so far from sight and mind

I wanna kill the lights

[amnesiaguy]

best m/f dynamic is a flamboyant bisexual show-off desperately in love with an extremely practical girl who’s difficult to impress 🤩

[varijacija]

[purposefully-lost]

Jotting down stats for Alex in the motw game and giving him negative weird specifically if/when he tries to wolf out on purpose

[vintagecamping]

Bags pack and ready to hit the trails.

California

1973

[purposefully-lost]

Andy on the field having a GREAT game and looking up at the stands to see Alex and Alex is not even paying attention. He's got his nose in a book. He's taking pictures of the pigeons eating fries next to the concession stands

[purposefully-lost]

The thing is I think Alex probably hates baseball

[lovednknown]

[goldensunset]

when the characters never really make peace with it

[dogpuppy]

[dogpuppy]

[purposefully-lost]

Andy and Alex curled up in Andy's bed together and feeling so guilty and distraught that Rabbit isnt with them,,

[purposefully-lost]

Rabbit was gone.

Alex sat on the curb in front of the group home, his leg bouncing impatiently and his heart racing in his ears. Rabbit was gone. Not gone, the social worker he'd spoken to had specified, missing, as if that made any difference at all. He hadn't checked in the night before and no one had seen him at all since a few hours before curfew. The last time Alex had spoken to him was on the phone. They were supposed to go to the drive-in this weekend, catch a double feature they probably weren't going to pay any attention to.

It'd been less than twenty-four hours, but some of the people inside had already mentioned the possibility that Rabbit had run away. Alex didn't believe that, not for a second. He wouldn't just leave.

"Fuck!" Alex ducked down and pushed his hands into his hair, trying to fight down the panic rising up through his chest. Rabbit was gone and Andy was off at college, so the drive back to town was taking him what felt like forever. Alex had been waiting for at least an hour, now. He wanted to go looking. He'd promised Andy he'd wait for him.

When Andy's car finally rolled in, Alex was on his feet and walking towards it before it'd even come to a stop. "Campbell!" He called, stepping up to the passenger door and ducking to peer in through the window. "You took long enough. We still haven't heard anything."

@gruesomejack

[gruesomejack]

Missing? Jack couldn't be missing. Ever since he'd been placed in the group home, he'd been nothing but compliant with them and the rules they had. He was too happy to be out of detention and have certain freedoms again to just... run away. Why would he want to ruin things? Everything about this felt wrong.

It was the same argument going through his head over and over as he drove. Andy had left his dorm room with a frown and it was still there as he pulled into the parking lot.

Window down, he met Alex's anxiety-ridden stare with a quieter, but still anxious one of his own. "Nothing? I just-" Andy cursed and scrubbed at his face, his expression twisting into full worry. Dropping his hands, he gave the steering wheel a thump and leaned back in his seat. "I don't get it! Where the fuck could he go?" He said, pushing out a stressed laugh. "How do you lose a giant? He's fucking ten feet tall for Christ's sake-" Cutting himself off with a groan, he gave a quick wake-up shake to his head. "C'mon, get in."

Once Alex was in his seat, he didn't wait to pull back out. Brows furrowed, he watched stared at the road and tried to ignore the tight feeling in his chest. "Where have they looked? He's gotta be around here somewhere."

[purposefully-lost]

Alex climbed in, though he was looking back at the group home when he tugged the door shut. Rabbit should've just been upstairs. Sleeping in late, maybe, or waiting for Andy and Alex to to knock on his door and drag him outside for a day spent doing something fun. The group home was good for him, and the people there had been nothing but kind as far as Alex knew, but Rabbit still needed a break sometimes from the therapy sessions and the check-ins. But he didn't think he'd just disappear.

"They called the library," Alex answered, finally looking over at Andy. Seeing him was a relief, but he wished he had better news for him. "And I went by the diner on my way over here. I was thinking we try the park, maybe? Or.." He breathed out and leaned back against the seat, wishing he had anything he could grab onto to release the anxious tension in his shoulders. "I think we've gotta try our camping spot. That was where he used to run off to, right?"

He didn't like the idea of going all the way out there. If Rabbit was found somewhere in town, they wouldn't know until they'd hiked out and back. It was the only place that seemed logical to him, though. If Rabbit ran away, he'd go somewhere safe, and no one knew about that clearing but the three of them. Alex felt a sick feeling forming at the pit of his stomach. "All our camping gear is still in my car. And he didn't take anything with him-- not that I could tell. All his stuff js still in his room."

[gruesomejack]

Andy kept one hand on the wheel while the other rubbed at his unshaved face. He'd jumped out of bed the second Alex had called and told him what was going on, leaving no time to really care about how he looked. Absently, he started to bite at the dry skin on his fingers, his eyes scanning over the sidewalk as he drive. "That doesn't sound right." He muttered, "He... He never mentioned being sad or anything, right?"

As far as he knew, Rabbit had been fairly content. A little anxious about things and scared about what the future held for him, but he didn't seem like he was drowning. He knew what Jon looked like at his worst, and the young man they knew now had taken far strides past that into a better place. In fact, even if ge couldn't say Jon looked completely happy, he could say that the version of him he knew now was closer to it than he'd ever been growing up. No! No, Jon wouldn't run off to the woods and hurt himself. Not, at least, without talking to them first.

"Fuck. Has he mentioned wanting to go anywhere since I left?" He asked, trying to scrape his brain for anything he might've overlooked. "No trips he'd been daydreaming about, or anything? I just-" Andy struggled and cursed at himself, wincing as he bit his thumb a little too hard. "He's been doing so good! I just don't think he'd take off!" He said, "He told me doing something like that might have him facing trial again and prison time. He hated detention-- Why would he risk prison?"

Pulling into the parking lot of the park, he could already tell their friend wasn't there. He could just... feel it. Andy stared regardless, his eyes darting the jungle-gyms and the basketball courts a few yards down. "Let's give it a sweep, I guess?" He said, frowning. "Then we can drive up to the camp grounds."

[purposefully-lost]

"He didn't say anything, Andy." Alex crossed his arms over his chest and gave the park outside the windshield a skeptical look. He didn't think Rabbit would be here. The park was nice, they hung out there sometimes, but it was too.. public. If Rabbit was going to run off somewhere to have a breakdown, it wouldn't be where anyone would stumble across him. If nothing else, Alex had the feeling that Rabbit scared himself too much to risk that.

He didn't even want to bother with getting out to look-- Rabbit wouldn't be here, and it would be a big waste of time. He slumped back in his seat. "We were supposed to hang out this weekend," he said, the words soft and short. "We had plans to catch a movie. And just.. hang out. He wouldn't cancel on me." He looked over at Andy, his expression earnest. There wasn't an ounce of doubt in his face on that matter. "Not unless it was big. The campsite.. that place is important to him. It's safe. And if he went there.."

Alex pushed out a breath. The days had been getting shorter, recently. It wasn't yet getting cold outside, but it definitely cooled off at night. "If he's there," he said carefully, "then he was there all night without any gear. I called the bus station while I was waiting at the group home. The last bus out there runs at about six. The last time anyone at the home saw Jack was a little after five. It's not impossible. And where else could he spend a whole night?" He held Andy's gaze, hoping he saw the same possibilities. If Rabbit wasn't there, then he wasn't anywhere. And if he was alone after a night out in the woods, they needed to go get him. They needed to bring him home. Fuck taking him back to the group home, too, they'd take him back to Alex's place long enough to get a shower and put together a reason for him to not get locked up again. "He knows we could find him there. I think it's our best bet."

