A/N: this was a really hard chapter to write, and I know the second part of this will be hard, too. This chapter could also be called, "Fillmore's phone dies and has the worst day of his life"

Fillmore had lost his phone charger, so he was running on charge from school hoping it could hold him until he found the missing cord. His plan was to find it in his room and plug it in, but the hopeless mess he lived in made it easier to lose things than to find them. Still, having to buy a new cord was going to be his last option.

Ingrid was taking finals and told him to keep contact to a low for her to get big projects done with no interruption, as well as to ready herself for the onslaught of tests. Though it was hard for Fillmore to not have her around as much, especially now that they were dating, he understood when she needed to buckle down and work.

Being young and intelligent certainly gave Ingrid an edge and she graduated early. In the meantime, she was taking as many college courses as she could locally. Fillmore, himself, was a straight-A valedictorian and thus had massive amounts of homework and Safety Patrol paperwork. Ingrid gone from the Safety Patrol made things like this a little trickier. She helped as much as she could but didn't have nearly as much time to contribute to his cases. It was okay, Fillmore wanted her to succeed, and it wasn't hurting his grades any. Without his girlfriend to text or call, he figured he could scrape by with battery life until he found his charger.

So, on Friday, he left the high school with a full battery on his phone, thanks to Tehama letting him borrow her charger before they left the Safety Patrol office. Fillmore sent a single text to Ingrid, letting her know that he was about to defeat the mountain of paperwork he'd brought home. She texted ta while later with a picture of six textbooks piled next to her with her binders of notes and projects, stacked all on top of one another, making a tower that came to her shoulders. The dark look in her eyes screamed for sleep, rimmed with smudged black eyeliner that was definitely put on a few days before, her dark expression was her most quintessential "I'm dead inside" eye contact. Along with the picture was a text:

I.T: Ha. ha.

Even through text her sarcasm and personality bled through. He gave a small smirk, typing up a quick reply.

F: Did it take the entire 20 min to set up that pic?

I.T: …

I.T: Can't text; have finals

Fillmore laughed, a jab of loneliness hitting him. The separation they had since she graduated was hard. He knew that they were lucky that they were in the same city, but even so he missed her everyday presence. For a moment he felt a deep longing to see her, but instead put his phone to the side, beginning his paperwork. Several cases had expansive evidence and thick folders of information. Even though most students would put off any kind of schoolwork until Sunday night, Fillmore never regarded cases the way he thought about homework. They were puzzles that would gnaw at him, and if they weren't done by tonight, they would be bothering him the entire weekend.

It was going to be a long night.

Cornelius texted Joseph Anza a few times, sending questions about the cases as well as sending various dumb memes that got in the way of getting work done. He did the same with Karen Tehama and Danny O'Ferrel; his other close friends who also worked as Safety Patrollers. They all knew of Ingrid's strict, "only emergencies. Only. EMERGENCIES." texting policy during her school finals, so they had to make up for a lost member. So, even though he tried to keep his phone use down, Fillmore got lost in a group text, having to defend his controversial carrot cake birthday request against the tyrants of his patrol. Tehama and Anza were trying to get him to give in and change his choice to funfetti or chocolate for the better of the party.

It wasn't until his mom called him down for food that he even looked at his charge: 15% battery. Groaning at himself for not trying to find it earlier, he promised his slowly-dying phone to find the charger when he got back from dinner. It was smelling of garlic and onions and butter downstairs, and he was not strong enough to fight his stomach until the damn phone charger could be found.

The Fillmore family had a strict "no cell phones at the table" rule, as everyone had gotten too absorbed in their phones a while ago and it was mutually agreed to not use them at the table any longer. It had significantly improved their relationships, more than any of them would like to admit. Karim and Joelle liked talking to their son, and the family had remained very tight knit. The Fillmores had learned much about each other's lives, and treasured how casual conversations were easy for them to have as a family.

As Cornelius ate dinner with his parents, devouring over five plates of pasta, he happily talked to them about current cases. Joelle asked about Ingrid, wondering how they had been doing since she wasn't around as much. He told them that their relationship was going well, but she had no time for him during her final projects and tests, and he respected that.

The Fillmores had always been fond of Ingrid, and when the two friends decided to start dating, they were incredibly supportive. They also knew Ingrid's rules of texting and were impressed with her ability to make boundaries between her social life and educational duties. Ingrid and Cornelius seemed to be a good match, even more so as they grew. For a relationship of two 17-year-olds, it was impressively mature.

When he'd been worried about her graduating early, they were touched when Ingrid decided to stay in the city and pursue different kinds of classes locally before deciding where she wanted to go long-term academically. She was having fun doing many kinds of art and science, and often came over with a new piece of her latest creative venture as a gift. Ingrid was an excellent welder and had given many kinds of things to the family, both practical and not.

