Wybie woke lying on his chest, tangled in the bed covers.
Cold white light bathed the room, while bitter air hung about it, making the muscles of his bare back tense and spasm. He sighed and rolled over with one, long, strained movement, opening his eyes to stare at the ceiling, his hand coming to rest on his chest. Wybie was cold lying alone on the bed, he could've easily gotten up to close the window to remedy that of course, but his legs felt stretched, too weak to stand on.
He blinked. Coraline was gone, she must've left through the window some time ago and now he was alone.
Wybie sat up, the blanket pooling in his naked lap, and he looked about the room. Her clothes were gone, but there were traces of her still.
The curved corner of his rug that she would always fold flat was pressed to the ground, his bubbling lava lamp was throwing off an orange glow, as she would always turn it on, and a folded note was sellotaped to his desk lamp.
Wybie wasn't sure whether to feel guilty. He had been so resistant to sleep with her, as much as he had wanted to, and he had given in in the end, because she was so persistent and apparently, had wanted it so much too. Wanted him so much.
As unlikely as that sounded.
So, had she left out of regret?
He supposed that really, there was no point to jump to conclusions when she had left him a note.
He twisted on the mattress and placed his feet on the ground, quickly finding his underwear from the night before and pulling them on as he stood. On his gangly, wobbling legs, Wybie made his way over to his desk and picked the note off from the cardboard lampshade.
It was short, only a few lines, but it was addressed to him and signed with her name.
Wybie,
Thank you for last night, I had no idea how much I needed it until it happened. How much I needed you. You were wonderful.
There was then a large, blank gap on the page, as if the piece of paper she had chosen was ambitiously large for what she had to say.
I needed to go, I ran out of time. Have a good day at work
-Coraline XX
That was positive wasn't it? Odd undoubtedly, but generally positive in regards to him at least. And signed with kisses no less. Plural.
Wybie sighed and placed the note down on his desk, pressing his hand flat against it for a moment,
He then did a very unsteady turn, taking in the whole room again, just to be sure he hadn't missed anything else. No, there was nothing else.
It was just too weird to brush aside though, not just that, it was inexplicable. He had to find her, talk to her. Wybie had known Coraline for five years, but he had barely recognised her that night, something just wasn't right,
He dressed quickly, thinking at the last moment that he was probably in dire need of a shower, but concluding that given the situation, it could probably wait, and he slipped down the stairs, flying past the kitchen doorway on the way to the garage.
"Wyborn!"
Wybie winced and stopped mid-step, backtracking instead,
His grandmother was stood at the kitchen sink, her hands resting in the suds floating on the top of the slightly orange water,
She raised an eyebrow at him, giving him a suspicious look as she often did, "Did you shower this morning child?",
The teen suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious, it was likely that she could just remember the last time the rattling boiler kicked into life and therefore the last time he had washed, but the way she asked made him think she could just smell him from where she stood.
Wybie sighed and shook his head, "No, but I'm in a rush, I'll have one tonight okay?",
"But you haven't had any breakfast!" she added, stepping towards him as he tried to edge away, drying her hands on her apron,
"I'll get something on the way!" he insisted, finally getting to the interior garage door,
His grandmother was all but pursuing him down the hallway though, "Have you got money for that?",
Wybie grabbed his jacket from the work bench as he entered the garage and patted his pockets, grimacing as he found them empty- no keys,
"Wyborn?" she asked again, now watching expectantly from the garage doorway, "Where you goin' in such a rush?",
"To see my friends" he replied, now pulling cushions off of the misshapen couch he had dragged in there a few months ago. The couch cushions hadn't had any spring to them when he had first got it, and now they were even worse, heavy and firm, at the very least the ugly, but faded fabric cover didn't smell of smoke anymore.
"Coraline?" his grandmother asked,
"No" Wybie replied quickly, before shaking his head and throwing down the last cushion in defeat, "Maybe",
"Well do you need money for her birthday present? I know it's coming up soon",
"No, I- I've got that sorted out" he replied, slamming his hands into his pockets again, and shaking them so fiercely, the seams nearly popped,
"Well-"
"Have you seen my keys?" he snapped, cutting her off.
His grandmother quirked her eyebrow again and folded her arms across her chest, looking very unimpressed,
A deep blush grew on Wybie's face, "Sorry" he said quickly,
"Mmm hmm" she replied,
"I'm just in a rush"
"Mmm hmm" she said again, cocking her hip slightly,
"But please, have you seen my keys?"