[gruesomejack]

Andy didn't move from his seat. While he listened to Alex, his thoughts kept slipping back to when he was younger. There'd been a time when he'd stopped by the Baker's to visit Desmond, but the family hadn't been home. At least, most of them hadn't. He'd found Rabbit under the big tree in the back yard, his eyes all puffy and red like he'd been crying-- He couldn't have been older than twelve. They'd all gone out and left him to sit at home.

It was maybe an hour or two that he spent in the yard with him, just listening to him chatter on about the garden and the bugs and the books he'd been reading. Despite finding him so broken hearted, Andy remembered the way Jon had smiled when he realized he was sticking around to hang out with him.

"Okay." Andy nodded and scrubbed at his face again. It still sounded... far from plausible to him, but as he and Alex sat here, he couldn't help but imagine Jon now sitting under some tree with big wet eyes, hoping someone might reach out. "Okay. Fuck searching the park, let's go check the campgrounds."

The drive there was spent combing his brain for anything Jack said to him that could point them in any direction. Nothing he'd said during their phone calls or the last meeting they had before he had to drive to school indicated something was wrong. Andy's fingers stung from the biting, the skin raw and wrinkled from being in his mouth. Rabbit had to be somewhere close.

"Do you remember the way?" He asked, looking at Alex as he hopped out of the car. "I think I can retrace my steps, but I'm not entirely confident."

[purposefully-lost]

Pulling out of the park to start for the campgrounds wasn't anything of a relief. Alex still found himself staring out of the passenger window and scanning every visible inch of the park, and the trees beyond it, and the part of town they passed through on their way out. He was torn between his certainty that he knew where Rabbit would go and the fact that if he was wrong, they were getting further and further away from him. He spent the drive there with a growing pit in his stomach and a hot, sickly feeling creeping its way up the back of his throat. There was a metallic taste in his mouth from biting down on the inside of his cheek.

At least the campgrounds were familiar. Alex knew those trails like the back of his hand, and something about the density of the trees as they pulled into the parking area was a comfort. You couldn't actually see all that deep into the woods at a glance. To find anything in there, you had to go in yourself and look for it. Any hope of Rabbit waiting for them couldn't be shattered by a quick scan of the trees. He looked over at Andy and nodded. "Yeah. I know where we're going."

Rabbit had only had to show him the way once. There were plenty of little landmarks to go by once they stepped off of the main trail, and Alex only gave Andy a moment to gather himself after stepping out of the car before he started for the dirt path. He didn't like going out into the woods without anything on him-- he didn't even have his bookbag, in which he always carried a bottle of water and a few snacks inevitably crushed under his other belongings-- but it wasn't too far of a hike, and it wasn't like they were planning on staying long. They just had to get Rabbit and go home.

Alex marched through the underbrush with purpose, far from the usual careful steps he used to navigate through nature. And when he saw the thick gathering of bushes and trees that made up the edge of their clearing, he couldn't help himself in breaking off into a run. "Jack!" He called, trampling over sticks and nearly slipping in a patch of a mud that was still wet from the last rain. "Bunny-- you out here?"

He pushed into the clearing and kept walking, quickly scanning the open space for any sign of life, and then suddenly stopped dead. He looked again, turning around to see it from every angle. It was empty.

"Andy.." Alex turned around again, his eyes moving over every tree and plant and stone that could've passed for someone crouching low to the ground. His eyes landed on the remains of a campfire, the stones arranged exactly how they'd left them and the extra firewood they'd gathered rotting from the damp. The last time there'd been ashes in there had been the last time they'd camped together. "..If he was here, he didn't have a fire," he said, looking up for Andy. There was a desperate look in his eyes. "He's gotta be here."

[gruesomejack]

He wasn't here. He had the feeling from the moment they started walking, but seeing the empty clearing cemented it. Where was he? Andy felt his stomach flip as a heavy anxiety settled there. He wasn't at the group home, the park, the diner, or the library. He couldn't drive, was afraid of most public transportation, and towered over most people. How could he leave? How could he get lost? They-- Oh, God. They had to call the police. Andy's breath hitched and before he could stop himself, he was doubled over and spitting out bile.

The town was small and there were people here who still disliked Rabbit, even if what the Bakers did to him was public knowledge now. Schoolmates, friends of the family-- There were more than Andy could count on his hands.

Wiping his mouth, he looked up at caught the wild look in Alex's eyes. He was almost afraid to pose the possibility of Jon being grabbed to him-- Not because it was outlandish, but because he worried about what it might do to him. "...Prescott." Andy's voice was soft, but the way his face moved was scared. "What if... What if he isn't?" He asked, frowning. "We gotta keep looking, b-but I think it might... We gotta call the cops, man."

Reaching for him, he squeezed Alex's shoulder and shrugged, nervous. "I don't think he ran. I-I don't-... Fuck." Hand snapping back, he bit hard at what nails he had left. "Think about it." He whispered, "...Why would he leave without us?"

[purposefully-lost]

He watched Andy double over, his brows furrowed. He wanted to be concerned for him, but there were too many other thoughts racing through his mind for him to focus on that alone. Rabbit wasn't here in the clearing. It was the safest place he could think of, but maybe it wasn't the only hideaway that Rabbit had out here. There were plenty of little spots and secrets he'd mentioned having, places he knew about that no one else did. Maybe he'd gone for a walk. Maybe he was coming back.

"The cops?" Alex repeated. He pulled away from Andy's touch, taking a step back to put a foot of distance between them. "Are you fucking stupid?" He asked, before he could even register that there were words coming out of his mouth. "The cops aren't gonna do shit. If they find him, they might not let him go home!"

Rabbit's name had been cleared and he was innocent in Alex's book, anyway, but he knew what people around here thought of him. A nut case, a lost cause, a ticking time bomb-- take your pick. The local police department would probably be happy with the press they'd get if they found a reason to put him behind bars, now that he was an adult. "We've gotta find him ourselves. He might still be out here, Andy. He might've taken a different route out here. What if he- what if he got hurt? What if fell and cracked his fucking skull open? We've gotta-"

Alex broke off and turned around, scanning the tree line around them. He knew where they'd come from and he vaguely knew what lay ahead in certain directions, but that was all he had to go off of. He thought of those cliffs, down near the trails they'd closed off for being too dangerous. And the river, the places where it got wide and deep further out into true wilderness. "We can't just leave him if he's here somewhere" he said, looking back at Andy. "I'm not leaving. Fuck!" He reached up to pull at his hair, then dropped his hand and gave the clearing yet another look-over. There was nothing there. Nothing to say anyone at all had passed through in the last twenty four hours, much less Jonathan Stone. Alex felt a frustrated heat rising to his face and reached down for one of those stones that had made up their firepit, not so long ago. He chucked into the woods with a frustrated sound from the back of his throat, and when that did nothing for him he kicked at the ashes and the rotting wood they'd left behind. "Fuck! Fuck this." He looked at Andy. His eyes were hot and a little wet. "I'm gonna look for him. You can go call the cops or whatever."

[gruesomejack]

"Alex! Alex-" This was what he was afraid of. Alex had always been hot-headed and that hadn't changed over the years that he knew him. Logic wasn't going to be easy to get through to him, but for Jack's sake, he had to try. "If he's hurt out here, what are you gonna do about it?!" He stumbled over the words, his eyes wide. "You're gonna carry him yourself?! He's- Alex, we NEED the cops!"

Reaching out again, he grabbed his arm. "Let's go to the staff area. We can grab a-a ranger or whatever and we can have them call." He pleaded, "At least that way we'll have back up." Andy stepped closer; careful, he touched his friend's cheek, his brows knitting. "I know-... Alex, I know." He said, his voice dropping to a whisper. It felt like there were two people in the world that gave a shit that Jaxk was missing-- Both of them standing right here. It was terrifying to think about. But if that was the case, they had to be diligent in getting the help to get him home. "Jonny needs us." He said, "Both of us." Andy frowned and bit at his thumb again, ignoring the metallic taste it was leaving on his tongue. "I want him back too."

