Casey
12 hours. It's been 12 hours since Flowers went missing.
Morgan called her mom, who had to come pick us up at the hospital with Kenny while Finn and Morgan searched for Avery, and told us that we needed to go get them because they found the car. If I thought he was a wreck the night she was drugged, boy. That seemed like a light work compared to how he was when we got there.
He was all but curled up into a damn ball as he held onto the shirt he found. Hell, he still hasn't let it go. He was shaking so damn hard and no matter how much we tried to talk to him, it's like he was a million miles away.
After a little while, he finally came back around and we all headed to the police station. I feel like I've been on autopilot, I've just been going from one thing to the next in order to stop myself from feeling what's actually happening. If I let myself think for even a minute, I'll start thinking about how he hit my fucking wife, how he held a gun to her. I'll think about the fact that he took the closest girl I have to a sister and how he's probably doing God know's what with her. I'll turn into someone I never thought I'd become.
Grace isn't pregnant, by the way. I made her take one of the tests and it was negative. I guess they did just go for the shits and giggles of it, and I'm grateful they did and that Avery was smart enough to come up with the lie to get her out of there.
It's 3am now and none of us have left the station - besides the hour or so I took to go pick up Olive and bring her to our house, feed and let them out, and get a change of clothes for my girls. Actually leaving seems so out of the question and we didn't know what to do about Kenny, but then the detective, Andrew, offered his office to have her sleep in. There's a huge couch in there, so her and Grace are resting while the rest of us are sitting in some room that's across the station. Connor and my dad are on a flight out now and they're going to take care of Kennedy until all of this is completely worked out.
Jordan arrived not long ago and we all went over what happened for the thousandth time, but it all seems hopeless. He didn't leave any indication as to where they were going, there's nothing that leads us to them. We're all feeling incredibly discouraged.
It's so empty without Avery here. She brings such a light to every single room she enters and I absolutely hate that I started to take it for granted. A huge part of me feels like it's completely gone without her here, so I can't even imagine what Finny feels like.
"Okay," Andrew says as he walks through the door of the room we're in. We all perk up a bit, well besides Finn. He's been pacing for the last hour, at least.
Andrew directs his statement at him. "We're going to hold a press conference tomorrow - a national broadcast. We're going to plaster her face everywhere, not his."
"Why not him?" Dana asks.
"We want to draw attention to Avery, make this about her," Jordan answers now as she stands next to Andrew. They make a good little tag team. They're both kinda scary, to be honest. "We talk about her, how amazing she is and how her family just wants her home. We want to make people to relate to her, it'll make them more inclined to help if they happen to see her."
"So you're not going to show Mason at all?" I ask. That doesn't seem like a smart thing to do. But I push around a piece of rubber on ice for a living and these guys literally catch murderers on the reg, so.
"Oh, no - We're definitely going to show his face," Andrew clarifies. "We're just going to make the focus on Avery."
"Okay, fine. Whatever we have to do," Finn says instantly. Andrew opens his mouth to say something, but he stops himself. My brows twitch together and I'm about to make him spit it out, but Jordan starts talking instead. "Andrew and I aren't the ones who need to speak at it, though."
"Isn't it usually the police who do that?" I ask now, scratching at my unshaved jaw. I can't tell you the last time I watched a press conference like this one. I don't even really know how they usually operate.
"Typically yes," Andrew answers, but Jordan continues once again. "But since Finn is already a face that a lot of Seattle folk know, we think it's best for him to do it."
"You want me to talk about her - about them?" he asks in shock. Finny is great in front of a camera, but not like this. He has barely spoken to us, how is he going to talk about her in front of potentially thousands of people?
"Yes, they need to hear it from the person who's missing her the most," Jordan explains gently. He huffs out an anxious breath, running his hand through the curls on the top of his head as she takes a step closer to him. "I'll give you what you need to say, and you just need to keep the focus on Avery. You'll say how you just got married, how she's needed back home and how it's important that everyone helps find her."
