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࣪𓏲ּ ֶָ ✩◿𝓓𝓣𝓐◸ 🂱 ࣪𓏲ּ ֶָ
CHAPTER FORTY TWO—
with sunset on your face in my rear-view.

Mr.Yamada answered the door.

His expression when he saw Sarah was unmatched. He had so much hit him all at once. He immediately knew she knew, he could tell by her face. He'd just heard about Robin, too. He broke at the sight of her, shaking his head as the tears fell. She'd never seen him cry, it fucking killing her. They hugged and everything still sucked, but it had felt a little better. Twenty-Two long months, she forgot how much he made her feel at home. "I'm so sorry."

"I'm sorry for lying to you." she couldn't be mad at him the way she was her Dad. Her Dad owed it to her to be honest. Maybe he was trying to protect her, but he hadn't been able to save Billy or Vance, the least he could have done was tell her Bruce was gone too. Mr.Yamada was a different story though. He should have never lied to her, but this was his son. This was the kid he raised and watched blossom with Sarah. Plus, she just couldn't be angry at him as he cried into her shoulder. "I just wanted to protect you."

Sarah put her hand on the back of his head and squeezed her eyes shut. "I thought he was mad at me this whole time."

"Oh, Sarah. He could have never been mad at you." he pulled back with a sniffle, cupping her face to wipe her eyes rather then his own. "We started to put his posters up again. We just...we wanna believe he's still out there. But, then Robin-"

"I know." Sarah exhaled in a shaky manor. "This is all just so....messed up."

"He was just sitting in my class on Friday. His hand was all bloody, he sits right were you use to sit." they sat down on the couch as he sniffed. "He said he fought some kid that was shit talking. I don't even know what that means, but he wrapped his knuckles in tape and asked me for some honey."

Sarah laughed sadly as she cried at the same time. "Vance taught him that one."

"Sarah." his eyes watered as he placed his hands on her face again. "Do you think you should be here?"

"I have to be." she met his eye. "For Robin...and now for Bruce too."

He shook his head, Sarah felt like every tear that left his eyes were Bruce's tears that day at the rock. "If another boy was taken, that can't-"

He didn't finish his sentence, but she knew what he was going to say. If another boy went missing, there was no way the one before was still alive.

"We're gonna figure all of this out." she held his hand with a nod, settling her cries to be able to speak and keep it together for his sake. "Whoever's doing this, whoever is taking my boys from me, i'm gonna figure it out. Their not gonna go unforgotten, I can promise you that."

"I know you will." he sniffled and stared at her. "But, you have to promise me, Sarah. Promise me right now. You can't do what you did last time. You can't hurt yourself. We can't afford to loose you, too. If this is all too much....I can bring you back to Aspen."

"No. I'm not going, I should have never gone in the first place." she sniffled, shaking her head to get her hair out of her face and behind her head. "I'm gonna be okay. I can...I can handle it this time."

She lied right to his face, and he knew it.

Sarah wasn't sure why she assumed everyone would look the same as they did when they left. It was nearly two years, but it just never crossed her mind growth spurts and loss of a baby face would change. "Who are-"

Finney turned around as Sarah's eyes widened. "Finney?"

"Sarah?" he gapped back at her. He assumed maybe she wouldn't look older either. She always did look older then he did, and she was so tall for so long. Still, she looked older, she actually looked seventeen. "What are you doing here?"

She walked deeper into the kitchen and pulled him into a hug. She was still taller then he'd been, but fucking barley. This was suppose to be a sad moment to mourn Robins disappearance, but she was just in shock with how grown up this little guy she use to babysit looked. Still, even now, he laid his head in the crock of her neck like he'd always had. "I'm so sorry, Finney. About Robin. About everything."

"You don't have to be sorry. He'll be okay." she should have known. They were practically the same person. Robin was his Billy, and Sarah held out for two full years that Billy was alive somewhere. She had to see his dead body and speak to his spirit to finally come to terms with it. "We still talked about you everyday. Me and Robin."

