Hide & Seek

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Aria's Pov

Hanna opens her front door, letting Ezra, Piper, and I in. Caleb stands on the stairs and watches us as we take our shoes off, breaking the silence when I stop and look at him.

"My computer's upstairs." He says, making a gesture for us to follow. I quickly take Piper out of her carrier, lifting her onto my hip. Everyone follows Caleb closely up the stairs, all of us stopping in Hanna's room.

"So, I pretty much just need his phone number to track where the phone is." Caleb explains "If you have any more info it'll make it a lot easier, but I can do it with just the number."

"All I've got is the number." I say. After telling him Mike's phone number, he turns to his computer and opens a complicated looking program.

"Does Piper wanna come to her favourite aunt?" Hanna coos after a few moments of awkward silence. I chuckle and hand Piper to her, who cracks an adorable toothless smile at the sight of my blonde friend.

"Someone loves Auntie Hanna, huh Piper?" I laugh as I tickle the bottom of my daughters foot. She keeps smiling her precious gummy smile, one of my favourites in the whole world.

"He's heading south." Caleb says suddenly.

"Well where's he going?" I ask "What is he travelling in?"

"It's not a magic ball Aria, it's just a computer." He laughs "I have no clue where he's heading, only where he is, which is in Virginia. Here, look at this." He angles his computer in my direction to show a map with a small yellow dot near the middle.

"He's near Alexandria." I say, looking at the red dot representing the city.

"Who's Alexandria?" Hanna asks confusedly.

I laugh "Not a person, Han, a city."

"Oh, duh." She rolls her eyes awkwardly. Silence settles over the room, everyone just staring at the computer screen. Piper babbles loudly in Hanna's arms, causing us all to chuckle.

"What now?" Ezra asks hesitantly "I mean how do we get Mike back?"

"Well there's not much anyone can do unless he answers his phone." Caleb says "At least we know exactly where he is and that he's okay."

"But what if he's not?" I blurt out.

"Not what?" Caleb questions.

"Well...we haven't heard from A for a while." I stammer "What if he has something to do with this?"

"I'm sure it's not that." Hanna butts in "I think that he left intentionally."

"Yeah I'd like to think that too, but A could've easily put Mike's phone on a bus that was travelling a long distance, knowing we'd track it wherever it went. Maybe Mike's phone isn't even with him." I say "I mean we haven't heard from A since my Mom died, and now he's making a comeback."

"Or maybe that was A's big finale, as horrible as it sounds." Ezra adds "He could be done now, maybe it's all over."

"Let's be real, this isn't the first time that A was responsible for someone's death." I mutter "I don't think he would just disappear like that."

"Well we can get on with our lives and pretend, at least until something else happens." Hanna says quickly.

"Okay, but in all honesty I'm not gonna feel totally safe until that bitch is behind bars." I reply with tension.

"I don't think any of us will." Caleb admits.

"So assuming A has nothing to do with Mike's disappearance, how are we supposed to get him back?" I ask.

"There's really nothing we can do except keep calling and texting him." Ezra says "Text him and say that we know where he is and maybe he'll actually reply." I pull out my cellphone and compose yet another text to my brother, saying that we're worried about him and we know exactly where he is.

"There," I sigh "Now we wait."

"While we wait, who wants some coffee?" Hanna offers.

"Well, I already had a cup before we came, but I can't decline." I laugh.

"I'll just make a pot, I know everyone's gonna want some." She replies "One day, I bet Piper's gonna be quite the little coffee connoisseur, we all know her parents live off the stuff."

"Hey, you try having a four month old baby." Ezra jokes "Coffee is your bestfriend."

"Oh I believe you." Hanna says "Coffee is already my bestfriend and I don't even have a kid. Oh and here, take yours until I come back." She hands Piper to Ezra and walks out of the room, leaving us in silence. It allows me to think about Mike, what he was thinking when he left, what he's thinking right now, how we're supposed to get him home. I know part of the reason he left is because he doesn't want to move to Grand Rapids, but running away won't prevent it forever. After getting nowhere with convincing our Dad to let him stay in Rosewood, I ended up telling Mike he should just go live with our Dad for a little bit, just enough to show him that moving to another state won't help him anything. But of course, Mike absolutely hated the thought of it, and got mad at me for even the suggestion.

"Well, I think it's my turn with Piper before Hanna comes back upstairs, we all know that she's a bit of a hog when it comes to babies, this one in particular." Caleb laughs, motioning to Piper. Ezra hands our tired looking daughter to him, who seems content being passed into someone else's arms. During my pregnancy, even though all my friends supported me immensely and were excited to meet my baby, I never knew that they would develop such strong relationships with Piper. Not only are they supporting me, they're also a big part of my daughter's life.

Hanna walks back into the room, balancing a pot of coffee and four mugs in her hands. Ezra quickly reaches forward to take a few things from her, setting them on the dresser.

"I'm just gonna go get the milk and sugar." Hanna declares, walking back out of the room. I pour myself a cup of coffee, as does Ezra and Caleb.

"I can take her if you want." I say to Caleb, motioning to Piper.

"Nah, I've got her." He replies nonchalantly.

"You sure? She's spilled my coffee before." I say.

"I'm sure, at least for now." Caleb chuckles, looking down at Piper "Gotta practice for the future."

"Yeah you're right." I reply "I'm just waiting for you and Hanna to have one of your own."

"Have one what?" Hanna asks, walking back into the room.

"A baby." I tell her jokingly.

Her eyes widen "No way, not yet. I'm not ready to get all fat and push a baby out of down there. Plus, I like sleep."

"Okay, but Piper's gonna need a playmate and you and Caleb would make cute kids." I tease.

"Buy her a puppy, she'll love that." Hanna says.

"I think we're gonna save that one until she can actually walk it." I reply. Just as Hanna opens her mouth to reply, my phone makes a chirpy noise from beside me. I scramble to pick it up, unlocking it and seeing I have a new message from Mike.

I'm okay, don't freak out. Just want some time away for a bit.

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