"Hey, Shae. It's Kyran. Again. If it wasn't for your message, I wouldn't even think this was your phone anymore, but, uh, I know... it's been a long time. I just... I miss my best friend. I'm worried about you. You're completely MIA and have been for nine months... none of the guys can get a hold of you. I know I've said all this a million times before. I get why you're not answering... I know you were never the same after your dad, and then your mom... I'm so sorry. Again. Just... if you need anything, I'm here. If you wanna talk. If there's anybody I need to beat up. I'm on leave in a few weeks, so I'm gonna be in the neighborhood... if you want a buddy to marathon Marvel movies with or something. I'm sure you've already seen Infinity War, but in case you haven't... I'd take you. Yeah. I'm here. Just... please shoot me a text or something. I need to know you're alright. I love you."

"New message 321."

"Hey, Baby Girl. You know it's Burns again. I'm sorry I keep bugging you, Sweetheart, but I... I made your daddy a promise that I'd keep an eye on you if anything ever happened. I know I'll never be able to fathom the kind of pain you must have been in for the last several months, but I'm still here to listen. I'd love to know you're okay. I'm praying for you. I love you."

"New message 322."

"Shae, it's Nick again. I know it's been a long time, but we still miss you around here. I'm also still here to talk if you want to. Or if you need anything. You're still one of my kids, and I love you very much. The church door is always open, and so is mine. I'm praying for you."

"New message 323."

"It's Grey again, Shae. I'm really worried about my favorite student. I know it's been nine months, but I also know it must still hurt really bad. Kaylynn says you're not even at dance anymore. Please give me a call... come back to youth group... something. I'm here for you. I love you."

"New message 324."

"Hey, Girl, it's Kaylynn... again. I still miss you. A lot. Dance isn't the same without you. And I know you're still at school, but it's... like you're not. I love you. Give me a call, yeah?"

"Shae... Kyran again. I'm not gonna burden you with another poorly-worded mini-speech, but... you know. Like I said, I'll be in town in a couple of weeks, and... I'd love to see you. I really need to know my best friend is okay."

"New message 325."

"Hey, General. Risto again. We promised your Daddy we'd take care of you, you know. Give me a call, okay? I love you."

"New message 326."

"Grey again. I love you. I'm here for you. I'm praying for you. Text me. Call me."

"New message 327."

"By now, you know it's Kyran. I know I've left you like a million messages and even more texts. But I'm not gonna stop until I hear from you. Please call me back. I really need to see you when I'm in town."

"End of new messages."

Shae let out a long sigh, lowering the phone from her ear and staring at it dully. It was nearly midnight. With only a short break to try to choke down some supper, she'd been on her phone since she'd started earlier that afternoon. She'd charged it while she'd been eating, and now it was nearly dead again. And she hadn't even gone onto any of her socials. All she'd done was read her 1277 text messages and listen to her 327 voice mails. She didn't even know what to think. She couldn't honestly understand why people were still trying.

Of course, not everyone was. From the furthest back, at the start of the nine months she'd lived in that hell, plenty of her friends had been making attempts, as well as some of her mother's friends, more of her dad's friends, several more youth leaders, and likewise.

Most people who had attended her mom's funeral had called once or twice, because her aunt and uncle had told them that she'd been too upset to even attend. They'd bought the story at first. But now it was obvious anyone who cared was getting really, really suspicious.

Not that that list was super long anymore.

Kyran, her best friend. He'd been a fresh-faced seventeen-year-old who'd graduated early and had his uncaring parents sign him off so that he could join the Army immediately. Shae's dad had been stationed at the base where he'd done his basic and career training, and he'd sort-of adopted him, taken him under his wing. After Boot, whenever they both had days off, her dad would take him home just to get him off the base and make him feel like he had a family. Shae had been thirteen at the time, and the two had become fast friends. Then, as soon as he was done with career training, Kye had followed in her dad's footsteps and undergone Airborne, RASP, and Ranger Training. That was in Georgia, whereas her dad was still stationed in California, but they'd maintained their close relationships. They were the ones who flew out to see him graduate each aspect of training... even when her dad couldn't because of his own work, Shae, fourteen and fifteen by then, had. Then her dad was deployed again and killed, and it had murdered them both. Shae more so, obviously, but Kyran had still taken the blow really, really hard. But they'd found comfort in each other. Neither of them had slept well at the time, and they would stay up all night talking to each other on the phone. Sometimes they'd get serious and really talk about it, crying to each other and venting to each other and allowing each other to be broken. Other times, they'd just talk to keep their minds off of it. Sometimes, they'd watch TV shows together, sometimes they'd play phone games like twenty questions. Sometimes, Kye would just stay on the phone until she could finally fall asleep. Often when that happened, they'd both drift off with the line still running. It made it so the other person was right there when one of them woke from the inevitable nightmares.