Hesitating, he grabbed Alex by the shoulder and pulled him into a tight hug, burying his nose in his hair. "Please?" He tried, "If he's really out here by himself, we need to do everything we can." Andy pulled back enough to look at him, his eyes searching stormy greys. "He'll need a doctor and food a-and blankets. We don't have any of that stuff on us."

[purposefully-lost]

He tried to wrench his arm away when Andy grabbed him, his eyes wide. They didn't need the cops. They didn't need anyone. They would find him first, and then they would figure the rest out, and it didn't matter if they had to wait for first responders to come carry Rabbit out because at least Rabbit wouldn't be alone. That was the thought that was clinging onto him the worst, the picture he couldn't shake; Rabbit, all by himself, unaware that anyone was coming for him. Alex didn't care if there was nothing concrete he could do once they found him, because at least then he would be certain that Rabbit knew he'd been looking. And his friends knew him best, knew just where to go. He could sit and hold his hand while Andy ran back to phone for help.

Alex turned away from the touch against his cheek, his breath hitching. If he cried, it wasn't from sadness as much as it was pure, hot frustration. He wanted to go looking. He could walk these woods for as long as it would take for them to spit Rabbit back up and let him go home. If there was any chance he was here, he couldn't leave.

Tensing, Alex let himself be pulled into a hug, but it took a long moment before he finally wrapped his arms around Andy in return and squeezed hard. He smelled like sweat and his clothes had the stale quality of something pulled directly off of a bedroom floor or off the top of a laundry basket, but it was familiar because it was Andy, and he finally relaxed against him, just a little bit. When they pulled apart, he met his gaze with a glare, because he was being sensible when all Alex wanted to do was charge into the woods and cut across every path he could until he found Rabbit.

"If he's by himself-" He started, and then struggled to finish the thought, his lungs aching. "I just don't want him to be alone," he said finally. "I know he can handle himself or whatever, but this is.. this is different. You know it's different."

[gruesomejack]

Despite feeling the tension start to slip from Alex, none of it left his own body. In fact, the longer they stood here without telling anybody or doing anything, the worse his body felt. His lungs were starting to ache with each breath and he could feel his heart beating hard like he'd been running. It was a familiar feeling-- It usually came after dealing with his mother or going to see family. His head would get stuffy and his limbs would go numb while he blinked back hot tears. Andy felt his stomach flip again and he quickly stepped back, just out of precaution.

"I know." He said, his voice straining. The color in his face was gone, leaving just the healing sunburn on his cheeks. Andy could feel himself sweating and it made him want to take off into the woods and run until he physically couldn't anymore. "I'm-... I-I'm afraid." He told him, softly. "People around here-... They don't like him." Hands squeezing beside him, he frowned. "I'm afraid that if... If he's not out here, that someone could've hurt him on purpose."

Saying out loud pushed the tears into spilling over. Andy cursed and rubbed at his eyes, his shoulders shaking. It wasn't implausible and that was what killed him. People around here spent Rabbit's whole life shoving him around. Even after doing his time in detention, Alan still went out of his way to--

Alan.

"W-We gotta go home." Andy's voice was hoarse in his realization. "Alex, I gotta make some calls- I-" Another wave of anxious nausea ran through him, making him take a second stumbled step back. "He's not here. I-I think, I-... C'mon, we've gotta go!"

[purposefully-lost]

Alex's brows furrowed as he watched Andy. It wasn't often that he saw him start to break down like this, at least not so openly. Andy was good at putting on a show, even if Alex had learned how to see right past it, but he wasn't bothering with it at the moment. He was wearing his fear plainly. It made him think of that night that he'd told Alex about the letter, how Desmond found it and showed it to Andy so they could punish Rabbit together. It was a look that made Alex aware of that hot bile at the back of his throat.

"Andy.." It was a heavy accusation. And it was entirely plausible, Alex knew that first hand. It was possible for the same exact reason that he'd rallied against the idea of calling the cops. People here didn't like Rabbit, barely tolerated him, especially those who'd been close, in some way, to the Baker murders. Someone could have wanted revenge. Or anyone else could have just wanted a reason to be cruel.

"Andy, wait-" Alex reached out to grab him by the shoulder, trying to stop him from just taking off. He tried to meet his gaze and search for whatever conclusion Andy had just come to. "We can't-- we've gotta at least talk to a ranger first, like you said. And they've probably got a phone, anyway. ..You really think someone hurt him?"

That didn't make sense. Not that they wouldn't do it, but that Rabbit had disappeared entirely. He should still be somewhere. He should've been limping home by now. Unless they'd done more than just hurt him, which was a possibility that made Alex's chest feel tight. He couldn't believe that until he saw it for himself. "Come on," he said finally. He grabbed Andy by the arm and started back the way they'd come, though he hesitated at the edge of the clearing. He gave it one last glance, just in case, and pushed out a shaky breath when it remained empty. His hand slipped to find Andy's and squeezed. "We're going. We're gonna find him." He wasn't sure if he was reassuring himself or Andy. "Come on, Campbell. You still with me?"

[gruesomejack]

Andy could barely catch his breath, but he was still standing. A brief, apologetic expression slipped across his face as he looked at Alex. For much of his life, he put up a front in a desperate attempt to save face. Alex Prescott was his one in a million friend who knew him inside and out, but that didn't ease the guilt he felt about letting him see him like this. He did his best to be level headed here for the both of them, but the thought of Alan or one of his stupid friends or anyone around town giving Rabbit hell out there made him want to tear his hair out. He had to report Jon missing and the faster they did it, the better the chances were of him coming home, right?

Unless he wasn't missing and hurt and he was dead.

The moment his arm was touched, Andy choked. Dead. Rabbit could be dead and they were the only people who actively cared. "Alex..." He managed, his brows knit into a frightened wrinkle. "Who hasn't hurt him? Even-... Even out of the two of us, I've hurt him!" Jaw clenched to try ans hide the wobble in his lip, he shrugged. "And the people here in this fucking-! This backwater hick town care more about the family that held him hostage over the boy that suffered! Of course I think someone hurt him!"

Andy squeezed hard at the hand in his own, his face hot and red from the exertion it was taking to not topple to the ground here. Rabbit was dead. He wasn't out here. He didn't run away. Someone grabbed him and killed him for trying to make a better life for himself.

Dead.

Dead. Dead. Dead.

Andy's head was swimming. Each breath he took was labored, but he managed to push himself into a walk as Alex moved. Wide eyes scanned the forest again like he hoped it'd prove him wrong.

By the time they made it to the ranger's cabin, he'd sort of pulled himself together. -- At least enough to make his report and give them Jon's description so they could keep looking out here. When it was all finished and he and Alex had moved back outside, Andy was biting at his knuckles again, shoulders slumped. He didn't smoke-- Never had, but he was desperate for a cigarette. "I hate this." He whispered, "I really fucking hate this."

[purposefully-lost]

Alex couldn't listen to it. He squeezed down hard on Andy's hand and kept walking, hoping that maybe distance from that empty clearing might put things into perspective. Moving through the woods around them always cleared his head; Rabbit clearly hadn't run off to their campsite, so they needed a new idea. They needed to get the rangers on the lookout for their friend and they needed to know if anyone had seen him in the last day. That was easy. That was simple.

