"Love ain't no fairytale, love is a buried nail." -Skylar Grey, Twisted

WHEN FORD FINALLY GETS BACK TO ME, IT'S through a phone call.

He hasn't replied to me all day, and although I've tried to not freak out at him- really, I have- when it's seven and there's no texts from him, I send him several angry texts telling him that if he doesn't answer me right now I was going to die from super high stress levels and he would only have himself to blame.

What I wasn't expecting was for his Caller ID to appear on my screen at ten at night. I hesitate to answer, but only a moment, before I'm shoving the phone against my ear with a crazy urgency. "Hello?"

At first, the noise on the other side mostly just resembles static and movement, but then a soft, upset-sounding voice says, "Hello?"

And oh God, that's Ford's voice. In every single way.

"F-Ford?"

"Ava? Are you there?"

My voice shakes. I can literally feel my heart beating against my chest, pushing so hard and rapidly it's a wonder that it hasn't broken through already. "Yeah, yeah I'm here. Are you okay?"

Ford sounds close to crying. "I-I'm... I don't have anywhere- I need- Shit, why did I do this? Crap, shit, I'm going to get us both ki-"

"Ford!" I interrupt. "Calm down, okay?"

Over the phone, I can hear Ford take shaky breaths. "Okay, okay. I, um, I got kicked out of the place I'm staying. I don't- I have no where to stay- I see now that you can't really- I was stupid to call, I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," I say, praying he doesn't hang up the phone. "Where are you? I'll come pick you up."

"You can't," he says. "I'm too far away, and I can't... I can't come back to Cailbridge."

A sudden noise on Ford's side of the call sends a sick feeling through my stomach. "Was that a car? Are you outside?"

Ford sounds panicky again. "I-I have nowhere to go."

I don't think twice about it. I get up from my bed, grabbing a jacket off the floor. "Tell me where you are. I'm coming to pick you up. I don't care how far you are. We don't have to go back to Cailbridge. Just tell me where you are." 

A few sniffles and shaky breaths later, Ford gives me an address. I don't recognize it the slightest, so I type it into my GPS. "Jesus, Ford, this is like four hours away!"

"I know," he says. "Don't worry, I'll figure it out for tonight, I'm sorry-"

"Shut up, Wilson. Get somewhere warm. I'm getting in my car. I'll be there by two, I'll call you when I'm twenty minutes away."

"Okay. Ava, I... You have to promise not to take me back to Cailbridge." 

"I promise."

x

I don't really just how bad of an idea this is until an hour into driving.

Problem A: No one has any idea where I'm going. I didn't exactly bother telling my mom- she was out getting groceries, so she doesn't even know that I'm gone. So if something happens to me, there's not exactly anyone who can find me.

Problem B: I only have a jacket, my car keys, cell phone, and enough money for gas and some food. I don't have even the slightest idea of how long I'm going to be gone, whether or not I should have packed clothes or got a little more money. Which leads me to:

Problem C: If I can't bring Ford to Cailbridge, where am I supposed to take him? I have no idea what I'm doing. I've trusted that Ford is going to be waiting for me at the address he gave me, hopefully giving me somewhere to take him, even though he said it himself that he has nowhere to go and God what am I getting myself into?

Problem D (There's a lot of problems): I don't know why Ford is avoiding Cailbridge. He said something about it not being safe, and the way he had made me promise not to take him back... scares me, to put it simply. I don't know how to feel about the way Ford is fearing going home; is he in a dangerous position? Am I putting myself in danger? I want to say I'm not; nothing in my life has ever been dangerous, after all. I've lived a simple, normal, boring but safe life. The last month has been filled with a lingering fear, though. Ford's jacket, the bloody jewellery box, the message: HOME IS WHERE FORD'S DEAD HEART LIES. It gives me chills just thinking about it, but even more so thinking about how:

Problem E: I'm putting myself right in the middle of it.

I take a deep breath, trying to keep the hands that rest on the steering wheel from shaking. At first, I was slightly scared I would get too tired from driving in the middle of the night, but Ford's phone call really seemed to wake me up. Right now, I'm following my GPS, but there's not much to follow right now, considering I've just been going straight ahead on the highway for a good hour now. I lean back in my seat, letting just one hand steer, shaking my head.

To distract myself from the overwhelming thoughts, I switch on the radio station. The sound of music doesn't do much to distract me, but it does give me something else to pay attention to, and doesn't leave me with all my attention on Ford.

Around three hours into the ride, I start to cry.

Reason A: I'm tired as hell. It's one in the morning, and my whole body is shaking, because ever since Ford sent me that text- more like ever since Ford went missing in general- I haven't been able to get a blink of sleep.

Reason B: I don't know where I am. I've never really been far away from Cailbridge- the farthest I've gotten has to be an hour south- and it's dark. I'm driving practically blind, trusting the GPS- which has finally gotten me off the highway- to not get me lost. Because if I get lost, I'm screwed. No one knows where I went (I've been ignoring the constant phone calls from my mom, which I only feel slightly bad about) which only adds to the fear. But I can't tell anyone, because it could cost Ford's life.

Reason C: I might finally see Ford again.

And oh God, after a month of tearing myself apart, not knowing whether he was dead or alive, I feel a crazy rain of relief. I was so torn up about that day he went missing, when he had come to me crying, and I just didn't know if maybe I stayed with him for a little longer, he would still be here. I thought it was my fault. After a month of thinking of those grey eyes and the dark, dark brown hair that's always pushed up, and the way he's exactly two inches taller than me and his build isn't exactly muscular but I don't even care, because he's not perfect and I'm not either and- Jesus, there were moments where I really thought I wasn't going to see him again.

