- Tuesday, December 19th –

"I know who bought Finn." Danny awkwardly scratches the back of his head, staring mostly at me.

"You know who bought Finn?" I repeat his revelation with shock. "Who is it? Where is he? What do you know? Why..."

Both Danny and Oliver hold up their hand to silence my blabbering mouth.

"Let me start by telling you that I won't be telling you anything the coppers don't already know. Oliver took me to the station and I told them everything I know."

"But why now? His been missing for nearly a month!"

"Because I only got the information last night." He smiles, although it doesn't seem so sincere; more or less forced.

"Who bought Finn?" Noah repeats my initial first question.

"He goes by the name Uncle Doe." Danny sits down in a chair, while Oliver is focused on his computer, probably listening with one ear. "Like... as in John Doe. Because nobody really knows who he is exactly."

"John Doe?" Noah frowns, writing the information down. "As in how they call an unknown victim in America?"

"Yes." Danny nods. "But in general, people call him the Phantom, because nobody seems to know what he looks like. Nobody's ever seen him. Go ask around in the right places and everybody heard about Uncle Doe. But everybody calls him the Phantom and nobody will be able to tell you who he is exactly."

"But you do?"

"Well, no." Danny shrugs carelessly, but his face tells me he is bothered that he doesn't know who it is. "I have no idea. I'm no exception to that rule."

"Than how did you find out he bought Finn?" I'm a bit sceptic. I haven't seen or heard from Danny before this very moment and now he's telling me he knows who bought Finn. Besides, the story he's telling me sounds a bit weird and it's hard to believe any of it. But it's something. It's more than we had so far.

"Oliver asked me to ask around, see if someone knew something about Finn being sold. Yesterday I had a conversation with some drunk guy and he told me Uncle Doe was around here somewhere in the same weekend Finn was sold. He only does that whenever he's... buying... someone for his business."

"But how do you know it's Finn for sure?"

"Because he always pays two guys to pick the person up and bring him to a certain place. The guys said it was Jeffrey who sold... "the kid"." Again, he clears his throat, coughing awkwardly. "I'm almost 100% sure it's Finn the guy was talking about. Jeff isn't a popular guy in town and rumours about him always get around pretty quickly."

"And where does this... Phantom... do his business? And what business is it?"

"Listen... Cris is it?"

"Cris, yes. I'm listening."

"The rumours are very basic about what he does. Uncle Doe has brothels in multiple countries and Finn could be in any of them."

"What countries? Does the police know?"

"It's all rumours, because nobody really knows which are his businesses, because he never shows his face. But they say the southern countries in Europe are his favourite spots. Spain, Italy, Greece, maybe even Turkey. I really can't tell exactly. Nobody can."

"But the cops are going to look into it, right?"

"Well..." Danny looks at Oliver, like he's looking for help. "I don't know how to tell you this..."

"They already follow the Phantom, for years. So far, they haven't been able to catch him." Oliver helps him out with a very honest answer, lacking any emotion; yet another one of his defence mechanisms. Or more, a way not to break down.

I'm really starting to get to know Oliver. But that also made me realize this isn't good, at all. "So..."

"It's exactly what it is, Cris. People don't call him the Phantom for nothing. They're haunting a ghost, a phantom, because they have no idea who they are looking for exactly. For all we know, he's the guy next door, or the local baker. It really could be anyone." Danny looks at me sadly.

"Maybe you should be prepared for the worst." Oliver sighs, looking down for a short while, before he looks up at me. "Finn isn't the first one to disappear after getting bought by the Phantom and he won't be the last."

"You know more?"

"I do." Danny cocks his head to the side. "One..." He clears his throat. "An old friend disappeared three years ago and it's said that he got in the hands of the Phantom as well. Same MO, same story, same guys picking him up."

"Seriously?" My eyes widen and my heart drops. I sink down in my chair, feeling pretty much defeated. "So, you're telling me..."

"He really could be anywhere..." Danny mutters sadly. "And I don't think he's going to come back."

"No." I shake my head, refusing to believe Finnley is lost forever. I can't and I won't accept it. "We're gonna keep looking. I don't care what I have to do to find him, I will find him."

"Cris, you've got to be realistic about this. He could be literally anywhere, and he's with someone who managed to stay out of the hands of law for years and years." Danny stares at me with a bit of curiosity in his eyes. "What do you think you could do, that the cops didn't already try in order to find the guy?"

"Anything that I need to do."

- Sunday, December 31st -

"Cris? Honey?" My mom knocks on my bedroom door carefully. "Are you coming down in a minute? We're about to start eating."

"I'm not hungry." I mutter, hugging a pillow against my chest, staring at the wall beside my bed, like I have been doing ever since I woke up.

"Honey. You have to eat something." She sits down behind me, the bed moving because of her. She caresses my hair like only a mother can do. "I'm worried about you."

"Mom, don't." I swallow away the lump that instantly formed in the back of my throat. A lump that forms every time someone talks to me like she does right now. They all feel sorry for me, they all pity me. And I hate ever bit of it.

