Ex's to Lovers

Chapter 48

In Which A series of Small Events Creates a Very, Very Big One

The biggest flaw in Alfred's Plan was not where he chose to stay, or what he packed, or the way he'd somehow woven himself into a tale of a kidnapping. The biggest mistake was forgetting to tell Ivan about his plan.

Alfred knew a lot of people. If there was someone he didn't know or that didn't know him, he knew someone that knew them, or they knew someone who knew him. Ivan was a little different. He didn't need to know everyone, he just needed to tap into Alfred's friend group, which was easy by a close friend of him being one of Alfred's friends. So Ivan had set the investigation, not overly concerned about Alfred's whereabouts or welfare, but more to keep tabs just in case.

Toris, still under the impression that Ivan was at the very least, dating Alfred, and the most, his fiancée, had easily aggreed to find Alfred for Ivan. All it took was a asking a few of Alfred's friends to ask around, and it spread from there. It helped that Toris had mentioned the reason he was looking for Alfred was because Alfred's boyfriend was worried. Ivan had not been worried at all, knowing full well the kind of person Alfred was. That is, not until the investigation went through the entire school and circled back with no results.

Ivan was left with the unsettling knowledge thst no one in the entire school, no, perhaps even the town, knew where Alfred was. Then, the rumour spread about the kidnapper, and how Alfred was one of his victims, but Ivan hadn't truly believed any of that until his saw the normally pale Gilbert turn even paler and later ok sick at the news. That's when Ivan finally realized that even Gilbert, Alfred's best friend, didn't know where Alfred was.

Ivan began to get a peculiar feeling that he didn't quite know how to describe -not that he would have described it anyways- but he was certain he didn't like the feeling.