"I'm not empathizing with him," he's shakes his head at her. Her brows twitch together since she didn't tell him too, but then he continues, "You told Avery that that's what she needs to do with him, but I can't. Not when he has my girl. I can't act like I can do anything but kill that man."
I'm sensing that's not the type of thing someone should say while standing inside a police station, Finny.
"I know," she nods. I think a desk clerk outside would probably know that he wouldn't do that, so it's pretty obvious for everyone in here. "We wouldn't ask you to do that."
"But he hates him," I sigh deeply, leaning against the wall as I lounge back on the bench I'm sitting on. "Won't seeing him on the news talking about how much he loves and misses her make him angry? Or make him hide her even more, or something?"
The silence of the two detectives tells us that they had that thought, but left it out of the pitch for a reason. Finn looks from me and over to them, as he raises his eyebrows, "Will me going out there put her in even more danger?"
Jordan let's out a huff, like she can't give that answer and he shakes his head firmly, "No. Absolutely not."
"Finn," she starts, but he turns to her quickly and raises his voice a little bit as he almost barks. "I'm not going to do anything that could hurt my wife - are you kidding me? You can't seriously be asking me to do that, Jordan."
"There's no way for us to be able to say what he'll do, no matter how well we know him," she tries to tell him. "He's deranged, Finn. He's been on antipsychotics while in prison and if I had to guess, I'd say he's stopped taking those for at least the few days his parole officer hasn't seen him."
"And this is convincing him, how?" I ask. I know I'm not really helping the situation, but I gotta have Finny's back here.
"Grace said he told Avery that she wasn't at home waiting for him when he got out, which tells us that that's the fantasy he's been living in. He wants what you guys have - he wants to come home from work to Avery and live a domestic life," Andrew jumps in again. I lean forward and massage my fingers against my temples because boyo, is my head pounding. "So we think that's what he's going to do. He's not going to take her to some dark cellar somewhere, he'll hold her in a house and play out the fantasy as long as he can. Which means there will be neighbors."
"Neighbors who watch the news and if one of them sees you talking, that's all we need for the location to be given up," Jordan finishes their collective thought. "Someone has seen her, even if it was just in passing. Especially if he thinks she won't run."
"But what if you're wrong," Finn asks hopelessly. He sounds so tired and defeated and absolutely heartbroken. There's no shot of him even getting a minute of sleep until they find Avery and at the rate he's going now, that's going to be pretty detrimental.
"Finn, I want you to listen to me," Jordan say seriously, now standing in front of him and putting her hand on his arm. "I have been on this case with you guys for the last three years. Avery isn't just a client anymore, she's a friend and I wouldn't do anything if I wasn't certain that it could help her. This is the best way to go about it, this is the best shot we have right now. You have to trust me now."
He sighs deeply and nods a few times, pinching the bridge of his nose to try and get himself together again. "Okay, fine. I'll do it."
"Do you have any recent photos of her we can give to the press?" Andrew asks now. I let out a little chuckle because Finn takes pictures of Avery like it's his damn day job, he's always doing it and she doesn't even realize it. It's heartbreaking that the use of the photos is going to be this.
"Yeah, I have a lot," he sniffs, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He's scrolling a little before he shows the two detective the screen, and I catch a glimpse of it since I'm sitting behind them. "This okay?"
It's from the day we left for Colorado, which I know because Grace was FaceTiming her that morning and I recognize the sweater she's wearing in it. It's kind of hard to forget, since it's a light pink sweater with small red hearts all over it.
She definitely knew this one was being taken, because she's smiling big at the camera. She's sitting at their bay window with a blanket covering her lap and Olive laying next to her with her head on her stomach, a book in hand. It's a pretty classic Avery picture and it makes all of it even more heartbreaking. That was two days ago. We were on cloud nine two days ago and now it feels like it would just be better to be buried six feet under.
"Perfect, can you send that to me?" Jordan asks, so Finn types on his phone and nods a few times as a response.
