iv. Slow and Simple

A long silence overcame the two as Tommy continued to stare right at the shorter teen. As they stood in the dreadful quietness that tempted to eat them alive, noise slowly started to ease its way in. The sounds of shuffling feet and conversations of younger teenagers maneuvered their way around the couple as neither of the two dared to move or speak. Their eyes were locked onto each other, lips tight and a solemn expression on their face.

Bodies pushed them back and forth as they stood in the middle of the hallway, Tommy's things getting stepped over as if they were nothing. One person actually gave the taller teen a playful push which was then followed by a pat on the back and a wink towards his girlfriend. After another long moment, he finally spoke.

"You're kidding, right?" Tommy questioned, which was then followed with nervous laugh. "Surely he's just at home sleeping in?"

Kimi slowly shook her head, trying her best to ignore the comments that she was hearing around them. A shaky breath left her mouth before she hugged herself. "I'm not joking Tommy." Pausing, she took another breath. "I couldn't even joke about this even if I tried."

"You have to be!" Tommy nearly shouted, weariness clear in his voice. His body nearly shook as he raised his hands to his head. "This would never happen!"

Face falling, Kimi reached a hand out to him which was soon pushed away. "Tommy..." she started, feeling suddenly even worse than she already was. "I'm not joking! God, I wish I was but I'm not!"

Shaking his head, he reached out to Kimi and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Look me straight in the eyes, and tell me you're not kidding."

Just as Kimi was about to speak, she faltered and that was the moment that the multitude of tears began to roll down her cheeks. Her lower lip quivered as she attempted to keep her cries quiet, not wanting anymore attention drawn onto the two of them. It was already as bad as it was; word was already around about the two of them having sex. And now the word of Chuckie (and Trevor) missing was gradually getting around, causing people to stop and stare at them.

Though muffled sobs, Kimi was able to get out "I'm not joking". And he knew that was the truth.

With a long breath, he slowly let go of her shoulders and let reality sink in. He felt numb, like nearly everything that was good in his life was snatched right away from him. His mind wanted to go blank while his body wanted to collapse and never move again. The thought of his best friend missing hell, it meant that he was dead, who was he kidding- was too much for him to handle.

But yet, he didn't even have it as bad as Kimi.

Chuckie was her brother: her older, supportive and (generally) caring brother that'd do anything to protect her. She knew him for as probably as long as she could remember (and the same went for him); she knew him as the scardy cat, the kid who'd support her when she was teased, the kid who finally agreed for her to date Tommy.

And now, well, he was gone. He was a part of their lives that they couldn't get back. There would be no more adventures to the comic book store at late at night, or trips to the computer store so he could replace his speakers because Phil busted them and didn't mention it when he returned them. No. There was no more of that. Now the silence that was going to be in the Finster household was going to be deathly.

Glancing left, and then right, Tommy took a short breath before picking up his things before anyone else stepped on them. His eyes fell on Kimi, who tried to cease her tears before more people stared at her. Reaching out his free arm, he put it around her and motioned her to move, which she complied to.

"We're leaving." He uttered, pulling her closer to him. They maneuvered slowly against the crowd, eyes staring at them; some sincere and others applauding. He lowered his sight to the ground, not bothering to look others in the eyes who didn't understand the pain that they were going through.

How would they know?

By the time they exited the school, the bell for the first block rang. Neither flinched or showed any concern for missing school: the shell shock was too powerful.

They walked all the way, neither wanting to ask for a ride from anyone. The thought of just going into a car was enough for tears to make their way back to Kimi's eyes and well, Tommy thought she had cried enough for one morning. And so, they took the hour walk home, listening to the birds chirp and cars race by without a worry. The peacefulness was a tease- while their lives turned to a living hell, everything else continued to be happy and act like nothing ever happened.

It was an hour walk from the school to Kimi's house (- he originally thought his house, but he quickly remembered that his mother was home), with a break about half way to use the bathroom at the gas station. By the time they had made it there, the two of them sighed in relief, however it was quickly followed by a solemn groan as the thought of Chuckie came back to them. Placing their things by the front door, they took off their shoes and move slowly though the house. There wasn't a need to rush anything.

Passing by the kitchen, the phone began to ring.

Kimi's dark orbs glazed over it for a moment before she took a long glance at Tommy who shrugged his shoulders in response. She solemnly moved towards the phone and reached out to it while checking the caller id. Fortunately, it wasn't the school.

"Hello, this is the Finster residence. Kimi speaking." She choked out, swallowing back another threatening sob.

The other end was quiet for a moment before the teenager heard a shallow breath come from the other end. "Ki...mi?"

Narrowing her eyes, the latter pressed the phone closer to her ear: attempting to hear more of the other end. "Yes, this is she." She uttered while motioning Tommy to come closer. He complied and hugged her from behind, bringing his ear close to the phone as well. "Who is this?"

The other end began to sound scratchy as the silence pressed on. She attempted to hear for words- or anything really that would tell her who or what was calling, but the fuzziness that continued to grow was nearly irratating. "Ch..."

Furrowing her brow, Kimi turned to look at Tommy who shrugged in response. Though there was plenty of curiosity of who was calling and what their intentions were, by this point the teen was beginning to become annoyed. "Sir, I'm sorry, but you're breaking up."

