seaycee oneshots :)))

the one where nobody knows

"That I do," he put his hands on his face and yawned. "I wish you didn't have to go, though."

"I'll be back tonight," she flashed him a smile. "Three year anniversary, remember?"

"How could I forget?"

And then she was gone.

2 hours, 14 minutes later, he got the call.

It's urgent, Julian had said, panting heavily. It's Kaycee. The Rices were in a crash. It's bad, Sean. Bad.

Running to the car, fumbling for the keys, driving with tears in his eyes, praying to every God up there that what he was hearing wasn't true.

Getting the hospital, only to find out that Kaycee Rice wasn't there.

She was gone.

The car had flipped over the guardrail by the lake, and police forces guessed she had been thrown and if she had been alive, hit her head, and drowned. They'd drag for bodies later.

Her body was never found.

"In my heart, I wanted to believe she was alive," he continued, forcing down the anxiety rising in his throat that he felt every time he recounted the story. "But after months went by, and her picture disappeared from the missing list, I gave up hope."

I'll never give up hope on Kaycee Rice, he thought to himself, but he didn't say that aloud. She's never given me a reason to.

"Can you think of any reason Kaycee might have wanted to run away?" the main detective asked, shifting in his seat. "Was something wrong in her family? I know there were all those stories in the tabloids when she first went missing, but we can't give any of them credibility unless you-"

"Enough," Sean slammed his fist down, making the drinking glasses jump on the table. "Nothing was wrong with her family."

"Were they ever strange to you?" another asked. "Was Brad ever mean to Laura? Was Laura ever a drinker? Kylie, ever involved? Devon ever show signs of aggression?"

Sean bit his lip to restrain himself from lunging across the table. "The Rices were the best people I've ever met," he sighed, head in his hands. "Brad was the most kind father you'll ever meet, flipping burgers on the grill, dad jokes, taking care of his kids like the most selfless person you'd ever meet, Laura raised her girls to be kind and women to be strong, her son to be a gentleman, Laura always helped others, raised her kids to be down to earth, opened her home to everyone...Kylie, Kylie," his voice broke at the memory of the middle Rice, "Was the best sister to Kaycee she could've had, she was funny, kind, caring, and compassionate, and Devon-Dev was like a brother to me, the most thoughtful, honest, and caring person I know, and I know that Kaycee had no better two people to be raised with."

"And Kaycee-" he smiled darkly. "Kaycee Rice will always be with me."

The room was silent. "So don't ever try to drag that family again, because those people didn't deserve what they got. Now I'm done here," he said, and he got up, grabbed his jacket, and left.

"How many times are you going to make me re-live this?" he croaked in the dim light of the interrogation room, before he exited into the hall, and in that moment, he was a boy, trying to keep a secret, torn apart by losing the thing he loved the most, in the face of all the paparazzi to see. All of America watched, captivated, as the case developed, the people hurting most not the millions of fans, not the managers and teachers she'd met and loved along the way, but the boy she loved, who loved her back just as fiercely.