Alex's POV
It's been two days since Jack ran out of the school. No one has seen or heard from him. Alice and I have skipped school to go searching for him, but we had no luck. We checked every place we thought he would go and we left even more upset when he wasn't there. His father has been out looking for him too.
"What are we going to do?" Alice asked, looking up from her computer.
"I don't know. We can't report missing person because they have to be missing for seventy-two hours until police can actually do something."
"He doesn't have money, his phone is shut off and we have no idea if he's even in Baltimore anymore," she said with fresh tears forming in her eyes.
"We have to hope that he is safe and is coming home."
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Another day passed and we stil have no idea where Jack is. The police have finally started sending people out to search for him. The police have gotten a few calls saying they saw him at a bookstore downtown a few days ago. Someone said he left he bookstore with some girl. Alice was very upset to hear that he went off with a stranger. Even though Jack is a smart boy he is pretty gullible and could get himself into trouble. Alice and I were exploring the part of town that he was last seen in. We talked to the people that worked at the bookstore and random people on the street if they've seen him. We even started to put up missing posters, hoping to get a call with any information. We just needed something to let us know he was okay.
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Jack's POV
I've been sleeping on Ellis' couch for the past three days. She was kind enough to let me stay with her until I felt ready to return home. It was around eight pm and I was lying on the couch watching the Great Gatsby when Ellis returned.
"Jack!" She called, rushing into the room with a piece of paper in her hand.
"What's wrong?" I asked, sitting up so she could sit beside me.
"I think you need to go home," she said, handing me the paper.
I stared down at the bold letters that read "Missing: Jack Bassam Barakat age 17, last seen Monday." Bellow the words was a picture of me and bellow that was contact information. I stared at the familiar phone number and frowned. The number was Alex's. I didn't think about how worried they must be. All I cared about was getting away. I picked my bag up off the floor and pulled out my phone. I quickly placed the battery back in and waited for it to turn on. One it was on it lit up with multiple notifications. Missed calls from Alex, Alice, Rian, Zack, my father and the police. Hundreds of texts all with the same questions "Jack, where are you?" "Are you safe?" "What happened?" Once the notifications stopped coming in I read the last text I got from Alex. 'Jack please come home. Alice and I are so worried. Your dad has been out looking for you. Please call us so we know you're safe and okay. We miss you.' I stared down at the message, tears forming in my eyes. I pressed the call button and waited for him to answer. It rang once before he answered.
"Jack!?" He screamed into the phone.
"Alex," I whispered, more tears fell down my cheeks.
"Oh thank god," he whispered, his voice cracking.
"I'm sorry."
"Where are you?"
"I'm downtown," I said while rubbign away my tears.
"Where? I'm coming to get you," he said.
I could hear shuffling in the background he was probably trying to find something to write down the address. I could hear his footsteps as he walked through his house. The sound of a door shutting and his feet shuffling across the hardwood floors. I could hear him whispering something to his mother and the sound of his front door opening and closing. The sound of his car engine cut off the silence and he picked up the phone.
"I'll be there soon," he whispered.
"Okay."
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Alex's POV
It was almost eight when I got home. I had just dropped Alice off at her place after a long day of putting up posters and talking to every person that passed us. We left at around six thirty this morning. Neither of us has really slept since Jack ran away. We spent our day running on caffeine and sugary foods to keep us awake. When seven came around we couldn't handle it anymore. Alice was sick and I was too exhausted and I was having trouble walking. We passed out the rest of out posters and went home, hoping that someone knew where he was.
"Any luck?" My mom asked, looking up from her computer when I walked in.
"Nothing no one has seen him since Monday," I said with a frown.
I walked into the kitchen and got a glass of water before retreating to my room for the night. I set my glass on my night stand and fell onto my bed, too tired to change out of my jeans and into comfy pants. I rather be uncomfortable than have to use what small amount of energy I had left to find sweatpants. I curled up into my pillow and closed my eyes. i was asleep for less than ten minutes when my phone rang, blasting the middle by Jimmy Eat World. I sat up immediately, grabbing my phone and hitting the answer button.