"Kimi.." Tommy muttered before giving her a squeeze and taking the phone from her. Letting out a cough, he placed the phone to his ear and got a better hearing of the call. Through bits and pieces, he was able to hear what he could only assume the wilderness, and of a dying battery.

"H..."

And just as Tommy was about to speak, the line went dead and the dial tone blasted into his ear. Scrunching up his nose, he slowly hit the hang up button and let out a long breath before placing the phone down on its charger. "That was weird."

Kimi merely nodded as she stepped away from him and into the kitchen. "Do you want anything to eat?"

Folding his arms, Tommy shrugged. "You pick something; I'll be waiting in your room." Leaning over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek, he attempted a smile and traversed up the stairs two at a time.

From downstairs, he could hear the fridge door open before he closed Kimi's door behind him. A sudden rush of lilacs and other assorted flowers flourished Tommy's senses as he maneuvered farther into her room. Tugging his sweatshirt over his head, he carelessly tossed it aside and flopped onto the girl's bed. Rolling over, his eyes took in the details of her ceiling as he put both of his hands underneath his head.

With a long, needed breath, Tommy closed his eyes and let himself relax. The only thing he wanted at the moment was all of his problems to go away: for everything to be perfect just as he imagined life would be. A perfect life, where Chuckie was still there-where he knew the gang wasn't falling apart.

Though, it seemed that was only a dream at this point. A dream that'd never come real.

Hours later Tommy awoke to the sniffles of a fragile girl to his left. Rubbing his eyes in slight confusion, he turned his head in the opposite direction to check the time. In a blood red color, they read 12:42.

With a muffled moan, he looked back over at the teenager who managed a small smile when their eyes met. However, that shortly faded once her lips parted and she spoke carefully. "They found some tiretracks, off a road near Trevor's."

"No shit," he mumbled before tugging her closer to him. With ease, Kimi sat up and leaned over him while fixing her hair. "Are they from Ch- his car?"

Her face faltered briefly; she was slowly getting accustomed to the fact that Chuckie was missing and/or dead. "That's what the officers are assuming." Shrugging her shoulders, she pressed her hands against his own gently. "There hasn't been any other accidents besides y'know... Chuckie's."

Suddenly Tommy's face lightened up and he practically jumped up while putting his hands on Kimi's waist. "Does that mean they found him?!"

"No."

And as quickly as the hope came, it was washed away. A solemn look overcame his features as he slumped slightly.

"They followed the tracks for as long as they could." Kimi said softly as she swung a leg over him and straddled him, which easily earned his attention. "His... car went down a hill, at least that's what they said. Half way down the hill they lost track of it, they assume the rain from last night washed away the rest."

His eyes closed for a moment before they scanned her figure. "But they know what road he went off from, yeah?" Smiling at her, he kissed her on the lips gently. "You know, I have an idea."

Quircking a brow, Kimi managed a smile. "What exactly do you have in mind?"

"Let's go on an aventure; like old times." He proposed, taking her hands in his. "We'll.. search for Chuckie! I mean, it's the most we could do-"

"Tommy, I don't think that's exactly a good idea."

However, the rugrats leader was not going down without a fight. "We don't have to go for long- just an hour or two! I just... I just want to see him again."

And like a bullet to her chest, Kimi died inside.

"Fine." She uttered after a couple long moments of silence. With a straight face she leaned back and then let go of his hands. "Just this once. I... I don't know if I'm even stable for this. God Tommy.."

"Hey hey," with a soft voice, he cupped her face and kissed her forehead. "You got me- sure, I'm not like Chuckie, but I will be here for you. I'm here to support you through this; nothing's going to push me away. I promise."

Smiling, Kimi beamed at him before leaning forward and locking their lips. Tommy gladly accepted her offer and moved his hands to her back, feeling her down before parting his lips slightly and pressed his tongue against her soft lips. She agreed after a moment and offered her own, which Tommy shortly found.

Just as his hands began to find their way to the hem of her jeans, she abruptly pulled herself away and bit down on her lip. And as much as he wanted to get the okay to continue, something inside him told him it was best not to; let the moment die.

"67 Righaway Lane."

Blinking in response, it took Tommy a moment to comprehend what she had said. And after a long moment, he nodded slowly and took his hands away. The last thing he needed was to be a horrible guy after making that notable speech.

Kimi released a breath before getting off him, mentally noting that she'd repay him later for his actions and words. Though, at the moment, she really shouldn't be thinking about such thing. Surely she'd dubbed as a horrible person if she ever even considered having sex with Tommy after loosing Chuckie.

However, she was already getting messages calling her a slut and nasty looks from other girls.

Internally shaking her head, the violet haired teen stood up and stretched briefly. "How are we getting there?"

"Walking, I guess." Was Tommy's delayed response as he pulled his sweatshirt over his head. "Let's bring a flashlight too. Just in case."

"You said-"

"I know what I said."

Each stared at each other for a long moment before nodding and heading for the door; side by side.

This chapter was severally delayed. Sorry about that! It's midterms week right now and I've been cramming my brain.

It'll be over relatively soon, like tomorrow. So, that's good I suppose.

Read and Review! (Seriously though, I need input.)