Finding Rabbit wasn't any different than the research he did for his articles, he thought. He'd been trying to land a job or an internship with the local paper, had submitted a few pieces with no luck yet on making it to print, but the feedback he'd recieved had been good. Research was one of his strong suits. He made a list of the questions he wanted answers to and he decided how to pursue them. This was the same, it was just that the question this time was of the whereabouts of his best friend. He would figure out how to answer it.

"We're gonna find him," he said again, looking back at Andy. He still had that scared look on his face, and it made Alex sort of wish he hadn't dragged him all the way out here. He slowed his steps so Andy wouldn't be stumbling along behind him and pressed their shoulders together as they walked. Whether or not someone had hurt Rabbit, they were going to find him.

Once they reached the ranger station, he let Andy do the talking while he borrowed the phone to call the group home. They didn't have any updates for him, and he slammed the phone back onto the reciever with more force than he meant to. When it was clear there was nothing else they could get from the ranger, he followed Andy outside and lingered next to him in front of the door.

He looked at him, then away, watching the leaves ahead of them sway in the wind. He still couldn't fathom that Rabbit had just disappeared. He had to be somewhere. "..Maybe we can try some places in town again," he said finally, and looked back at Andy. "Maybe he isn't staying in one spot. We'll try- we can try the library again, drive by the park. Then we'll go by my place." He glanced at the door to the cabin to make sure no one was watching them or stepping outside, then moved close to Andy to take his hand again. "I'll grab some stuff and stay with you tonignt. That way if someone calls, we'll both know."

[purposefully-lost]

Im sure there's something you could diagnose alex with but neither he nor I know what it is

[purposefully-lost]

Rabbit was gone.

Alex sat on the curb in front of the group home, his leg bouncing impatiently and his heart racing in his ears. Rabbit was gone. Not gone, the social worker he'd spoken to had specified, missing, as if that made any difference at all. He hadn't checked in the night before and no one had seen him at all since a few hours before curfew. The last time Alex had spoken to him was on the phone. They were supposed to go to the drive-in this weekend, catch a double feature they probably weren't going to pay any attention to.

It'd been less than twenty-four hours, but some of the people inside had already mentioned the possibility that Rabbit had run away. Alex didn't believe that, not for a second. He wouldn't just leave.

"Fuck!" Alex ducked down and pushed his hands into his hair, trying to fight down the panic rising up through his chest. Rabbit was gone and Andy was off at college, so the drive back to town was taking him what felt like forever. Alex had been waiting for at least an hour, now. He wanted to go looking. He'd promised Andy he'd wait for him.

When Andy's car finally rolled in, Alex was on his feet and walking towards it before it'd even come to a stop. "Campbell!" He called, stepping up to the passenger door and ducking to peer in through the window. "You took long enough. We still haven't heard anything."

@gruesomejack

[gruesomejack]

Missing? Jack couldn't be missing. Ever since he'd been placed in the group home, he'd been nothing but compliant with them and the rules they had. He was too happy to be out of detention and have certain freedoms again to just... run away. Why would he want to ruin things? Everything about this felt wrong.

It was the same argument going through his head over and over as he drove. Andy had left his dorm room with a frown and it was still there as he pulled into the parking lot.

Window down, he met Alex's anxiety-ridden stare with a quieter, but still anxious one of his own. "Nothing? I just-" Andy cursed and scrubbed at his face, his expression twisting into full worry. Dropping his hands, he gave the steering wheel a thump and leaned back in his seat. "I don't get it! Where the fuck could he go?" He said, pushing out a stressed laugh. "How do you lose a giant? He's fucking ten feet tall for Christ's sake-" Cutting himself off with a groan, he gave a quick wake-up shake to his head. "C'mon, get in."

Once Alex was in his seat, he didn't wait to pull back out. Brows furrowed, he watched stared at the road and tried to ignore the tight feeling in his chest. "Where have they looked? He's gotta be around here somewhere."

[purposefully-lost]

Alex climbed in, though he was looking back at the group home when he tugged the door shut. Rabbit should've just been upstairs. Sleeping in late, maybe, or waiting for Andy and Alex to to knock on his door and drag him outside for a day spent doing something fun. The group home was good for him, and the people there had been nothing but kind as far as Alex knew, but Rabbit still needed a break sometimes from the therapy sessions and the check-ins. But he didn't think he'd just disappear.

"They called the library," Alex answered, finally looking over at Andy. Seeing him was a relief, but he wished he had better news for him. "And I went by the diner on my way over here. I was thinking we try the park, maybe? Or.." He breathed out and leaned back against the seat, wishing he had anything he could grab onto to release the anxious tension in his shoulders. "I think we've gotta try our camping spot. That was where he used to run off to, right?"

He didn't like the idea of going all the way out there. If Rabbit was found somewhere in town, they wouldn't know until they'd hiked out and back. It was the only place that seemed logical to him, though. If Rabbit ran away, he'd go somewhere safe, and no one knew about that clearing but the three of them. Alex felt a sick feeling forming at the pit of his stomach. "All our camping gear is still in my car. And he didn't take anything with him-- not that I could tell. All his stuff js still in his room."

[gruesomejack]

Andy kept one hand on the wheel while the other rubbed at his unshaved face. He'd jumped out of bed the second Alex had called and told him what was going on, leaving no time to really care about how he looked. Absently, he started to bite at the dry skin on his fingers, his eyes scanning over the sidewalk as he drive. "That doesn't sound right." He muttered, "He... He never mentioned being sad or anything, right?"

As far as he knew, Rabbit had been fairly content. A little anxious about things and scared about what the future held for him, but he didn't seem like he was drowning. He knew what Jon looked like at his worst, and the young man they knew now had taken far strides past that into a better place. In fact, even if ge couldn't say Jon looked completely happy, he could say that the version of him he knew now was closer to it than he'd ever been growing up. No! No, Jon wouldn't run off to the woods and hurt himself. Not, at least, without talking to them first.

"Fuck. Has he mentioned wanting to go anywhere since I left?" He asked, trying to scrape his brain for anything he might've overlooked. "No trips he'd been daydreaming about, or anything? I just-" Andy struggled and cursed at himself, wincing as he bit his thumb a little too hard. "He's been doing so good! I just don't think he'd take off!" He said, "He told me doing something like that might have him facing trial again and prison time. He hated detention-- Why would he risk prison?"

Pulling into the parking lot of the park, he could already tell their friend wasn't there. He could just... feel it. Andy stared regardless, his eyes darting the jungle-gyms and the basketball courts a few yards down. "Let's give it a sweep, I guess?" He said, frowning. "Then we can drive up to the camp grounds."

[purposefully-lost]

"He didn't say anything, Andy." Alex crossed his arms over his chest and gave the park outside the windshield a skeptical look. He didn't think Rabbit would be here. The park was nice, they hung out there sometimes, but it was too.. public. If Rabbit was going to run off somewhere to have a breakdown, it wouldn't be where anyone would stumble across him. If nothing else, Alex had the feeling that Rabbit scared himself too much to risk that.

He didn't even want to bother with getting out to look-- Rabbit wouldn't be here, and it would be a big waste of time. He slumped back in his seat. "We were supposed to hang out this weekend," he said, the words soft and short. "We had plans to catch a movie. And just.. hang out. He wouldn't cancel on me." He looked over at Andy, his expression earnest. There wasn't an ounce of doubt in his face on that matter. "Not unless it was big. The campsite.. that place is important to him. It's safe. And if he went there.."

Alex pushed out a breath. The days had been getting shorter, recently. It wasn't yet getting cold outside, but it definitely cooled off at night. "If he's there," he said carefully, "then he was there all night without any gear. I called the bus station while I was waiting at the group home. The last bus out there runs at about six. The last time anyone at the home saw Jack was a little after five. It's not impossible. And where else could he spend a whole night?" He held Andy's gaze, hoping he saw the same possibilities. If Rabbit wasn't there, then he wasn't anywhere. And if he was alone after a night out in the woods, they needed to go get him. They needed to bring him home. Fuck taking him back to the group home, too, they'd take him back to Alex's place long enough to get a shower and put together a reason for him to not get locked up again. "He knows we could find him there. I think it's our best bet."

