fireburning (fireburning) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2009-09-07 02:29:00 |
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Entry tags: | 2009-06-14 |
Look on the bright side
Who: Chrissy and Gabe
When: Late Afternoon
Where: Gabe's place
Chrissy had been wondering about Gabe since she heard about the other teenagers that went missing. Specifically, she was worried about how he was handling Claire being gone. She wasn't loyal to very many people, but Gabe had always been there when she needed him. Why not be there for him a little too? So she drove over to his house and parked out front, heading up the walk and hoping she'd catch him at home. She knocked on the front door and waited for someone to answer.
Though his trip to the ice rink had helped slightly, Gabe wasn't feeling well and he was starting to doubt he ever would. Claire was still gone. Same as yesterday, that morning, and an hour ago. He couldn't give up hope, but it was feeling so very useless. He'd been laying on the couch all afternoon, hoping for a phone call that could make it all better. When a knock came to the door, Gabe rose slowly and answered it, surprised to see Chrissy there. "Hey," he said, but he couldn't bring himself to smile.
He looked like he felt horrible and Chrissy frowned for a brief moment before pushing that look away from her face. "Hey." she said, replacing said frown with a little smile. "Thought I'd come check on you." she explained. "I should have come before... when it first happened, but I didn't think you'd really be up for visitors." Chrissy doubted he was really up for visitors still. "How're you feeling?"
"Come on in," Gabe said, standing back so she could enter the house. Afterwards, he shut the door behind her and went to take a seat on the couch. "Like shit. I don't know what to do," he said, leaning over to put his head in his hands. "It's been so long, Chrissy. You know all those shows out there, they say the longer you wait, the less likely you are to see them again. Or something like that." It wasn't reassuring at all, but no one could tell him anything that seemed to help.
Chrissy followed him inside and sat down beside him on the couch, lifting a hand and slowly rubbing his back a little. "Don't think like that." she told him. "She'll be fine. She'll come back. Do you really think a girl could stay away from you for too long?" she asked, hoping she sounded as reassuring as she was trying to sound.
Gabe's eyes shut and he exhaled as she began to rub his back. It was soothing and nice when he was tired as he was. She even won the smallest smile after a question like that. "I don't think it's her choice, but thanks," he said, turning his head to look at her. "How're thing with you?"
"Alright." Chrissy said. It was partly the truth, partly a lie. Things had been better, that was for sure. She was confused about Nate and what had happened with him. Wondering if he'd just used her. Well, not really wondering, knowing that he had. And that man that had taken her blood... that still frightened her, but this wasn't about Chrissy. This was about Gabe and making him feel better. "She'll find a way back to you." Chrissy assured him. "Don't you worry about that one."
"I can't not worry," Gabe said. "It's bad enough she's missing, but now I've heard they're finding blood on the black market that belongs to the people that were taken. If I could just remember something, then maybe I could help, but I don't know anything useful. I'm just... scared." It reminded him far too much of losing Cynthia, except this time he knew what had happened. He just didn't know how it would end.
Chrissy frowned and continued to slowly rub Gabe's back. "I know you are." she said softly. "And you have every right to be." she told him. "But hey, if the people that took her want blood then... they're not going to hurt her more than that. Not if they need her blood right? That's better than thinking worse, ya know? They'll find her." She wished there was some way to help him, but Chrissy found herself at a loss. She couldn't help but wonder if the man that had stolen blood from her had something to do with the others.
"I don't know," Gabe said, completely unversed in the ways of blood hunters. Maybe it was good that that was all they wanted from her, but it was still hurting her and it had to be making her weak. There was only so much blood a person could give. Taking a deep breath, he looked over at Chrissy. "I'm just so tired. I can't really sleep, but it feels wrong to complain when she's gotta have it so much worse."
When he looked at her, Chrissy's face looked more concerned than anything. "I know it can't be easy for you to try and sleep, but not getting any definitely isn't helping. Claire wouldn't want you sitting up all day and all night driving yourself into the ground." she assured him. "You should at least take a nap.. or a long bath or something." she suggested. "Is there anything I could do to help?"
Gabe chewed on his lip, trying to think. Generally, he didn't think anyone could help, but he was a bit more comfortable with Chrissy. Though they'd failed as a couple, he trusted her and knew she was sincere in her offer to try and help. Gabe just couldn't come up with how. "I don't think so," he said. "I've tried napping, and sometimes I drift off, but then I move into nightmares." A long bath might be nice though, or a hot shower. He'd have to do that later that evening.
Chrissy gave him a little smile and nodded a little. "Well... have you at least been eating okay?" she asked. It was actually pretty laughable for Chrissy Chapman to be asking someone if they were eating right. So much so that she wanted to laugh herself.
He tried to remember the last time he'd eaten anything and came up with a blank. He had the feeling his mother would have made him eat dinner, if she'd been home, but he couldn't even recall that much. "I don't know," he said, giving her an apologetic smile. His stomach growled, a sure sign that the answer was probably no. "Maybe lunch would be good." Even if it was a bit late.
"Well, come on. I can make you something if you want. What are you in the mood for? Or I could order pizza if you want that. Whatever you want." Chrissy was going to make sure that he ate something.
