Red String of Fate

Worried

When Gil came home from work, he found the two teenagers napping on his couch, wrapped in each others arms. He'd let them sleep for a little longer, not having the heart to disturb the adorable picture. When he heard Henry start to stir though, he took it upon himself to wake them up as gently as he could. "Gently" meaning poking and prodding at them until they were awake enough for him to lightly hit them on the head with a pillow or two. Henry pouted sleepily as he and Pierre slowly sat up, displeased with Gil's wake-up call. However, he contented himself with snuggling in Pierre's arms while Gil brought out his laptop and his box of memories from when he and Lilian had been together.

After the initial slow start of "Where do we even begin?" had passed, the three males searched long and hard for traces of Henry's mother. For the following weeks, Pierre and Henry would walk to Henry's house, finish all of their homework, have dinner with Gil, and then do some more searching. Occasionally the teenagers would have to relocate to Pierre's house because Gil had a later shift. Pierre's father would help them whenever they came over, giving them some more ideas and offering tips on how exactly to find what they needed.

It was frustrating work at times, and Henry often retreated into Pierre's arms so he could take a breather. He felt guilty about how often he'd done that, making Pierre have to quickly find a way to calm him down. But Pierre really didn't mind a bit. He knew there probably wasn't a way for him to get that through Henry's head, but it was the honest truth. He knew Henry desperately wanted to find his mother, and not finding her as quickly as he wanted to was probably incredibly irritating. Not to mention that their searches were becoming more and more difficult because there seemed to be absolutely no trace of Lilian Faye Smithers.

He could see that it was affecting Gil as well. Henry's father didn't like showing his frustration, but Pierre would occasionally catch glimpses of it. Usually he would just leave the room before he could let it get the best of him, leaving Henry and Pierre by themselves for a few minutes or so to search on their own. Then he would return and dive right back in. Pierre found himself getting very worried about the father and son duo. He wasn't sure if there was anything he could do to help Gil, but he knew for certain how to help Henry. He just wished he'd actually done it earlier like a good boyfriend should.

Pierre sprung his idea on Henry as he started to get ready to go home one Friday night. "How about we go out and do something tomorrow?" he asked as he pulled on his shoes. "Just the two of us. We could find a movie to go see, we could grab a bite to eat at a restaurant, we could wander around a park...you know, that kind of thing."

Henry considered this for a moment before hesitantly asking, "As in...go out together on a date?" He blushed furiously when Pierre responded with a happy nod. "Th-there's a park that's got some water features," he said shyly. "It's a really short drive from here. Could we take a picnic lunch and just hang out there for the day?" He seemed very hesitant and bashful about the suggestion, trying to hide his eagerness. Despite his best efforts though, Pierre could still see a hopeful glimmer in his eyes.

"That sounds absolutely perfect," Pierre told him, cupping Henry's face in his hands and giving him a sweet kiss. The shorter teen blushed and returned the favor, his eyes fluttering closed. When Pierre pulled away Henry stretched up on his toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. "How about I come get you at 12:30?" Pierre suggested. "I'll get everything ready tonight and tomorrow morning." Henry nodded eagerly, his eyes sparkling with excitement. They gave each other one more quick kiss before Pierre slipped out the door, whistling the tune of one of Henry's new favorite songs.

Bouncing with excitement, Henry quickly went to Gil's room to tell him the good news. He found him lounging on his bed scrolling through something on his phone. Upon hearing him enter, Gil looked up at him with curious eyes. "Pierre's going to be taking me on a date tomorrow," he told him, his excited grin refusing to hide. "He's going to get me at 12:30 and we're going to go to that park I wanted to go to."

Gil grinned broadly at him. "That's fantastic, Henry," he said warmly. "I'm sure you two will have a lot of fun out there." He hesitated for a second, then put his phone down. "Henry...can I ask you something?" Confused and slightly worried, Henry slowly walked over to the bed and sat down next to him. Gil bit his lip, considering how to word his next question. "Are you as worried about this search for your mum as I am?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck. "Does it...concern you? That we're not finding anything?"

"Yeah," Henry murmured, though somewhat reluctantly. "It does a little. But hey, I've got some hopes." He leaned back against the headboard. "I mean, I've had two of my biggest dreams come true within the last few weeks. Like Pierre and me finding each other again after all this time. That's a big one." He nudged Gil's arm with his elbow. "And I found at least one of my parents, so that's good." Gil ruffled his hair, and Henry swatted his hand away. "I think we'll find Mum eventually," he finally said. "I've had great luck finding people I love, so I don't see why my luck should run out."

Gil pondered this for a moment, putting an arm around Henry's shoulders. "You've got a whole lot of confidence," he told him with a quick smile. "Wish I could say the same. I'm trying not to be such a downer about the whole thing, but it has been 16 years since I've heard from her. I just don't know if we'll ever find her." Henry bit his lip. He knew Gil was right about trying to be realistic, especially with how much time had passed since they'd last seen each other. He just didn't want to see his dad lose hope. After all, it wasn't just his own desire to see his mother that drove him to look for her. He wanted Gil to be happy too.

"How about we just continue to hope for the best?" Henry suggested, resting his head on Gil's shoulder. "I bet we'll stumble across something really big in the next couple of days. I've got a really good feeling about it."

"Are you sure that's not just butterflies over your date?" Gil teased. Henry smacked him, blushing furiously, and Gil retaliated with a well-aimed pillow to Henry's face. A full-out pillow fight/wrestling match commenced, until Henry finally cried 'uncle' after Gil put him into a well-executed headlock. "Off to bed with you, lovebird," Gil teased, ruffling his hair before releasing his son's neck. "Don't want you to be too tired for your date!"

Henry managed to get in a last half-hearted swipe at Gil's chest before retreating to his bedroom. Changing into his comfiest pair of pajamas, he flopped into bed. He checked his text messages, responded to Pierre's saying that he was home safe, then turned out his bedside lamp. He pulled the covers over himself and tried not to think too much about how excited he was for his date with Pierre. It would be their first official date as a couple, he realized, so that made it extra special. With butterflies in his stomach, after tossing and turning for over an hour, Henry finally managed to fall asleep.

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Author's Note: Fairly short chapter, sorry about that guys. But hey! I got it done! Even with my oh-so-wonderful work schedule! I'm kidding, I actually like my schedule. I get to do something I love, teach it to little kids, and get paid for it! I even get to go to fairs and things like that to recruit people! It's been a fairly interesting week, and this weekend was the start of city fair season. We were at our first fair this afternoon, and we're heading back tomorrow for the last day.

Okay, on to story stuff. I've got a couple ideas for upcoming chapters that I'm going to try and work out during my free moments at work. A couple of you mentioned some new characters I'd introduced in previous chapters, and I'd really like to explore them at least a little bit in the future. But I definitely have the next chapter's main events in mind. I just have to get around to writing it all down...that's always the hardest part when writing stories, am I right?

I'm hoping all my readers are doing alright. Every single one of you. I hope you're all safe, comfortable, and healthy. If you ever want to pop into my Inbox and leave a message, I'll do my best to respond as soon as I see it. If you just want to leave a long rant, that's fine too. If you want words of encouragement, I'll give you the best ones I know. I just want you all to be okay out there. May your days be kind, your nights gentle, and may you never lose sight of the light on the horizon. Every single one of you is amazing, and I love you all. Onward and upward, my friends. Onward and upward.