Missing in Action

Chapter Twenty Two

She'd meant it. They way she had stared at a point far out over the sea had made me feel so useless because there had been nothing that I could have done to prevent that look.

Cassidy had seen so many horrors that I could never even begin to comprehend, but she never talked about them. You could see it in her eyes, and since her dad had passed away, not all of the horrors were out on the battlefields.

I walked to where the boys were. My mum was talking to them all.

"Hiya," I said to them.

They all replied with their greetings.

"Is she...?" my mum asked.

I shook my head.

"Jane thinks that they are radio silent. She's not picking up," I told her.

My mum stopped smiling for the first time today. She frowned deeply, but then she just sighed and smiled at me weakly again.

"Never mind, I'm sure there's a good reason," my mum said brightly.

Then she saw a friend and went to talk to them.

"Yeah," I sighed as I watched her go.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked.

"Well, unless you have a time machine or a jet that can fly 2000 miles a minute, then everything," I said.

I sat down at the table and removed the sunglasses that I was wearing.

"Why?" Liam asked.

I tapped my sunglasses against the table.

"Cassidy hasn't come home. She was supposed to get here yesterday," I said.

Liam nodded.

"I know that I must sound silly. Nobody else seems to worry about her, and I can see why," I said.

"But?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. Cassidy has always seemed so... indestructible. She never needed anyone, but I just can't help but think that this time something's wrong," I rambled.

The boys looked thoughtful for a moment.

"It's a dangerous job Louis, and you worry too much. I'm sure she's fine," Niall said.

I nodded.

"You're probably right. Anyway, I'll see you later, I need to go and find my mum," I said.

I weaved through the crowd of people. I greeted everyone- even if I didn't have any idea who they were- and stopped to talk to a few people.

I eventually found my mum talking to Jane in the middle of the tables. I waited for her to finish and Jane to walk off.

"Cassidy sent a video for you about two months ago," I said.

"Thank goodness! Finally an excuse to go back to the table and sit down!" she exclaimed in a whisper.

I laughed.

"The shoes?" I asked.

My mum only glared at me causing me to laugh again.

"What is that saying about beauty being painful?" she asked.

"I don't know," I told her.

I helped her walk back through the crowd. We stopped to talk to a few people. Most were telling me how grown up I looked.

I didn't like that at all.

When we finally got back to the table, my mum sat down and exhaled deeply.

"I did tell you," I told her.

She hit me lightly on the arm in a joking manner. I laughed.

"Sadly, you did," my mum said.

I got my phone out of my pocket and went onto my emails. It took me a while to find the email that contained the video. When I finally did find it, I say down next to my mum and angled my phone so we could both see it.

A picture of Cassidy came up straight away.

"Are you sure it's on now?" she asked someone who we couldn't see.

"Yes!" a male voice exclaimed.

Cassidy just rolled her eyes.

"Thank you Henry!" she called, and the there was the sound of a door clanking into place.

"No skills with technology," I mumbled.

Cassidy was in a small room which must have been her cabin. I could see the end of a neat bed with a book lying on it. There was a set of metal draws opposite where she was sitting. A set of folded clothes lay on top of them with a helmet next to them. I could also see a sketch book on the top of the draws as well.

Cassidy was in her normal uniform and her hair was in a bun. She wasn't injured in any way.

"Okay. Hi Jay!" she started brightly.

She looked at something on the screen of her laptop. I heard a clicking noise, then she looked back at the camera.

"If you're watching this, then it means that I couldn't make it to the wedding. I'm not going to give you an excuse, because I don't know what it will be if I'm not home for the wedding, but I want you to know that I am really sorry that I can't make it," she said.

My mum was frowning now, but she nodded.

Cassidy looked away from the camera again, but this time it was something on her right. She put her right hand to whatever it was and smiled slightly.

"You've always been a second mother to me. You were always there for me, even when my own mum wasn't... and I guess... I guess I'd like to thank you for that because it's... it's so hard for me at the moment and so much is going on," Cassidy rambled.

Her voice was shaking for some reason.

"God! What is wrong with me today?" Cassidy asked.

She rubbed under her eyes.

My mum laughed slightly. Her eyes had glazed over.

"Congratulations Jay," Cassidy said strongly.

My mum nodded as of she thought Cassidy could see her.

Cassidy went to turn the recorder off, but then she stopped.

"Oh and Jay? Can you remind my best friend to think about me from time to time and give me a call soon?" she asked.

I smiled slightly. I forget about her sometimes when I'm on tour because she doesn't seem to need me. The endless phone calls are just me complaining to her, but she always listens.

"Falcons to the Captain's office!" blared through a speaker somewhere.

"That's me!" she rolled her eyes. "Have a wonderful day Jay!" Cassidy finished.

She leaned over the computer and then the video finished.

"Do you think she knew that she wouldn't be here?" my mum asked.

"I... I don't know. Maybe she was just being organised in case she couldn't get home," I said.

My mum sniffed.

"Mum, please don't ruin your make-up before the speeches start," I said.

She laughed again.

"Go and get everyone ready then!" she exclaimed.

I smiled and began to round everyone up.

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A/N- Thank you for reading! I decided to update again because the last chapter was short.

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