into the night [cazzie]

nine

So he dialled the second number of the day, praying Casey wouldn't be too spiteful and that she would pick up despite whatever it was he had done. Silently, he prayed that whatever they fought over, Casey had caused it. He hoped she was the one who had to pine for his forgiveness. That was the only realistic way that she would pick up, and as selfish and as dumb as it was, it was his only hope.

Sadly, Evan was greeted by the cold robotic voice that let him know that Casey wasn't picking up. He groaned, falling back onto the bed and trying to ignore the migraine that had just come back as intensely as it was before. He didn't know what to do, so he just called again. He called and called, but by the 27th time, he knew it was a lost cause. Casey had to be blatantly ignoring him. So he went to the only other source whose number he had.

"This is Sam."

"Hi Sam, it's Evan."

"Oh. What do you want?"

"Do you know where Casey is?"

"Aren't you the boyfriend?" he deadpanned.

"Yeah, well... maybe. Not really."

"So why do you care?"

"Sam, do you know?" Evan couldn't afford to get off track at this rate. He was desperate for some answer, even if Sam had the slightest inkling of knowledge.

"My mom and dad left in a hurry last night. I'd say that's related."

Evan's heart sunk. Her parents left? Was there something wrong? He tried so desperately to connect the dots, and even though the answer should have been obvious, he was looking the other way. Admitting what could have happened would make him the bad guy. If he even admitted the truth in his head, he wouldn't have had any comfort. He would be trapped by guilt, suffocating. So Evan chose the easy, selfish way, ignoring the truth and changing the subject just a bit.

"Are you alright alone?"

"Yes. This is how I'm preparing for college."

"Okay," Evan didn't really know what to say, and he had a feeling Sam's knowledge was this limited. "Thanks Sam. I'll let you get back to it. Call me if you hear anything."

The line disconnected after Sam muttered some sort of goodbye. Evan didn't feel all that better about the situation. Many of the questions that had arisen suddenly were now gone, but a million worries were there to replace them. Evan wasn't sure what was worse: being unsure of all bad things that could have happened or knowing exactly what happened. He decided— in this case, at least— knowing exactly what happened was probably the worst thing possible. Because now he knew that he caused it. Evan knew that there was only him to blame, and the guilt that had come up was strangling him, much like he thought it would.

Despite the fact that he knew he wouldn't be able to look her in the eye when he found Casey, Evan stood up, ignoring the wave of nausea that hit him. He would find Casey sometime today, even if it killed him.

***

Izzie had been up for twenty four hours. It had been a day since the last time she got rest. The fact didn't hit her when she was intently waiting for Casey to wake up, but now that Izzie was calling Sawyer, she began to feel a little bit tired.

"Hi babe," Sawyer greeted. As much as Izzie felt it inappropriate, she smiled at the sound of the blonde's voice. She was always upbeat, and that happiness tended to be contagious.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing... just wanted to see what was up," the blonde said casually. "Are you free today?"