Jay pulled Patric into a bone-crushing hug, as had become their routine every morning. But this morning was different. This morning Jay and Patric were both leaving the house. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Jason asked for the hundredth time, vaguely wondering when he had become such a mother hen.

Patric rolled his eyes at the man's worry, "I'm just going to the store. I'll be fine. I'll be back in an hour, tops. Besides, Mia's going with me," Patric reminded him. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Jay's eyes darkened almost imperceptibly at Patric's flippant dismissal. The worst that could happen with a serial killer on the loose? He didn't want to think about that. "Just," Jay sighed, "text me when you get home." With that last remark, Patric went to his sister's waiting car and Jason began his walk to work.

                                                             ~GP~

Jay didn't ever think he'd been such a wreck. He was pacing back and forth, raking hands through is hair, all the while glaring daggers at his phone. An hour and ten minutes had already gone by and Patric hadn't texted him to let him know he was home. That was ten minutes past when he promised he'd be home.

"I'm sure everything's fine. It's just taking a little longer than he thought at the store," Sophie spoke lightly, trying to convince everyone of her words. But, Patric had never been late texting Jay before.

An hour and ten minutes turned into an hour and a half.

Soon two hours came and went.

And finally, after two and a half hours Jason's phone buzzed, signaling that he's received a text. He jumped at the sudden vibrations and practically threw the blasted piece of technology across the room in his haste to open the damn thing.

Patric: Hey, this is Mia. I can't find Patric anywhere. I found his phone on the ground outside the store. I think someone's taken him.