girl next door ☆ c. sturniolo

outro / goodbye

"Got me feeling paralyzed
I can't see without the lights
A chill is runnin' down my spine
Starin' out the window
A knife under my pillow
But it's all inside my mind"

"17 year old Adeline Manson of Sommerville, Massachusetts, has been reported missing, no contact with family or friends within the last 6 days. She commonly goes by Addie. Adeline is 5'6, weighing 112 pounds, black hair, green eyes. If you believe you have spotted Adeline, please reach out to the local authorities with any information. Thank you."

Chris had heard that exact speech roughly ten times, since Addie went missing six days ago. It had been eight days since he saw her last, the day she had broken things off with him. Eight days since he had begged her not to leave him. Eight days since he promised to wait for her.

What if waiting for her was too painful?

"They're going to find her, Chris." Nick whispered, wrapping his arms around his brother.

Matt sniffled, trying his best to hold his tears in, "She's going to come home to us." Matt whispered, slipping his arms around Chris and Nick's shoulders. Chris wanted to believe his brothers, but he couldn't bring himself to even begin to agree with them.

He just wished he knew if Addie went on her own, or if someone had ripped her from her life, leaving her scared and alone.

Months had come and gone before Chris knew it, and he was struggling with Addie being gone everyday. Searching for her in crowds, checking his spam emails to see if she tried contacting him. Reaching for her when he sleeps, only to wake up alone. Addie's parents moved back to California, to be with Gavin's family, hoping that Addie would show up there.

Nick had found his passion for photography a few months after Addie disappeared. He started taking photos of everyone, of everything. He felt guilty about not having nearly enough pictures or videos of Addie, of documenting their good times together while he could. Realizing how easy it is to forget something as little as a trip to McDonalds, he decided he wanted to start filming them. Capturing the memories in a video form, to hold on to and cherish.

Matt had the great idea of uploading them to Youtube, to see if they were as funny as they thought they were. Matt also knew if there was a camera out, Chris would act more himself than he had in months. He knew he wasn't any better, especially with missing so much school due to the anxiety he was left to deal with on his own, but he was working on it. Seeing Chris slowly change back into the carefree guy he was before Addie, made his heart swell with content. All Matt wanted was for everyone to be happy again. Even Addie.

Chris was finally healing, to his best abilities at least. He was smiling and laughing again, and in his book, that was a good start. His escape is music, secretly writing goofy love songs he'd kill to play for Addie. He has no clue how to work a guitar, or even sing well enough to sound good, but he knows it would be worth every embarrassing second if it meant he got to hear Addie's giggles again.

He was still waiting for her, and he didn't even understand why.

On Addie's six month anniversary of her disappearance, Addie's parents called. Nick, Matt, Chris, and Alahna had entered the Sturniolo residence to find Mary Lou and Jimmy sitting at the kitchen table. Mary Lou was a mess, uncontrollable sobs and gibberish slipping through her tears. Chris' heart dropped once he made eye contact with his father.

Addie was pronounced dead.

Chris successfully blocked that time of his life out of his mind, not remembering anything past falling to his knees and crying. Nick and Matt remember every painful second, much to Chris' dismay. They were always careful to not bring Addie up, and always refused to tell Chris what had unfolded that dreadful afternoon. Chris doesn't even know why they thought she was dead, but he figured it was best he doesn't know.

Nick, Matt, and Chris kept up with their Youtube videos throughout their senior year of high school. They included Alahna for a while, but due to her own busy life and growing up, she started to stop showing up for filming. Then it was the hangouts. When they confronted Alahna about it, she admitted she felt like there was a barrier between them, since Addie had left. They had a mutual agreement to stay friends, but not on a day by day basis like before.

Nick was extremely upset about this, with Alahna being his best friend for so long, but at the end of the day he understood. Addie had brought the two of them together, and when she had first come back it was like a missing puzzle piece had fallen into place. Now that she was dead, it just didn't feel right. Nick accepted that for what it was, and ended up befriending his manager's daughter, Madi. She helped Nick mourn the loss of his friendship with Alahna, bringing them so close.

Slowly but surely their account grew, and by the time they graduated, they had decided this was going to be their career. They kept growing and having fun, documenting their lives for months until finally, they decided to move to LA. Business opportunities were far better on the west coast. So the three boys packed up their lives, and started over in a brand new city.

Three years had passed since Addie disappeared, and suddenly everything felt calm. Bringing up a fond memory of Addie wasn't so painful anymore. Finding something in a store and announcing that Addie would have loved it brought smiles to their faces. Telling Madi random stories about Addie, sharing that part of their lives with her. Madi watches the three boys reminisce about their friend, wishing she could have met her so badly. To have known the one person that helped shape them into who they are today.

It was two weeks after what would've been Addie's 19th birthday, Nick got a series of text messages from an unknown number.

I miss you so much, Nick. I would love to see you all...

I understand if you don't want to. It took awhile for my parents to come around considering EVERYONE thought I was dead for the last three years

My address is 322 South Orange Drive, come over whenever you want, I'm always home..

authors note .ᐟ
guys idk how well i set up the timing in this fanfic. it is now October of 2022! The triplets are at 3 million subscribers. i have so many ideas for the rest of this fic, so dw it isn't over yet! the next song i'll be using for the chapter titles is knife under my pillow by maggie lindemann wink wink. (the chapter's wont always relate to the lyrics!)