She took a deep breath, "Manners Wyborn, I expect manners in this house",
"I know!" the teen replied, frowning, "I said I was sorry, and I said please too",
His grandmother still looked mostly unsatisfied, but she nodded softly, and then rose a hand to tap her heart twice.
Wybie's expression went from concern to complete confusion, until finally, it dawned on him,
"Oh!" he sighed, putting his hand to the inside breast pocket of his jacket.
His keys sat at the bottom of it, along with a few crumpled receipts and a musty feeling that clung to his fingertips,
"Thank you" he said with a nod, approaching his bike and putting the key into the ignition,
"You gonna be back any time soon?" his grandmother asked as he pulled the garage door open,
Wybie flinched as freezing rain suddenly hit his face, and he groaned at the sight of the thick grey clouds and pale mist hanging about the road,
"It would be nice to know your schedule" she added,
"No" he responded, answering a little faster then he felt he maybe should've, "I don't know when I'll be back, sorry, but I'll call you at lunch time, and again when I'm heading home" he said, turning towards her. The brunette then reached into the front pocket of his jeans and plucked out his stubby, old phone, brandishing it with promise,
"Well okay then" his grandmother nodded, "Be careful out in that weather, don't need you coming off the road",
"You don't need to tell me" he added, collecting his helmet from the bench, along with his gloves and scarf that were bundled up inside,
"I know, I trust you, it's other fools on the road that I don't" she said with a sigh, now flattening down her apron.
That was true, Wybie had been driving on the roads of Ashland for long enough, and probably knew them better than most people. When his grandmother said she trusted him, he knew she meant it,
"I'll be careful, I promise" he said with a brief smile, before he covered what was becoming a look of concern once more with his scarf, and then pulled on his helmet, holding the fabric in place.
"It's cold, I'm going in" his grandmother then said, shrinking into her clothes,
Wybie lifted his hand in farewell, and proceeded to pull on his gloves, maintaining eye contact with her until the last second, when she closed the garage door and retreated back into the house.
As soon as she was out of sight, he let out a long sigh, making a hot, close feeling collect around his covered mouth,
He stepped over to his bike and straddled it, placing one foot steadily on the ground, and using the other to flip the kick stand out of the way,
The weight shifted on his leg and pressed against his inner thigh, that was anything but a new sensation however, and without a pause he turned the waiting key in the ignition.
Nearly four-hundred and thirty pounds of metal growled to life beneath him, and settling comfortably against the seat, Wybie twisted the throttle, letting the bike pull out of his garage and taper slowly a little distance down the drive way,
He rested it against the soaked fence panels that separated the house from the wilderness, and they immediately bent against the weight.
Wybie dismounted and rushed back to the house, slamming the garage door shut, making it wobble and shudder, before heading back to the motorbike, the seat of which was already covered by fat speckles of rain water,
There wasn't time to doing anything about it though, and to the best of his ability, Wybie ignored the unpleasant feeling of the water soaking through his jeans as he sat back on the leather.
Regretting his lack of goggles, Wybie then gripped the throttle again, sending the bike lurching across the blacktop, the rain streaking off of him as he flew through the grey forest.
0o0o0
The ride up to Coraline's house didn't take long at all, but by the time Wybie got there, he was already soaked through.
He rolled the bike over to a spot on the grass where the patio roof hung over and kicked down the stand so it was propped up in the shelter. Splashing through one large puddle, he then made his way to the stairs, heading for the front door.
It opened as he approached, and Coraline's mother peered out at him, wincing at the weather,
"Wybie?"
"Yeah, hi Mrs Jones" he nodded, pulling his sopping wet scarf from his mouth, and wiping away the raindrops that were clinging to his eyelashes, blurring his vision,
"Get inside!" she called, opening the door wider, giving him a larger gap to enter through.
Wybie jogged up the steps to the patio, and plodded to the door, leaving muddy footprints leading up to it,
"What're you doing here?" Mel asked, watching as he began to drip onto her welcome mat,
"I came to see Coraline" he replied, stripping off his gloves,
"She's at work, isn't she?"
The brunette frowned, "Oh" he replied, pulling off his helmet, "I guess she must be, sorry, I didn't realise",
Mel folded her arms but nodded, "Well you may as well stay here to dry off anyway, the rain might quieten down still. Let me get you a towel"
"Thank you" he nodded, starting to feel the bitter chill of being in wet clothes.
