Quick Overview: Do not own RFR, but I wish I did, then the show would keep going on forever! Anyway, last chapter left out with Travis leaving on his journey. This is the finale chapter, hope you all enjoy it and thanks to all that became a fan on my fanfic. Sorry for the long wait. I can not believe the show ended. And there's a bit of a spoiler from the finale episode…Well, on with the story.
Chapter Six: Finale Chapter
Days passed and no one heard a single word from Travis. Lily was on the verge of a breakdown and there was nothing Robbie or Ray could say to comfort her as the days ticked by. The trio was not the only ones that noticed Travis's absent. Surprising, the whole school started to catch on that their 'weird new' guy was missing. Principal Waller also took note and tried calling Travis's parents to notify them of his absent at school, reaching no one on the other end though. This confused Waller a bit and wondered if Travis even had any parents, or a home no less.
"I can't believe he just up and left like that. This is really tearing Lily apart…" Robbie stated while he sat next to Ray in forth bell at school, five days all ready passing by with no sign of Travis. Lily was at home, called in "sick" and Robbie thought it was a perfect opportunity to talk to Ray about Travis, not wanting Lily to cry and such while they discussed this.
"Yeah…" was Rays only response, for he knew how much this was upsetting Lily. And what really ticked him off was that he could not do anything to help her out her state of despair.
"Aren't you concerned, Ray?" Robbie asked, wanting Ray's help.
"You already know I am! I can't stand how helpless I feel. I can't stand seeing Lily beating herself over this. I mean, I've been her friend since forever and have always been there for her, you and me both. But now, it's like she's becoming a stranger to us, not being herself and everything. I just can't stand it."
Robbie sighed and turned some of his attention to the front of the class, where the English teacher was going over a Shakespearean work. He was glad they were in the back of the class, not wanting the teacher to scold them for talking while he gave a lesson.
"Look, we need to form a plan." Robbie stated, pulling out a blank piece of paper, pencil posed in his right hand.
"A plan? No plan right now will help us right now. All we can do is wait for him to come back, like it said on his message." Ray said, running a hand through his dark brown hair, sighing a bit.
"We can't just wait around, we have to do something now, before Lily does something stupid again like k-" Robbie stopped short on his sentence, remembering he never told Ray that Lily had a knife out and was ready to slice her arm that night Ray and Travis fought.
Ray glanced at Robbie, raising an eyebrow. "Say what? Tell me you weren't about to say what I think you were going to say."
"Uh…" Robbie mentally kicked himself for letting the cat out of the bag, well, at least partly. Damn Ray for catching him in a faux pas.
"Finish it, Robbie."
"Well, you see…Remember that night Lily ran off and you told me to check up on her?"
"Yeah" Ray said simply, wanting Robbie to get to the point. He did not want to remember that night, for he was trying to block the sight of Lily's tear stained face out of his mind.
"Well…She…"
Meanwhile With Travis…
Travis walked along the long narrowing railroad tracks. He did not know where he was going, but he knew that he needed to leave Roscoe for a while, to clear his cobweb-like thoughts. He kicked a small pebble about while he walked, looking at the ground. He had to decide what he was going to do. While he loved Lily a great deal, he did value the friendship he built with Ray. He did not want to lose neither, but he knew he had to. There was no way he could be with Lily and still have Ray as a friend, just no way. And what about Robbie? He would most likely take Ray's side, for they have been friends for a long time. While Travis contemplated more, he stopped walking and sat next to the tracks. 'Maybe it would be best I left Roscoe all together…"
Outside of Lily's House…
Ray and Robbie walked along the sidewalk leading to Lily's house. Ray was enraged, to say the least and Robbie could only blame himself for it. When he told Ray what happened with Lily and what she almost did to herself, Ray lost it, storming out of school in the middle of class. Robbie had no choice but to follow, for he did not want Ray to be blinded by his emotions and do anything foolish to Lily, or to himself.
Ray rounded the side of the house and headed straight for the basement, where he knew the door would be unlocked. He went down the three steps and swung the door.
"Lily!" Ray shouted.
Lily sat up from the couch, startled, rubbing her slightly red eyes. Her gaze focus on the open door and saw Ray and Robbie in the doorframe. She frowned slightly, confused on why they were here and not at school.
"Ray? What are you…" She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence, because Ray ran over to her and grabbed her up in a huge bear hug, holding her tight.
