Still Nothing

"Aw, Chuck..." Susanne lets her eyes fall to his and sighs. "Why does it feel like I've known you for years, when it's only been two days?" She shakes her head. "And why do you have to offer a ride, of which you know I'll have a hard time resisting?" She smirks at him, scrunching her nose a little. "It's late and I really should get back, I..."

She rolls her eyes away from his alluring gaze. "My birds will wonder where I've been and... and I still have to go get my car and..." She sighs again. "Okay fine. But just half an hour."


Justin gives Beth one last smile and nod before finally exiting her apartment. Walking slowly to the truck, he pauses at the driver's door and looks at the little container in his hand that held the extra piece of pie. She really was sweet. Once the hard shell was peeled away and the cobwebs of fear and timidity were brushed aside, she did have a kind heart. Justin only hoped that it would continue to grow so that she could fly on her own one day - it would only be fair to her.

Sighing, he opens the door and lets the dogs in before sliding in behind the steering wheel. The engine sputters once then roars to life and he heads out of town. Once the lights had been left behind, he fishes his cell phone and dials, only afterward checking the time.

"Hey, you." He smiles. "I didn't wake you, did I? Okay, good. Listen, um, wondered if you wanted to meet me for a coffee or something? Yeah, I'll be up for a few hours yet. Sure, sounds great. See you in a few minutes."

Flipping the phone shut again, he sets it aside and settles back to continue driving. It would be nice to spend a little bit of time with Rebecca tonight since they hadn't done supper together like usual. Perhaps they hadn't been dating for long, but already, Justin was getting used to his free time being spent with her, so not having it felt odd. Not to mention, he really wanted to focus on her for a while too, after being with Beth the entire evening. He'd been fine until just before leaving when he'd realized how closely they'd been sitting together, not to mention, he now wondered if it had even been appropriate for him to have his arm around her. Why he'd even been comfortable enough to do that in the first place, he didn't know. But he'd certainly let his guard down, that was for sure. Maybe it was just because he'd been tired.

No matter the reason, Justin was sure it had been a bad move. He knew he needed to be Beth's friend, but he needed to remember where the lines were. He'd never had trouble with that before and it bothered him that apparently he'd let it slip tonight, but regardless, from now on, he'd be more careful.


Erik's eyes shift over to Karla and he nods, even if he didn't agree. He knew Kip wanted his space and wanted to be trusted, but the problem was that with his record, it was hard to believe that everything was fine and that he'd made the right choice. "Yeah, okay... we'll give him some more time. If he does call you, let one of us know."

And they did give Kip more time. Though the whole group was worried, no one made any moves, but no one heard from Kip either. By that night with still no word, Erik was worried enough that he barely slept. And by the next morning, he was unwilling to wait any longer...

"Karla? It's Erik." He spoke on his cell phone as he drove against the morning sun. "Still nothing from Kip. I'm driving to the cabin - Kyle's with me and the others are staying. We want to know if you want to come, too. We can be to the apartment in ten minutes." After that, it would be a six-hour drive. Erik and Kyle had opted to go to the cabin themselves before taking any drastic measures such as calling the police. No one knew that anything at all was wrong, but in this situation, they would rather waist hours on the road than find out later they should have gone. And it was agreed that Karla should be given the chance to go.