Through Pain We Survive

Chapter 13

The last day of the con had arrived. They were hosting one panel and a meet and greet then would be heading home. Gwen and AJ dressed in Lolita, as per tradition. Nate and Sara were not dressed up.

They all met in the hallway, deciding to get breakfast from a little bakery down the road.

Coming back to the hotel, they were chatting and headed outside the room where they would have their panel.

"So, what is this panel for again? With y'all doing so many, I get them mixed up," Sara wondered.

"This one is another Q&A and a hangout panel. It's much more lax than the others," AJ explained.

"I don't know how you keep them all straight."

"After doing this for over ten years, you get used to the flow of the cons," Nate explained.

"Excuse me?" A teen dressed as Serena from Pokémon slowly stepped over to the group. "Would you mind— I mean, could I— umm, can I get a picture with you? Please?" The girl looked timid.

"Of course! What's your name, Sweetie?" Gwen smiled at the girl.

"Morgan." She beamed, and seemed to relax a bit. "Thank you. I've been a fan of yours for a couple years now, and I can't believe I ran into you!"

"Your costume is fantastic! You've really embodied Serena! I like the key on your belt! Wonderful detail!" AJ loved Pokémon, and loved the attention to detail people put into their costumes.

"Thank you! This is all hand made. My mom helped me. We tried getting as close to the costume as possible. We even made the key because we couldn't find the right type of key." Morgan had a broad smile on her face.

"You and your mom are very talented. It's very accurate. I love the colors and materials you used! Very nice touch!" Gwen recognized the time and talent it would have taken to make that costume.

"Alright, are we ready? On three! One, two, three!" AJ took the picture for Morgan. "Let's do another one! Just for kicks! A silly picture!" They all made silly faces and AJ took another picture.

"Oh my goodness, thank you guys so much! Can— can I hug you?" Morgan was still smiling ear to ear.

"Yes!" Gwen said, embracing the girl. Morgan hugged AJ and Nate as well.

"Thanks for stopping! Don't be shy next time we see you!" Nate encouraged her.

"Thank you so much! I'll see y'all in there!"

Morgan started walking away, and Sara stooped down to pick up something. "Is this any of yours?" Sara asked the group.

They all shook their heads. "Maybe it was Morgan's?" Gwen suggested.

Sara walked after the girl.

"Morgan! Hey, Morgan!" Sara called to get her attention.

"Oh! Hello. You were with Random Encounters, weren't you?" Morgan looked at Sara.

"Listen here, you little brat. If I ever catch you near us again, I will call security, and I will advise Random Encounters that you were stalking them."

Morgan's eyes welled with tears. "B-but you guys had just finished your conversation. I did my best not to interrupt-"

Sara scoffed. "So now you're stalking AND eavesdropping?! I knew fans could be crazy but that's just terrible."

"I only—" Morgan started, but Sara held her hand up to stop her.

"You stay away from them, or else. Do you hear me?"

Morgan had tears running down her cheeks by now. She nodded.

"Good. By the way, here's this." She handed Morgan the key from her costume.

Sara stalked away, plastering a smile on her face.

Getting back over to Nate, she told them the conversation went well, and that Morgan was still excited to talk to them inside. Malcolm came over to them and told them it was time. Sara went to the front row, and AJ Gwen and Nate all gathered on the stage for their final day.

During the panel, it took a while for Gwen to spot Morgan. Once she did, she seemed to be forlorn. Gwen noticed her raise her hand a few different times, but then lower it back down, looking defeated. Gwen made a mental note of this.

After the panel, they had a short meet and greet. Gwen was hoping Morgan would stop, but she didn't see her.

Packing up their table, they spotted Morgan, but she ran off. They then started heading to their rooms to pack up. Nate spotted Morgan, and called to her.

The group saw Morgan pause and contemplate whether to answer. Turning around, they could see she had been crying.

"Morgan? Are you okay?" Gwen walked to her.

"No, yeah, I'm fine." She sniffled. "Must be allergies or something." Morgan looked at Sara, then down to the ground. "I'd better go. Bye." Morgan all but ran off.

Gwen looked at AJ confused. "I wonder what that was about. She seemed fine before—" Gwen cut off her thought.

"I don't know. But we need to go get packed." They all went to their respective rooms and packed up their belongings. About an hour later, they were back on the road.

Arriving home they all decided to eat out that night. Nate, AJ and Gwen dropped their luggage off at their house, and they rode separately to Denny's.

They ordered drinks. Once the drinks were delivered, Gwen went to the restroom. When she came back, Sara had a satisfied smirk on her face while messing around on her phone. Gwen had a bad feeling.

Drinking her soda pop, she looked over her menu. Nothing really sounded good to her.

Gwen couldn't stop worrying about Morgan. Her demeanor had completely changed from the time they took the picture to the time they went into the room. She did not have a way to get ahold of her. Morgan never said her screen name, so Gwen was unsure how to contact her to help make her feel better.

Finally deciding on what to eat, they all ordered. Gwen didn't eat much, something AJ noticed.

On the drive home, AJ took Gwen's hand and held it. "Are you feeling okay? I noticed you didn't eat much tonight."

"Honestly? No, I'm not okay. I'm worried about that girl we met, Morgan." Gwen told AJ what all had been going through her mind about Morgan. "If I just had a screen name, I could reach out to her and make sure she's okay."

AJ brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. "I love your heart. Since we can't contact her, then we can only hope she is alright. Maybe she'll show up in the next livestream and we can talk to her that way."

"Maybe." Gwen looked out the window. "I just don't like that something happened, and we can't make it better."

"I know, Honey. I know."

They pulled in their driveway and got out. Gwen went in and finished up Becca's costume then joined her husband in slumber.