And those moments, they killed me.

But now, I'm pulling up at the address Ford has left for me, wiping away the remanding tears. I forgot to call him twenty minutes earlier, like I promised, but now I just park outside the big building- which, from here, kind of looks like a store- and dial his number.

Ford picks up on the first ring, which I find a little surprising since these past days, I've been handling late, agonizing replies. "Ava?"

"I'm here," I say.

"Oh, are you at the front doors...? Oh, no, wait, I see you. I'm coming."

I get out of the car, letting the May air hit me all at once. I wrap the jacket around my frame a little tighter, not enjoying being out in the cold like this. After all, it hasn't exactly gotten warm yet. Summer never comes around in this part of the country until mid June.

All thoughts of weather flee my mind when the door to the store creaks open, and Ford steps out.

He looks exactly the same as I remember. Grey eyes, that seem to glow in the dark, but the closer he gets, the more I can see the shine in them, the different shades of colors that always made them so haunting. Because that's all Ford has been doing this past month- haunting me. His dark hair is pushed back, more messy than usual, as if he had been running his hand through it lately. Even in the dark, I can see the wounds on Ford's bottom lips, probably from worrying them too much. There are shadows underneath his eyes, heavy sweatpants on his lower half and a t-shirt on his top, with high tops on his feet that I still remember him getting last year when he made the basketball team.

But most importantly? He's alive.

All of a sudden, I don't care that people may think we hardly knew each other. And we probably do hardly know each other, but then I'm throwing my arms around his neck and burying my face in his shoulder, and I guess he sort of agrees because he drops the suitcase in his hand and chooses to wrap his arms around my waist. I can feel his chest rising and falling, and the knowledge that this is real and he's really breathing makes me cry a little more, and I guess it gets to Ford too, because then he's clutching onto my jacket, chin resting on my head.

"Hey," he says, the movement of his jaw on top of my head kind of weird, but I let it go. His voice sounds kind of like he's out of breathless.

"Hi," I manage back, my voice coming out as a squeak.

Then he's smiling. I have to pull back, because holy shit, it's ever bit as beautiful as I remember it being. Crooked, white teeth, crinkles at the ends of his eyes. I remember thinking how it's a little weird for me to be referring to the beauty of Ford's anything, but now, I don't regret it a bit. Because it's true.

I don't tell him that, though. Instead, I punch him.

"Jeez," he grumbles, rubbing the spot on his arm where my fist has collided. "Missed you too."

"'Missed you too?'" I splutter. "You've been missing more than a month- a month! I thought you were dead! All we found of you was your jacket, and that bloody jewellery box-"

Ford's eyebrows furrow. "Bloody jewellery box?"

"Um, yeah?"

Ford shakes his head. "Forget it. Look, I'm really sorry. I promise I'll... I'll offer you some kind of explanation. I know I owe you- well, my life, really, for coming out here."

"You kind of do," I agree. "But, um... If you don't want to go back to Cailbridge, where are you going to stay? Since, the guys kicked you out, or whatever. I'm not really up for more driving, if I'm being honest. Is there a motel somewhere?"

"There's one, like, twenty miles up ahead," Ford nods. "Um, you don't have to stay. I- God, I can't believe I called you up here for this. I just didn't know who else to call-"

"No apologizing, Wilson, unless it's for running away. That, you can keep apologizing for as along as you want. Get in the car and tell me which way the motel is."

Ford doesn't argue. He gets in the passenger seat after throwing his suitcase in the back, fumbling with the seatbelt with shaky hands. There's a moment or two of silence as I drive, but eventually, I say, "Are you safe?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like... you kind of said coming back to Cailbridge can cost you your life. So, are you in danger, or what?"

Ford doesn't answer for a couple of minutes. Streetlights light up the car as we pass them, giving me a view of Ford's stony face. Finally, in a soft voice, he says, "Yeah, yeah, I am."

"Okay," I say. "I'm not going back home until I know exactly why and that you'll be safe for now. Got it?"

"Yeah, got it," Ford rolls his eyes, but there's a ghost of a smile on his lips.

We make it to the motel quickly with the lack of traffic. I get out with him, not bothering giving him a chance to argue. We're walking into the building when Ford pulls out his wallet, seemingly taking out the rest of his bills, just barely paying enough for the room.

The room is pretty crappy, but it's a bed, so I'm not complaining. Ford goes to brush his teeth in the bathroom, and comes out in the same sweatpants and a bigger t shirt. "I'll sleep on the floor," he says. I toss him a pillow and a couple of blankets, feeling slightly bad after seeing the unforgiving hardwood, but he's the one who made me drive four hours up here. Besides, I'm a girl and he's a boy and I'm Ava Jackson and he's Ford Wilson and us sleeping on the same bed just isn't going to work out.

I get comfy under the covers after turning my phone on silent. I'll come up with some lie to tell my mom in the morning. I'm going to be doing a lot in the morning.

Ford's voice is sleepy when he says, "Ava?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

I hum. "I finally found you," I yawn. "Uncovered the mystery that is Ford Wilson."

Ford chuckles sleepily. "I'm not the mystery you've been trying to uncover, Ava."

YES OH MY GOD THIRD UPDATE IN A ROW XD i was just soooo freaking excited for this chapter and look it's so long and it has ford isn't it beAUTIFUL

I know it seems like Ford is back early, but the mystery of this story isn't going to be finding ford, like people may think c: omg i'm soooo excited for the next chapters no one even knows okay

i preordered fall out boy's new album omfg i'm so excited i should be getting it at midnight yesss

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