Part 3! You lucky peoples get the end of it tonight (mostly 'cause I had nothing better to do...)

"Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Will you stay if he finds out?"

Gold-amber eyes close; talking to one's reflection gets one nowhere.

I dare him to do something ridiculous— to spray-paint a roof. He freaks and refuses, but I laugh and say it was a joke.

Truthfully, it isn't.

But that's okay.

It rains. Pours, really.

I find my clearing in the forest, where no one can find me.

I push up my sleeve and pull out my razor blade.

I know it's wrong. Honest, I do.

But I'm addicted, and I love the pain.

Six cuts. Only six are new today.

Each one is for a letter of his name.

He could never care about me.

I just know.

Suddenly.

Suddenly there's an umbrella above my head.

"You should have a coat. You'll get sick."

It's his voice.

I spin around to face him, my heart thundering. Whether it's out of fear or something else, I don't know.

He pulls off his jacket—he loves that jacket—and pulls it around my shoulders instead.

I stare incredulously. He's never taken that jacket off before, at least not to my knowledge.

"D- Don't t- tell anyone," I plead.

"Everyone has their own scars to hide."

My eyes widen when I realize what he means. I tie my arms around his neck, embracing him tightly. He doesn't push me away, and I cry.

He lets me.

Three A.M. But I don't know or care.

My mind's made up, and I've already left. Crys has the phone and I have another in my hand.

I dial a memorized number.

"…Silver?"

"Hnn… Gold? Why are you calling me so late—no, early?"

"It's nothing, I guess, but…"

"If it's nothing, then—"

"Goodbye, Silver."

I hang up and turn the phone off.

I destroy it and throw it away, because I have another in my bag.

Day one. It's just the first day, and I've already passed through the forest.

I wander, because there's a good chance that they haven't noticed my

disappearance.

I find a train.

Good.

Day twenty-one. It's been three weeks, and I've found a place to stay for a few

days.

Each day, I tell Crys what happens. It's usually only a few words, and she never

replies.

That's okay.

I miss her though. Him too.

Yes, I really miss him.

On my twenty-second day, Crys tells me they've given up.

This is the first time she's contacted me.

She tells me that he's wasting away.

My heart lurches.

It's been one month, and I'm still traveling around. No one has recognized me.

Just another day...

Emptiness. It's a prominent feeling in my heart, accompanied only by loss and

vacant desire.

I miss him.

I miss him so much that the pain is tangible.

Does he feel the same?

...Probably not.

Tonight, I cry myself to sleep.

A month and a day. This morning I hear incredible chatter about the newspaper.

Asking around provides various responses.

"Just another delinquent who thought it'd be funny to vandalize a school."

"Oh, it's so sweet, hun! A plea to someone who may never return! I think it's romantic, begging for someone's safe return to them..."

"Some kid covered a high-school roof in spray-paint."

This last response startles me. Could it be...?

I grab a copy of a newspaper. "PLEASE COME HOME" is blasted out to me.

I've decided. "I'm coming home" is what I tell Crys today.

Thank you, Silver.

I'm coming home...

...to you.

Authoress' Comments: OHMAHGAWD I WROTE A STORY THAT'S OVER A THOUSAND WORDS. This should be celebrated. The total word count of the actual story, minus my comments, comes to 1,301. :D With them, it comes to a lot more.

Gold isn't exactly going anywhere in particular. Just... going. Wandering. Being the rebellious youth that he is.

I just realized I've had my Sneasel plushie with me as I wrote this... Silver would be proud of me :D Well, maybe. It's not really in his personality.

Speaking of personalities, I do realize that I made them very out of character. It's just that I had these two ideas - going missing and I-dare-you-to-spraypaint-the-school-roof - so I put them together. After I had Silver's basic skeleton, I added the thing about him finding Gold in the forest so it would be longer, and I figured Gold being a cutter might add some motive to wanting to leave.

...I need to show this to my Gold friend - I'm Silver. Gold introduced me to PokeSpe and PMShipping so if you liked this, you should thank her!

Enough of my rambling! Hope you enjoyed!

-Bug of Fire, the PyroScorpion