"Damn it, Lily. Damn you…" Ray's body shook with tears, not caring if it did not look macho of him to cry. Robbie could only stand back, and make sure Ray controlled himself.
"Ray, what's wrong? Is it Travis? Is he hurt?" Lily asked, dreading the worst.
Ray shook his head slowly. "This isn't about Travis. Lily, why…Why did you even consider doing that to yourself? Don't you know by now how much you mean to me? I know, this is not the time to say this and it will probably never be the right time, but, Lily, you need to know. I love you. I love you so much, it hurts, watching you worry only Travis and never, ever considering me more than a friend. I know it seems down right selfish for me to be saying this, considering, but…Lily, please, please do not kill yourself!"
Lily blinked, Ray's whole confession astounding her until the end part, where it confused her. "Kill myself? When…Oh! Ray, I would never do that, I don't even know why I had the damn knife in the first place. Even if Robbie didn't come in when he did, I wouldn't have gone through with it. Know why? Because I know how much that would hurt you and Robbie, and Travis. I knew that you all cared for me in your own ways and to even attempt doing that…I was stupid for even considering it."
Ray looked up at Lily's face, noting the slight puffiness in her eyes, the tint of red and her watered down smile on her face. He held onto her, not wanting to let go.
Robbie eased his way out of the room, knowing for sure that there would no fighting going on and that they needed to be alone to work this out. He silently wished them the best of luck and started his plan on bringing Travis back to them.
The minutes ticked by, Ray not letting Lily go, the room silent until he could not stand it anymore. "Lily…"
"Yeah?"
"I love you." He had to repeat it, he just had to. He was not sure she heard him the first time, because he knew he ran on in his confession.
Lily closed her eyes, not believing what she was about to say. "I…I love you too, Ray."
"As a friend, right?" Ray asked, needing the clarification.
"…More than that."
"What about Travis?..."
"I've realized that, while I felt sad and lonely that he left, I knew you would be there. You've always been there for me. And while I like Travis, it's just not the same as how I feel for you. We have a history, which I value and I want to create even more history and memories with you."
Ray could not believe it. He let Lily go slowly and looked at her. "You're not just saying that, are you?"
"No. I really want to be with you, Ray. You probably think I'm fickle and I probably don't deserve your love and…" her rambling was stopped as Ray kissed her lightly on the lips. He pulled back with a smile.
"Did anyone ever tell you, you talk too much sometimes?"
Lily punched him in the arm, smiling a bit. "Shut up and kiss me again."
And he did.
Meanwhile with Robbie…
Robbie sat in the RFR radio station. He knew no one would show up for the broadcasting, but he could dream, right? He hoped Lily and Ray made up, because he knew it would be a shame if they did not, even if they had to remain as friends. Robbie closed his eyes. He needed to think his plan through. Just as he pulled some notebook paper out, he heard the door creaked open. Robbie glanced over and could not believe his eyes.
"Travis!" Robbie got up and rushed over to him, almost tripping on a wire on the floor. "My god man, where did you run off to?"
Travis just shook his head. "All will be explained once I have everyone present."
Robbie blinked and glanced at the black and white clock on the wall. It read 2:14PM.
"Well, Ray and Lily won't be here until 4, most likely."
Travis nodded then realized something. "Wait, how come you're not at school?"
"Uh, yeah, about that…" Robbie could not believe his luck, or lack of it therefore. He had to tell the story again, and he did not know how Travis would react to it. "Well, you see.."
Soon the time reached 3:58PM and Ray and Lily rushed into the room.
"Sorry we're late-" Lily began, then noticed Travis sitting in the tech booth. It was as if he never left and that the whole escapade was some surreal dream. "Travis!"
Lily ran over and into the booth, hugging Travis and squeezing him before he had time to react. He tentatively hugged her back. "Hey, Lily."
"Don't 'Hey, Lily' me! We were worried sick about you! Where did you go?"
Travis sighed and pried Lily off of him gently. He wanted to change the subject on why she had that damn knife, but he contemplated that it was irreversible at that moment. "I have something I need you all to know."
Lily took her seat, as did Ray. Travis came out of the tech booth and stood before his Roscoe friends. They were truly his friends, he knew this and he hoped they would accept what he had to say next.