She opened the cabinet beneath the stairs and pulled out an old beach towel, tossing it to Wybie who was waiting patiently at the still open door, trying to keep from getting her carpet too wet,
"Thanks" he said again, wrapping it around his neck, and beginning to unbutton his jacket,
"Leave your shoes on the patio, and pass me your coat, I'll hang it up next to the boiler" Mel said, offering him a hand to take it,
Wybie nodded and peeled off the now very heavy denim jacket, handing it over to her once he had finally gotten it off, "Here",
"Great" she nodded, undoubtedly derisively, looking even a little offended by the drenched garment. She draped it over a hanger and went back to the cupboard to put it away, "Can I get you anything, a hot drink maybe?",
"No, I'm alright thank you" he replied, dabbing his clothes with the towel,
"If your sure" Mel shrugged, "Coraline must've gone to the shop pretty early this morning, we didn't see her at breakfast",
Wybie's brow furrowed, he thought it best not to tell her where her daughter had really spent the night, the majority of it at least, "Oh, did she say anything about starting early?",
"No" her mother replied, "But when was the last time she was courteous enough to share her plans with anyone?",
The teen frowned. It was true, Coraline had a tendency to just do as she pleased, without telling anyone just what that was, especially recently.
"Would you mind if I went to her room?" he asked, smiling softly,
Mel quirked an eyebrow at him, "Why?"
Wybie blushed, "Well- it's her birthday soon-"
"I know, she is my daughter Wybie" she said cutting him off, looking more suspicious by the second.
Mel mostly approved of Wybie as a friend of Coraline's, but she was still a little sceptical about her having a male friend in her room so often, especially at their age,
Given the current situation, the teen was feeling even more awkward then usual in regards to the implications she was suggesting with her suspicion.
"I just want to make sure she hasn't already got her present" he shrugged, "You know, I want to make sure she hasn't already got the same thing that I've bought her",
Mel stood silently for a moment, staring at him, "Alright" she shrugged, "But don't be too long",
"Ten minutes" he said with a nod,
"Go on" she concluded, "I'll be in the kitchen",
Wybie slipped his shoes off as she had told him to, and left them just outside the door, before he closed it behind him and started up the stairs- his wet socks leaving damp patches everywhere he stepped.
Climbing to the top of the house, the brunette made a beeline to Coraline's room as always, and sidled into the dark room, not wanting to touch anything if he could avoid it.
With the lights off, only the glow from the windows at the far end of the room allowed him light to see by, and they were casting a dim grey tint to everything,
Nothing seemed out of place or out of the ordinary, it was just Coraline's room as he knew it.
Over the years since she had moved to the Pink Palace, it had gotten a little more cluttered, and the once childish figurines and stuffed animals had been replaced with more age appropriate trinkets, most of which probably could've been mistake for odd symbols of the occult by those who didn't look close enough.
Coraline didn't believe in a lot of things, despite what she had been through as a child, but it didn't stop her from having a huge light up salt crystal on her desk for example. There was a collection of dream catchers hanging from her tall bed frame, many of which Mable had wound for her. And there was even a large bare branch of a contorted hazel tree propped up in one corner of her room, something which she and Wybie had found on a walk once, and that he had jokingly said she should take home, her being a 'water witch' and all.
Coraline was never one to back down from a challenge of course.
Then there were the smaller things, traces of her other friends, such as the few zombie statuettes Norman had gotten her the Christmas after they started working at the video store together, or the hand whittled dragonfly that Dipper had carved.
There was absolutely nothing to indicate where Coraline was now though, as she certainly wasn't here, and apparently had been for a few hours at least.
Wybie thought back to the night before, trying to remember what she had been wearing,
Unfortunately, his mind immediately went to how she had actually been wearing rather little, and he blushed ferociously as he pictured her in his lap again.
He shook his head and attempted to focus once more,
He thought back to when she was still wearing her shirt, still sat atop him of course, but mostly clothed at least.
It had been some plain dark shirt, but not her work uniform, so it stood to reason that if she was at work now, she would've had to have come back to her house to get dressed for it. It was best to check though he concluded, his eyes falling to her wardrobe,
Wybie frowned and approached the large dark wood box, grabbing a handle in each hand the pulling the doors open.
It didn't help that everything Coraline wore -including her work uniform- was all on the same amorphous scale of dark fabric.
The brunette sighed and considered searching through the clothes, the hung-up shirts at least, but thought better than to touch his friend's intimates… even if he had recently done some rather intimate touching of that friend.