Then there were Burns and Risto, her dad's best friends, also Rangers. They'd been the closest things she'd had to fathers ever since her dad had died, and they took their promises to him to look out for her really seriously.

Nick was her youth pastor, and Grey was her favorite youth leader. Both of them had been amazing all these years. Grey was like the older brother she'd never had, always there for her, whether it was to make her laugh or let her cry. And Nick had been too, always making time for her no matter how much chaos he had on his hands as he tried to run her crazy youth group.

Kaylynn had been her other best friend, from the youth group, her school, and her dance studio. The two were the more normal definition of best friends, doing everything girls did together before Shae had fallen off the face of the planet. She'd always felt guilty about abandoning Kay like that.

Alicia, the director at her studio and her teacher for the last few years, still texted fairly regularly. Issac, the lead pastor from her church, did too. Other youth group friends still occasionally tried to catch her at school. But everyone else had disappeared. They'd been the smart ones.

But now she didn't know what to do. Seeing their words and hearing their voices reminded her just how much she loved them... just how much she missed them... and their love for her was so much more than she would ever be able to express or even comprehend. But her shame made her physically sick at the mere idea of ever looking any of them in the eye again.

Besides, right now, it was late and she was exhausted. She hadn't even finished going through everything she needed to. So she plugged her phone in again, shut off the light, and climbed into bed to go to sleep.

Time-Skip Sponsored by Sidewalk Prophets

She woke with a start, to Joel Smallbone's voice singing "Infinite". The images from the latest dream hit her, and she shut her eyes tight, like she thought it would help. It didn't. Anymore, her subconscious never let her get through a night without the horrifying visions. After all, it had so much to choose from... her dad, her mom, the trafficking... it all gave Dream Productions way too much to use to make her life miserable.

She groaned softly, reaching over to shut off the alarm, but her hand froze when she saw the screen of her phone. This wasn't her alarm... it was one of her ringtones... the one for Kyran, whose contact was displayed on the call screen. Shae looked at the clock on the nightstand, and winced. It wasn't yet one in the morning, so she'd been asleep for less than an hour.

What was Kye doing calling her right now? And what should she do about it?

Her hand was shaking as she reached for it, pulled back, and repeated. The ringtone stopped, the call flicking to voicemail. Shae let out a long sigh of relief. Now it was out of her hands. She closed her eyes, struggling to still the shaking and learn to breathe again. And then, the ringtone started again.

She swore softly, her eyes snapping open. Sure enough, matching Joel's voice in the Built By Titan song, there he was again.

And, before she could stop herself, she reached out and swiped to accept the call.

She was still shaking as she raised the phone to her ear, and her voice came out a tiny whisper. "Hello?"

"Shae, please call me back!" he burst out. She was shocked to hear that he was crying. "I... I saw the news, and I... I can't believe..."

"Kyran," she whispered. "Kyran, it's me. I'm here."

His frantic attempt at a voice mail stopped short, before his word came out barely audible as well. "Shae?"

"I'm here," she repeated softly, fighting back tears herself. "Kye, I'm here."

His breath came out a sob, and she could see him in her mind's eye, his head in his hands, his leg shaking like it always did.

"Oh my gosh," he breathed. "Oh my gosh. Stay there, Shae. Please don't go. I can't lose you. Gosh, I can't lose you. Not again. Not again."

"I'm not going anywhere," she murmured, her own tears beginning to squeeze out. "Please don't you leave me."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Shae," he gasped. "I'm so sorry. I'm going to kill them. I swear I'm going to kill them. I can't believe that happened to you."

"What... what are you talking about?" she asked. "What did you mean when you said you saw the news?"

"I... online... it's trending, Shae," he told her, struggling to get the right words out. "You and Tom Hiddleston and everything that happened...."

"Wait, me and Tom?" she gasped. "That's... that's online? But only just now?"

"The... the article said the authorities wouldn't let it out sooner to protect you since you were..." He trailed off, a fresh wave of tears hitting him. "Oh my gosh, I'm going to kill them."

"I'm putting you on speaker to look this up," she told him, her voice trembling, and did that, selecting the option and navigating away from the call screen and onto her browser.

"Just type in Tom and it'll come up."