"I'm going to go check on Grace and Kennedy," I sigh as I stand up. It's been close to an hour since I've been in there and I just need to make sure they're okay.
"You guys can go home, if you want," Finn offers, his hands on his hips as he looks over at me. He's trying so hard to be on top of everything and although he's doing a really great job, he's going to start to fall apart again soon. "I don't want Kenny sleeping on a couch if she doesn't have too, and Grace has been through a lot today."
"Finny," I start, walking up to him and putting my hands on his shoulders. "That kid could sleep with a choir of huskies singing Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."
He shakes his head at me and looks down, which makes my lip tug up into a smirk. Almost got a smile out of him there. "And Grace is not going to want to leave any time soon. So thanks for the offer, but we're good here."
"Okay," he surrenders, looking back up at me with grateful eyes. I wouldn't be able to leave here, either. "Connor and your dad are coming?"
I nod and break away from him, heading towards the door as I say, "Yeah, they'll be here soon enough."
So will Emily, but we don't have to focus on that until the witch shows up.
She didn't even answer the phone when I called, and I know she has my number because Avery gave it to her in case of an emergency. You'd think that would make her pick up, since I've never called her before and it's pretty obvious I only would if there was emergency which - I know it's hard to believe, but this is classified as one of those.
I left a pretty blunt message, saying that Mason got to Avery and that she's missing. I told her to do what she wanted with that information, and that we'd be at this police station until we find her. She only sent me a text message back saying she was catching a flight in a few hours to get here.
Pretty shitty that it took her daughter getting abducted to get her out here so fast, but beggars can't be choosers, eh?
I shake my head to clear my thoughts of the woman who doesn't have the right to call Flowers her daughter, before I open the door of Andrew's office and am met with the sight of my own family. Grace is sitting up on the couch with Kennedy's head in her lap, running her hand through her hair as she's knocked cold. That kid really could sleep through anything, I wasn't kidding about that.
Grace notices me instantly and wipes her cheeks as she looks up, trying to hide the fact that she was just crying. My heart cracks at the sight, but I don't bring attention to it. I just walk over to them and sit at her side.
She instantly melts into my side, tucked under my arm that wrapped it's way around her shoulder. She sniffles again and I start to run my fingers through the hair on the side of her head like she's doing for Kenny. I don't try and tell her that everything's going to be okay, or ask how she is because that's just fucking insensitive at this point. I don't know if it's going to be okay and she's obviously not alright, so why even bring it up?
"I have to tell you something," she says quietly, so quiet that I can't even really hear her. My lips form into a pout and I nod, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "What?"
She's not looking up at me, she's still looking straight out in front of her as she admits, "When she gave me those rings, she-"
Her voice cuts out and I don't push her to keep going because whatever she's trying to say is obviously eating her up. It's quiet in this dark room though, so the only thing I can hear in her bout of silence is the pounding of my own heart in my ears.
"She told me that he deserves to fall in love again," she whispers, and so help me God. I don't know how my heart went from pounding to almost stopping all together so fast. I can't even open my mouth to say anything, but she asks me then, "Why would she say that if she thought she was coming back?"
I don't have the answer to that. Why would she say that? And why would she even think for a second that Finn would be able to move on from her?
I'm kind of sick of selfless Avery. Why can't she do things that will make her safe? Why can't she think about herself and not the people around her for once?
I let out an uneven breath, leaning back into the couch and shutting my eyes. We both sit there in silence for a few minutes before she asks another question, "Do you think Finn is upset with me?"
That gets me sitting up straight in an instant because I'll be damned if I let her think for even a second that anyone is upset with her. I make her look at me as I ask, "No, absolutely not. Why would he be? You were attacked, too."
"I should have done more," she shakes her head, our voices still quiet so we don't wake our sleeping daughter. I glance down at Kenny and see her small lips parted and the same tiny harsh breaths coming from her that she always has when she's asleep. "I let her go, Gorgeous. I let her go."
"Grace," I shake my head, knowing that me trying to tell her that she didn't do anything wrong is probably a lost cause. But what kind of husband would I be if I didn't try? "Look at me."
