Iverson woke up to long strands of hair masking his face and a bodyweight on his chest pinning him down on his back, he was used to waking up this way since he shared a bed with Blue.

A tiny unconscious smile graced his lips as he placed a hand on her bare waist and snuggled her closer, he buried his nose in her hair and inhaled deeply then almost instantly tensed.

Blue was loyal to apple scented products; her shower gel, shampoo and even laundry soap. That, left her with a fading scent of apple, always.

This person smelt nothing like Blue, he pried one eyes opened to take in his surrounding and that was when memories of the night before came crashing on him along with the inevitable hang over headache.

"Fúck." He muttered, taking in the brunette sprawled out on him and the blonde hair scattered on the pillow beside him, he remembered every last detail now; every touch, every kiss, every skin on skin.

Oh man, it was a wild night.

The brunette- what was her name again- was completely naked, he knew he was naked under the sheet too and suddenly Iverson didn't know where to touch in order  to get her off of him.

He shifted and wriggled subtly so as not to wake her but she soon lifted her head to leer at him.

He grimaced. "Erm, do you think you can..get off?"

She kept looking at him as if trying to make sense of what he was saying, Iverson repeated himself and shifted uncomfortably. The blonde beside him flipped over and mumbled something with her hands stretched out, only then did brunette moved off of him to crawl over into her body where she fit perfectly.

He cursed under his breath as he sat up and looked around for his hastily discarded clothes. "Do you mind if I use your bathroom?" He asked and one of them blindly pointed in the way of a door on the far corner of the room.

With another curse he made his way there and cursed some more when bright light assaulted his eyes in the tiny bathroom. He got dressed in there, gaggled some water and splashed some on his face.

What was he going to do with himself, he asked the bearded stranger staring back at him in the mirror above the handbasin, he looked as pathetic as he felt.

Two girls in one night and he still felt empty and now doused with guilt and misery. He was losing himself and he felt weak to do anything about it.

He checked the time on his phone to realised it was only 3:06am but he needed to leave now, he vaguely remembered hailing down a cab with the girls so hopefully his car was safely back at the bar.

He walked out of the bathroom to find only the blonde snoring away in bed, he looked around for the other one as he snuck to what he thought was the exist  but found himself in their porch that had been converted to a little kitchen and right in the middle was the brunette with an electric jug in hand.

"Sneaking out are we?" She smirked as she filled the jug with tap water and returned it to the plug. "Coffee?"

"Please." Iverson replied, the awkwardness he anticipated was making itself known but he couldn't resist a cup of coffee.

"Sorry it's instant."

"That's fine." He said and sat down on a nearby chair, he drummed  his fingers on his thighs and watched her fetch instant coffee into two mugs.

"Sorry, I forgot your name after all the drinks." Iverson said to fill the silence.

"It's Elena and my girlfriend is Tess. You are Harrison right?"

"Iverson." He corrected.

"Close enough." She shrugged. "And this girl that left you for your friend is Blue, no?" She asked, pouring the hot water in the mugs and handing him one.

"Thank you. How did you..."

"You kept calling us Blue, so I figured."

"Right." He nodded and took a sip to avoid eye contact. "I'm sorry."

"Pfft, don't be. We all do what we have to do sometimes, I'm sorry it didn't make you feel better about yourself."

She was right. What he felt was guilt, like he just cheated on Bella but they were technically not together at the moment.

Iverson looked back at Elena, she was a pretty girl and seemed kind enough. She especially, he remembered trying to pretend she was his Blue but he knew damn well that she wasn't. He knew, every step of the way.

She wasn't necessarily attracted to him but she wanted him, both her and Tess. They were lovely and seductive but despite how drunk he was, he couldn't pretend either of them was Blue because they just didn't feel right.

Their touches was only enough to arouse his drunken mind, their bodies responded to him but didn't give in to him.

There was no friction between them, no connection or any sense of intimacy. It was just a fuck and it didn't feel more than that.

He felt those things with Blue, her body was attuned with his, her body gave in to him because it was more than just a fuck or a caress, her pleasure was his pleasure.

He felt how she felt whenever he touched her and that only served to heighten his own feelings. She never said she loved him but her body couldn't lie, there was no way such intimacy could have been faked.

"She loves me." He whispered in sudden realization. How had he ignored the truth that had been staring him in the eyes all these time? She lied about everything being for revenge, there was no way she could have pulled off such great acting even as she curled into him and sometimes say his name in her sleep.

Dan lied too and that bastard must know where she was.

Iverson leapt out of the chair and forced his mug back into Elena's free hand, he didn't need caffeine anymore. "Thank you!" He gripped her face and kissed her cheek. "Thank Tess too." He kissed the other cheek and literally raced out of their home, leaving the dazed girl gaping after him.

He almost jumped in the air once outside and he recognized the neighborhood, knowing he was within a walking distance from Biggie. Just the man he needed, he whipped out his phone and dialed Biggie's number.

"Someone had better be dying." Came the grumbling voice laden with sleep.

"Not yet, you are going to stop me from killing him. I'm on my way to yours and I need a ride to Dan's."

Ten minutes later and he was chatting away in Biggie's SUV, the guy was still bitter about being rudely awoken but Iverson couldn't contain himself as everything began to fall into place in his head or maybe he was just falling deeper into denial.

"Do you know I was the first guy she ever fúcked?" He asked enthusiastically.

"I was perfectly fine with not knowing." Biggie grumbled a reply, he didn't know how Iverson was that cheerful at barely 4am when he had been drunk the previous night.

