- Saturday, December 16th -

Oliver and I have been hanging out together each day for the past week, and it's helping us both in some way. For starters, he settles my nerves every time he finds out some little detail about Jeff. By now we found out his history of education, his past jobs, the fact he played soccer until he was 8. His profile is starting to grow and it's giving us an inside look of his life. Not that it's helping us any closer to finding Finnley, but never underestimate the details. They can eventually form a larger picture that'll show you an answer you would've never found otherwise.

On the other side, I made it my job to make sure Oliver spends enough time away from his computer. We both agree we should spend as much time as possible to try and find out Finnley's whereabouts. But we also agreed it wouldn't do either of us any good if we would get a burn-out because of it, keeping us from searching any further.

So, like every day so far, we are packed into a thick layer of clothes, sitting on the beach, watching the sun set over the ocean. The first couple of days it had been a bit cold since it was still freezing, but today it's about 15 degrees and it's considered hot for the time of the year. Guess we won't have a white Christmas this year.

"What did you think of me when you first heard about me?" I turn my head to take in his initial reaction. Oliver tends to weigh his words before he speaks them aloud. He's very calculating and he hides a lot of his real thoughts and opinions behind sarcasm and witty answers. By now, I'm starting to get used to that. It's simply his defence mechanism. This time his initial reaction is a small smile, before he returns to look serious.

"The first time I heard about you?" He looks me straight in the eye. "You sounded like a fantasy. The way Finn described you, it sounded too good to be true. I realized Finnley was head over heels in love with you so I took everything with a grain of salt."

"And when you saw me for the first time?"

"I wanted to kill you, because you were kissing the guy I was in love with." He chuckles. "Noah kept me from going over and kicking your ass."

"You wanted to kick my ass?"

"Yeah, because by then my opinion about you wasn't that positive anymore. Don't forget I had to save Finn's life because he tried to end it after you left him."

"I still feel really shitty about that." I admit timidly, sighing deeply. "What was it like? What happened, you know? You weren't with us that night but still you were there to save his life."

"I wasn't there indeed, but Adam called me. Said he ran into Finn, who was hammered, whiny, annoyingly depressed. Adam didn't usually call me, unless he was worried about Finn. And when Adam is worried about someone's physical or mental state, it's serious, because he isn't easily impressed."

"And then you knew Finn needed you?"

"Yes, and thankfully, Adam decided to follow Finn around while keeping his distance, so he saved Finn just as much as I did. Without Adam, Finn wouldn't be alive today."

"..." I know by the way Oliver freezes and stops talking, he realizes he said something that instantly puts me in a bad mood. I swallow back the lump that formed in my throat, blinking to keep the tears that threaten to fall at bay.

"He isalive, Cris," Oliver mutters with a sad voice. "You have to keep telling yourself he's out there somewhere. We can't give up on him." He turns around a bit, putting a hand on my shoulder. "I don't know if he ever told you, but you are his reason to fight. Last time you weren't even together, he didn't even know if he stood a chance. But you're his boyfriend now. That'll be enough reason for him to keep going and come home as soon as possible."

"We don't know what they planned on doing with him, Oliver. What if some sick psycho bought him, just to kill him?"

That earned me a pretty hard fist against my shoulder from Oliver.

"Auch!"

"You deserved that. Stop the negativity, please." He sighs deeply. "Just... think of it like this, Finnley is somewhere out there, trying to find a way to contact you, just like he did last time."

"I still don't know how he managed to send me those notes."

Oliver chuckles and shrugs. "I mailed them for him. The one for Nathan too."

"Oh."

"Just... believe me, okay? He's probably thinking of you 24/7. It's helping him to get through the days and it'll keep helping him for the rest of his life. And the thought of Finn should help you through each day too, even if you're separated right now. You're still connected by heart."

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up."

"It's not working, is it?"

"Not really, but I appreciate the gesture." I smile thankfully. "Do you have someone that gets you through every day? Or are you happy enough to do it by yourself?"

He stares to me for a short while, before he returns to watch the sunset. There's a thick tensed air – caused by my question – hanging around us. Then I remember that his ex-boyfriend killed himself a couple of years ago and up until this day, I have no idea what happened.

"I'm sorry I asked." I mumble ashamed, realizing the subject is simply too touchy for him.

"Don't be sorry. I just don't like to talk about it." He smiles reassuringly. "You know the answer already."

"Do I?" I feign ignorance, because I don't want him to think I'm nosy.

"You do, because else you wouldn't apologize."

"That ex of yours, right?" It comes out barely above a whisper, carried out by the wind, so maybe he didn't even hear me speak up, but then he simply nods.

"Maxie." He says the name with that much love in it that I can only assume he still loves the guy, even if they can never be together anymore.

