It had been hours since Celeste and Nate returned from the police station. She sat in the living room with Jessica’s head rested on her lap as the young girl slept. It hadn’t been easy trying to get Jess to calm down enough to rest. After Nate’s outburst outside the station he hadn’t spoken. Not a single word - to her or anyone else. As soon as they had gotten back to his grandparents house he went straight up to the room he usually stayed in when they visited. No one had seen him since. 

She didn’t know what to do. Nate did not look like he wanted company but she wanted to be there for him. The house had been teeming with officer’s since they had come back. She didn’t talk to them, didn’t have to. While the rest of Nate’s family conversed with the officers Celeste stayed in her spot on the couch, running her fingers through Jessica’s hair.

The poor girl would’t listen to reason. She kept blaming herself for Brooklyn’s kidnaping. Everyone including Celeste had told her over and over that it wasn’t her fault. But, Celeste knew that the only person she would listen to was Nate. He needed to let his little sister know that it wasn’t her fault. How could any of them have known that Sam would pulling something like that? It wasn’t like they didn’t know she was crazy. Personally Celeste thought that Sam had skipped right past crazy and hit insane. 

A phone rang in the background reminding Cece that she had yet to call her brother. Aaron was surely freaking out- probably had been for a while. There was nothing she could do about it just yet, her phone was still dead and in Nate’s truck. She would get to it soon. Nate’s grandmother came back into the room with the house phone in her hands.

“It’s for you, dear” she said softly, holding out the phone to Celeste.

Her brows furrowed “Who is it?”

“Your brother, Aaron”

Celeste reached out and took the phone. How had Aaron gotten the number? One name stood out; Hunter. No doubt he had every number there could be had to get in touch with Nate. They were best friends after all.

“Hey, Aaron” Celeste whispered into the receiver.

“Finally,” Aaron breathed “I have been trying to get a hold of you all day.”

“I’m sorry, my phone died before we even left for the airport this morning and I just haven’t gotten around to plugging it in.”

“What’s going on? You don’t sound to good.”

“Brooklyn’s been taken.” Celeste replied. It was better to get it out there instead of beating around the bush. “Sam took her earlier today before Nate and I made it to the house.”

“You’ve got to be kidding”

“I wish I was,” Celeste sniffed. Her voice shaking. 

“Do the others know?”

Celeste shook her head before realizing that Aaron couldn’t see her. “N-no, I don’t think so.”

“Im going to round them up and go down to the sheriffs office to see if there is anything we can do on this end.”

Celeste ended the call and handed the phone back to Nate’s grandmother. She also let everyone in on her brother’s plan. It was a long shot that they would find Sam back in Hilton Valley. It was better than nothing though. The local law enforcement in Phoenix had no doubt gotten in touch with other stations around the state. There had also been and Amber Alert sent out now it was just a waiting game. 

“I’m gonna go up and check on Nate,” Celeste whispered to the room at large. 

Without waiting for a response Cece made her way up the stairs and to the room that Nate was in. She knocked on the door softly and got no reply. 

“Nate?” she called out. Nothing.

With a sigh she opened the door and stepped in. Nate was sitting in a chair with his head in his hands. He didn’t acknowledge Celeste as she closed the door behind her. She didn’t know what to say. What do you say to someone who’s child was just taken? That was a question that she didn’t have an answer to.  So, instead of saying anything she simply sat on the edge of the bed in front of Nate.

“You should go home,” said Nate. He didn’t look up. 

“Why?”

“This isn’t your problem. It’s mine. You don’t need to be apart of it.”

“No, don’t this, Nate. Please.” Celeste sighed “That little girl may not be my flesh and blood but I love her and I want to be here for you and your family.”

“It isn’t your problem,” he pressed 

“I don’t care! Do you honestly think that I’m just going to turn my back on you because of this? If that was the case I would’ve done so when all the drama with Sam first started. I’m still here.”

“You’re too good to me.” he whispered

Nate looked up. Finally. He opened his arms and Celeste didn’t waste a moment. She walked over to him and situated herself on his lap, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She whispered words of encouragement into his ear. Though they may have only been words they helped. She didn’t want Nate feeling like a bad father, it wasn’t his fault. No one else was to blame except for Sam. She was the one with the problem. 

She didn’t know how long she stayed with Nate, fiddling with the hair at his nape. His hair was getting long, she wasn’t sure when he had gotten a hair cut last. It must of been before the ‘officially’ met. Why her mind decided to drift to the length of his hair, she wasn’t sure. Her next thought though, stilled her fingers. 

“You should really talk to your sister.” she whispered “She feels so horrible for what happen and she blames herself.”

“Why would she blame herself?” Nate questioned, confused. “It was in no way her fault.”