Sarah gave a sad laugh, kissing him on the forehead. "Where's everyone?"

"The police wanted to talk to Gwen down at the station. She said something about her dreams a few days ago so they needed to ask her if she knew anything about Robin." he explained, pulling back from their hug as his eyes stayed down. "I didn't know what to do, so I was just sitting in here waiting for them to come home."

"Wanna go for a drive?" Sarah suggested as he picked his head up. "Bingo is in the car. I know he'd really love to see you."

"Where are we gonna go?" he eyed her. There it was. There all of it was. At first, Robins disappearance had him to numb to realized Sarah was here after twenty-two months. He had just hugged her after almost two years apart. Two whole years, and he never let up. "It doesn't matter. Let's just go."

"Anywhere you wanna go, partner." she put her arm around him as they headed for the door. "You got gas money?"

Finney gave a small laugh. "I have one dollar. Take it or leave it."

"We're rich." she exclaimed, the pair parting ways as they went to opposite sides of the cars.

The sun was starting to set. Sarah had parked behind the mall to get away from the amount of police cars on the street. She could tell Finney needed that, just a small slice of peace for just a second. She thought about how he'd been there for her after Vance, all he'd done for her. The least she could do was do the same for him. "Eat your burger. Don't be a vegetarian."

"I'm not being a vegetarian." he tried not to laugh as the full burger was still sitting on his leg, sunset on his face.

"Yes, you are. You're just picking at your potatoe fingers like a little bird." she pushed the burger some. "Eat your burger."

"Sarah, you are the only person I know that calls them potato fingers. Why not just say fries like any other person would?" he turned his head to ask her.

"Because they look like little fingers." she held a slightly soggy one up as it curved to the side. "Broken little fingers."

They laughed as he shoved the empty fries into the bag and put the burger on the dash. "Swear I won't be a vegetarian later. Gwen will kill me if she doesn't get the first bite."

Sarah trashed her empty fries too, tossing the bag into the backseat and giving Bingo the other half of her burger. "Join the club."

Finney smiled back at Bingo and leaned back to pet his head as he chewed loudly. Sarah looked back with an offended look. "Bingo, have some manors. We've got a guest."

Finney smiled. He was glad Sarah had gotten better, he missed this side of her. The last few months she'd been in Denver were horrible, he was terrified by them. If not seeing her for two years meant he got this side of her now, it was worth it. But, he also knew how close she was with Bruce. And how much she loved Robin. "I'm sorry about Bruce, Sarah. I shouldn't have lied to you this whole time."

Sarah shook her head as she turned back in her seat. "No, you shouldn't have. But, we don't have to talk about that right now."

Finney nodded, scooting closer and pushing his forehead against her shoulder. Sarah wrapped an arm around him so he could be comfortable. "I know how you're feeling, Finney. Exactly how you're feeling."

"I know you and Robin are close too." he nodded his head and shut his eyes.

"Yeah, I love that guy. But, I also know from Billy. He was my best friend too, like Robin is for you." she hummed in hopes of that comforting him. Sarah always felt better around Bruce after she lost Vance because he was feeling the same way she had. "Vance too. Now Bruce. You can tell me anything. If you wanna break a bunch of stuff, we can do that too."

"I'm okay." he kept his eyes shut. "I'm just tired. He's gonna come back, he's still our friend."

Sarah nodded as she turn the radio down just a little so Elton John wasn't so loud, even though he liked him. She could remember how hard it was to sleep after Vance and Billy. The anxiety and the pain took a toll on you and made you more tired then you already were. She understood, and it killed her that Finney felt that way. They sat there before he fell asleep, being able to tell by the way he breathed when he lost consciousness.

Making sure he was out, Sarah leaned back and weeped silently for Robin and for Bruce. It hurt her, it really did. But, she couldn't be another reason for Finney to panic. He needed to be cared for right now, not her. He was closer to Robin then she'd ever been, he needed this more then she did. Little tears from her eyes dropped onto Finneys forehead as he slept, but Sarah stayed quiet. She stayed so quite as the sun went down.

