Don't Look Down, and Never Look Back. (A Pierce the Veil fanfic)

Chapter 26: An Inch Closer To The Edge

Mike’s POV

When we got home after going out to dinner with everyone, except for Vic and Kota, I went back to see how Vic was doing. He had locked himself in the studio that entire day, not even coming out to eat. I had no idea what I was going to find him doing.

I walked inside our apartment to find absolutely nothing. Vic wasn’t even in the studio, like I had anticipated. I searched the apartment twice, and still couldn’t find him. Oh no. Not, you too, Vic. No. I ran out and knocked on the girls’ door frantically. Audrey opened it mid-laugh, but was immediately serious when she saw my face.

“Please tell me Vic is in here,” I said.

“No.. he’s not in here Mike..” Audrey replied.

“He’s not at home. He wasn’t there when I got home Audrey, he’s not there,” I said, my voice slightly raised.

“Where could he have gone?” Jaime said, appearing behind Audrey, with a concerned look on his face.

“I have no idea. But we need to find him right now. We can’t have this happen again,” I said.

“What about Dakota?” Jaime asked Audrey.

“No. She’s had enough shit today, just let her sleep. Vic is fine. He’s okay. He’s fine,” Audrey said, almost to reassure herself. “Someone needs to stay here with her, though.”

“I’ll stay,” Tony said. “Don’t worry, when she wakes up in the morning I’ll have a cover story. I won’t let her know what’s up.”

“Thank you so much Tony,” Audrey said, giving him a tight hug. “We’ll keep you posted. Oh, and someone should stay in your apartment too in case he shows up there,” she added.

We looked around at each other for a few seconds. I think we all knew that wherever Audrey went, Jaime went, so he was out of the question. The only people left were Jenna and Shay.

“I’ll stay, I guess,” Jenna said a bit awkwardly.

“Are you sure?” I asked at the same time Shay said, “I’ll stay with you.”

“Yes, I’m sure, and thanks, Shay,” Jenna said.

“Alright. Let’s begin search number two,” I said.

Tony went back into the girls’ apartment and Jenna and Shay went back into mine. Audrey, Jaime, and I ran down the stairs and outside to the parking lot, getting into my car.

“Where do you think he went?” I asked.

“No idea,” Audrey and Jaime both said as I got a text.

I pulled out my phone and almost choked. “Guys it’s from Vic! ‘Don’t worry about me. I just needed some alone time.’” I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

“I don’t believe him,” Jaime said.

“What?” I asked in disbelief.

“I don’t think he just ‘needed some alone time.’ Something else is up. I can feel it. We still need to look for him,” Jaime explained.

Vic’s POV

That text was partly true. I did need alone time. As if I didn’t feel alone enough with Dakota not remembering me or loving me or wanting me. I was already 20 minutes away from the apartment, heading to the first place I went with Kota. The first day we met was playing in my mind, the way she carried herself, her smile, how her hair was messy from a long car ride.

I remembered knocking on their door the next morning with a surprise trip to Venice for the girls. And waking up Kota by tickling her, and her getting mad at me so I gave her a giant hug, then left to let them finish getting ready. Then I thought about how we rented bikes and rode them along the beach, then decided to go swimming. And how Kota was afraid of the water, so I held her as she stepped into the water...