“We all know that but, it doesn’t change the fact that, that is how she feels. I mean, she was the one who had Brooklyn. She was the one who was supposed to keep an eye on her, so because Brook was taken while Jess had her, she truly feels like it was her fault.”

“God,” he breathed “She must feel beyond terrible and I haven’t done a single thing to make her feel better at all.”

Nothing else was said. Nate simply stood, setting Celeste on her feet and pulling her out of the room. Jessica was still on the couch that Celeste had left her on but was now awake and crying again. Not that she truly stopped in the first place. Nate released Cece’s hand and had in his sister in his arms a second later. 

“I’m so sorry,” Jessica sobbed “It’s my fault. It is. I completely understand if you hate me, I hate myself.”

“No. No, no, no. It’s not your fault Jess” Nate whispered “It’s Samantha’s fault, no one else’s. And, believe me when I say this; I do not hate you. I could never hate you.”

Jessica’s sobs grew harder as she clutched on to Nate with all the strength her little body could muster up. She held on so tightly as if he was her lifeline. Celeste bit her her trembling bottom lip, tears burning her eyes. At least now one problem was fixed. She didn’t think that family would be able to deal with a sibling feud as well as the kidnaping of Brooklyn. No one would be able to get through both of those things at the same time. She knew she’d go crazy if that was the case.

~*~

The rest of the weekend went by torturously slow. There had been a few leads as to the whereabouts of Samantha. Both with the police department in Phoenix as well as Hilton Valley. They had all been followed up on and every single one led to a dead end. It was frustrating and heartbreaking all at the same time. No one knew what to do. 

By Sunday evening Celeste knew that she needed to head back home. School was starting up the next day. As much as she wanted to stay behind with Nate, she knew she couldn’t. She would call him though - everyday. She would also do everything that she could while she was back home. There was no way that she was going to just let it go and leave it up to the officers assigned to the case. Yes, they were doing their job but there had to be something that she could do. Anything.

“I’ll see you in a couple days,” she said wrapping her arms around Nate’s waist. “If not, I’ll come up on Friday as soon as school let’s out.”

Nate shook his head. “Don’t,”

“What? Why?” She didn’t understand.

“You need to focus on school.” 

“I’m pretty good at multitasking.” she tried to joke. Nate sighed.

“I’m serious.” he pulled himself out of her arms. “Just. . .call me when you reach home. Let me know you made it alright.”

“I will” she nodded.

She gave him a quick kiss before heading down the driveway. Since she didn’t have her car, Aaron had driven up to get her. He had also spent about an hour talking with everyone about what was going on back home. It seem like everyone back in Hilton Valley was on the look out for Samantha. There had been an Amber alert issued the other day as well. Every single news station on TV as well as the numerous radio stations were broadcasting the story. 

Celeste leaned against the passenger seat of Aaron’s car with a sigh. She was so lost. Didn’t know what to do. Brooklyn was gone and even with all the leads the police had gotten they were still nowhere closer to finding the little girl. Was she alright? What had Sam done to her? Was she hurt? Afraid? She was probably - most likely - terrified. Brook didn’t know Sam. The only time she had been around the young woman wasn’t exactly positive. 

“They’re going to find her, you know?” said Aaron as he started the car. 

She sighed “I know. It’s just, Brook must be so scared.”

“She’s fine. We will find her, no matter what it takes.”

She had to believe that. Would believe it because she knew that she would do anything to find Brooklyn. Her blood began to heat at the thought of Sam issuing any harm to that little girl. f she found a single mark on her body Sam was going to pay. Oh, she would pay anyway once Celeste got her hands on her. Sam just better pray that the police got to her first. If not. . .well Sam would learn just how ‘nice’ she really was. What she would do would make their previous encounters look like child’s play.

~*~

As tired as she was, Cece couldn’t bring herself to get any rest during the drive back to Hilton Valley. Her mind was churning with all the possible outcomes of what could happen to Brooklyn. Her little Princess Brookie Cookie. Just the thought of her nickname had Cece’s chest constricting painfully. Deep breath in. Slow breath out. In. Out. In. Out.

Ce chanted that over and over in her head. She needed to stay calm and keep a level head as much as possible. She couldn’t afford to lose it. She needed to stay on top of her game, for Brooklyn. She sighed again, how many times was that since she had gotten in the car? She wasn’t sure, probably a lot. But, it was either sigh or scream. Personally Celeste didn’t think that Aaron would appreciate her screaming while he was driving. She didn’t want to be cause an accident on top of everything else. 

