Twenty Four

Walking through the door of his home, Justin runs his hands through his hair, tugging at the ends and walking to the kitchen.

"Hey!" his mother exclaims, grinning over at him.

"Hey mom." he mumbles, grabbing a water and trying to call Hadlee yet again, only for it to go straight to voicemail.

"What's going on?" his father asks, looking over from his place at the breakfast bar.

"Um, well," he says, biting his lip before sighing.

"Is it a girl?" Pattie asks, gasping excitedly.

Justin sighs. "Yeah, kinda."

"Kinda?" Jeremy asks, raising an eyebrow.

He licks his lips, giving up. "Her name's Hadlee."

"Hadlee." Pattie grins. "I like that name."

Justin nods. "Yeah. We've uh, we've been dating for like, three weeks... with complications."

"Complications?" Jeremy asks, confused.

"She's Maverick's sister." he gulps.

"So, that explains why Maverick hasn't been around." Pattie says, leaning against the counter.

He nods. "Yeah. He's pissed. I actually lied to him today and told him Hadlee and I broke up. She's not answering my calls and he's acting weird. Like something's up."

"And she won't answer your calls?" Jeremy asks, furrowing his brows.

Justin shakes his head. "No. Her phone goes straight to voicemail which is so unlike her. Oh and on top of everything Chaz, Rebecca, Caitlin and Ryan showed up at the house today." he scoffs.

"Here?" Pattie asks, her eyes widening.

He shakes his head again, taking a sip of water. "No, no, no. The other house."

"Wow. What did they want?" Pattie asks.

"They said they saw me enter the house a few days ago or something but they were too scared to walk over so they came today." he says, shrugging. "I don't fucking know."

"I'm going to ignore your language for once." Pattie says, sighing. "So, you think something's going on and he won't tell you because he doesn't want you dating his sister?"

I nod. "Yeah. I mean, he's so mad that we're together. And I get it, I don't have the best track record with girls. I used to use them and leave them but... his sister is different. It's cliche and probably sounds stupid but it's true. She makes me wanna be better. She makes me wanna be the best person I can be. He just won't see that because he won't give me a chance to show him."

"That's a shame." Jeremy says. "But, I'll tell you one damn thing."

Justin lifts his head, looking to his father who stands up and walks over.

"You love this girl more than I've seen you love any. If she really means this much to you, you gotta get the information you need out of him to figure out if she's okay." he says, patting Justin's shoulder and walking out of the room.

"He's right." Pattie says, grinning lightly. "I've never heard you speak of a girl like that and baby, that's the kind of love I want for you."

Justin grins. "Thanks mom."

"You're welcome." she says, walking over and putting his face in her hands. "I love you."

"I love you too." he says, nodding.

She pulls him forward, kissing his cheek. "Go do what you need to do to make sure she's okay."

I nod. "I will."

*** Hadlee's POV***

Maybe he's right. Maybe I am everything he's telling me. I'm worthless. A sex toy, if you will. That's my only use. Or it would be if I'd let him get close enough. One thing's for sure. I know that my only purpose is being leverage. For sure. That's evident. I mean, this is the second time it's happened since I've been in Canada. I don't mean anything else to anyone here. I should've gone home when I had thought about it the first time. I wouldn't be here right now if I had.

Maverick is an idiot, but we already knew that. He doesn't realize that Justin's actually good. If he did, I'd probably be out of this hell hole. To be honest, he's probably being too selfish. He probably hasn't told Justin I've gone missing. But on another note, knowing Justin, he should know something's up. We haven't talked in...

I sigh.

I lost track of how long I've been in here.

I glance over to the now empty water bottle across the room.

I'm weak. Why the hell would you drink the whole bottle, Hadlee? Now, your dumbass has gone twenty four hours with no liquid and even longer without food. Fucking dumbass. You know better. You're just weak. You've always been weak. I mean, that's why you're just leverage. You're not good enough to be anything else.

I feel my hands raise themselves before forming into fists. My head goes from side to side, pounding the fists into my own skull.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. You're so fucking stupid! Why couldn't you be stronger, Hadlee?! Why are you so weak?!

Choking on my own dry sob, I find myself sniffling for no reason, placing my hands at my sides and lifting my head to stare at the wall opposite of me.

Where's Alex and Ben? I thought they said they were going to help me? Why would they help me? There would be no point and they'd get in trouble. They're not gonna help me. I was foolish to think so in the first place. So, so foolish.

"Don't you think I'm foolish?"

I blink a few times, shaking my head and placing it in my hands.

Great. Now you're talking to yourself. How much more pathetic can you get, Hadlee? Probably. Let's just wait and see!

I groan at myself.

"What the fuck is happening to me?"

*** with Maverick ***

"You find your sister yet?!" George yells as Maverick slams the front door shut.

"I'm working on it, dad." he groans.

"Working on it isn't damn good enough, Maverick. She's been gone almost four fucking days!" George yells, walking out of the kitchen while Maverick nears the living room.

"Dad!" Maverick yells back. "I know, okay?! I don't want her to be missing! I want her here! But it's a little difficult when the people who witnessed everything doesn't remember anything about the kidnappers!"

"Don't you yell at me, boy." his father warns. "And okay. They don't know anything. But you might. Have anyone that might be pissed at you? Probably! Think about that shit. Or, better yet, let's think about this. Tell her boyfriend!"

"He's not her boyfriend, they broke up!" Maverick yells.

"You believe that shit?!" George chuckles humorlessly. "You're stupid if you actually believe that! Hadlee and Justin just told each other 'I love you'. I'd be damned if they broke up right after that because of you."

Maverick's hands form into fists. "He's not getting involved either way. I forbid it."

"Forbid it?!" his father asks. "You're not her father."

"No, but I am the one leading the search party." Maverick tells him.

"You might be the one leading it but that doesn't mean you should." his father replies. "For all you know, Justin might have a way of finding her that you don't."

"If he did, he would know already, wouldn't he?"

"Not if he's not informed she's missing." his father growls.

"It's not happening." Maverick says once and for all, walking to his room and slamming the door shut.

George finds himself standing in his spot for a few minutes, anger boiling in his blood, threatening to burst his veins. One statement replaying in his mind.

Justin needs to know. 

***

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