Close As Lovers

Bonus #4

Song: Ocean Eyes- Billie Eilish

"Wes, Wes!" My head snapped up as I came face to face with Molly's mom, her eyes filled with worried and her actions frantic. "Please tell me you know where Molly went."

I immediately sat up in my bed, glancing around the room as I noticed the mess from my drunken state had been cleared, the memory of everything I said to her flooded my mind. "What happened?"

"She left her phone, wallet, everything here. She wouldn't do that. Somethings wrong."

I rolled out of my bed and ran down to the main floor, not even bothering to grab a jacket as I caught a glimpse of all her belongings sitting on the table by the front door, as if that was the last place they would ever sit. I knew in the pit of my stomach that something was wrong, and I knew wherever she was and whatever she was doing was my fault. She deserved better than me. But I needed to make things right for her, and that meant I had to distance myself until I could rid of the people who were set on hurting her.

As I flew down main roads and back roads close to her house, my heart pounding against my chest as each second passed without me finding a trace of her, I started growing angry with myself. I could have done things differently. Instead of being a drunken idiot, I could have just told her I was still in love with her and that everything I had done and was doing was to protect her. She was and always would be my first priority.

But I was a complete dumbass. At the very least, I could admit that.

Just as I had pulled onto another road, my phone started ringing, and when I glanced at it, my anger soared as I pressed the accept button and held the phone so tight in my hands that my knuckles turned white. "I swear to God, Katie, if you've done something to her--"

"Don't worry, baby. I would love to say I'm responsible for this one, but that's all you."

"Shut the hell up," I growled. "You and Andy are sick son of a bitches, and I'll make sure the both of you rot in prison for everything you've done to her."

"Aw, how cute! You think you could actually catch us," She laughed, and it was the way she was some carefree that sent me spiraling into rage. "At least we'll get to enjoy the show first. You know, if you could see her from this angle, it actually looks like she's pretty enough to matter. The bridge ledge really does it for her."

My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach as my phone slipped from my hand, clattering onto the floor beside me. The bridge ledge. It was only a place Molly and I knew about. Her favorite place to go when she needed to just breathe.

I swerved the car in the middle of the road, making a U-turn as I slammed on the gas and sped towards the bridge. I wasn't sure if I had enough time, or if I had already been too late, but I knew I needed to try to get there. I could handle a lot of things. I could handle not being with her for the time being but still having her near, and I could handle her hating me for the rest of my life as long as it meant she still existed.

But I couldn't live in a world where she wasn't. There was no world for me where I or anyone else had to live without her for good.

As I turned onto the street that led towards the bridge, I suddenly heard Katie and Andy's laughter, and when I glanced at my phone, I realized the fall had turned on the speaker. I tried to ignore it as I got closer to the bridge, but Katie's last words sent me off the edge.

"I win."

The line went dead, and as I drove faster, tears streamed down my face, and I slammed my hands against the wheel, screaming as loud as my lungs would let me. They couldn't have won. She had to still be there.