Make a wish.

01|I miss you.

May 1, 1976.

Finney opens he eyes and yawns. He didn't remember much after blowing out the candles, eating he birthday muffin, but he knows he must have stayed up talking to Gwen about many things until they fell asleep.

Finney's alarm clock goes off a few minutes later and he reluctantly turns it off.

Finney hates going to class on his birthday, but when he hears his dad from the hallway telling him to hurry up or he'll be late, he has no choice but to get up. He could ask his dad if he could skip school and he knew Terrence would say he could, but he needed something to clear his mind of past birthday memories, so he jumps up of the bed.

Finney always leaves his clothes laid out on his desk, so he just changes while he's still kind of asleep.

When going down the stairs, Gwen is not there, much less he father. Since when do they not wait for him to go to class?

Finney finds a note from Gwen saying that she forgot her book at Susie's house and since she was sick, she had to go look for it, so she left before he. His father wasn't here either and he was the one who took them to class every morning and went to pick them up. Finney couldn't remember what it was like to go out alone since before the kidnapping.

It seems that today was the day where he had to do things alone again, it was too much of a push, but he knew that one day he had to do this again.

With he backpack slung over his shoulder and a sandwich for breakfast, Finney leaves the house with shaky steps.

Maybe his father was needed earlier at work and that's why he didn't waiting, but at least he could have told he, he always makes sure to notify him.

Finney ignores his nausea and feels a bit pathetic taking short, shaky steps, but his fear of being alone is greater than his fear of being made fun of. He's been teased all his life, now at least they'll have an excuse to laugh.

Walking a street without Finney wanting to cry or feeling nauseous was very difficult. He had tried not to look around like a madman, but that made it worse, so he just let his body do what it wanted.

With each step he took, he felt a little more confident, but he still winced as he turned each corner, as if, as he did so, a black van was parked there and a man with his groceries tripped.

There was nothing. There was never anything because Grabber was gone.

There was no one else, Grabber did not have some kind of henchman, it was just himself and his multiple personalities.

No one was waiting for Finney, either around the street or at school.

When he gets to school, he manages to lift a huge weight off his shoulders and at least he'll be back from school with Gwen, which comforts him a lot. He didn't want to go out alone anymore...

As Finney walks through the halls, he can see Buzz, Matt, and Matty staring after him, so he runs to the bathroom.

Finney hides in the last cubicle and reaches for his left wrist to hold Robin's bandana, but he's gone. He feels short of breath for a moment at the thought that he might have lost it, but he remembered that he didn't take it in the morning, so he relaxes, but he catches his breath again when he hears the door open.

"Come out, idiot! We don't want fags in our bathroom." Buzz says, smacking each bathroom stall with his fist.

Finney winces when Buzz bangs on his cubicle door and Robin's bandana should be giving him some comfort now, or the urge to break all three of their noses, but he doesn't, because Finney had forgotten to put on one of the few things that remained of his best friend and that he always carried.