"I'm leaving Roscoe in two days. I did not decide this myself, for it was my father. He wants me to come back home to Hong Kong. I am truly sorry for the short notice and I hope that if I ever come back, I can meet up with you all and carry on as if I never left."
Ray and Lily stared at Travis in disbelief. Robbie sat silent, for he all ready knew the news.
"What! No, you can't leave, Travis. There has to be a way for you to stay." Lily said, tears threatening to fall from her eyes and upon her cheeks for the second time that day.
"Yeah, man. I think the journey you took did something with your mind. I'm sorry for the way I treated you recently and I really hope you're not leaving because of that." Ray stated.
Travis shook his head. "No. I would never leave because we had a feud, to put it mildly."
"We're really going to miss you, Travis…" Lily said in a shaky voice, a tear escaping her left eye. Travis walked over and wiped it away gently.
"Do not cry over this. I'm used to my life always being on the go."
"But we're not! Can't Roscoe be your permanent home?"
Travis shook his head, again. "I'm afraid not. Look at it this way, while I may not be here physically, if you guys keep me in your memories, then it is like I never left."
"It won't be the same without you, though." Robbie said, coming into the conversation.
"Don't worry, I'll keep in touch. Well, I'll try to anyway. Anyway, we better get the show going; we're already 15 minutes behind schedule."
They did the show, all of them knowing it would very well be their last one together as a whole. While the mood was a bit sullen in the station, it was also wistful, in a way. They all realized that they could not do RFR forever, and that their lives were changing and that was okay with them.
The show soon ended and they all stood up to leave.
"I guess this is it, huh?" Ray said, smiling sadly a little.
Travis nodded and placed a hand on Ray's shoulder. "For the moment, yes. I believe, we will meet again some day." Travis patted Ray's shoulder before making his way over to Lily. She looked a bit distraught and she tried to smile but failed miserably. She pulled Travis into a huge hug, crying a bit.
"Don't forget to write, okay?"
Travis smiled gently and patted her back. "I won't." He pulled away from her softly and touched her cheek. "Take good care of her, Ray."
Ray nodded and hugged Lily from behind while Travis went over to Robbie.
"You were the first I met here and I value all the time we shared together. You're a great friend and it was nice having you mediate us when things got difficult." Travis hugged the slightly taller guy, ending it with a somewhat simple handshake.
Robbie smiled thoughtfully. "If you…No, when you come back, you know where to find us, man. Just turn into 88.3FM"
Travis nodded. "Well, I better pack my things. I'll keep you all in my thoughts always."
The trio nodded as Travis walked out of the station for the last time.
Meanwhile in Principal Waller's Office.
'That was their last broadcast?' Waller thought as he turned off his small radio. He could not help but feel a bit…Sad at that thought. Sure they were miscreants and started a bit of trouble at the school, but Waller had to admit, at least to himself, that it made the school years interesting and a little exciting. Waller sighed and ran a hand down his red tie. 'Well, I guess it is for the best,' Waller thought, getting up to leave and heading home.
Back At the Station.
"RFR is over. Can you believe it?" Robbie asked his best friends of many years as they walked along the railroad tracks to their homes.
"It's not truly over, remember? The station will always be if ever wanted to come back." Lily said, her hand secured in Ray's.
"And look at it like these railroad tracks here. They go on forever, they take us to places we've never encountered before. And sure, the tracks have rusted and have been forgotten about at the turn of the century, but they're still here. They have been here since we were little and will remain. And I bet, if we walked far enough, it'll lead us to Travis and vise versa." Ray stated, surprised that he could think up such a thought out analogy.
Lily and Robbie stared at him for a few heartbeats before laughing joyously.
"Wow, Ray, I didn't think you had it in you to sound that profound." Lily said, earning a slight pinch on her hand from Ray.
"Really, man. For a second there, I thought Travis was right here with us." Robbie laughed a bit again, then his smiled faded around the edges, the realization of Travis being gone from their lives hitting him like a freight train.
Ray saw the smile diminish as Robbie looked up at the azure sky thoughtfully. Ray swung an arm around Robbie's shoulders and nudged him. "Don't be so glum, chum."
Robbie smiled again. "You're right, you know? About the train tracks and all. I'm sure our paths will cross again some day."
They trio walked along, Lily humming a bit as they made their way home, the sun setting in nice hues of red, orange, and pink.
END