When Cameron wakes up hours later he finds an empty bed next to him. He frowns because he knows Nash isn't working today, but he then figures that Hayes and Skylynn have Nash outside watching them as they play with their new toys. He calls Nash's phone but it starts ringing from the nightstand table, Cameron chuckles as Nash is probably not used to having a cell phone yet.
He goes to the bathroom and takes a quick shower, he puts on sweatpants and a hoodie, he goes downstairs and grabs an apple from the kitchen before heading outside to find Nash and he siblings. He surprised to see his grandparents car still parked in the driveway. He hopes that they left Nash, Hayes and Skylynn alone, they're finally genuinely happy and Cameron doesn't want anything to ruin it for them.
He looks around the grounds as he bites into his apple, he frowns when he doesn't find them anywhere. He heads back to the house and he notices that Skylynn's toy car is parked in the garage. He goes back inside and searches for them in the game room, the theater room and the family room. The 3 siblings are nowhere to be found.
He takes the stairs back up to the 2nd level, 2 at a time. He stops by the kid's room, their bed is neatly made. He goes back outside and runs to the barn, the horses whinny at him but they're not in there either. It is at that moment that Cameron begins to panic, Nash wouldn't take Sky and Hayes somewhere without telling him, he'd at least wake Cameron up to let him know that they'd be out.
He breaks out into a full on run back to the ranch and as he runs by the cars he notices that his father's car is not sitting in the driveway. He sits down on the steps and laughs softly to himself as the panic begins to fade away. It's very obvious to him now that his parent's took them out and he feels silly for starting to panic. He doesn't even know what he was panicking about, Nash was extremely happy early that morning when they went to sleep. He probably got up early and didn't want to disturb Cameron since they had gone to sleep close to 5am.
He decides to wait in the family room for his family to come back from their outing. A couple hours later he hears the door open, he hears the his mother's soft laughter and he stands, happy they're finally home. Cameron feels a little pathetic at how much he missed Nash when he was only gone for a few hours, he wants to spend the rest of the day cuddling with Nash because they have to return to working the next day.
He goes to the foyer to greet them, he sees his parents and grandparents but Nash and his two siblings are missing, Cameron's smile fades from his face.
"What's wrong sweetie?" Gina asks as she hangs up her coat.
"Where are Nash, Hayes and Sky? They were out with you weren't they?" He asks, trying to calm himself and keep his voice from wavering.
"No, honey. We invited them to come with us before we left but Nash declined saying that they wanted to stay here with you." Gina explains and the panic that Cameron felt earlier returns full force and triples as he realizes that they're gone and he has no idea where they went, Nash didn't leave him any messages.
"They aren't here. They weren't here when I woke up and I thought they went out with you. Did they seem okay before you left?" He asks, he can't mask the worry in his voice, he tries to maintain a calm facade but it cracks.
"You know, they did seem a little quiet but I thought it was just because they were tired. They all had a long night last night," Gina comments.
Kitty has a smug look on her face, she's happy that those 3 gremlins are no longer in her grandson's life. Now things can get back to normal, she thinks about who she's going to set Cameron up with. She recently met the Governor's wife and they have a young girl Cameron's age that would be a suitable match for her grandson.
Cameron catches the look on her face before she has a chance to wipe it off once she notices that he's looking at her.
"What did you do?" He asks her lowly, his eyes are blazing with anger. He knows now who's behind the disappearance of Nash and his siblings. As soon as he finds them he's going to apologize for whatever crazy lies she filled Nash's head with. He knows the obvious choice of where Nash would go with his siblings and that's to Mrs.Kaplan's trailer, he's certain that that's where they've gone.
"Whatever do you mean, my darling boy?" She asks him sweetly but he knows her and he knows that she's lying.
"What.Did.You.Do?" He asks louder and more firmly. Kitty feigns confusion at his question.
"I have no idea what you are referring to, Cameron. Is that any way to speak to your grandmother?" She asks him, attempting to steer the conversation away from Cameron's question. But if she thinks Cameron will let her deflect the question she is sorely mistaken.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO, KITTY?!" He yells, losing his patience completely. She flinches at his tone of voice, he's never spoken to her that. His parents and his grandfather stare at him in shock. They've never seen Cameron lose his temper or speak that way to any of his family members.
"Cameron, calm down." Gina says soothingly, trying to figure out what's going on. "Why are you speaking to your grandmother like that? It's extremely disrespectful."
"Why don't you ask your mother?" He glares at Kitty. "Why don't you fucking tell them what you did, grandmother? Or are you too ashamed of your actions to own up to them? Deep down, underneath the rotten core of your heart you know that what you did was wrong and that's why you can't admit to it."
Cameron's words cut deep into Kitty because they're true. They're true and she knows it.
"All I did was have a small conversation with the little hoodlum regarding his relationship with my grandson. What he did afterwards has nothing to do with me," she replies coolly and Gina turns her head and looks at her mother incredulously.
"Why don't you tell us exactly what you said, dear old grandmother." Cameron taunts her, Kitty has shown her weakness and now he knows exactly how to get her to talk about what she said to Nash that made him leave so abruptly.
"I told him that he's ruining your life and your future. I told him that if he stays with you he'll be making your life worst because your parents will cut you off and you'll all end up in the poorhouse. I told him he will have single-handedly brought down Dallas Farms because of his selfishness, that if he truly loved you he'd let you go and let you become exactly what you were meant to be, sitting at the head of Dallas Farms, INC. I told him you'd end up like Taylor, destitute and the laughing stock of the town because you lost everything for a trio of trailer park trash." She tells Cameron snidely, laughing coldly as she thinks back on her conversation with the little maggot.