She sniffles and I pick my hand up to wipe the moisture off her cheek. It's dark in here, but her eyes are a really light sage green that looks translucent when there's an absence of light.
"That son of a bitch held a gun to you," I tell her, but although I hide my anger better than Finny - the rage that's fueling me is blinding. It makes me want to beg a God I don't even believe in to let me go back to when I was hovering over his hospital bed so that I could do the deed I was too morally sound to do at the time. "Avery made a choice so that you would be okay, that is not on you. You wouldn't be able to stop her from doing that even if you body slammed her, just like she wouldn't be able to stop you if the roles were reversed."
"Body slammed?" she asks, my favorite fucking smile ghosting it's way to her lips. What I would do to see it all day, every day.
"As if you wouldn't?"
Her lips purse and she nods a few times, agreeing with me as she melts back into me. I kiss the top of her head again before I try to do my best at reassuring her, "Avery did what she thought was best. Now we just have to be here for her and Finny until they find her."
She nods again, resuming her pattern of running her hand through Kennedy's thin but long hair. We're silent again for a little bit before she quietly admits, "I'm so mad at her."
I hold onto her a little bit tighter because Grace's sadness has always reverted to anger, always. She gets angry when she's upset and right now, she's probably furious.
"I'm mad at her for leaving with him, I'm mad at her for giving those rings back and for making me promise-" she cuts off her own sentence and my face falls into a frown as I look down at her. She stopped speaking abruptly and I can see her lips pressed into a tight line. "Made you promise what?"
She lets out a huff and shakes her head, trying to herself together again. "Making me promise that I'd give them to him, and that I'd tell him it's okay to move on. I'm not telling him that."
"No, definitely do not," I laugh lightly at how insane that is. Not only would Finny just not take that news well, but it doesn't matter because she's coming back to us. There's no other way around it. Someone will see the press conference, they'll see her and Jordan and Andrew will get a lead and they'll find her.
I tap Grace on the side of the arm and gesture for her to lay down, "Get some sleep, Gorgeous. Just a little bit - I'll wake you if anything happens."
"I don't know if I can," she sighs sadly. I push hair hair behind and try softly, "Just try, baby."
She nods and we both adjust ourselves on this wide, leather couch. Grace pulls our limp as fuck daughter up when she lays down so that both of their heads are on my lap. She holds Kennedy close to her body, Kenny curling up against her.
My body lets out a breath that's been held since we got that phone call, as I look down at the two most important people in my life. The love I have for Grace and for our daughter exceeds anything I thought I could possibly feel in this lifetime.
I just hope that Finny gets to feel this some day, he deserves to be able to look at his world with his own two eyes. He deserves to look at Avery and whatever future kid they end up having and feel the same explosion of adoration and devotion and warmth in his chest that I do every time I hold my girls.
They deserve it.
*
20 hours. A full 20 hours, and no leads from anyone on where our Flowers is.
It's been 20 hours of units combing the streets for any signs of the two of them and of us being questioned about any place that may hold significance that he'd take her to. They checked everywhere we knew of, including the shed he took her to when she was 18, but they came up empty. It has to be somewhere we wouldn't know about.
I'd be more frustrated if Finny wasn't about to go out and speak to the press in a few minutes. There's a lot riding on this, on someone recognizing her and calling something in. Without that, I'm not sure what we can do.
I walk back into the room we've basically been living in, my brows frowning when I realize he's not in here. "Where's Finny?"
"Bathroom," Dana sighs, leaning forward with her fingers massaging her temples as she doesn't look up at me. I glance over to Emily, who only just arrived an hour ago and has barely said a word to any of us, and see her glaring at Dana for some fucking reason.
I don't say anything, I just turn around and head towards the bathroom.
The door opens when I push it back and I'm immediately met with my best friend gripping onto the edges of the rusted white sink that's barely hanging onto the wall, his head dipped low. I went to get him a change of clothes, I was just going to get him a button up shirt but he asked me to grab the tan sweater he used to wear all the time but hasn't picked up in years.