She obediently keyed in the three little letters, and was met by too many options to count.

tom hiddleston and prostitute

tom hiddleston breaks trafficking ring

tom hiddleston dancing with mystery girl

tom hiddleston rescues trafficked prostitute

tom hiddleston and teenage girl

tom hiddleston dancing in walmart

"Oh my gosh," she whispered. "When did this happen?"

"They didn't let it come out until earlier today," he replied quietly. "Just look at the dates on all the articles."

She selected one of the search terms and waited for it to load, gazing at the results in total shock. Under images, pictures of she and Tom in Walmart, the police scene when he rescued her, and Tom from interviews greeted her. Under videos, more interviews and videos of the scene in Walmart. And under news, there were so many options that she didn't know where to start. She briefly selected and skimmed a few before speaking again.

"Kyran... my face is always blurred and they never use my name. How... how did you know..."

"Shae," he whispered, his tears quieter now as they choked his words. "I know my best friend when I see her. That hoodie is your favorite piece of clothing. I don't think the man has a bigger fan than you. And then when you danced in the videos... Shae, I know you when you dance. I've watched your recitals, I've danced with you in your living room, I've danced with you at parties, I've watched you and your daddy dance... I know you, General."

"I guess so." As the shock of the first part of their conversation wore off, she felt all of her shame return and the tears start to really slide down her cheeks. "Kye, I... I'm so sorry."

"You're sorry?" he gasped, as he started to truly cry again when he heard the tears in her voice. "Shae, listen, you have nothing to be sorry for. I love you so much, and I'm sorry. I... I knew something wasn't right, and I... I... oh my gosh, I'm going to kill them, Shae!"

"I just..." She shook her head helplessly. "I just should have called you as soon as my mom died, Kye. Called you, or Nick, or Grey, or Burns, or Risto... I knew my aunt and uncle were acting weird. I... I was just devastated and didn't care, and I... I should have run, or..."

"Listen to me, Shae," he countered, his voice strong despite the tears. "You have nothing to be sorry for, okay? It's not your fault. You have nothing to be ashamed of. I... I can't imagine what you went through... what you must be going through. I.... oh my gosh, I'm going to kill them!" He took a deep breath before quietly adding, "I love you so much, Shae. I've missed you so much. I've been so worried. Oh my gosh, I love you."

"I love you too, Kye," she murmured. "I... I love you too."

There was a moment of silence before he spoke again.

"Where are you?"

"A recovery center." She sighed. "I'm done with the program, but... they have nowhere to send me."

"Who are you gonna call?"

"Kyran, I... I can't do that," she whispered. "I... I'm not gonna burden any of them like that. They'll send me to a group home or something. I... I think I only have like a year until I'm eighteen. Gosh, Kyran, what day is it? I write it at school and don't even know, never mind on Saturdays."

"It's November 24, Shae," he told her gently. "November 25 since it's past midnight."

"We had the last part of last week off for Thanksgiving." She exhaled tiredly. "Of course."

"So your seventeenth birthday was three weeks ago. I called you five times that day and sent you twenty-two texts."

She closed her eyes. "Kyran, I... I'm so sorry."

"Don't say that, Shae," he returned. "Please don't. I'm sorry. Gosh, Shae, I'm so sorry."

There was another silence, one that she broke this time. "So your leave in a few weeks... it's for Christmas then?"

"Yeah."

"You're not going home?"

"Gosh, no. You're my home, Shae. I don't know what leave is if I don't spend it with you. I don't remember the last time I called my parents. They haven't called me since I joined."

"I'm so sorry, Kyran," she said for the millionth time that night, moving on before he could correct her again. "Isn't it like four in the morning there?"

She knew he was shrugging. "I don't sleep anyway."

"Don't you have church today? That one off-base you and Dad found?"

"Yeah. You?"

She closed her eyes. "Kye, I... I can't go back. The mere thought of trying to look them in the eye ever again... it makes me sick, Kyran."

"I know, but they... they love you," he returned softly.

"I just can't."

"I get it. Not yet."

She didn't bother correcting yet to ever.

He exhaled slowly after a long moment. "Shae? Please tell me this isn't a dream. Oh please, God, don't let this be a dream."

"It's not a dream, Kye," she whispered. "I'm here."

"I can't believe it," he admitted. "But even if it is a dream, I hope I never wake up. Talk to me, Shae. Tell me about it. Please?"

Talking about it was so hard, but she knew it wouldn't be with Kyran. And she didn't want this moment to ever end either. So they went right back to those nights after her dad had been killed, talking in the dark until sleep claimed them both.