"I told him exactly what he needed to hear to get out of my family's life. He has no place here, he doesn't belong here. He was using the kindness of my daughter and you to jump up several to the top 1%. That's not where he belongs. He belongs back in the trailer park with peoplel like him. I told him he was too stupid to amount to anything, he will always have to do low-skill hard labor because that's all he's good for. You should have seen how he tried to defend himself to me. He was no match for me, I can speak circles around that little boy." Kitty is smug, she feels triumphant that she achieved her goal.
Gina sees her mother in a completely different light, how could this old woman delight in tearing apart the self-worth a such a kind, warm-hearted boy like Nash.
Cameron is shaking with rage, because he knows how badly her words must have hurt Nash. She pressed every single button, Nash always believed he wasn't worthy of Cameron and she just proved it to him.
"You sick, sick old bitch. You can't stand to see anyone happy, can you? Everyone has to be as miserable as you. Well, let me fucking tell you something I'm going to find Nash and I'm going to bring him back and this time nothing you could say will make him leave. I should have fucking told him, I should have warned him about you. I should have told him that if you catch him alone, to just walk away and not pay attention to a single lie that comes out of your mouth." Cameron spits out, he lets his rage color his tone of voice, it lets her know that he despises her.
"Get the fuck out and don't bother every coming back here again," Cameron tells her in a scathing tone. She's taken aback and her eyes widen as she looks between Gina, John and Cameron.
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE BEFORE I FUCKING KICK YOU OUT MYSELF," he rages as he steps closer to her. For the first time in her rotten existence Kitty is completely silent, she has no reply, no caustic remark. She has no words, she can't talk her way out of this one. She realizes that she may have just lost the one grandchild she had left. She looks at her daughter, silently pleading with her to say something to Cameron to calm him down, but Gina looks away, she can't bear to look at the woman who is her mother, she's disgusted by her actions.
She waits a few moments more before she leaves, followed by her husband .
As soon as she's gone Cameron breaks down and begins to cry. He cries because she just reaffirmed all of the negative things Nash thought about himself, all of the lies that his father had beat into him. He cries because he can imagine how Nash felt, how heartbroken he must have been. He cries for Hayes and Skylynn who were torn from their new home by a bitter old woman who has no power there.
She knew exactly what to say to make Nash leave without saying goodbye. Nash would never want to want to cause Cameron any strife, Cameron knows that Nash probably felt he was doing the right thing by leaving. He wishes he had a chance to tell Nash that it was all lies, that Kitty had no say into how things were run with Dallas Farms and that even if everything she said was true, all of this means nothing to Cameron. He would rather be happy with Nash, Hayes and Sky in a little shack than to be here all alone without them.
"I-I have to find them, mom. I have to tell them that everything she said was a lie. That they are loved and cherished by us, the people who matter. Kitty is nothing, she's nothing to me now. I don't want to see her ever again. She's fucking selfish. I hate her. I hate her. I hate her!" Cameron sobs as his mother pulls him into her arms tenderly. She makes soothing noises at him and rubs his band gently.
"We'll help you find them, Cameron. We'll go with you." She says and pulls away, wiping his tears gently. "Why don't you stay here, John? Just in cause they return."
She goes out to the car with Cameron, he's calmer now and able to drive. He speeds to the trailer park, he stops in front of Mrs. Kaplan's trailer and gets out immediately. He notices the trailer that used to be the Grier's has a for rent sign on it now. They knew that Chad wouldn't be able to afford the trailer once Nash left.
He bangs on the door and Mrs. Kaplan opens the door, she recognizes him as Nash's friend. Nash had called and let her know they were going to be living with him now, he thanked her for all that she did for him. She was so happy that Nash was out of that trailer and away from Chad, he had sounded so happy. She's confused as to why Cameron is here banging on her door.
"Is Nash here?" Cameron asks her, his panic had started to rise again when he noticed how confused she looked, and when she shakes her head no it bubbles over and he turns and goes back to his car. He slams the door shut and he leans over his wheel as his mind races at where Nash might be. He can't help but feel panicked and overwhelmed.
He has to find them, there's no other other alternative.
"Start googling local motels," he tells his mom as he lifts his head, he has to keep it together until he finds them.
They visit every motel in the city and even some cheap hotels, anything that fits into Nash's small budget. With every negative answer, the despair that's building inside Cameron rises. He's heartbroken, he's angry, he's every negative emotion under the sun. It's dark outside when they go to the last motel on their google search.
His mother looks exhausted from all the running around they've done and Cameron feels equally so. After they get another negative answer Cameron enters his car and silently drives them back home.
"Cam..." Gina starts to speak softly after he parks in front of their home. They've kept in contact with his father, hoping that they have returned but that is not the case.
"I just need some time, to myself, Mom." He tells her quietly. She sighs sadly and gets out of the car, as soon as she shuts the door he begins to sob loudly, desperately. His body shakes at the force of his cries. Nash is gone and he has no idea where he is. He has no way to communicate with him. He doesn't know if Nash has family in the area or if they have family out of state. Cameron knows that so much time passed in between Nash leaving and him waking up and waiting in vain for him return with his parents that they could have gone anywhere. He could have bought him bus tickets to anywhere.
His despair grows and his sobs grow stronger until he's crying so hard that he can't catch his breath.
Cameron's sobs start to slow until all that remains is his ragged breathing as he attempts to catch his breath.
This isn't the end. This can't be the end.
A/N- Should I update again or nah?