He also asked me to grab a chain he had on his dresser, which confused me. But now that I'm looking at her rings that are sitting on his chest as they hang around his neck on it, it all makes sense.
He looks up at me through the mirror with exhausted eyes, the darkness ringing under them not even scratching the surface on how he's actually feeling. I slowly and gently close the door behind me, not knowing exactly what to say right now.
"Are you ready?" I ask, even though there's nothing that will make him ready for what he's about to do.
He shakes his head and stands up straight with a breath breathed in deeply through his nose, "No."
"Stupid question."
He nods in agreement there, turning around and leaning against the sink as he crosses his arms over his chest. His gaze is set on the ground as he admits, "I don't know how I'm supposed to go out there and talk about her when just thinking about her is the most painful thing I've ever felt."
Now I'm the one sighing deeply, leaning back against the door and trying my hardest to be the supportive best friend even though it feels impossible right now. All I can do right now is be honest with him. "Because she needs you too."
His chin trembles at my sentence, but I keep going. "She's out there right now, Finny. She's probably scared, and she needs you to do everything you can to help bring her home - and this is that."
"What if he's watching? What if he takes it out on her?" he asks the question that has been very obviously plaguing his mind since the conversation happened last night.
"I don't know, Finn. I don't know what would happen if he watches," I say honestly. How could anyone know what's going to happen here? "But there's also a chance that she'll be watching. And seeing your face and hearing your voice and how much you're willing to do to get her home may just keep her going right now."
He moved his gaze from the floor and to me, the expression on his face pained beyond anything I've seen on him. "You think she'll see?"
"Maybe," I reply softly. I don't know anything, I'm kinda talking out of my ass but I'll do whatever I can to make sure he can get through this. "You're doing this for her, Finny. You can do it."
As if on cue, there's a knock on the door that I'm leaning against and I just look over my shoulder as the voice calls, "Finn? They're ready when you are."
That was Jordan. He stands up straight and wipes his sweaty palms against his jeans as he calls back, "Alright, I'm coming."
I actually move away from the door and go up to him, gripping onto his shoulder before bringing him into me. He wraps his arms tightly around me and I just hold onto him in a desperate attempt to get him to relax and do his best out there.
When in doubt, hug it out - right?
Ten minutes later, I'm standing off to the side with Finn, Grace, Dana, Morgan, and Emily as Jordan stands at the podium in front of a sea of reporters. I've got my hand gripping onto Finn's shoulder since he's shaking so damn hard he looks like a chihuahua that's in the tundra.
"We'd like to thank everyone for coming out and listening to what's been going on the last 24 hours. There is an incredible woman missing and we need everyone's help to bring her back to her family safely," Jordan starts, her voice strong and clear as she addresses the press. She picks up the printed out photo of Avery that Finn gave her and I suddenly feel the exact same kind of pain I felt when I was stabbed a few years back. This just doesn't feel real right now. "This is Avery Wilder. She's 26 years old, about 5'9, has long brown hair and brown eyes, and she's been abducted by a man who's stalked her since she was 18."
Finn looks down and wipes at his eyes, but I'm not sure he's crying. He hasn't cried once since we got to the station yesterday.
Jordan holds up another photo with Avery's, this one being Mason's mugshot. "This is Mason Hughes, the man who has Avery right now. He has stalked her and her husband since they were 18 and was recently released from prison after being sentenced for a slew of charges for crimes he committed against Avery and her family."
She puts Mason's photo down but continues to hold up Avery's, continuing, "We asked Avery's husband, Finn, to say a few words to you so if you could please give him your attention and utmost amount of respect during this extraordinarily difficult time, it would be appreciated."
She turns to us, offering a hand as she says softly, "Finn?"
I tap his shoulder a few times and he looks over at me before he forces himself to walk over to the podium she's standing at. I can see that she left another photo on there for him to look at while he speaks, but I don't know if that would make it easier or harder for him. All I know is that his finger tips started outlining her as soon as he saw it.