With their son's eagerness to get back to his paperwork and knowing that this was a good problem for him to have, Karim and Joelle took over kitchen duties. Fillmore zipped back up to his room, sitting down at his desk, this time buckling down and concentrating on his written reports, and double-checking his evidence numbers' placements. Midway through his work he mindlessly put on some of his music, tapping the playlist of eary-90's hip-hop nonchalantly, the beats putting his mind into a rhythm. Listening to music when he did work made him do it faster and easier, and once he found his groove he flew through the reports.

Fillmore finished his reports before he realized that his phone still wasn't plugged in, mostly because he hadn't found the charger, and had forgotten he had lost it.

"Dawg," he groaned, slumping back in his chair. The sun had long since gone down, and it would have been infinitely easier to find a black phone cord during the day, especially in his messy room. His phone's screen flashed: 4%

Immediately jumping into action for the sake of his social lifeline, Fillmore started to tear apart his room, throwing up piled clothes and loose papers, trying to find his cord. After a good time of searching, with no places left in his room to look, he hurried downstairs.

His parents were watching a black and white film, with a man talking to a woman about sandstorms as they ate. Fillmore grabbed the remote, pausing the movie.

"Mom," he began, "have you seen my phone cord?"

Joelle shook her head, "No. Last time I saw it was yesterday in your room next to your desk."

"Dawg, I can't believe I lost it," he slumped, pushing his glasses up his nose.

A moment passed in the quiet living room, then;

"Cornelius? Can you let us finish our movie?"

He realized he was still holding the remote, "Yeah. Ugh, just feel stupid, you know?" Fillmore gave the remote back to his mom, "I have to get a new one tomorrow, I can't go all weekend without my phone."

"Oh!" Karim lifted his hand, "Hey, if you go to the electronics store early and come back before 12:30, I will pay for your new cord, if you also pick up one of those vinyl record players that connects to computers. I want to put some old tracks on my computer."

"You know you can buy those online?" Fillmore responded.

"Not the good stuff," Karim waved his hand, "Plus I won't buy music I already own. Do we have a deal or not?"

Fillmore shrugged, "Yeah, that sounds pretty good. I'll head there in the morning."

"Are we done?" Joelle said impatiently, "This film won awards. You can stay and watch if you want, but if you don't have anything else to talk about, but I'm going to press play."

The screen started playing again, and Cornelius stood and watched the movie for a few minutes. It was a strange film and he got tired as the Japanese woman onscreen began to shovel sand into a bucket. He decided to go back upstairs. He tried to find his cord futilely one last time. He tried to save the last of his battery life, so he began to read a book that Ingrid told him to read. He often borrowed books from her, as it was one of the things that kept them connected. He was currently reading a horror novel, Cabal. Ingrid's favorite movie, Nightbreed, was based on it, and every time they watched it she complained about how it bombed at the box office but deserved better. He was honestly enjoying the novel, and he could almost hear Ingrid saying some of the lines.

In the book, the main character, Boone, had a mental disorder that made him see a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist informs Boone that he is responsible for the serial murders and that the police are looking for him. Boone remembered nothing, and runs away. The psychiatrist, in turn, is the killer and trying to pin it on his patient. Boone learns of a pace called Midian, where supernatural beings, "monsters", live peacefully. Boone tries to take shelter with them.

Something about the character of Boone rang hard in Fillmore's head. A man trying to run from police when he'd done nothing wrong really made sense in Fillmore's mind. And even though Boone was white in the movie, as Fillmore read the book, Boone felt more like a man of color. Fillmore read into the night, finally shutting his lights down a little past midnight.

The next morning, Karim woke his son at nine. Cornelius gave a protest about Saturday mornings being sacred but got up groggily anyway. He pocketed his dead cell phone and went downstairs for breakfast. By the time he got to the breakfast table he was feeling better and devoured a dozen of pancakes his mom made. Karim opened a catalog of various music systems as his son inhaled his food. Cornelius listened as his dad showed him the converter he wanted and cut a coupon for 15% off. Fillmore repeated it back before Karim handed him some cash to buy the items, as promised.

Fillmore set out, putting the money in his wallet and headed out.

The shopping trip went pretty much as planned. It took him a little longer to find the right record converter, and he could only allow himself to get the wall plug-in and didn't feel he needed one to fit into his car's cigarette lighter's plug. Plus, he hadn't asked his dad, and would definitely feel a little guilty about it if he did get it.

Heading home by noon, Fillmore rolled the windows down to feel the warm spring air. He could feel the weather wanting to change, the hints of summer reminding him of the beginning of his life. A lot of people had lots of desires and plans to do after graduation, and even though Fillmore knew most of the promises they made as teenagers would inevitably be broken, still, somewhere beyond Ingrid's finals and his graduation, beyond college, he believed that they would find their life together.