At the sight of a pair of her underwear lying in the top of the hamper which had been shoved into the wardrobe, Wybie's face lit up with a burning flush, and he slammed the wardrobe doors shut.
As far as he could tell, her work uniform hadn't been in there, that was the only take away he would admit to.
He sighed scratched the back of his head,
"Find what you were looking for?"
Wybie nearly jumped out of his skin at hearing the question, but instead opted to jumping to face the bedroom door instead,
Mel was stood watching him from the doorway, her arms folded,
"Oh- no" he replied, folding his hands behind his back.
She tilted her head a little and raised one eyebrow, pursing her lips, "What did you get her anyway?",
"What?"
"What did you get Coraline for her birthday?",
Wybie shrugged and dropped his eyes to avoid her gaze, "I don't want to say, it's going to be a surprise",
"Well I won't tell her" Mel replied, tutting, "I probably won't even see her that much, she doesn't even want me at her birthday", she sounded more than a little bitter.
"I know" the teen nodded, "I know you won't tell-" he then added, clarifying what he meant, "But I really want it to be a secret Mrs Jones, sorry",
She huffed and unfolded her arms, "Alright", she then sighed and shoved her hands into her jeans pockets, "Look Wybie, you should probably go, Coraline probably wouldn't appreciate you hanging around in here while she's not about",
"Absolutely" he said, nodding fiercely, "I'll get out of your hair",
He passed her swiftly in the doorway after that, knowing that she'd want to follow him all the way into the rain to make sure he left the house.
Sure enough, Mel held open the front door of the apartment for him as he pulled on his sopping shoes, and warm but still wet jacket, and she even watched as he ventured back out into the rain to get onto his bike.
0o0o0
During the drive into town, the rain began to stave off, but by the time Wybie pulled up outside the video store, it was still damp enough to keep people off the street.
He left the grey exterior of the town, and entered the warm but dark interior of the shop, signalling his entrance with the bell which rattled above him when the door opened,
The store was dead, but that wasn't the effect of the weather, that was how it usually was.
Wybie, his shoulders shrugged close to his ears and his hands shoved in his pockets, walked straight down the centre of the large room, passing the stacks and shelves full of films on both sides, and stopped at the empty till desk at the end, which was currently unmanned, or indeed, un-womaned.
He frowned and placed his still gloved hand on the bell that sat on the desk, and it let out a little ring,
A crash came from the back-room seconds later, and the door beyond the table opened, making artificial orange light stain the dark purple walls of the store,
An older gentleman stumbled out, adjusting his glasses as he went, and gaping at Wybie who was giving him a weak smile.
His name was Alec, and he owned the place. He was nice, if not a bit dim, and no one had the heart to tell him that no one rented DVDs anymore, especially now that streaming was so well established. It had been hard enough to get him to convert to DVDs after renting out videos for so long, but thankfully Coraline and Norman, both employees of his had never been involved in that first hand, they had only told the tales from older employees who had since left.
"Wemby?" Alec asked, slumping over to the desk, and gripping the back of the chair that rested behind it,
"Wybie" he corrected, as he always had to, "I was just wondering if Coraline was in?",
"Caroline?" the old man responded, looking incredibly befuddled, "No, no. She was due to start at ten as usual, but she never came in",
Wybie wrinkled his brow, "Well did you try getting in contact with her?",
"No, no" Alec repeated, "Usually I'd mind, but with the weather as it is…" he trailed off, his eyes staring at the outside beyond the dozens of windows that made up two of the exterior walls, "I thought I'd best let her off today",
"Okay… well thank you" the brunette said, nodding to him and giving another awkward smile,
"I'll tell her you dropped by if she comes in" he said in response, "See you later Wemby".
As much as he wanted to avoid being out in the rain, Wybie definitely didn't want to hang around in the video store any longer than he needed to, and once he left the shop, he rushed across the street to a boutique of some kind which had left up it's shop wide cover out front.
He forced his phone out of his tight, soggy pocket and flipped it open, thankful to see that it has been left mostly undamaged by the rain,
Scrolling through his contacts, he realised that he had very little option when it came to who he should call. He knew that at the moment Coraline wasn't really on good terms with most people, so she would not only likely not be with them, but they wouldn't be willing to help him find her either.
Wybie knew one person who there was still a chance with however, and when he came to the number, he didn't hesitate to dial it.