He clears his throat as he keeps his eyes on the photo, then looking out into the crowd of people with microphones and cameras. "Hi, uh- My name, my name is Finn. Finn Wilder."
"I'm uh- I'm not sure how many of you know who I am, if any at all, but I play for the Seattle Kraken," he starts, which is something Jordan told him to say. She said people are more inclined to help a face they recognize, which kind of pisses me off but I think we will take all the help we can get. "My wife, Avery, was taken yesterday."
His voice broke at the end of that so he clears his throat. Grace's arms suddenly wrap around my waist, so I put mine around her shoulder and pull her into me. He continues, "I don't really know what to say other than that Avery is kindest, sweetest, most understanding and compassionate person I have ever met. I've been pathetically in love with her since the first month we were dating, she's been my person for the last eight years - even when I didn't deserve it."
He clears his throat for about the fourth time in the span of two minutes before he continues. "I left for a business trip two days ago. It was a short one, barely over 24 hours but it's always hard to leave her. Now all I can think about is how I wish I never left."
"We only got married last month. We-we're trying to start a family," he shakes his head, looking back down at the photo of her and it's like he didn't even mean to say that, it's like he was saying it to himself. Oh, fuck. I'm crying. When did I start crying?
I wipe under my eyes and hold onto Grace even tighter. I really feel like I need a Kenny hug right now.
He literally can't talk about that, I can see that he really can't when he has to swallow really harshly and if I didn't know any better - I'd say he just held back a gag. Oh, fuck. If she's not on birth control and he-
No, dumbass. Do not go there. Do not, that's not going to happen to her. I hope his thoughts don't mirror my own but I have a feeling there isn't much about this situation that he hasn't thought about. I'm sure he's gone through all the worse case scenarios about a thousand times.
"Avery finished grad school last year and is a professor now, she's teaches English and Literature. I've never known someone to love reading and writing as much as her - and I'm willing to bet that everyone who knows her would say the same thing. She's so passionate and she's finally doing what she loves, and she's really good at it. I mean, she got me to read a few books over the years and I'm just a bonehead athlete who barely finished high school," he says, which gets sad laughs from most of the people here. I'm not sure why he thinks he's so dumb when he's not.
"I met Avery in high school when she slipped on the only patch of ice in the parking lot. It was perfect, because I've been a hockey player forever and the girl I'm in love with is as uncoordinated as you can get on ice," he shakes his head, looking down at her photo again. This is so fucking sad. "Before that, she was the girl in my English class that I had a pathetic crush on and was to scared to go up to. There hasn't been a day that has gone by since then that I haven't thought about her."
You could hear a pin drop, thats how quiet it is in here. No one is even moving a muscle, they're just listening to a broken man who's love is missing. It hurts. It really fucking hurts.
"Look, we just really need your help to bring her back home. Please," he pleads. "She's my entire world and we're doing everything we can but we need your help. If you've seen Avery or Hughes please, call the hotline."
He looks down at her photo one more time and I'm almost certain he's about to back away and be done with it, but he grips the rings hanging from the chain on his neck in a fist and looks down at the photo before he says without looking up, "I'm not sure if you're even seeing this, Avery. But I just have this feeling that you are and there are some things I need you to hear."
"I'm so sorry that I wasn't there to protect you, Aves. This shouldn't have happened, this wasn't supposed to happen to you. But you're going to be okay, you understand?" he says, one hand tracing her photo and the other holding her rings as he speaks. "We're gonna find you and you'll be home soon, ma fleur. I love you, more than anything and I will not stop until you're here with me. We'll be alright, okay? I swear, Aves. I swear."
He's done now and I know it wasn't the longest press statement but fuck, if that doesn't convince people to help I don't know what will - hell, I wouldn't be surprised if there were dozens of search parties going out right now from it. The poor guy is long past being heartbroken and it's not a secret.
