013.

Centerport wasn't too long of a drive. Hayley had spent most of the drive sleeping, only to be rudely woken up by Gambit who had decided it would be funny to belt out at the top of his lungs to some country song on the radio. She woke up angrily, covering herself with her jacket that had slipped down to the floor of the car. She muttered curses under her breath about the cold as she settled back into her seat.

"If you're cold, we can stop on the side of the road so I can warm you up."

"Shut up," she said grumpily.

"You ain't a morning person, are you, Hayley?" he said, amused.

"Don't talk to me."

Gambit laughed and continued to sing loudly. She sighed, leaning her head against the window. Despite her tired state, she was surprised and impressed with his voice. He had a nice singing voice. She closed her eyes, listening to him sing to a song that she didn't know.

"You have a nice voice, Gamby," she said with a yawn.

"Why thank you, petite. That's probably the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

Hayley chuckled. "Yeah probably." She sat up straight, stretching out her arms.

"We're almost there. Maybe 30 minutes."

Hayley looked at Gambit. "Seriously, Gambit, I just really want to thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me."

He nodded. "No need to thank me. It's something that you gotta do."

"If you don't mind me asking, what made you really want to do this for me?" she asked. She was curious that someone who had spoke badly of her relationship with John would suddenly go out of his way to drive her miles to find John.

Gambit shifted in his seat a bit, silent. He looked as though he was trying to find the right words to say to her.

"Well, cherie. Let's just say that Remy has gone through something like you are right now and it was too late for him."

"Oh." Gambit had someone that he cared for like how she cared for John? She was curious about this but the tone of his voice and look on his face stopped her. He seemed solemn and serious, not really like the Gambit that she knew. She settled back into her seat. "I'm sorry for bringing it up, kinda."

"No worries." He smiled at her. "Let's just go find you your beau. Any ideas on where to start?"

She looked over at the clock. It read 7:02 AM. She knew that Warren would be sleeping but only he had the answer to Gambit's question. She sighed and pulled out her phone to call him.

"Hello?" said a very groggy, tired Warren.

"Hi.. I'm sorry for calling so early.."

"Hayley?"

"Yeah."

"What.. what are you doing, calling me for? Couldn't you knock on the door?"

"Look, can you just tell me the exact location where you saw John?" she asked quickly. She wanted to make use of Warren's tired, disheveled state of mind.

"It was down by the marketplace.." he yawned.

"Thanks, Warren. Sorry for waking you." She hung up quickly before he could have time to think clearly about their phone call and start asking questions. "Marketplace."

Gambit grinned. "Alright, cherie. Let's go."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The marketplace that Warren had directed them to was already packed by the time that they arrived. It was a huge area, filled with people and plenty of stores and so Hayley was back in square one on where to find him. She got out of the car and put her hands on her hips, trying to figure out what to do next.

"So," Gambit said, observing the crowds.

"So."

"What next? You got a picture of him to show people?" he asked.

Hayley nodded. "I have one in my wallet. I guess we'll just make our rounds around the stores."

Gambit nodded in agreement and the two of them started going into the stores. Hayley was desperate to find him, her stomach felt like it was in knots everytime she stepped foot into a store. She waited in anticipation and anxiety when each of the store owners took the picture and carefully examined John's face. Her heart would drop when they each told her that they had never seen him around.

Gambit patted her shoulder as they walked out of the grocery store. "Don't lose hope, cherie."

"I don't know how Warren spotted him with this many people here," Hayley grumbled.

"Let's take a break, alright? C'mon." Gambit led her to a small coffee shop.

Gambit ordered a cup of coffee for her and they sat down at a table when Hayley got her coffee. She sighed sadly, sipping the hot liquid. "I think we've come here for nothing."

He snorted and swiped the picture from her hand. He stood up and walked back to the counter. Hayley watched him as he interacted with the cute redhead waitress and showed the picture of John to her. She turned red, fumbling with her words- probably distracted by Gambit's charm but she shook her head. Hayley went back to putting her head on the table.

"Sorry petite."

"It's okay. You tried." She sighed. "Maybe we should head back."

