guys i lied about five chapters being left. this is the last chapter of Finding Ford :') I love you all so much. enjoy! :)

"The cries of the strangers out at night, they don't keep us up at night, we have the curtains drawn and closed." -Imagine Dragons, Dream

I'VE NEVER SEEN SO MANY PEOPLE FROM MY SCHOOL IN THE same room without an argument breaking out. But I guess that's the thing with Cailbridge; it's small, sometimes too small. Secrets get around scarily fast, reputation can either build a person up or tear them apart, but at the end of the day, we're a community.

The hospital of Cailbridge is small. Considering the size of our town, I'm surprised we even have one, but since we're so isolated we kind of have to. The waiting room is packed: Mr. Wilson, Molly, my mom and dad, Jas and her parents, Lucas- even Luke are all piled in. The workers haven't bothered to tell us to leave; after the whole thing with Ford being missing for almost two months, I think it's understandable why such a crowd has been drawn.

The silence in the room is crazy tense. For the past couple of hours, there have been whispers exchanged in between people, but other than that, we've stayed quiet. My mom and dad don't know the whole story: all they know is that Ford got shot, and I was there. I haven't said a word to them since the police showed up.

They arrested James, since he had pretty much given himself up. I don't know about his dad, but Mr. Wilson and Molly are here, safe and sound (actually, not exactly sound, since Molly is shaking and softly crying while Mr. Wilson is pacing the room) so either James was bluffing, or they managed to get him too.

A police officer peeks his head in the room, catching everyone's attention. He smiles softly, leaning against the doorframe. "Ava Jackson?"

My mom gives my hand a quick squeeze. I exhale slowly, nodding and standing up. My parents stand up as well, following me out of the room.

"We'd just like to talk to Ava on her own," the officer says to my parents once we're in the hallway. "But if it's okay, there's another officer wishing to speak with you."

My parents nod, following another officer who appears after both giving me a quick hug. The officer gives me a warm smile, putting a hand on my shoulder and leading me to the first floor of the hospital. We stop at the café, where there's little crowed (thank God). The officer tells me to take a seat while he goes to get in line.

I'm still sort of in shock from what happened, and a little blurred on the details. Last I remember, Ford had dropped to the floor around the same time James' gun had dropped from his grip. James had started cursing, but all the while, I had just dropped to my knees by Ford, watching the way the blood pouring out of him wouldn't stop.

The police sirens didn't register until someone was pulling me off the ground and trying to get Ford into an ambulance. They let me ride with him. All I remember from that ride is holding Ford's hand as they tried to get a hold on the blood pouring out of his stomach.

The details may be blurry, but I remember one thing clearly: Ford had took a bullet for me.

There's no denying that that bullet was supposed to hit me, and that the person who pushed me aside even though they knew they were going to get shot was Ford. It still makes me shake with the thought that it could be me in Ford's position. At a time like this, though, I'm not sure what would be worse.

Last anyone has heard, Ford was in surgery for a couple of hours. He's no longer in critical condition, but he's not stable enough for any sort of visitors, either. The doctors have said that he hasn't woken up yet, and if he doesn't by tonight, that could mean trouble.

It's one in the afternoon and Ford still hasn't woken up.

Molly and Mr. Wilson have been able to visit him once or twice, but only for short periods of time. Otherwise, we've all been stuck in the uncomfortable chairs of the waiting room, choking on the overly tense air.

The officer returns and hands me a coffee as he sits down with his own. Giving me a soft smile, he says, "I thought you'd might need it."

"Thanks," I smile softly.

"I'm officer Roberts," he greets, shaking my hand. I receive one more smile before the officer sits across the table from me and gets down to business. "So, Ava. I think you know why I'm here. Ford has been missing since April fourth, and has been found with you and James Racer in the school with a bullet in his stomach." Officer Roberts leans back, raising an eyebrow. "Care to explain?"

