4
(I know I have some typos in all of my fanfiction i don't send these chapters to my editor – I write this for fun and don't do much editing to it)
Kelly stayed the rest of the night at Molly's, but then again… so did Zach. And every time Stella reached for his glass to refill it, Zach touched her hand. At first Stella pulled away like his hand had bit her… and her eyes looked at him.
And after looking at Kelly and seeing him look away, Stella moved away from the well and touched base with another customer, filling their drinks again.
Herrmann was the one who finally came up to Kelly a few minutes later.
"Hey, Lieutenant."
He laughed. "Come on, Herrmann, what's with the 'Lieutenant'?"
Herrmann stepped closer, almost turning his back completely to Stella and Zach as he set down the beer. "I was just wondering what's going on," he paused, "I'm not lookin' to get any personal stuff on you and Stella… but some of us," he winced a little, "well, all of us on Second Shift, we ummm…. We thought that maybe you and Stella…" he swallowed and looked away, back over his shoulder and saw Zach leaning on the bar, his eyes following Stella as she moved off to one of Herrmann's customers.
Hermann turned back to Kelly. "Well?"
Kelly lifted the beer to his lips and took a sip. "What did Stella tell you?"
"Stella?" Herrmann narrowed his eyes at Kelly. "She didn't say a thing. I didn't ask her. It's just that… after all this time… I mean… we remember that stuff with Grant… and then… when she moved in with you… but we never… I mean.."
"What are you trying to say, Herrmann?" Kelly shifted on the stool.
"I'm don't know what it is I'm tryin' to say except for the fact that, Zach there seems to have made himself at home at the bar. And you… you're sittin' back here, just kind of hangin' back."
"I'm just sitting here having a beer, Herrmann."
"Yeah," Herrmann cleared his throat, "Maybe that's the problem." Turning on his heel, he walked back to the other side of the bar and worked his way through the customers.
#
Last Call nearly broke Stella's heart. Kelly set down a bill on the table, set his empty bottle on top of it and walked out the back door to the parking lot without a look back over his shoulder.
Zach didn't.
Zach stayed.
Zach walked her to her car even when she told him it wasn't necessary.
Even when she told him she didn't want him to.
"Come on, Stella. It's late and this neighborhood-"
"This neighborhood," she gave him a hard look, "is a good neighborhood."
"Oh, yeah, sure… but-"
"No 'buts,' Zach. This is a good neighborhood."
He held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, Okay!" He laughed as she continued walking. "I'm just trying to show you I care."
She whirled back around. "I don't need you to do that. You said we were done."
"I said I was taking a big step back."
"And you did." She walked even faster toward her car. "And now what? Now you've changed your mind?"
She reached into her pocket and found it empty. "Shit."
Looking back at the bar, she saw the lights were out and Herrmann's car was already down the street.
"Crap."
She reached into her other pocket for her phone. Empty.
She had a brief flash of memory. She had been reaching for her phone and keys when Kelly got up from his table and walked away without so much as a backward glance. And somehow, she'd forgotten her phone and keys on the backbar.
Walking away from the car she headed out to the road, looking for a taxi.
This side of midnight, it wasn't going to happen.
Not for a while.
"Stella, please, listen for a minute."
"Zach, look, there's something you don't understand, Kelly and I-"
"Oh, I know all about that-"
That stopped her in her tracks. "You do?"
He shrugged. "I talked to Kelly. He set me straight. We got everything out in the open."
She stared back at him. "You did? He did?" She shook her head, her curls brushing against the side of her face. "What did he tell you?"
"He told me that you two weren't together. That you're not his girlfriend."
Her heart stopped inside of her chest. "No…"
"I asked him if you two were together… if you were his girlfriend and he said-"
The wind was knocked out of her and her hands went cold.
"Look, Stella, why don't you let me take you somewhere… we can talk. Talk things over…"
#
Kelly heard this alarm blaring in his ear and reached out a hand to shut if off, ending up knocking it to the floor instead. He groaned. "Stell? You want first shot in the shower?"
Not only was there no answer, but the other half of his bed was empty.
And cold.
Sitting bolt upright in bed, Kelly looked at the sunlight coming in through the window. "Stella?"
Training his ears on the silence, he shook his head. Where was she?'
Throwing his blanket back he dropped his legs off of the edge of the bed and walked through the open door of his bedroom. He'd left it open for her when he'd come home, but maybe…
He walked through the living space and didn't see her bag by the door. "Stella?" He lifted a hand and pinched at the kink in the back of his neck. "Come on, Stella, answer me…" He turned a quick left and walked to her old bedroom and knocked on the door. "Stella? Are you awake?"
Silence was his only reply.
"Shit." He shook his head as the night before flooded into his head. Molly's. Stella. Zach. Shit. Zach. He knocked on her door again. Nothing.
"Stella? I'm opening the door."
Gritting his teeth together he reached down and took hold of the doorknob. He turned it and pushed it into the room. The bed was empty.
Hadn't been slept in.
Cold and empty.
Damn it.
He walked back to his room, his spine aching and his heart pounding in his chest. Snatching his phone from the bedside charger he looked for calls. Messages. Nothing.
He dialed Stella.
And got her voice mail. "Hey, this is Stella. Leave a message or don't and I'll ring back when I can." Beep.
"Stella. It's Kelly. Where are you? Call me so I know you're okay. Then come home, all right?"
His next call was to Herrmann. When his wife put him on the phone, Kelly apologized. "Hey, sorry for calling you on your off day, Herrmann."
"Not a problem, Lieutenant. I'm just chasin' the kids around tryin' to get them ready for school. Thanks for the break."
"Hey, ah… do you know where Stella is?"
There was a long pause on Herrmann's end. "I haven't seen her since last night as we were locking up."
"And she left okay?"
"Ahhhh… she walked out just fine last night, but I didn't see her get into her car or anything."
"Wait, why not?" Kelly shifted and leaned against the wall. "Why didn't you stay until-"
"Zach was walking her to her car. I didn't think I needed to stay."
"Zach?"
"Yeah… that slick Hazmat guy. He stayed until we locked up and walked her to her car. She wasn't in any danger from him."
"No, I guess not…" his mind trailed off. "So Zach was there…"
"Yeah. Look, Kelly… is something going on? Can I help with-"
"No… no. I'm going to call around. Look for her. Thanks, Herrmann."
He hung up and dialed Dawson. Minutes later, all he'd managed to do was get himself dressed and find out that Stella hadn't slept over at Casey's place and worried Dawson. It was going to be like stirring up a hornet's nest, especially after Dawson called Stella's number and reported the same thing he'd had when he called the number. He'd managed to hold off on her calling up Antonio with a promise that he'd call her back as soon as he found Stella.
Grabbing his keys from table beside his door, he left his apartment and jogged down the stairs to the parking lot.
"She better be okay."