I just want them to leave me alone.

"Can I have a minute with him?" Stan sounds calm. At least he doesn't sound sad, like I'm about to die or something.

Ever since Danny spilled out all the things he knew, I lost all hope. And with that hope, I lost basically all the will to live.

Mom kisses the top of my head, before she gets up and probably leaves the room. I don't know, because she is literally acting like she is walking on glass around me.

"Hey." Stan sounds neutral and instead of approaching me carefully, he just flops down on the bed behind me, pulling me in his arms.

It's the best fucking feeling in the world right now to have him hold me in his arms. Like he's protecting me from the rest of the world.

He nuzzles his face in the croak of my neck, humming appreciatively over something. "We're gonna find him, okay?"

"Are we?" I mutter, turning around in his arms to face him, pushing my face against his chest to hide the upcoming tears.

"Hey, you're the one that said you'd do anything to find him, right?"

"Yeah, but I just don't know where to start."

"We'll start with the beginning." He cups my face, forcing me to look at him. His thumb wipes away a lost tear and a small smile appears on my face. "We are going to find him, and we're gonna take it step by step."

"But the cops can't even find the guy. They don't even know who he is or where he's from. They have no name, they have no face. They only know he's a big guy in human trafficking."

"Yeah, but we're not looking for someone without a face or a name."

"We are." I groan. "We have no idea who the Phantom is..."

"We're not looking for him, we're looking for Finnley Lund. He has a name, he has a face, and we're gonna focus on finding him. Whoever bought him, whoever has him. Whatever they force him to do or whatever situation he is. We're looking for him and we're going to find him, got it?"

I stare at Stan, feeling massive appreciation for him right now. Up until this point, nobody managed to give me back some sort of hope. And here he is, right in front of me, causing new sparks of hope. And it only took him a couple of minutes. Maybe I shouldn't hide in my bedroom at my parents' home for days in a row, refusing to see anyone. Maybe I shouldn't push people like Stan and Oliver away. Because I need them now more than ever. I need their positivity; even though exactly that has been the reason I refused to see either one of them, or Nathan, or anyone else. I couldn't handle their realism, or their attempts to cheer me up.

"I'm not going to let you fall apart right now." He chuckles. "Finn needs you and he needs you whole. Not like some broken, crying mess."

"Thanks, Stan. I think I needed someone to tell me these things."

"Than stop hiding, because Oliver has been trying to talk to you for days. Nathan has been trying to get you to come home so he could talk to you."

"But neither of them came by to slap me in the face and force me to go on."

"Well, in all honesty, Nathan thought I was the best guy for that job."

"Oliver could've done it too."

"Oliver is afraid you're angry at him because he is the one that told you to be realistic about all of this."

"Well, he did give me the feeling he was giving up."

"He'll never give up on Finn. I don't know him that well, but I do know he really cares about Finn and won't ever give up on him. Neither should you."

"I'm not giving up on Finn..."

"But you are wasting precious time by sulking in your bedroom." Stan cuts my sentence short, before he presses a kiss on the top of my head. "Let's go down, eat dinner with your parents, my dad, and the whole Jacobs family and for a couple of hours pretend that everything is the way it's supposed to be. And tomorrow, in the new year, we will start our search, combing the world inch by inch, until we find Finn. Deal?"

"I'm really not hungry..." I protest.

"Then drink until you're wasted. Oliver is the designated driver for the night and he'll make sure you'll get home safe."

"Sounds really nice... wasted until I forget about everything for a while."

"So, that's what you'll do. Tonight, you can do whatever the hell you want to forget about this shitty year and start fresh in the next."

I force a smile on my face, but I really do feel a bit better thanks to Stan.

"But you are going to eat, because I'm not going to let you drink a single drop of liquor without eating properly."

"Yes dad." I chuckle before I hug him tightly. "I'm still really happy you and I became friends."

* * * * *

I kind of noticed I miss hanging out with Stan. The last couple of weeks I hung out with Oliver a lot and I might have neglected my other friends; and not just Stan.

We are in the same club we always go to ever since I moved to the city. Oliver is the designated driver since he doesn't drink any alcohol. But he did hire the VIP area I first saw him in and orders most of our drinks.

By now, I know where I first saw Danny. I know he seemed familiar and now I know I saw him sitting here with Oliver and Finnley back in September. He isn't here tonight, but Oliver did take Noah with him. Along with Stan, Nathan, Liam, Jaimie and a bunch of other guys from soccer, we're here to have a fun night. Sam sadly couldn't join because he is in Austria to ski with his family.

Stan, Nathan and I had dinner with our parents and Nathan's siblings. I did invite Charlie, since he broke all contact with his parents and Sydney, but he decided to spend New Year's Eve with aunt Cady, his cousins and Jason.

"What's your favourite drink?" Oliver leans towards me, placing another beer in front of me that a guy just brought to the table. "Anything but beer."