"We haven't hit up half the stores yet."

Her phone started ringing and Hayley answered the call without looking at the screen. "Hello?"

"You have five seconds to tell me what the fuck you're doing in Centerport and then you have another hour to get your ass back home now."

Hayley groaned. "Logan-,"

"Four."

"John."

"Fucking hell, Hayley! You need to get your ass back home now or else I'm coming after you."

"I'm not here by myself, Gambit's here too."

"The fuckin' Cajun is with you too?!"

"Logan, calm down! I'm fine, we're all fine, okay?" Hayley sighed. "Look, this is something that I need to do, Logan. You know this."

That didn't stop him from letting out a long rant of curses. She waited patiently for Logan to end his rant and his threats to slice up Gambit once they got home. "Logan, I need this. I need to do this."

He sighed. "Dammit, Hayley. You better know what the fuck you're getting yourself into. We are going to talk when you get home. And tell that fucking Cajun the same thing."

"Fine."

Gambit let out a low whistle. "Wolfy not happy?"

"Not one bit." She smiled.

"Ah, well we'll deal with that when we get back home." He patted her shoulder. "Wanna go look 'round some more, petite?"

The two of them got up from their seats and headed back outside. They stopped by a few more stores and even a small dirty motel. The manager eyed Hayley up and down and licked his lip but stopped immediately when Gambit gave him a menancing stare. Nervous, the manager shook his head, saying he hadn't seen him.

"Where now?" Gambit asked, running his hand through his hair. He looked tired and frustrated.

Hayley felt guilt in her heart because the reason why he was running around a city so early in the morning was because of her. She looked around at her surroundings and sighed. It seemed as though John was nowhere to be found and all these stores seemed to be giving her the same answer.

"We'll try one more place," she said to him.

Gambit raised an eyebrow. "What you mean?"

She smiled weakly at him. "Look, let's face it. Everyone was right. We're not going to find John here. Might as well stop wasting time right?"

He looked a little concerned. "You sure, cherie? We can keep going."

Hayley shook her head. "You've done enough." She pointed over to the bookstore that was right across the street. "One more place and then we'll get going." They carefully crossed and saw an elderly man outside, with a nametag of his name and the bookstore name.

"Good morning sir," Hayley greeted him. The old man looked a bit surprised but smiled sweetly at her.

"Good morning, sweetheart. Can I help you with something?"

"Yes, um, I was wondering if you've ever seen this guy around here?" Hayley pulled out the picture of John from her pocket and handed it to the man.

The old man squinted and suddenly, he smiled. "Ah yes! John Allerdyce. Good boy."

"You, you know him?" Hayley's heart began to race.

"Sure do. He's been here for quite some time. Comes to the bookstore from time to time to help out and to talk. He's a good kid, very good kid." The old man eyed her. "You must be Hayley."

Her eyes widened. "He's.. talked about me?"

"Always mentioned you whenever we sat down with a cup of coffee," he chuckled. "I suppose you're here to find him and bring him back to that college that he goes to."

Hayley grinned. "Yes. College."

The old man chuckled again but sighed. "He hasn't been coming around lately. I havent' seen him for a couple weeks, I'm sorry to say."

Her heart plummeted.

"Did he say where he was headin' off to?" Gambit finally spoke up.

The old man shook his head. "He never said anything about his future plans. He reminds me of me- just doing what feels right at the moment." He looked at Hayley. "I'm sorry that I ain't much help."

"No, you've been a great help. Thank you so much." Hayley smiled.

The old man nodded. "I hope he-,"

"Hey Mister Davis. Sorry I haven't been around lately."

Hayley's body froze when he walked past her to greet the old man. The old man looked just as shocked as she did but he bursted out into a laugh. "John, my boy! It's good to see you." He patted his shoulders with happiness in his eyes. "I think there's someone here that's been wanting to see you." He pushed his body around to face her.

Hayley's eyes filled with tears when his jaw dropped. His brown eyes widened, filled with shock.

"Hayley?"

I've been kinda stuck with where to go for this story soooo I'm sorry if you guys didn't like this chapter. Thanks for still reading/reviewing!