It's probably why Oliver gets me right now. He gets why I'm scared to never see Finnley again. Because let's be honest; looking at Oliver, and the fact he's trying to hide the upcoming tears, tells me it probably won't ever get easier to be separated for good.

"If you ever want to talk about it, know that I'm here. And that I do understand what it feels like for a small part."

"I never even told Finn." He clears his throat. "Finn didn't know until recently. Remember that Finn and I had a fight around the time you guys went on a date?"

"Yeah." I nod, because I do remember they had a fight. Finnley hit Oliver in his face, causing a black eye. "I laughed at you for that black eye."

"That's because Finn found out. Stupid Adam told him when they were hanging out and Finn got mad because he believed every word of what Adam told him."

"I thought you guys got in a fight because he accepted to go on a date with me."

Oliver shakes his head. "I didn't like that, I'll admit that much. I didn't trust you back then and I was worried you'd break his heart."

"But it wasn't the reason Finn hit you."

"It's because Adam told him I was trying to help him, savehim, because I still feel guilty for what happened to Max. But between you and me, I know that wasn't my fault. I mean, I couldn't change things. But Finn didn't want to be a charity case. He really fought all my good intentions in the beginning. He tried to piss me off, he challenged my patience. And then Adam convinced him I was indeed looking at him like some sort of charity case. Not even to help him, but to redeem myself for losing Maxie."

"And then Finn hit you."

"And he started to become more restless, more depressed..." Oliver takes in a deep breath. "On one side, you were there, showing that you love him, taking him out on a date and whatnot, telling him how amazing you think he is. While on the other side, Adam convinced him I wasn't a friend because I wanted to be friends. I was pretending to be a friend because I wanted to get rid of the guilt. Finn got thorn between believing he is worth your love and attention, and believing he wasn't really worth anything at all."

"I start to dislike that Adam more each day."

"I never liked him. But he is my brother, from another mother." He chuckles over his joke and I can't help but grin. "But still, Adam is my brother and he can be really caring if he wants to be. But he's just not my type of friend."

"Then don't meet him anymore than necessary."

"I can't just ditch him." Oliver stares at me, a bit shocked. "I know what it's like to be poor, I know what it's like to not have a father around that cares for you. I know exactly what Adam's life is like right now. And other than me, he doesn't have a mother anymore. Not that mine is the most caring... but she always gave us a place to live."

"And Adam has to take care of himself? He is your father's son; doesn't he get money?"

"Noah and I kind of forced my dad to pay rent for Adam, to give him some allowance to maintain a living. It isn't much, but the deal was that he would get money and work on the side. Adam doesn't work right now, so he's only getting a minimum amount of money. He does some shady stuff, like dealing drugs, whenever he wants more money. I know he buys alcohol for underaged kids and ads a fee to it." Oliver shrugs. "Just, trust me when I say Adam is not trustworthy."

"Yet, Finn hung out with him."

"They had a... sexual... relationship. It lasted until recently."

"Until that night we went to look for him and you took me to Adam?"

"That had been the last time that I know off, yes. But Finn hadn't gone to see Adam in weeks, so it sort of stopped sooner. Finn would always sleep at his place whenever he got sick and tired of his cousins, or his aunt."

"But they are the best family you could ever wish for." I'm shocked to hear him say that Finnley got sick and tired of them every so often.

"But it's not his family. He hated to sit around and watch his cousins and his aunt act all loving towards each other, while his own mother was still trying to "save his soul". He needed a break from that every occasionally."

"And whenever that was, he went to Adam?"

"Or me. Adam was more his escape option whenever he wanted to drink; which was a lot. And in return, Adam could have his way with him whenever he wanted. Finn rented himself in exchange for alcohol and a place to sleep."

"Finn did a lot of that, the past year, didn't he?"

"Finn wasn't himself until you started fighting for him." Oliver smiles a sincere smile, still looking at the nearly gone sun. "I don't know how, or when, but when the day comes and Finn is back, make sure you'll never leave him, ever again."

- Tuesday, December 19th -

"Your bidding is higher." Noah – who decided to help us once again – is frowning towards his computer screen. Oliver is currently not at home. I drove here by myself since Oliver wasn't in school either. "It's nearly as high as Jeff got for Finn."

"Seriously?" I nearly choke on the sip of water I just took. "I thought Alex had a higher bid."

"Well, apparently you're more popular now."

"Why?" I frown, thinking of the fact, if you ask me, Alex is better looking. Not to say I think I'm ugly. I know I'm popular, I've always did good with girls and I can't complain about attention from boys either. But Alex has this innocent look that I thought would be more wanted. Especially since these dirty-minded fuckers probably target weaker types of boys too. Alex looks like he won't be able to put up a decent fight. I know Oliver has been insulting my ability to beat someone up, but I know for a fact I can hit pretty hard.