[gruesomejack]

Andy didn't move from his seat. While he listened to Alex, his thoughts kept slipping back to when he was younger. There'd been a time when he'd stopped by the Baker's to visit Desmond, but the family hadn't been home. At least, most of them hadn't. He'd found Rabbit under the big tree in the back yard, his eyes all puffy and red like he'd been crying-- He couldn't have been older than twelve. They'd all gone out and left him to sit at home.

It was maybe an hour or two that he spent in the yard with him, just listening to him chatter on about the garden and the bugs and the books he'd been reading. Despite finding him so broken hearted, Andy remembered the way Jon had smiled when he realized he was sticking around to hang out with him.

"Okay." Andy nodded and scrubbed at his face again. It still sounded... far from plausible to him, but as he and Alex sat here, he couldn't help but imagine Jon now sitting under some tree with big wet eyes, hoping someone might reach out. "Okay. Fuck searching the park, let's go check the campgrounds."

The drive there was spent combing his brain for anything Jack said to him that could point them in any direction. Nothing he'd said during their phone calls or the last meeting they had before he had to drive to school indicated something was wrong. Andy's fingers stung from the biting, the skin raw and wrinkled from being in his mouth. Rabbit had to be somewhere close.

"Do you remember the way?" He asked, looking at Alex as he hopped out of the car. "I think I can retrace my steps, but I'm not entirely confident."

[purposefully-lost]

Pulling out of the park to start for the campgrounds wasn't anything of a relief. Alex still found himself staring out of the passenger window and scanning every visible inch of the park, and the trees beyond it, and the part of town they passed through on their way out. He was torn between his certainty that he knew where Rabbit would go and the fact that if he was wrong, they were getting further and further away from him. He spent the drive there with a growing pit in his stomach and a hot, sickly feeling creeping its way up the back of his throat. There was a metallic taste in his mouth from biting down on the inside of his cheek.

At least the campgrounds were familiar. Alex knew those trails like the back of his hand, and something about the density of the trees as they pulled into the parking area was a comfort. You couldn't actually see all that deep into the woods at a glance. To find anything in there, you had to go in yourself and look for it. Any hope of Rabbit waiting for them couldn't be shattered by a quick scan of the trees. He looked over at Andy and nodded. "Yeah. I know where we're going."

Rabbit had only had to show him the way once. There were plenty of little landmarks to go by once they stepped off of the main trail, and Alex only gave Andy a moment to gather himself after stepping out of the car before he started for the dirt path. He didn't like going out into the woods without anything on him-- he didn't even have his bookbag, in which he always carried a bottle of water and a few snacks inevitably crushed under his other belongings-- but it wasn't too far of a hike, and it wasn't like they were planning on staying long. They just had to get Rabbit and go home.

Alex marched through the underbrush with purpose, far from the usual careful steps he used to navigate through nature. And when he saw the thick gathering of bushes and trees that made up the edge of their clearing, he couldn't help himself in breaking off into a run. "Jack!" He called, trampling over sticks and nearly slipping in a patch of a mud that was still wet from the last rain. "Bunny-- you out here?"

He pushed into the clearing and kept walking, quickly scanning the open space for any sign of life, and then suddenly stopped dead. He looked again, turning around to see it from every angle. It was empty.

"Andy.." Alex turned around again, his eyes moving over every tree and plant and stone that could've passed for someone crouching low to the ground. His eyes landed on the remains of a campfire, the stones arranged exactly how they'd left them and the extra firewood they'd gathered rotting from the damp. The last time there'd been ashes in there had been the last time they'd camped together. "..If he was here, he didn't have a fire," he said, looking up for Andy. There was a desperate look in his eyes. "He's gotta be here."

[gruesomejack]

He wasn't here. He had the feeling from the moment they started walking, but seeing the empty clearing cemented it. Where was he? Andy felt his stomach flip as a heavy anxiety settled there. He wasn't at the group home, the park, the diner, or the library. He couldn't drive, was afraid of most public transportation, and towered over most people. How could he leave? How could he get lost? They-- Oh, God. They had to call the police. Andy's breath hitched and before he could stop himself, he was doubled over and spitting out bile.

The town was small and there were people here who still disliked Rabbit, even if what the Bakers did to him was public knowledge now. Schoolmates, friends of the family-- There were more than Andy could count on his hands.

Wiping his mouth, he looked up at caught the wild look in Alex's eyes. He was almost afraid to pose the possibility of Jon being grabbed to him-- Not because it was outlandish, but because he worried about what it might do to him. "...Prescott." Andy's voice was soft, but the way his face moved was scared. "What if... What if he isn't?" He asked, frowning. "We gotta keep looking, b-but I think it might... We gotta call the cops, man."

Reaching for him, he squeezed Alex's shoulder and shrugged, nervous. "I don't think he ran. I-I don't-... Fuck." Hand snapping back, he bit hard at what nails he had left. "Think about it." He whispered, "...Why would he leave without us?"

[purposefully-lost]

He watched Andy double over, his brows furrowed. He wanted to be concerned for him, but there were too many other thoughts racing through his mind for him to focus on that alone. Rabbit wasn't here in the clearing. It was the safest place he could think of, but maybe it wasn't the only hideaway that Rabbit had out here. There were plenty of little spots and secrets he'd mentioned having, places he knew about that no one else did. Maybe he'd gone for a walk. Maybe he was coming back.

"The cops?" Alex repeated. He pulled away from Andy's touch, taking a step back to put a foot of distance between them. "Are you fucking stupid?" He asked, before he could even register that there were words coming out of his mouth. "The cops aren't gonna do shit. If they find him, they might not let him go home!"

Rabbit's name had been cleared and he was innocent in Alex's book, anyway, but he knew what people around here thought of him. A nut case, a lost cause, a ticking time bomb-- take your pick. The local police department would probably be happy with the press they'd get if they found a reason to put him behind bars, now that he was an adult. "We've gotta find him ourselves. He might still be out here, Andy. He might've taken a different route out here. What if he- what if he got hurt? What if fell and cracked his fucking skull open? We've gotta-"

Alex broke off and turned around, scanning the tree line around them. He knew where they'd come from and he vaguely knew what lay ahead in certain directions, but that was all he had to go off of. He thought of those cliffs, down near the trails they'd closed off for being too dangerous. And the river, the places where it got wide and deep further out into true wilderness. "We can't just leave him if he's here somewhere" he said, looking back at Andy. "I'm not leaving. Fuck!" He reached up to pull at his hair, then dropped his hand and gave the clearing yet another look-over. There was nothing there. Nothing to say anyone at all had passed through in the last twenty four hours, much less Jonathan Stone. Alex felt a frustrated heat rising to his face and reached down for one of those stones that had made up their firepit, not so long ago. He chucked into the woods with a frustrated sound from the back of his throat, and when that did nothing for him he kicked at the ashes and the rotting wood they'd left behind. "Fuck! Fuck this." He looked at Andy. His eyes were hot and a little wet. "I'm gonna look for him. You can go call the cops or whatever."

[gruesomejack]

"Alex! Alex-" This was what he was afraid of. Alex had always been hot-headed and that hadn't changed over the years that he knew him. Logic wasn't going to be easy to get through to him, but for Jack's sake, he had to try. "If he's hurt out here, what are you gonna do about it?!" He stumbled over the words, his eyes wide. "You're gonna carry him yourself?! He's- Alex, we NEED the cops!"

