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Chapter 4

Fiddleford's POV:

Did it embarrass him this badly?

The words melted in my head like the bitter aftertaste of alcohol. The morning sun began peering through the bedroom window, revealing that Ford had not gone to bed with me. On the opposite side of the bed, I realized his head did not leave an imprint on his pillow, nor was it fluffed to his standards. Even the extra blanket I had laid out for him, remained untouched.

Surely that can't be right. My voice echoed aimlessly through my head, as I glanced towards the bedroom door. He's done far more embarrassing things. Yet, he's never hidden from me before.

Slowly pulling myself out from the tight bundle of blankets that we kept on the bed, I could not help but wonder if it was me. What if I had done something wrong that upset him? Yet, what did I do that made him want to hide from me?

I thought to myself, tilting my head slightly while slowly pulling myself out from the tight bundle of blankets. He's done more embarrassing things than that.

Sliding on a mint green colored button-up, I cautiously walked out of the bedroom and peered into the adjusting areas. There was no sign of the familiar brunette, not even a pencil was left in a different place. Walking towards the kitchen, I cupped one hand around my mouth and called out his name. "Ford? Fordenstein, are you there?"

My voice echoed through the hallways, but there was no response. Not even the sound of mice being afraid of my tone could be heard. I gently bit my lip and slowly entered the living room. The nickname wouldn't leave my head, so I called out again. "Fordenstein?"

The nickname was more of a cheap play on words I made up last year on Halloween. We had finished watching the movie, "Frankenstein's Monster" and throughout the night, we got maybe only two knocks at the door. Ford made a joke about how it was like we built our own monster to keep the kids away from us. Arguably, I wanted the children to come, especially with the five-pound bag of candy I purchased earlier that week. Yet, at least there was plenty for the two of us to enjoy.

"Where is he?" The words slipped out of my mouth as my eyes slowly wandered in the direction of the elevator. A slight chill ran through my body as I looked at the cold metal door. My feet hesitantly carried me to the doors as I pressed the buttons, waiting for the elevator to open. Yet, as I listened to the grinding of the gears, all I could hear was Ford's voice, promising me he wouldn't work late again.

Eventually, I made it to the bottom floor, also where we kept the portal. The doors flew open at once, and when they did papers seemed to fly in the air with them. I shook my head, figuring we forgot to clean up. Yet, I paused as I noticed a large pile of books in the middle of the ground. There were probably fifteen books lying there, all piled up on top of something... or someone?

"Ford? Ford! What happened?" Nearly running towards the heap of books, I fell to my knees beside my roommate. My hands grabbed several hardcovers at a time and pulled them away from Ford.

My calls must have awoken him because his amber eyes flickered open slowly. He looked up at me with a raised eyebrow before taking a look around the room. Books were sliding off the side of his back as he tried to pull himself off the ground. Yet, I watched as he winced while moving, only to fall again.

"Ford!"

"I'm okay." He mumbled through gritted teeth, a weak smile spreading across his face before fading away. Ford's eyes flickered back to the ground as he patted around for his glasses, managing to find them after a few moments.

"What happened?" I asked as he pushed it up the bridge of his nose.

Ford's eyes looked away from me as he slowly pushed himself off the ground. His teeth clenched as he did so, but no sound escaped him. "I might have stayed up late to work last night. I suppose I passed out after a while."