I sigh heavily, looking down on my coffee. "Ford and I were never really amazing friends or anything. We always knew each other, but that's kind of the deal with everyone in Cailbridge. One day he needed help with some project for wood shop, so I stayed after school and helped him. I guess after that we started talking more. On April fourth, he had come out of wood shop crying, since it was his mom's anniversary soon. I didn't know that back then, though. Anyway, I hugged him and he told me he'd see me after lunch, but he never did."

Taking a deep breath, I look up to see Officer Roberts looking at me intently, urging me to continue on with my story. I take a shuddering breath. "Anyway, things really started to pick up a month after he went missing. It was when someone wrote that message on his memorial." He nods, letting me know that he's aware of what I'm talking about. "I texted him that night, even though I thought he wouldn't reply, just as an emotional release type of thing." I clear my throat. "He did end up replying, though. Just a couple of days later I was driving out to meet him. He had gotten kicked out of the place he was staying in and I didn't hesitate to find him and bring him to a motel."

"Where was he?" Officer Roberts asks.

I chew on the inside of my cheek. "I don't remember what the town is called, but it's in my GPS, so I can let you know. It's about four hours away. Anyway, he convinced me not to take him to Cailbridge for the night. The next morning, he explained to me what was going on. Someone had been sending him death threats for months, and had claimed to be the killer of Ford's mom. One day they took the threats to a new level: they told him if Ford didn't leave Cailbridge, his family and him would die.

"For the next month, my friend Jaswinder and I spent our time going back and forth, trying to figure out who was leaving him those notes. Eventually, we made the connection that it was James. We were going to call the police but we knew that someone was working with James, and they would hurt Ford's family, so we kept quiet. Through some hacking of emails, we figured out the person who had been sending James information on stuff like how to tamper with brakes- he was the reason Molly Wilson got in an accident- was his dad.

"This early morning, Ford came to Cailbridge after getting another death threat in his motel room. That's when James texting us, threatening us into coming to the school. He admitted to everything, and said he and his dad were behind this because Ford's mom had been sleeping his dad and refused to leave Mr. Wilson. Mr. Raser had killed Mrs. Wilson. Did you find him? James said he was outside the Wilson's house."

"He's in custody, don't worry," Officer Roberts tells me. "What happened after he confessed?"

"Ford snapped at him, which got James mad. He shot the gun at the floor. We turned and ran, which is when I called the police. James ran after us and told Ford he was going to show him what it feels to lose something he cares about, just like James lost his dad. He went to shoot me, but Ford pushed me out of the way."

Officer Roberts stares at me with a cocked eyebrow. "Wow."

I manage a breathless laugh, though it's humourless. "Yeah. Wow."

"Jaswinder was the only one besides you who knew about this?" I nod. "Why didn't you tell anyone else? Your parents?"

"I couldn't. If it went to the police, the person- well, James- would have found out that Ford was back in contact with people from Cailbridge and hurt his family." I pause for a second. "What's going to happen to James?'

"Well, that all depends on whether or not Ford lives."

I pale.

He asks me a couple of more questions before finally thanking and dismissing me. I get up from my chair, knowing that he's probably still going to question Jas, Luke, and Lucas, and this isn't going to be the last I've heard of these past two months- not be a long shot. But I still feel so much cleaner, so much lighter after confessing the secret that's been haunting me for so long.

My mom and I are waiting for me in the corridor. They hug me tightly as I struggle not to break down in their arms. "Come on, honey, let's go home," my mom mutters.

I shake my head. "I'm not going. Not until Ford wakes up."

My dad frowns. "Ava, that could be a while. You don't-"

"I don't care," I state firmly. "I'm not going anywhere."

My parents lead me back to the waiting room after they realize I'm not leaving any room for argument. In a whisper, I spill everything to them, in more detail than I did to the officer, until I'm crying in my mom's arms.

