I sighed as I picked up speed, my mind going in a million directions, but all of them centered around Frank.

"You need to stop looking. He's fine, and he clearly doesn't want you to find him. Just come back home, Gerard..." LynZ's irritation was quite evident, but I just couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. I sighed once more before saying a simple 'no' and hanging up the phone. I knew she'd just about kill me for that, but I didn't care. At this point, I only cared about one thing, and that was Frank.

Finally the orphanage came into view, and I drove just a little bit past it and parked my car out of sight. I carefully snuck inside and then crept into Frank's room. It was three in the morning now, and I didn't feel like dealing with people asking me questions about why I was here and what exactly I was doing at an orphanage at three in the morning.

I began searching through Frank's things, and sure enough, some clothes were missing and his guitar. However, while I was looking, I found where Frank stashed his money. He had over six hundred dollars. Normally, I wouldn't have questioned this, but since when do people run away without bringing whatever money they can?