"How am I supposed to know?" He frowns again, chuckling when he looks at me. "You look really shocked."

"I am. This also means I'm at danger the most." I slide down in the chair a bit.

"And you came here by yourself."

"Nate drives on his own nearly every day." I whine, sliding down further in annoyance.

"But he has a car."

"Aunt Cady told me to use Finn's car for the time being." I visited her because some of my stuff stayed behind about a month ago and we had a pretty nice talk with the three of us; aunt Cady, Jason and me. Then she told me to use his car, since he isn't here and she wants me to stay safe too. She considers me family, which warmed my heart a bit. But it also hurts to think Finnley isn't here right now. "So I have a car too."

"Oh, I thought you got driven around by others."

"True, until Sunday." I sigh deeply. "We have to locate Jeff, for real."

"Yeah, but Oliver saved the latest information on his laptop and I can't get to the files. He needs to open them so that we can start connecting new dots."

"Where's Oliver anyway?"

"I have no clue." He shrugs carelessly. "He left this morning, I figured he'd be in school and the two of you would come here together afterwards."

"He wasn't in school today. And he isn't answering his phone either."

"Maybe he went on a bender again."

"A what?" My frown increases a bit, while I lean on the desk tiredly.

"A bender. You know, drinking until you black out..." Noah chuckles. "Oliver used to do that, a lot."

"Oliver used to drink a lot?"

"Years ago, the chance of him being sober, was slimmer than finding him drunk. He was an alcoholic. Dad forced treatment on him when things... got out of hand."

"Wait, for real?" I perk up, surprised by the information presented to me by Noah. "Oliver was an alcoholic?"

"He always took two bottles of water to school. One with regular water, and the other was supposedly sugary water. Oliver has low blood sugar and his blood pressure isn't great either. So, I believed it whenever he said it contained sugar or salt or whatever he tried to keep himself from fainting."

"But it wasn't water?"

"Vodka. He told me a while ago, when we celebrated him being sober for two years." Noah shrugs. "I was joking, Cris. Oliver wouldn't drink. He wouldn't ruin his streak of months without alcohol just to go on a bender. Mostly because he wouldn't go alone."

"Wait, he didn't drink alcohol for over two years?" That's a bit impressive if you ask me. "Like, at all?"

Noah snickers, nodding his head. "Him and dad have a deal. Oliver has to stay sober for five years, or he'll be scrapped from the will."

"Gossiping, are we?" Oliver sounds amused, but still I jump up in my seat, staring at him like he just caught me stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. He's casually leaning against the doorpost with crossed arms.

"Just telling your friend something about you."

"And you thought, let's start with Oliver's drinking past?" Oliver smirks, shaking his head in disbelieve. But he doesn't seem angry at all that Noah shared such a private piece of information about him.

Does that mean that he doesn't mind me knowing stuff like that?

Are we reaching a level of friendship in which we trust each other with everything?

"You don't mind that he told me?"

"No." Oliver shrugs, before he walks inside the office, followed by a guy with raven black hair, that's messy. He seems a little familiar, although I can't pinpoint where I've seen him before.

"Danny!" Noah jumps up enthusiastically. "You're alive!" He throws his hands in the air, cheering over that fact. "I haven't seen you in months!"

Both Oliver and Danny laugh softly over Noah's actions, while I frown and wonder who the hell he is.

Oliver clearly said he didn't have friends outside of Finn, and now me. So, who's Danny? Another one of their brothers? I now know Oliver and Noah have another five brothers – including Adam – and a little sister.

"Cris, this is Danny." Oliver points towards Danny, who sends me a charming smirk. I can't help but think that he looks very... hot... while he smiles like that. "Danny, that's Cris."

"It's an honour to finally meet you." Danny bows a little, causing Noah to snicker and Oliver to roll his eyes.

"Finally meet me? You've heard things about me?"

"Oh, Finn never knew when to stop talking about you." Danny rolls his eyes dramatically, waving his hand dismissively. "Although he is right, you are very, very attractive."

My face flushes and I stare at him in a bit of shock for his... shameless flirting? He winked at me, he sends me... suggestive smiles... Overall, Danny seems to be one big flirt.

"He's not a potential customer, Danny." Oliver slaps the back of his head. "Stay away from him, or I'll break your hands."

"Aawh." Danny smiles sweetly at him, blinking his eyes in a... feminine way. "Is little Oli-dollie jealous?"

"Shut up." Oliver grumbles, before he returns to looking serious, sitting down in his desk chair. "Danny has something to tell us."

"I know who bought Finn."