Fillmore chuckled at himself, if there was anyone that could make him excited to actually become an adult, it was Ingrid. He found himself smiling as he thought about her, and her influence in his life, and how lucky he felt that she loved him back. It had been so hard without seeing her as often, but they saw each other nearly every week and as often as they could.

Cornelius arrived at his house and carried in Karim's requested record player. Upon seeing him, his dad's face light up, getting up to take the box out of his son's hands. Fillmore started opening the box for his phone's charger.

He barely got his phone into the charger when Joelle came in. She had a manual on Karim's computer.

"Ah, Cornelius! Ingrid called- she couldn't get a hold of you. I told her your phone was dead would be home soon, so give her a call, will you?" She touched his shoulder as she passed, then giving her husband the book she carried.

"Huh, she usually doesn't call on weekends," he mused aloud. He took the home phone, dialing up Ingrid's cell phone.

"We're sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or Is no longer in service," the robotic voice on the other end responded, "If you feel this is in error, please check the number dialed, and please try again."

Fillmore's eyebrows knotted. He redialed, but got the same response, "Hey, Ingrid's phone number isn't working, did she say anything else?" He called to his parents.

Joelle looked up, thinking, "No, she didn't say, but it did seem important."

Fillmore eyed his phone, still charging and still too dead to use, "Uh, I'm going to run to the university to see what's up. It's weird for her to call right now; she probably needs my help with something."

He left his phone to charge, heading to the college. He was a little worried, and he didn't want to be too late to help her. "Don't unplug my phone, I'll be home as soon as I can."

His parents waved him goodbye, already engrossed in their project.

Fillmore arrived at the university, and dashed across campus to get to the student housing Ingrid lived in. At the front door, he had to pause until one of the students came by and used their card to open it for him. The student was Ingrid's RA, Sunny Dinzey, and instantly recognized him.

"Ah, Neil!" she beamed at him. She was always too friendly, and didn't know him well enough to know that he didn't care for the short version of his name, "Are you here to get something?"

Fillmore raised an eyebrow at her as they walked into the dorms, a strange sensation in his stomach. "What?"

Sunny turned, her face twisted into confusion, "Didn't you come to get something she left? Lots of things are still here, but she said that they would be picked up soon."

Fillmore's heart raced, and he instantly jumped into a run toward Ingrid's dorm room. The door was shut, and he immediately started banging on it.

The familiar face of Ingird's roommate, Alex Quarry, opened the door a crack. She looked a little spooked, and she obviously hadn't slept much. It was finals, so that probably explained the tired part, but there was something else there.

"Fillmore," she groaned, rubbing her eyes. She threw open the door, walking tiredly back to the bottom bunk of her bed, "do you know what happened?"

Fillmore's mouth was agape as he looked over at Ingrid's side of the room. It was gone. Her posters of bands he hated, her clothes, her personal books. There were a few boxes, but they were only marked to be taken away.

His stomach dropped, and he leaned against the door frame. "I- I have no idea. She didn't say anything?"

Alex's face contorted, "Well, she was freaked out and in a hurry. She even said she didn't have enough time to sell her textbooks back," the brown-haired girl yawned, shaking herself awake, "Dibs, by the way. She said it was okay."

Fillmore's stomach dropped, eyes wide behind his glasses, he nearly fell over, but allowed himself to just sit on the floor. "Do- do you know where she went?"

Alex's tired face was suddenly concerned, "What? You don't know? She's not here- something happened last night and she started throwing things into boxes. Her sister came in early- like 2 am, luckily I was still awake studying so they didn't bug me," she leaned forward, "Did something bad happen?"

Fillmore was looking at his hands, anxiety forming in him. Part of his brain was trying to come up with theories already, but he couldn't understand what was happening.

He had to get back to his phone, or should he try her dad's place first? Which was more important to get in touch with?

"I've got to go," Cornelius said, getting back up to his feet, "Call me if you find out anything.

"Sure," Alex responded, "Let her know I'm selling her books."

Fillmore ran out, his mind spinning in circles, but only with questions. He threw himself into his truck, pulling out of the parking lot; his mind only on getting in contact with his girlfriend. It took him a full two minutes before he caught the glimpse of red and blue lights in his rearview mirror. His body broke into a cold sweat, stopping and pulling over immediately. His heart was already racing, but now it felt like it was going to come out his throat.

"Ingrid, please be okay," he whispered, then looking in the mirror, he saw the police officer get out of the cab, and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and slowly opened his window, putting the heels of his hands on the steering wheel, his fingers open and touching nothing. He prepared himself, breathing a small prayer, "Please let me be okay, too."

A/N: well, it's longer than the other two chapters, but it needed to be. if you want to beta read for me, please send a message.