Reaching out again, he grabbed his arm. "Let's go to the staff area. We can grab a-a ranger or whatever and we can have them call." He pleaded, "At least that way we'll have back up." Andy stepped closer; careful, he touched his friend's cheek, his brows knitting. "I know-... Alex, I know." He said, his voice dropping to a whisper. It felt like there were two people in the world that gave a shit that Jaxk was missing-- Both of them standing right here. It was terrifying to think about. But if that was the case, they had to be diligent in getting the help to get him home. "Jonny needs us." He said, "Both of us." Andy frowned and bit at his thumb again, ignoring the metallic taste it was leaving on his tongue. "I want him back too."

Hesitating, he grabbed Alex by the shoulder and pulled him into a tight hug, burying his nose in his hair. "Please?" He tried, "If he's really out here by himself, we need to do everything we can." Andy pulled back enough to look at him, his eyes searching stormy greys. "He'll need a doctor and food a-and blankets. We don't have any of that stuff on us."

[purposefully-lost]

He tried to wrench his arm away when Andy grabbed him, his eyes wide. They didn't need the cops. They didn't need anyone. They would find him first, and then they would figure the rest out, and it didn't matter if they had to wait for first responders to come carry Rabbit out because at least Rabbit wouldn't be alone. That was the thought that was clinging onto him the worst, the picture he couldn't shake; Rabbit, all by himself, unaware that anyone was coming for him. Alex didn't care if there was nothing concrete he could do once they found him, because at least then he would be certain that Rabbit knew he'd been looking. And his friends knew him best, knew just where to go. He could sit and hold his hand while Andy ran back to phone for help.

Alex turned away from the touch against his cheek, his breath hitching. If he cried, it wasn't from sadness as much as it was pure, hot frustration. He wanted to go looking. He could walk these woods for as long as it would take for them to spit Rabbit back up and let him go home. If there was any chance he was here, he couldn't leave.

Tensing, Alex let himself be pulled into a hug, but it took a long moment before he finally wrapped his arms around Andy in return and squeezed hard. He smelled like sweat and his clothes had the stale quality of something pulled directly off of a bedroom floor or off the top of a laundry basket, but it was familiar because it was Andy, and he finally relaxed against him, just a little bit. When they pulled apart, he met his gaze with a glare, because he was being sensible when all Alex wanted to do was charge into the woods and cut across every path he could until he found Rabbit.

"If he's by himself-" He started, and then struggled to finish the thought, his lungs aching. "I just don't want him to be alone," he said finally. "I know he can handle himself or whatever, but this is.. this is different. You know it's different."

[gruesomejack]

Despite feeling the tension start to slip from Alex, none of it left his own body. In fact, the longer they stood here without telling anybody or doing anything, the worse his body felt. His lungs were starting to ache with each breath and he could feel his heart beating hard like he'd been running. It was a familiar feeling-- It usually came after dealing with his mother or going to see family. His head would get stuffy and his limbs would go numb while he blinked back hot tears. Andy felt his stomach flip again and he quickly stepped back, just out of precaution.

"I know." He said, his voice straining. The color in his face was gone, leaving just the healing sunburn on his cheeks. Andy could feel himself sweating and it made him want to take off into the woods and run until he physically couldn't anymore. "I'm-... I-I'm afraid." He told him, softly. "People around here-... They don't like him." Hands squeezing beside him, he frowned. "I'm afraid that if... If he's not out here, that someone could've hurt him on purpose."

Saying out loud pushed the tears into spilling over. Andy cursed and rubbed at his eyes, his shoulders shaking. It wasn't implausible and that was what killed him. People around here spent Rabbit's whole life shoving him around. Even after doing his time in detention, Alan still went out of his way to--

Alan.

"W-We gotta go home." Andy's voice was hoarse in his realization. "Alex, I gotta make some calls- I-" Another wave of anxious nausea ran through him, making him take a second stumbled step back. "He's not here. I-I think, I-... C'mon, we've gotta go!"

[purposefully-lost]

Alex's brows furrowed as he watched Andy. It wasn't often that he saw him start to break down like this, at least not so openly. Andy was good at putting on a show, even if Alex had learned how to see right past it, but he wasn't bothering with it at the moment. He was wearing his fear plainly. It made him think of that night that he'd told Alex about the letter, how Desmond found it and showed it to Andy so they could punish Rabbit together. It was a look that made Alex aware of that hot bile at the back of his throat.

"Andy.." It was a heavy accusation. And it was entirely plausible, Alex knew that first hand. It was possible for the same exact reason that he'd rallied against the idea of calling the cops. People here didn't like Rabbit, barely tolerated him, especially those who'd been close, in some way, to the Baker murders. Someone could have wanted revenge. Or anyone else could have just wanted a reason to be cruel.

"Andy, wait-" Alex reached out to grab him by the shoulder, trying to stop him from just taking off. He tried to meet his gaze and search for whatever conclusion Andy had just come to. "We can't-- we've gotta at least talk to a ranger first, like you said. And they've probably got a phone, anyway. ..You really think someone hurt him?"

That didn't make sense. Not that they wouldn't do it, but that Rabbit had disappeared entirely. He should still be somewhere. He should've been limping home by now. Unless they'd done more than just hurt him, which was a possibility that made Alex's chest feel tight. He couldn't believe that until he saw it for himself. "Come on," he said finally. He grabbed Andy by the arm and started back the way they'd come, though he hesitated at the edge of the clearing. He gave it one last glance, just in case, and pushed out a shaky breath when it remained empty. His hand slipped to find Andy's and squeezed. "We're going. We're gonna find him." He wasn't sure if he was reassuring himself or Andy. "Come on, Campbell. You still with me?"

[cosmicanger]

[dungeonrabbit]

dog eating a hot dog at the mariners game

[purposefully-lost]

Alex harried and in shock and with nerve damage in some of the burned wounds so he's just repeatedly telling Andy that he's fine/that its not as bad as it looks and trying to worry over Rabbit

[purposefully-lost]

Charlie gave music a good try but the alcohol abuse and his mental health issues got in the way?? So he came back home and started giving music lessons as a way to make money, and after a while his dad or Chris helped him get set up with running a small second-hand music shop. Its grown a little bit to encompass selling some new stuff + an expanded range of instruments and other items, and it's doing well.

Charlie is still.. very much in recovery, though. He's at a point where he has mostly good days, but the bad ones are still pretty bad. He's trying to make the best of it ❤️

[purposefully-lost]

Rabbit was gone.

Alex sat on the curb in front of the group home, his leg bouncing impatiently and his heart racing in his ears. Rabbit was gone. Not gone, the social worker he'd spoken to had specified, missing, as if that made any difference at all. He hadn't checked in the night before and no one had seen him at all since a few hours before curfew. The last time Alex had spoken to him was on the phone. They were supposed to go to the drive-in this weekend, catch a double feature they probably weren't going to pay any attention to.

It'd been less than twenty-four hours, but some of the people inside had already mentioned the possibility that Rabbit had run away. Alex didn't believe that, not for a second. He wouldn't just leave.

"Fuck!" Alex ducked down and pushed his hands into his hair, trying to fight down the panic rising up through his chest. Rabbit was gone and Andy was off at college, so the drive back to town was taking him what felt like forever. Alex had been waiting for at least an hour, now. He wanted to go looking. He'd promised Andy he'd wait for him.

When Andy's car finally rolled in, Alex was on his feet and walking towards it before it'd even come to a stop. "Campbell!" He called, stepping up to the passenger door and ducking to peer in through the window. "You took long enough. We still haven't heard anything."