"Okay. You can do this." Sarah gave herself a pep talk as she parked the car infront of the Blake house a few hours later, November nights freezing her arms even under the flannel. She circled the car. "You use to do this all the time. Even though he was shorter back then, a few extra inches is nothing. You'll be fine. He probably still weights nothing. Just toss him on your shoulder and don't wake him up. Icing on the cake."

Sarah pulled the passengers seat door open, Finney was still completely out. She leaned inside and unbuckled his seat belt and tried to find the best way to get him out of the car. Sarah stumbled into the car more as she tried to lift him, huffing. "Jesus christ. Where does all this weight go on such a tiny boy?"

Sarah managed to get his upper half out of the car as he slightly woke up. "Where are we going?"

"I'm trying to get you inside your house." she winced, stumbling slightly in the process of the majority of him leaning on her while he at least used his legs. He hummed with a nod. Sarah figured they'd get to the door now that he was using his legs, that'd be easy.

Nope!

"Holy- oh my god." Sarah fell against the open door as he jumped up so she'd hold him, giving her a little help. Clearly, she wasn't the only one who figured she'd be able to do what she did when he was four inches shorter and ten pounds lighter. Sarah grunted as she hoisted him up more, using her foot to shut the car door. "Okay. Here we go. Yeah, see, I got this."

Sarah stumbled up onto the lawn with his legs and arms secured tightly around her and was already back asleep. Sarah used her foot to kick on the door, panting for a breath. It opened up as Terrance stood on the other side. "Sarah?"

"Hey." she offered him a fake smile. "He's just tired. Can I bring him in?"

He opened the door more. "I didn't know you came back."

Sarah winced when she accidentally smacked Finneys head on the side of the door. He made a noise as she paused and used one hand to touch the back of his head. "So sorry, Finney."

She walked into the house, the memory on were everything was coming back to her as she used her back to push his door open and head over to his tiny bed. Sarah had to smile at how nothing had changed. All his space poster still up, models of things he was making all over the place. She feared he'd turn into a little jock and give up the galexies for baseball cards signed by players that weren't even in a good league.

Sarah tossed him onto the bed as easily as she could, trying not to fall with him as she used her free foot to kick his shoes off, since they were barley on his feet anyways. She caught her breath with one more deep inhaled, nodding as she leaned back and pulled the blanket over him. "I still got it."

She snuck out of Finneys room and gently shut his door, look at Gwen's across the hallway. She made sure Terrance wasn't about to come down the hallway before pushing it open, cutting Gwen off as she prayed to god to return Robin. "Sarah."

"Look at you." Sarah smiled as she leaned down to hug her. She'd grown too. "You look so pretty, Gwen. So grown up."

"I'm so glad you are here again." she held onto her like her life depended on it, small arms locked around her rib cage so hard it started to hurt. "Did they tell you?"

"About Bruce?" Sarah asked as Gwen pulled back and nodded. "Yeah, they told me."

Gwen frowned as she sat down on the ground and Sarah follows. It was dark, but the little lights from her old dollhouse lit it up enough to see each other. "You praying in here?"

"I prayed for Bruce too." Gwen promised her. "To see if Jesus would let you have him still, after Billy and Vance."

Sarah frowned a she nodded. "Guess he had different plans, since he took Robin too."

"I guess so." Gwen frowned as her shoulders sunk. "He doesn't get involved, or whatever. But, I was just really hoping he would."

"Me too." Sarah inhaled deeply. Here it was. She wasn't in the public eye anymore, no one except for Gwen to have to worry about her sad state.

"Sarah." Gwen took her hand. "Are you gonna be okay here?"

She shook her head and finally, after painfully keeping it all balled up behind her eyes, let those tears fall. Like many times before, like at the hospital, Sarah laid her head in Gwen's lap and let her small arms hold her. Only, this time, Vance didn't walk through the door and kiss the back of her head.

•

kylie speaks

sad chapter but it also
made me so happy at the
same time??? i love that
she's finally back with her
blake's and mr yamada