The line rang a few times, and then there a click,
The teen perked up a little, taking a deep breath in to reply to whatever welcome he was about to receive,
The voice that came however was pre-recorded,
'Hi, you've reached Norman at the supernatural hotline. I'm not going to be able to answer the phone right now, I'm too busy fighting witches and zombies and talking to ghosts' -there was a giggle in the background, probably from Neil- 'Regular Norman hours will begin again soon, if it's urgent leave me a message. Thanks'
The generic voicemail message then began, but Wybie hung up the call before it started recording.
He sighed,
There were no options left now, well, there was one, but they weren't going to like it.
0o0oo0
As Wybie rode up to Gravity Falls, it was as though the clouds began to part to welcome him, and by the time he was driving through the forest at just past midday, the sun had mostly dried off his clothes.
It was when the shape of the Mystery Shack became obvious between the trees that he realised that he probably should've at least tried to call ahead, but now he supposed it was far too late for that,
The road ahead curved, and Wybie followed the turn through the foliage, and out into the clearing that the shack stood in.
As he grumbled up the short driveway, he noticed a figure on the lawn watching his approach, clearly distracted by the loud engine of the bike. The figure was tall and slender, although not as lanky or skinny as Wybie himself. He was holding a spade in both of his hands, his pale wrists led up to sharp elbows which were crowned with the messily rolled up cuffs of a plaid shirt. He wore a pair of ragged grey jeans, and his usual blue pine tree hat over his chestnut hair, which was definitely on the wrong side of a haircut.
Wybie winced at the sight of him and slowed the bike to a stop near the entrance of the mystery shack, leaving it propped up in the sun.
He bit his lip and approached the other teenager, raising one hand in a half wave, "Hey, I realise you probably don't want to see me, but-"
"I haven't got a problem with you Wybie" Dipper said quickly, gripping the handle of his spade with both hands, "We're friends"
"I know, and we are, we definitely are" he replied, "It's just that I know-" he coughed awkwardly, "-obviously, I'm close with Coraline, and I know that you and she aren't really- aren't really talking right now",
Dipper frowned, but said nothing, instead pressing his boot onto the top of the blade of the spade, making it sink into the ground, "Why're you here then? To talk about her?",
Wybie shrugged, "Kinda"
The other boy sighed and stopped his digging before it had really begun, "Has she told you to-" he paused and shook his head, "What's she done?",
"It's less, what has she done, and more, where has she gone" he replied, "You haven't seen her in the last twenty-four hours have you?"
Dipper frowned, "What? No, of course not" he said, shaking his head, "After what she said to Mabel, I hardly think she'd come around here. What happened?",
Wybie frowned, unsure of exactly how much detail to go into, "Well, I saw her yesterday, and she was acting kind of weird, she didn't seem herself",
"Sounds like her usual personality recently, but I guess if anyone would notice something odd about her, it would be you"
"Yeah, well, she did, she seemed off" the taller said, nodding and putting his hands in his pockets, "And now, well now I can't find her anywhere",
Dipper frowned and shrugged, "Did you ask her parents?" he asked, begrudgingly showing a little interest,
"Yeah, her mom thought she was just in work",
"And?"
"Alec's the only one there" he answered, shaking his head, "I checked her room too, I don't think she went back there after being at my place last night",
The other paused and raised an eyebrow, "She was at your house last night?" he asked, "Did she stay over?",
Wybie hoped he wasn't blushing, but it was hard to tell under the warmth of the sun, "I- I don't really know" he mumbled,
"You don't know?",
"Yeah, I just fell asleep, and when I woke up in the morning she was gone, I guess she could've gone at any time",
The other brunette frowned, "You know what she's like, she's probably just gone up to Portland or something",
"No, no, I'm sure that's not it" he insisted,
Dipper looked up at him, "Why are you so sure?",
Wybie faltered and bit his lip briefly, "It just feels too weird",
"Weird? Weird like how?",
He took a breath to steady himself, "Weird like- well you know, weird like, our kind of weird",
The phrase 'our kind of weird' while innocuous enough to the normal person, if not a little grammatically upsetting, had a much greater effect on Wybie and his circle of friends.
Dipper breathed deep too, and with his heavy grip on the spade, it sunk deeper into the thick mud, "Are you absolutely sure Wybie? You know what that means",
"I know, and it's not a joke, or just something to get you to help me. I really mean it" he said nodding, almost pleading with the other teenager to be believed,
"Okay" he nodded, finally lifting his hands and rubbing them together to get the sting of friction to subside,
"'Okay'?" Wybie asked, watching him,
"Okay, I'll help" Dipper said, nodding to him.