"Jack!?" I screamed into the phone.
"Alex," he whispered, sniffling.
"Oh thank god," I whispered, my voice cracking as tears streamed down my face.
"I'm sorry."
"Where are you?"
"I'm downtown."
"Where? We're coming to get you," I asked while standing up and looking for any kind of paper I could write on.
I sat on my bed and wrote down the address he gave me. I folded the paper, tucking it into my back pocket before walking out the door. I kept the phone to my ear as I shuffled though the house. I could hear his breathing on the other end as I made my way downstairs. I whispered a quick goodbye to my mom and went out to my car.
"I'll be there soon," I whispered.
"Okay."
___
I got off the phone and started driving downtown. My heart was racing faster with each passing moment. Jack was safe and I was on my way to get him. It took a little over half an hour for me to pull up outside an apartment complex. I pulled the little piece of paper from my pocket to check the number. I walked through the door and made my way to the third floor. It was only a few doors down from the stairwell. I quickly walked down the hall and stopped in front of the door with the number that matched the number on the paper. I took a breath and knocked. A few seconds later the door open and standing there was a short blond girl and Jack. More tears formed in my eyes as I grabbed Jack and pulled him into my arms. Soft sobs escaping my lips as I clung onto him. He wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in my hair.
"I'm sorry," he whispered into my hair.
"It's okay," I whispered back.
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Jack's POV
I set my phone on the arm of the couch after he hung up. I was happy he was coming to get me, but I'm scared that he'll be mad at me for running away. I rubbed my eyes and curled up next to Ellis. She wrapped her arm around me and rested her head on top of mine. We stayed like that in silence until there was a knock on the door. Ellis stood up, pulling me with her and walking to the door. I took a deep breath while she opened the door. Alex stood there his eyes red from crying and new tears forming. Instead of him getting mad he grabbed me and pulled my into his arms. I hugged him back and buried my face in his hair, letting my tears fall freely.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
"It's okay," he whispered, choking back a sob.
We stayed like that for a while wrapped in each other's arms crying. Ellis was kind enough to grab my bag and bring it to me. After calming down I said goodbye to Ellis and exchanged numbers with her before Alex and I left. The drive home was silent, but it was calming. I felt safe with Alex by my side. Alex explained what has been happening since I ran away. He explained how my dad and the police were searching all over Maryland for me and that the whole school was posting missing person posters online and all over town. I didn't know so many people cared.
"Where are we going?" I asked, looking over as Alex.
"To your house. I think your dad needs to see that you're safe more than anybody else," he said, reaching over and taking my hand and giving it a light squeeze.
___
We pulled up outside my house. My father's car was in the driveway and all the lights were on. I could see him walking through the house from the windows. Alex got out of the car and urged me to do the same. We made out way up the driveway and to the door. I took a deep breath and knocked. Within a minute the door opened revealing my father. His gray hair was a mess, his eyes were red and puffy from crying and he looked like he hadn't slept in days. His face lit up when his eyes landed on me. A few tears fell down his face as he reached out and pulled me into his arms. I hugged him back and let more tears fall.
"I'm sorry dad. I'm so sorry."
"Shh ... tt's okay Jack. You're home and that's all that matters."
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A/N
I wrote all of this in one day so I hope your guys like it. There are a few things I want to say so please continue to read this boring authors note until the end. I start school next Monday, so updates will be slower than they already are and I can't write on weekends because I have a job from 3-11pm every Friday and Saturday in October. So I won't be able to write on weekends. I will try my best to updates, but you guys still need to comment and vote if you want another chapter. In other news I posted the first chapter to a new Jalex and it took me two weeks to write out the first chapter and it has I think five pages and I'm really proud of it so if you don't mind going and checking that out it would be really awesome it's called "It's funny in a way, isn't it?" So go check that out it would mean a lot to me. In other other news this story is about to reach 1,000 reads and that's seriously the coolest thing in the world so thank you very much it's awesome!
~Paige