eastside

chapter thirty three

"Whataya mean you couldn't find him? He wasn't home?" Piper had been pacing back and forth in front of her phone, waiting for Eddie and Chris to check in since she made them leave to go after Pops. After some major persuading on Eddies part and one lie to Chris, they finally left. Four hours had went by when the call came.. And it wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"No, we're parked outside his house right now and he's not here. Wasn't at the shop, wasn't at the diner or the market. We've checked nearly every bar in town and nothing. He doesn't wanna be found, Pipes.. At least, not by us."

Piper sighed deeply, squeezing at her eyebrows as she continued to pace back and forth. Looking down at the floor, it was a wonder she hadn't worn the stain off the wood yet..

She finally came to a stop in front of the window and moved the curtain aside to see the vast blackness looking back through the frosted glass. It was already almost 10 pm at night and the temperature had dropped significantly as the day progressed. To think that Pops was out in the cold somewhere absolutely killed her.

She tried to push aside all the horrible things running through her mind, all the possible scenarios he could've gotten himself into but they wouldn't stop. What if he went back to the Space Needle? What if he just flung himself in front of the nearest car? What if he ...Wait, did they check the hospital?

"Baby, you there?"

"Yeah sorry, I was just thinking. What about the hospital? Someone could've taken him there."

"We checked there too. No one by his name was in the system, unless he gave them a fake name... But I don't think he'd go in the first place, not with how he is right now."

"Fuck... I don't know what to do. What do we do? It's so cold out and it's just getting colder by the hour.. What if he's hurt somewhere and we can't find him?? Should we call the police?"

"Just stay calm, okay? We'll figure it out. There's one other place I know to look. Just stay by the phone. We'll call back soon. Remember what I said.. Deep breaths."

Piper nodded her head, closed her eyes and did what he asked. Feeling the air expand her lungs before she slowly let it out.. "Good girl.. I love you."

"Please find him, Eddie. I love you. Be careful.."

After they hung up, Piper was sat anxiously on her couch, drawn into herself as she hugged onto her legs. There was no one else around for comfort so that's the best she could do. Her townhouse was eerily quiet. The two drips per second rhythm coming from the kitchen faucet seemed to grow louder and louder as she watched the clock slowly tick by. She had pulled the phone over and placed it on the couch beside her, staring down at it just waiting for the ring.

One hour went by.. No call.. Two.. Still nothing. Three..

The minutes continued to tick by and she didn't know how much longer she could stay awake. Her eyes burning because of how tired she was. With a sigh, she rose from the couch. There was no use in just sitting around, worrying herself sick. That wasn't helping anything. As she paced around her apartment, she looked for things to do to keep herself busy. The rooms were clean, her bags were unpacked curtesy of her sweet boyfriend.. There was nothing left besides just going to sleep and as guilty as she felt, there was no way she could've stayed up a minute longer.

Hopefully the ringer will wake her up..

Piper drug her worn out body up the stairs to her bedroom, not bothering to change out of her clothes as she flopped down on the bed and slid under the covers. The next time she awoke, it was to the bed dipping down beside her.

"Eddie?" The room was pitch black, causing her to squint and feel around in order to get her bearings when his icy hand met hers. "Hey baby, it's me.." She could hear him taking off his clothes before she felt him shivering as he slid in beside her, the cold on his skin radiating under the covers causing her to become chilly as well.