I'm so tired.

x

As I sit in the waiting room, I can't help but think about The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Ford had once told me there was always an ending. I had thought of him as slightly insane for that, considering that there legit just wasn't an ending for the book. But now I know that he's right. Nothing is left unfinished. We finish books like The Mystery of Edwin Drood with the power of our minds, and the ability things have to stay in our thoughts for a long, long time. Whether we think about it or not, we are always subconsciously making our own endings, writing our own beginnings, changing it up according to how we feel or what we've been taught.

I thought Ford's story had been left unfinished the day Jas had told me he was dead. I didn't listen to her, though. I created an ending, my own ending: one where I find Ford (I did), I bring him back home (I did), and I save him.

Maybe Ford had his own ending planned, too. Because in the end, he saved me.

x

Ford wakes up at four in the afternoon.

They let Mr. Wilson and Molly in to see him. My parents have gone out for lunch, though I refused to go with them. Jas' parents went with them, while Luke and Lucas had gone home after a while of waiting and few warnings to call us as soon as he woke up. When Molly and Mr. Wilson go in to see him, Jas moves over to my seat. We haven't talked at all since she came to the hospital, but now, we're embracing each other as tightly as we can.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Jas mumbles into my hair. "And Ford's awake. He'll be okay, too."

We sit in silence for a little bit. Jas had been taken out earlier for questioning, but she came back quickly, so I'm guessing they realized our stories match up. The officers had also gone and explained the situation to Mr. Wilson and Molly. They didn't say anything to me, but Molly had looked at me with such gratefulness in her eyes, it almost made me tear up.

I'm torn out of my thoughts when Molly appears at the doorway of the waiting room. "Ava?" she asks gently. My head snaps up. Molly smiles at me softly. "Do you want to come see Ford?"

"Is that even a question?" I ask, already jumping out of my seat. Jas gives me a reassuring smile. Molly leads me down the hall to Ford's room. I take a deep breath, preparing myself.

Mr. Wilson walks out the door, giving me a small squeeze of the shoulder before letting me in.

Ford looks broken in his hospital bed. His frame is small and battered underneath the thick blankets. His skin is pale, body slumped against the sheets like it's too weak to support itself. I walk over slowly, and as soon as he hears my footsteps, his head turns towards me and his grey eyes sluggishly open.

I sit down on the chair by his bedside and quickly taking his hand, longing his touch. Ford studies me silently, his grey eyes the only part of him moving.

I finally break the silence. "Hey," I whisper.

"Hey," he croaks back.

I feel the tears arise again. I hate him seeing like this. I hate it, hate it, hate it. "How're you feeling?"

Ford's lips crook upwards. "Like I just got shot."

I roll my eyes and lean over, ignoring the awkward angel, circling my arms around him to hug him. He's probably too tired to move his arms, so he settles for just resting his forehead on my shoulder.

"I'm so glad you're alive," I tell him in a quiet whisper, squeezing my eyes shut when more tears threaten to fall. I pull away, not sitting back down on the chair, though. Instead, I settle at the edge of his bed, where I continue to hold his hand in mine, idly playing with his fingers.

"I'm glad you're okay."

"You took a bullet for me," I state, watching the way his beautiful grey eyes sparkle, even through all the misery he's been put through. "You saved me. Thank you."

Ford smiles. I suddenly remember why I fell in love with his smile in the first place. It's brilliantly breathtaking.

"No, Ava," Ford says. "You saved me. Thank you."

AND THAT IS THE FINAL CHAPTER OF FINDING FORD!

God, this is literally so emotionally draining i can't believe this story is done D: thank you so so much for all your support, you can't even imagine how much it means to me. I've never been so motivated to write a book, but all your amazing amazing feedback has really helped so much <3

this whole book is dedicated to sydney, because she literally has helped me with so so much <3 this book wouldn't be here if it weren't for her listening to all my stupid ideas omg i love her so much

thank you for sticking with Ford, Ava and Jas, and dealing with my spodaric updates. Be sure to COMMENT, VOTE AND FAN! I love you all so much, hopefully see y'all at some of my other stories (; xoxo

(if you liked this story, you can check out my other story 'Hold Me Down', it's a mystery too!)