"Um, pizza's fine. I don't care," Gabe shrugged. "There might be left overs we could heat up." While he might be hungry, it was a physical desire that his mind didn't seem to have an interest in. He also didn't know how comfortable Chrissy was in the kitchen, seeing as how he'd never seen her cook anything in her life.
"Well, we can check and see what you got." she suggested. "Come on, sweetheart, let's get something in your stomach. Want some tea or something?" she offered. "Water, coffee?... something?" Chrissy asked.
Gabe rolled his eyes good-naturedly and rose from the couch to lead her into the kitchen. "No coffee. No caffeine, actually. I'm having enough trouble sleeping as it is." He'd thought about asking his mom for something to help him sleep, but also thought that might be a bad idea. He didn't like the idea of taking something like that. He just wanted some peace of mind, which wasn't going to happen while Claire was gone.
"Well, water then." she said. She took a moment to look around at the cabinets and back at Gabe. "Where do you keep your glasses?" Chrissy asked him. Until he responded, she made herself busy looking through his fridge, then pulled the door open a bit for him to look inside. "What looks good, Gabe?"
"Over here," Gabe said, walking over to get out two glasses. He didn't think she'd object to having a glass of water with him, though he didn't think she'd eat. He decided to offer anyways. "Um, I think that's leftover Chinese in the tuberware. You want some?" He didn't know what his stomach wanted, so he'd go with what was easy.
Chrissy reached into the fridge to grab the tupperware container and after questioning Gabe on the location of his plates and forks, she put a nice serving on one and popped it into the microwave, covering it with a paper towel to keep it from splattering and making a mess. "No thanks." she smiled. "I already ate." Which was becoming a good excuse for her. "I'll take some water though." Of course she would. No calories to worry about.
Gabe didn't argue with her. It wasn't his place to do so, not anymore, though he did worry when it was brought to his attention. Right now, he just didn't have the energy to do so. "Water it is," he said, filling her a glass with ice. With both drinks made, he took a seat at the table and rested his head on his arm, waiting as the food heated up. "Thanks for coming over," he said with a little smile. "Sorry I'm not such a great host."
Shaking her head, Chrissy brushed off his thanks and apology in one fell swoop. "It's really not a problem." she said. "I was worried about you and I wanted to check in and well, here I am." she smiled. The microwave dinged and she opened it up to remove the plate, grabbing a fork and setting the plate in front of Gabe. "Eat up." she said, then turned to clean up what she'd gotten out while he dug in. "You really do need to get a nap soon." she said when she finally sat down. "I don't want you driving on empty til you pass out."
"It's hard to sleep," Gabe said, forking himself a bite of General Chu's Chicken. Why was leftover Chinese food so good? "I can't get my mind to slow down and then, when I do, I have these nightmares." It was an oddly personal thing to tell Chrissy about, but lately he'd been more willing to open up to people. Maybe it was because he felt so very lost, but he wasn't sure.
Chrissy frowned a little at that. "Maybe you should take something..." she said. "Something to knock you out completely. Maybe you wouldn't have the nightmares then and you could get some rest."
"Maybe," Gabe said, frowning a little. The taking of drugs worried him, which was amusing considering he'd been known to smoke up from time to time. Not so much recently though, not since he'd been turned, and that wasn't something he could overdose on. He didn't have a good idea of how much he'd need as a were, so he wasn't willing to take the risk. "Eating's good. After, I'll just curl up in bed and maybe..." Gabe sighed and took another bite. "Tell me what's been going on with you?"
"Maybe." she repeated back. Chrissy really hoped he could find some sort of peace soon. Quiet and sleep and just rest was what he needed and she wondered if he'd get it before his body collapsed from being so stressed out. "I haven't been up to much." she admitted. "Enjoying the summer." She even managed a little smile at that. "At least as much as I can. I think everyone got a bit of a damper placed on things when all this happened. Everyone's been keeping up with the news. They're all worried. I'm worried." And she was. Perhaps not so much about the kids that were missing, but about Gabe specifically. He was her friend and he was taking the whole kidnapping difficultly. She couldn't blame him. Claire was missing. She'd probably feel the same way if it'd been Gabe who'd gotten kidnapped, but she refused to admit that to herself.
"Things'll get back to normal when we get them back," Gabe said, pausing to take a bite of food. He had to stay positive and assume that was the eventual outcome, even if that was unlikely. The more he dwelled on the negative possibilities, the worse he felt. "I'd say we'll have a party, but... that doesn't really sound good." He'd have his own little party if they found them, but that might not be good for inviting anyone other than Claire. Gabe looked down at his food, forcing down another bite. It tasted good, yes, but it was hard to enjoy when his mind, and heart, were elsewhere.
Chrissy watched Gabe closely, sipping her water as he ate. She could almost feel the hurt that seemed to radiate from him. While Chrissy and Claire were nothing close to friends, Gabe meant something to her. It was for his sake that she hoped someone find the lost kids soon. She didn't think, by the look of him now, that Gabe could make it much longer. He could barely eat, he obviously wasn't sleeping and worry seemed to cloud his every move. "They'll be found." she said with a nod. "They'll find her."