@gruesomejack

[gruesomejack]

Missing? Jack couldn't be missing. Ever since he'd been placed in the group home, he'd been nothing but compliant with them and the rules they had. He was too happy to be out of detention and have certain freedoms again to just... run away. Why would he want to ruin things? Everything about this felt wrong.

It was the same argument going through his head over and over as he drove. Andy had left his dorm room with a frown and it was still there as he pulled into the parking lot.

Window down, he met Alex's anxiety-ridden stare with a quieter, but still anxious one of his own. "Nothing? I just-" Andy cursed and scrubbed at his face, his expression twisting into full worry. Dropping his hands, he gave the steering wheel a thump and leaned back in his seat. "I don't get it! Where the fuck could he go?" He said, pushing out a stressed laugh. "How do you lose a giant? He's fucking ten feet tall for Christ's sake-" Cutting himself off with a groan, he gave a quick wake-up shake to his head. "C'mon, get in."

Once Alex was in his seat, he didn't wait to pull back out. Brows furrowed, he watched stared at the road and tried to ignore the tight feeling in his chest. "Where have they looked? He's gotta be around here somewhere."

[purposefully-lost]

Alex climbed in, though he was looking back at the group home when he tugged the door shut. Rabbit should've just been upstairs. Sleeping in late, maybe, or waiting for Andy and Alex to to knock on his door and drag him outside for a day spent doing something fun. The group home was good for him, and the people there had been nothing but kind as far as Alex knew, but Rabbit still needed a break sometimes from the therapy sessions and the check-ins. But he didn't think he'd just disappear.

"They called the library," Alex answered, finally looking over at Andy. Seeing him was a relief, but he wished he had better news for him. "And I went by the diner on my way over here. I was thinking we try the park, maybe? Or.." He breathed out and leaned back against the seat, wishing he had anything he could grab onto to release the anxious tension in his shoulders. "I think we've gotta try our camping spot. That was where he used to run off to, right?"

He didn't like the idea of going all the way out there. If Rabbit was found somewhere in town, they wouldn't know until they'd hiked out and back. It was the only place that seemed logical to him, though. If Rabbit ran away, he'd go somewhere safe, and no one knew about that clearing but the three of them. Alex felt a sick feeling forming at the pit of his stomach. "All our camping gear is still in my car. And he didn't take anything with him-- not that I could tell. All his stuff js still in his room."

[gruesomejack]

Andy kept one hand on the wheel while the other rubbed at his unshaved face. He'd jumped out of bed the second Alex had called and told him what was going on, leaving no time to really care about how he looked. Absently, he started to bite at the dry skin on his fingers, his eyes scanning over the sidewalk as he drive. "That doesn't sound right." He muttered, "He... He never mentioned being sad or anything, right?"

As far as he knew, Rabbit had been fairly content. A little anxious about things and scared about what the future held for him, but he didn't seem like he was drowning. He knew what Jon looked like at his worst, and the young man they knew now had taken far strides past that into a better place. In fact, even if ge couldn't say Jon looked completely happy, he could say that the version of him he knew now was closer to it than he'd ever been growing up. No! No, Jon wouldn't run off to the woods and hurt himself. Not, at least, without talking to them first.

"Fuck. Has he mentioned wanting to go anywhere since I left?" He asked, trying to scrape his brain for anything he might've overlooked. "No trips he'd been daydreaming about, or anything? I just-" Andy struggled and cursed at himself, wincing as he bit his thumb a little too hard. "He's been doing so good! I just don't think he'd take off!" He said, "He told me doing something like that might have him facing trial again and prison time. He hated detention-- Why would he risk prison?"

Pulling into the parking lot of the park, he could already tell their friend wasn't there. He could just... feel it. Andy stared regardless, his eyes darting the jungle-gyms and the basketball courts a few yards down. "Let's give it a sweep, I guess?" He said, frowning. "Then we can drive up to the camp grounds."

[purposefully-lost]

"He didn't say anything, Andy." Alex crossed his arms over his chest and gave the park outside the windshield a skeptical look. He didn't think Rabbit would be here. The park was nice, they hung out there sometimes, but it was too.. public. If Rabbit was going to run off somewhere to have a breakdown, it wouldn't be where anyone would stumble across him. If nothing else, Alex had the feeling that Rabbit scared himself too much to risk that.

He didn't even want to bother with getting out to look-- Rabbit wouldn't be here, and it would be a big waste of time. He slumped back in his seat. "We were supposed to hang out this weekend," he said, the words soft and short. "We had plans to catch a movie. And just.. hang out. He wouldn't cancel on me." He looked over at Andy, his expression earnest. There wasn't an ounce of doubt in his face on that matter. "Not unless it was big. The campsite.. that place is important to him. It's safe. And if he went there.."

Alex pushed out a breath. The days had been getting shorter, recently. It wasn't yet getting cold outside, but it definitely cooled off at night. "If he's there," he said carefully, "then he was there all night without any gear. I called the bus station while I was waiting at the group home. The last bus out there runs at about six. The last time anyone at the home saw Jack was a little after five. It's not impossible. And where else could he spend a whole night?" He held Andy's gaze, hoping he saw the same possibilities. If Rabbit wasn't there, then he wasn't anywhere. And if he was alone after a night out in the woods, they needed to go get him. They needed to bring him home. Fuck taking him back to the group home, too, they'd take him back to Alex's place long enough to get a shower and put together a reason for him to not get locked up again. "He knows we could find him there. I think it's our best bet."

[gruesomejack]

Andy didn't move from his seat. While he listened to Alex, his thoughts kept slipping back to when he was younger. There'd been a time when he'd stopped by the Baker's to visit Desmond, but the family hadn't been home. At least, most of them hadn't. He'd found Rabbit under the big tree in the back yard, his eyes all puffy and red like he'd been crying-- He couldn't have been older than twelve. They'd all gone out and left him to sit at home.

It was maybe an hour or two that he spent in the yard with him, just listening to him chatter on about the garden and the bugs and the books he'd been reading. Despite finding him so broken hearted, Andy remembered the way Jon had smiled when he realized he was sticking around to hang out with him.

"Okay." Andy nodded and scrubbed at his face again. It still sounded... far from plausible to him, but as he and Alex sat here, he couldn't help but imagine Jon now sitting under some tree with big wet eyes, hoping someone might reach out. "Okay. Fuck searching the park, let's go check the campgrounds."

The drive there was spent combing his brain for anything Jack said to him that could point them in any direction. Nothing he'd said during their phone calls or the last meeting they had before he had to drive to school indicated something was wrong. Andy's fingers stung from the biting, the skin raw and wrinkled from being in his mouth. Rabbit had to be somewhere close.

"Do you remember the way?" He asked, looking at Alex as he hopped out of the car. "I think I can retrace my steps, but I'm not entirely confident."

[purposefully-lost]

Pulling out of the park to start for the campgrounds wasn't anything of a relief. Alex still found himself staring out of the passenger window and scanning every visible inch of the park, and the trees beyond it, and the part of town they passed through on their way out. He was torn between his certainty that he knew where Rabbit would go and the fact that if he was wrong, they were getting further and further away from him. He spent the drive there with a growing pit in his stomach and a hot, sickly feeling creeping its way up the back of his throat. There was a metallic taste in his mouth from biting down on the inside of his cheek.

At least the campgrounds were familiar. Alex knew those trails like the back of his hand, and something about the density of the trees as they pulled into the parking area was a comfort. You couldn't actually see all that deep into the woods at a glance. To find anything in there, you had to go in yourself and look for it. Any hope of Rabbit waiting for them couldn't be shattered by a quick scan of the trees. He looked over at Andy and nodded. "Yeah. I know where we're going."

