"No, I'm going with you. I almost lost you, because I wasn't feeling great. I'm not willingly going to let you out of my grasp." Brad insisted, forcing himself to stand up and follow after her. "You should head to bed. You've had a long, emotional day. I'll go look for Thomas."
"no" she shook her head "I'm not letting you go not now not ever" she said
"Then we're both going. Do you need to clean up first, or grab a gun?" Brad asked softly, running his fingers through his hair. "I'm just asking before we walk downstairs blindly." He offered again, holding a hand out to her.
She took his hand interlocking thier fingers
Pulling her closer, he slowly wiped away her tears in attempt to get rid of the dark streaks. "Do you want to do anything before heading down?" Brad asked in a soothing tone, as he rested his hand on her hip.
She shook her head no speezing his hand
Gathering his strength, he scooped her up before walking over to the door. Pulling it open, he paused before starting to leave. "You have the room key, right?" Brad asked, leaning back against the door.
She nodded " why don't you put me down" she said
"Unless you really don't want me to carry you, I'll be fine." Brad hummed, letting the door close behind them as he carried her over to the elevators. "Just say so if you don't want to be carried."
"I do but your weak' she said
The way she said it, stung a lot deeper than he let show. "I'm fine." Brad said simply, pressing in the button of the elevator to call it to their floor. "Don't worry about me. I can handle myself."
" I know you can but I'm your girlfriend and I will always worry about you Brad baby I love you" she said
"You just called me weak, twenty seconds before." Brad muttered, as the empty elevator arrived on their floors. Once in it, he set her down on her feet before leaning back against the wall with a heavy sigh. "I'm fine babe, don't be worried about me. I can handle you, you're not heavy in the slightest."
" I didn't mean it like that" she mumbled walking out of the elevator " it doesn't matter " she said starting to walk off
"Babe- come on." Brad sighed, reaching out to take her arm as she walked away. "I'm sorry my pride got hurt. It's just been a fragile thing in the past few weeks. Don't be mad at me." He begged her, pulling her closer to himself.
" I'm not mad I'm just really upset right now ok?" She said cupping her face
"At me, or because of something else?" Brad asked, holding her chin in his fingers as they started to descend to the bottom floor. "If it's me, tell me how to fix it. I'm not sure what I did."
"it's not you I promise" she said kissing him quickly not giving him a chance to kiss back accidentally and started to walk
Brad stopped her again, pulling her waist closer to him. "Babe, you don't have to run away from me. I can listen if you need to talk, or just cry." He insistered, resting his forehead against hers. "Don't run away from me, please. I'm not going to hurt you."
"i do need to cry but I can't right now I have to be strong we have to get Thomas and then I'll cry on you " she said
Nodding softly, he scooped her up again when they hit the ground floor. "If you're sure, that works by me." Brad whispered, leading her along to the restaurant. Though things got difficult because the police and dozens of people were there. They had already blocked off the restaurant, and no one could get in or out. "What do we do?"
"he's not in there" she said "he'd be in the back"
"Are you sure?" Brad asked setting her down so she could lead the way. But as he asked, a police officer came up to the two teens with a confused look over his face. "Caroline Woods?" The younger man asked, glancing at something in his hands.
"yes?" She asked a look of confusion plastered on her face
"Someone named… Thomas left this on one of the tables." The officer said softly, holding up a folded napkin to her. "If you wouldn't mind, I think we might want to ask you some questions Miss. I'm Officer Kilts." He introduced to both of them with a nod.
She took the napkin and nodded "alright" she said
When the napkin was unfolded, it revealed her engagement ring and a message. "How well do you know this… Thomas, man?" The officer asked, pulling out a notepad to write down her answers and his questions.
She unfolded the napkin handing the ring to brad and read the message " he's a close friend"
"Is he?" The officer asked a little sarcastically, writing down her words exactly. What was written on the napkin is what had sparked interest in the officer. 'Followed her, be careful. Someone's watching you.' That was all that was written. No context, no explanation. "You two seem like more than friends, with that ring."
She brought her head up to him." He's . A . Close . Friend. Understand?" She asked with gritted teeth