𝐇𝐈𝐌 & 𝐈, robin arellano.

𝒙𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒊. thirty-two

༺❦༻

❝ and what hurts the most is
people can go, from people
you KNOW, to people you
DON'T ! ❞

people you know, selena gomez.

AT THE MENTION of the baseball player's name, jaelin tensed. a million questions ran through her mind but one stood out: is bruce really alive?

the baseball player was caught off guard. he hadn't remembered his name the second her got there a while ago. like he said, it's the first thing they lose.

"..yeah..bruce." he said as if he just got told the biggest news ever, "i-i'm bruce. your arm is mint. you almost had me."

"did the phone ring for you?"

"it rang, but none of us heard it. just you." bruce told him with an unseeable frown, "the grabber hears the phone too, but he doesn't want to believe it."

"why are you calling me?"

"..your arm is mint. you almost had me. i'm glad it's you."

a moment of silence passed until bruce spoke again, "finney?"

"yeah?"

"there's a dirt section on the floor of the hallway where the tile is loose." bruce started as finney turned his head to see it. jaelin followed his gaze towards the hallway floor, still confused as ever.

"okay.."

"dig down underneath the foundation. i tried, but there wasn't time for me to dig up and out the other side."

"will we have enough time?"

bruce ignored the question, "give the phone to aylin."

finney shifted on his feet but nonetheless brought the phone towards jaelin. the girl looked at it with raised brows.

"he wants to talk to you." finney told her. she carefully took the phone into her hands and brought it to her ear, as if a single pressure on it would break it.

she hesitated before speaking, "..hello?"

"aylin." bruce quietly said. she couldn't see it, but a small smile formed on his face at the sound of her voice.

jaelin's breath hitched, "brucey? how..how is this possible? are you alive?"

"still using that nickname, huh?"

jaelin let out a breathy chuckle, glad that she was able to hear his voice one more time. though, she remembered that was one of the last things he said to her before her went missing. that was enough to make her frown.

"i just wanted to say thank you. for believing in me. even if it was baseball, or something else." he said sincerely. jaelin put her hand over her mouth as she felt the tears forming in her eyes.

"if only i walked with you to your house, brucey. it could've been me instead. you don't deserve this." her voice got quieter.

"no, and you don't either. it's not your fault."