Rabbit had only had to show him the way once. There were plenty of little landmarks to go by once they stepped off of the main trail, and Alex only gave Andy a moment to gather himself after stepping out of the car before he started for the dirt path. He didn't like going out into the woods without anything on him-- he didn't even have his bookbag, in which he always carried a bottle of water and a few snacks inevitably crushed under his other belongings-- but it wasn't too far of a hike, and it wasn't like they were planning on staying long. They just had to get Rabbit and go home.

Alex marched through the underbrush with purpose, far from the usual careful steps he used to navigate through nature. And when he saw the thick gathering of bushes and trees that made up the edge of their clearing, he couldn't help himself in breaking off into a run. "Jack!" He called, trampling over sticks and nearly slipping in a patch of a mud that was still wet from the last rain. "Bunny-- you out here?"

He pushed into the clearing and kept walking, quickly scanning the open space for any sign of life, and then suddenly stopped dead. He looked again, turning around to see it from every angle. It was empty.

"Andy.." Alex turned around again, his eyes moving over every tree and plant and stone that could've passed for someone crouching low to the ground. His eyes landed on the remains of a campfire, the stones arranged exactly how they'd left them and the extra firewood they'd gathered rotting from the damp. The last time there'd been ashes in there had been the last time they'd camped together. "..If he was here, he didn't have a fire," he said, looking up for Andy. There was a desperate look in his eyes. "He's gotta be here."

[gruesomejack]

He wasn't here. He had the feeling from the moment they started walking, but seeing the empty clearing cemented it. Where was he? Andy felt his stomach flip as a heavy anxiety settled there. He wasn't at the group home, the park, the diner, or the library. He couldn't drive, was afraid of most public transportation, and towered over most people. How could he leave? How could he get lost? They-- Oh, God. They had to call the police. Andy's breath hitched and before he could stop himself, he was doubled over and spitting out bile.

The town was small and there were people here who still disliked Rabbit, even if what the Bakers did to him was public knowledge now. Schoolmates, friends of the family-- There were more than Andy could count on his hands.

Wiping his mouth, he looked up at caught the wild look in Alex's eyes. He was almost afraid to pose the possibility of Jon being grabbed to him-- Not because it was outlandish, but because he worried about what it might do to him. "...Prescott." Andy's voice was soft, but the way his face moved was scared. "What if... What if he isn't?" He asked, frowning. "We gotta keep looking, b-but I think it might... We gotta call the cops, man."

Reaching for him, he squeezed Alex's shoulder and shrugged, nervous. "I don't think he ran. I-I don't-... Fuck." Hand snapping back, he bit hard at what nails he had left. "Think about it." He whispered, "...Why would he leave without us?"

[purposefully-lost]

He watched Andy double over, his brows furrowed. He wanted to be concerned for him, but there were too many other thoughts racing through his mind for him to focus on that alone. Rabbit wasn't here in the clearing. It was the safest place he could think of, but maybe it wasn't the only hideaway that Rabbit had out here. There were plenty of little spots and secrets he'd mentioned having, places he knew about that no one else did. Maybe he'd gone for a walk. Maybe he was coming back.

"The cops?" Alex repeated. He pulled away from Andy's touch, taking a step back to put a foot of distance between them. "Are you fucking stupid?" He asked, before he could even register that there were words coming out of his mouth. "The cops aren't gonna do shit. If they find him, they might not let him go home!"

Rabbit's name had been cleared and he was innocent in Alex's book, anyway, but he knew what people around here thought of him. A nut case, a lost cause, a ticking time bomb-- take your pick. The local police department would probably be happy with the press they'd get if they found a reason to put him behind bars, now that he was an adult. "We've gotta find him ourselves. He might still be out here, Andy. He might've taken a different route out here. What if he- what if he got hurt? What if fell and cracked his fucking skull open? We've gotta-"

Alex broke off and turned around, scanning the tree line around them. He knew where they'd come from and he vaguely knew what lay ahead in certain directions, but that was all he had to go off of. He thought of those cliffs, down near the trails they'd closed off for being too dangerous. And the river, the places where it got wide and deep further out into true wilderness. "We can't just leave him if he's here somewhere" he said, looking back at Andy. "I'm not leaving. Fuck!" He reached up to pull at his hair, then dropped his hand and gave the clearing yet another look-over. There was nothing there. Nothing to say anyone at all had passed through in the last twenty four hours, much less Jonathan Stone. Alex felt a frustrated heat rising to his face and reached down for one of those stones that had made up their firepit, not so long ago. He chucked into the woods with a frustrated sound from the back of his throat, and when that did nothing for him he kicked at the ashes and the rotting wood they'd left behind. "Fuck! Fuck this." He looked at Andy. His eyes were hot and a little wet. "I'm gonna look for him. You can go call the cops or whatever."

[gruesomejack]

"Alex! Alex-" This was what he was afraid of. Alex had always been hot-headed and that hadn't changed over the years that he knew him. Logic wasn't going to be easy to get through to him, but for Jack's sake, he had to try. "If he's hurt out here, what are you gonna do about it?!" He stumbled over the words, his eyes wide. "You're gonna carry him yourself?! He's- Alex, we NEED the cops!"

Reaching out again, he grabbed his arm. "Let's go to the staff area. We can grab a-a ranger or whatever and we can have them call." He pleaded, "At least that way we'll have back up." Andy stepped closer; careful, he touched his friend's cheek, his brows knitting. "I know-... Alex, I know." He said, his voice dropping to a whisper. It felt like there were two people in the world that gave a shit that Jaxk was missing-- Both of them standing right here. It was terrifying to think about. But if that was the case, they had to be diligent in getting the help to get him home. "Jonny needs us." He said, "Both of us." Andy frowned and bit at his thumb again, ignoring the metallic taste it was leaving on his tongue. "I want him back too."

Hesitating, he grabbed Alex by the shoulder and pulled him into a tight hug, burying his nose in his hair. "Please?" He tried, "If he's really out here by himself, we need to do everything we can." Andy pulled back enough to look at him, his eyes searching stormy greys. "He'll need a doctor and food a-and blankets. We don't have any of that stuff on us."

[purposefully-lost]

He tried to wrench his arm away when Andy grabbed him, his eyes wide. They didn't need the cops. They didn't need anyone. They would find him first, and then they would figure the rest out, and it didn't matter if they had to wait for first responders to come carry Rabbit out because at least Rabbit wouldn't be alone. That was the thought that was clinging onto him the worst, the picture he couldn't shake; Rabbit, all by himself, unaware that anyone was coming for him. Alex didn't care if there was nothing concrete he could do once they found him, because at least then he would be certain that Rabbit knew he'd been looking. And his friends knew him best, knew just where to go. He could sit and hold his hand while Andy ran back to phone for help.

Alex turned away from the touch against his cheek, his breath hitching. If he cried, it wasn't from sadness as much as it was pure, hot frustration. He wanted to go looking. He could walk these woods for as long as it would take for them to spit Rabbit back up and let him go home. If there was any chance he was here, he couldn't leave.

Tensing, Alex let himself be pulled into a hug, but it took a long moment before he finally wrapped his arms around Andy in return and squeezed hard. He smelled like sweat and his clothes had the stale quality of something pulled directly off of a bedroom floor or off the top of a laundry basket, but it was familiar because it was Andy, and he finally relaxed against him, just a little bit. When they pulled apart, he met his gaze with a glare, because he was being sensible when all Alex wanted to do was charge into the woods and cut across every path he could until he found Rabbit.

"If he's by himself-" He started, and then struggled to finish the thought, his lungs aching. "I just don't want him to be alone," he said finally. "I know he can handle himself or whatever, but this is.. this is different. You know it's different."