He steps back and doesn't look at anyone, not even me, as he ducks past all of us and goes right inside the station as reporters start calling out questions that I can't even understand because they're yelling at the same time.
Jordan steps back up to answer some, but I don't stand there and listen to them talk about how she was abducted and the motive behind it. I just press a kiss to Grace's temple and turn to follow Finn inside.
I walk inside and am prepared to not know where he went, but a loud crash in the room we've been in tells me. My eyes connect with a few investigators in here but none of them make a move towards the room, I think they're very well aware not to go near him.
I, on the other hand, don't know personal boundaries.
I head towards the room and slip through the door right as he kicks the table in here. My eyes widen as I go closer to him, "Finny-"
He's not done, and he apparently wants to buy this room because now he's turning and grabbing a stack of books that's on a table end and chucking them against the wall with a pained and rage full shout. Oh, fuck.
He's heaving in deep breaths and I put my hands on his shoulders and move in front of him when he's literally about to snap the cheap coffee table in half with a stomp of his foot. "Finny, stop."
He pushes me away from him. He puts his hands on my chest and forcefully pushes me away, making me stumble back a few steps. He walks away from me and puts his hands on his hips as he angrily breathes out harshly, his hand squeezing the tension in his jaw before it's running through his tangled and matted curls.
I don't say anything right away, I just watch him cautiously but he's self destructing. He turns to the wall suddenly and punches it, so hard that it makes a hole in the plaster while letting out a really angry and tear filled grunt. I'd usually laugh and make fun of guys who do that, and so would he since it's comical and usually something done by 17 year old angsty boys, but this is different. He has a right to punch as many holes in every wall he sees. He has a right to be that angry. It's not hormones, it's heartbreak.
But we are at a police station so I should probably not let him do that.
"Okay," I try again, pulling at his shoulder so he backs up. He tries to break away from me again but I don't let him. I forcefully pull him into me, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and pulling him into my chest and hold on tight. I'm gonna hug this motherfucker so hard he's gonna end up falling unconscious or in love with me.
"Calm down, Finn," I tell him. He's shaking again, so fucking hard. I don't know how else to make him stop. I'm not Avery, if you didn't know. "Relax, just relax for a second."
He's letting out huffs now - forceful and harsh huffs of air through his nose. They're uneven and rigid just like everything else about him right now. I try and soothe him again, "Just take a second."
He does, he's quiet for a second - and then another, and another. And then he breaks.
His legs basically give out from under him and I have to catch him before he falls. I grip onto his sides with a, "Whoa!" before I lower him down to the ground. "Okay, I got you."
"I can't breathe, Casey," he whimpers, fisting my shirt in white knuckles before putting his forehead on my shoulder. "I can't- How am I meant to? My- Aves, oh fuck."
"Okay," I say again softly. I don't know what to do! "Okay, Finn. I get it. I know."
"What is he doing to her right now?" he asks, sitting back and breaking away from me. He bends his knees in front of him and rests his elbows on them as he wipes at his eyes with the heels of his hands. "God, Case. She's probably so scared, she's in so much pain - I can literally feel it. And I'm so goddamn useless, there's nothing I can do."
He's right, this is way past anything we can do. We can only be there for her but that does absolutely nothing for this situation. She knows we're worried sick about her and that's not going to get her home any sooner.
I don't know what to say to him because I have no idea what that man is doing to our Flowers right now. He's wanted this for so long, so I can't imagine he hasn't done anything in the last 24 hours. We know she has to play along, but how long will she be able to?
The thought of her even playing along kills me. I can't imagine what that entails and how Finn is feeling about all of it.
He sniffs back his emotions again, picking his head and letting me get a good look at him. His cheeks and nose are red and his eyes are bloodshot, the dark circles rimming them being a clear testament of his current state. His hair is wild as he holds onto the rings that are dangling around his neck again, shaking his head lightly to himself.
I really am not sure how to help, I don't think I can. It's like a piece of all of us is missing with her and no one can figure out how to get it back.
Fuck, just come home, Flowers. Please. Please, come home.