"Eeh."

"Do you mean what gets him drunk easily?" Stan meddles with our starting conversation. "Definitely Tequila."

I can't help but smirk. Tequila is my enemy. "No Tequila please."

"So, Tequila it is?" Oliver's devilish smirk causes me to roll my eyes.

"Get the kid some Tequila." Stan slaps my shoulder in a friendly way.

"One trip to oblivion coming up." Oliver grins, gesturing the same guy who just dropped off our drinks to come back.

"No, Oli, I don't want Tequila..."

"Shut up, Cris." Stan covers my mouth. "You need a drink. You need to relax for once. Even Nathan agreed with my plan to get you wasted."

"Because when Nathan agrees it's fine, right?" I mumble back, but his hand holds back most of the sound, and the music is muting the rest of my words.

"Ssh babe." Stan coos into my ear. "Let us take care of you."

"Don't call me babe." I slapped away his hand, before I send him an annoyed look. "But fine, Tequila." I shrug. "But you're cleaning up if I throw up in Oliver's car."

"Oh, you're not getting in my car if you're about to throw up." Oliver shakes his head with an amused smile. "If you get sick, you're on your own."

"That isn't fair, if you guys are practically forcing Tequila down my throat."

"Nobody's forcing you."

"We're just telling you to stop whining like a baby and let go for once. I haven't seen you completely wasted in weeks, maybe even months." Stan sits back up straight as soon as Nathan returns from the bathroom, putting his arm around his shoulder.

"You haven't seen me a lot in the past weeks." I smirk daringly at him. "And I had pain meds, remember?" I tap my head with a finger, telling him I had an injury that sort of prevented me from drinking any alcoholic drinks.

"But you're okay now." Nathan smiles. "And it's New Year's Eve. Close down the shitty year with a bang."

"It's nearly midnight." Jaimie sits down in his seat after he went out for a smoke. "Five minutes left."

"We need champagne." I nudge Oliver. "Champagne, you know, not Tequila?"

"Calm down, babe."

"Why is everybody calling me babe?" I look at him with wide eyes. "I'm not a babe. Not yours, not Stan's..."

"It's just... your dad and his hilarious comments..." Stan falls into a fit of laughter, probably thinking back of my dad's stupid jokes. As always, as soon as I started to loosen up a bit – with the help of two glasses of wine on a nearly empty stomach – he started his usual jokes. Calling me his little girl and whatnot. Stan is biased by it, taking over the stupid jokes.

"And you are quite a cutie." Oliver coos, pinching my cheek with a smirk on his face. Off course, Oliver didn't miss out on the chance to make fun of me again. As soon as he heard Stan's jokes, and him telling whatever my dad said, he joined in on it.

"One of these days, I'm gonna hit either one of you really hard. Just to prove I can still throw a decent punch."

Jaime smirks and nods. "Seriously, Cris does throw decent punches. I was sparring with him one day, let me tell ya, he knows how to hit you."

"He knows how to hit onme." Stan responds, causing both Jaimie and Oliver to laugh aloud and me to roll my eyes.

"Did you hit on him?" Nathan sends me a look, telling me he isn't serious about this. Still I feel the need to point out I didn't hit on Stan in months.

Another guy working in the club, places a bucket with a bottle of champagne and a bunch of glasses on the table, ending with a round of shots; probably Tequila. "Enjoy your evening." He smiles towards us, before he leaves again.

Oliver leans forwards, grabbing the bottle of champagne with a smile towards me. "You ordered champagne, my dear babe?"

"Shut up." I hit him on his shoulder, not as hard as possible, but still causing him to jump a bit in pain.

"Hey! I'm buying you drinks, you should hit me. You should hit on me."

"You guys are the worst." I slide down in my seat a bit. Why did I decide on sitting in between the two biggest bullies in life?

"Half a minute, guys." Jaimie sits up right, helping Oliver to divide the empty glasses.

Oliver prepares to open the bottle, us holding glasses, awaiting the contents of bubbly alcohol.

"Ten, nine, eight..." The whole club starts counting, while a large clock on the wall counts down with us. Oliver turns in his seat, looking at me with a smile, counting along with the rest.

"Three, two, one! Happy new year!" I cover my ears to block out most of the sounds, Oliver popping off the cork with a loud plopping sound. He fills the glasses, before everybody starts shaking hands, kissing and whatnot, Oliver offering me a glass, holding up one of his own.

"This is to you, Cris. To you, and Finn." We let our glasses clink against each other, before I move to take a sip, seeing Oliver do the same.

"I thought you didn't drink."

"Champagne at New Year is the only exception, since I toasted to you and Finn." He smiles. "I needed to finish that toast, right?"

"Thanks, Oli." I smile. "The two good things that happened this year, are me and Finn getting together, and you becoming my friend."

"My friendship with you is my highlight of the year." He smiles, and then we share a hug. "And finding Finn is going to be my new year's resolution."