Soon, she saw their street. Just up ahead their house would come into view. She bit back a sigh at seeing it. She had been gone for a little over a week and couldn’t wait to lay in her own bed. The only thing that would make it better was if Nate was laying there with her. But he had more important things to deal with than cuddle with her. As soon as the car was parked in their driveway she hopped out of the car, leaving her bags behind; she could always get them later. 

“Ce, what about your bags?” Aaron called out.

“I’ll get them later,” she called back. “I need to call everyone.”

“No, you don’t. I already sent a text out to all of them and they should be here any minute. Jay even took off work tonight to help out as well.”

“Thanks bro,” she said with a smile as he headed back to the car. Aaron was waiting near the trunk with one of her bags in hand.

Aaron of course was right. Not even five minutes after she had set her bags down in her room did the front door open again. She could hear Nina go on and on about she was going to bring on the pain. Maddie was ,well. . .encouraging her sister. As for Hunter and Jay there were the quiet ones. Silently fuming is what she called it. In the short time that everyone - not including Hunter - had known Brooklyn, they had fell in love with her just as Celeste had. 

“I swear to God,” Nina seethed as Cece walked down the hallway toward the living room. “That girls is in for some major ass kicking when I get my hands on her.”

“You’ll have to wait in line.” said Cece 

“Okay, for one” Aaron began “As much as I agree with you, right now we should all be focused on making sure we get Brooklyn back safe and sound.”

“We’re still getting our turns with her.” Nina grumbled. 

“Let’s just get down to business. Shall we” said Aaron with a roll of his eyes. 

Celeste knew that deep down he wanted to do something to Samantha as well. Since she was a girl though, well that hindered things. He would never raise a hand to a female. Sam was lucky for that. Didn’t mean she was safe from either of the girls thought. Least of all Celeste. She had just better hope that the cops get to her first. 

For the rest of the day they went over everything that they had found out over the weekend. A few people in town had sworn that they had seen Samantha but couldn’t be a hundred percent sure. Not many people knew what she looked like since they hadn’t gotten a good look at her those few time she was in town. 

A thought occurred to her then. Celeste had always assumed that Samantha had always left down after their few run-ins. She wasn’t from her. Lived about two towns over or so. She had no family here, only some friends from what she knew. But, what if Sam hadn’t actually left? What if she had holed up somewhere in between the times she had caused her drama? 

“I don’t thinks she ever left Hilton Valley.” Celeste said 

“She had to have left,” Hunter stated, confused. “She took Brooklyn in Phoenix.”

“No, I’m talking about between the times that we’ve had run-ins with her. I don’t think she ever left.” she clarified. “What if after taking Brook she came back here. Hiding right under our noses.”

“That would explain why there have been more leads her than in any of the other towns.”Jay nodded 

“Where would she be staying though?” Maddie asked “She isn’t from here. She has nowhere to stay.”

“That we know of” Celeste pointed out. “For all we know she could be staying somewhere under a false name. Hell, her family could quite possibly own property here.”

“Her family - her brother to be exact - does have a home here.” Aaron piped in. “The sheriff has already been there and from what I’ve heard, it doesn’t look like anyone has been there in a while.”

“O-kay, well thats a no go then.” Maddie muttered

“Did you by any chance get his name?” Hunter asked 

“No, I didn’t” Aaron replied with a shake of his head. “That’s not really something that the police would be sharing with the public.”

“Why? It’s not like he a suspect or anything.” said Jay 

“Unless, they think he’s helping his sister.” Celeste pointed out.

With some people, you just never know. Samantha’s brother could be helping her. He could think that she has all the rights in the world to take her daughter, even if she legally didn’t. You just never knew what it came to others. Your best friend could turn out to be your worst enemy and vise versa. 

“Let’s just keep our eye’s and ears open.” Jay said “Somehow, some way we will bring that little girl home.”

Yes, they most definitely would. No matter what she had to do, Celeste would make sure of it.  From down the hall her phone could be heard ringing in her room. With a jolt Cece realized that she hadn’t called Nate when she got home. With a whispered curse she sprung from her perch and raced to her room. 

“Hey,” she breathed “Sorry I didn’t call. Every came over as soon as Aaron got home and it totally slipped my mind.”

“It’s fine,” he said and Celeste did not like the way he sounded. Flat. Emotionless. “Just checking in, making sure you made it home alright.”

“I did. Thank you.”

“Sure. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Wait,” she said but was too late. He had already hung up.

Sighing for the thousandth time she fell onto her bed, staring up at he ceiling. It was starting, she knew it was. Her relationship with Nate was already changing and she didn’t think that it was for the best either. When they got Brooklyn back, if things continued on the way she knew they would, she would walk away. It would kill her to do so but she would do it. She would try and fight though, she definitely would. But if that proved fruitless, there would be nothing else for her to do.