"I was!" Iverson exclaimed with pride. "She acts like virginity is not that important but she'd kept it for years! There's no way she would have just let me take it for revenge, you agree with me?"

Biggie rolled his eyes.

"Come on, you have to agree with me." Iverson went on. "She even went on a date with Derrick and if there was ever a person that could charm the pants off a nun, Derrick is it! But she gave it to me! Doesn't that speak volume?"

"It only took you millennial to figure out." Biggie rolled his eyes again. "Claire tailored all these shits out the second day you left for Kadeville and according to her, it may have started as a thirst for revenge or that could have been Bella's way of justifying the fact that she still had feelings for a douche."

"Gee, thanks." Iverson said, grinning from ear to ear. His friend was saying exactly what he wanted to hear.

Biggie gave him a sour look and continued. "And I heard the first time you upset her, she put scissors to her clothes and even her hair. The second time you upset her, she smashed your guitar and packed everything you own in a box to the left. She obviously have anger issues, not the kind of girl I'll recommend for you to be honest." He met Iverson's eyes briefly to show him he was being serious. Iverson's smile faltered, Biggie was hardly ever serious.

"It's hardly surprising someone like her will pull the stunt she did to get back at you for supposedly cheating on her." Biggie went on.

"Girls like her are a major pain in the ass, they spend years building something only to destroy it in a moment of unwarranted anger. She may love you yes, but she can destroy you with that same passion.

So take my advice, I don't need it. When you find her, before you both ride off into the sunset, you wanna seriously consider her issues. Don't justify everything she did with love and don't call her insane jealousy cute. There was nothing cute about her running down that street telling strangers you were trying to kidnap her. That was just insane man, and it is the reason you're a suspect for her disappearance now. Things could get really worse." He finished, shaking his head disapprovingly.

Needless to say, Iverson's mood had deteriorated significantly by the time they parked outside the apartment, he wanted to defend her but he couldn't find any sincere word to do so.

Biggie was right to a tee.

He was prone to fuck ups, it would seem he got a kick out of complicating his own life. Like the momentum rendezvous he just had with Elena and Tess. Bella had serious issues too and just thinking about it now, he dreaded to see how she would react if she found out he for real had séx with two girls to get over her.

Daniel wasn't home, he already knew that since his Camry was missing from the driveway but he still walked to the door to jingle it handle. Was it just him or did the door looked new?

"Where could he have gone to this early?" Biggie asked.

Iverson with his head bowed, jammed his hands in his pocket and walked back to the car without a word.

"Maybe he spent the night at Cynthia's?" Biggie offered again and Iverson nodded broodingly.

"So do you want to go over to Cynthia's?" Biggie asked again. "And will you quit acting like a toddler who just had his candy taken? You are welcome to get the fuck out of my car and let me drive back home to sleep in peace, my woman is waiting."

"Stop talking, your voice pain me." Iverson groaned, his hangover  was making itself known again.

~~
Surprisingly, Cynthia was up and about and was about to get in her car when they arrived at her place. She paused at the driver's side and eyed their car curiously.
Her eyes shifted between Iverson and Biggie when they simultaneously got down.

"Morning Cynthia." Iverson greeted and she gave him a little wave before glaring at Biggie, her ex boyfriend.

"What are you doing here?" She directed at him specifically.

"Believe me darling, seeing your face this early was never how I planned on starting my day." Biggie retorted snuggly.

Cynthia flipped her hair and adjusted her stance as she said. "I see you're still an ãsshole, I'm so glad I dumbed you."

To that, Biggie laughed and Iverson lifted his face up to the sky in exasperation.

"Maybe your brain need a little refreshing cause I remember doing the dumping and it's a decision I wake up every morning to thank the Lor.."

Iverson reached forward and slapped the back of Biggie's head before he could complete his stupid sentence. "At least she's right about one thing, you're still an ãsshole." He told him and turned to Cynthia.

"Please ignore this mad man, we are actually here to see Daniel." He said, looking around for a familiar Camry but none was in sight. "Have you seen him?"

"Not since he broke up with me." She said.

Iverson's stomach dipped, was he wrong with his theory about himself and Bella then? Maybe she and Dan did fell in love at some point, they had enough time after he moved out of the apartment.

Biggie was whistling beside him but he hardly heard that over his thumping heart. Pressing his lips together, he folded his arms on his chest and took a step closer to Cynthia.

"Does it have anything to do with Bella?" He asked.

She frowned. "Why would it have anything to do with Bella?"

"You must be daft." Biggie cut in. "Have you seen Bella? She's pretty and got a great ãss."

Both Iverson and Cynthia turned to sneer at him and he threw his hands up in mock surrender.

"Not everyone is as superficial as you Big." Cynthia said in irritation. "Beside, I'm confident Daniel and Bella can never get together romantically."

"Yeah? Why not?"

"Because they're sib..." She caught herself mid sentence and seemed to changed her mind. "It's none of your business." She snapped at Biggie.

Iverson audibly inhaled and exhaled. "Cynthia, when did Daniel broke up with you?"

"About two weeks ago."

"But the police called you and you stood as an alibi for him?"

"Yes, we were together till the evening of that day and he called me before the police to inform me that all was a big misunderstanding and Bella wasn't missing because she was at Kadeville with you."

Iverson exchanged a look with Biggie, it was more than obviously now that Dan knew exactly where Bella was and he was probably there with her as they spoke.

He faced Cynthia again and explained everything to her, to the very last detail and he watched her expressions like a hawk.

She looked thoughtful for a minute and then she started getting pale at whatever scenario she was building in her head and Iverson stood impatiently waiting for her to share it with him.

"I know for a fact that Daniel won't get involve with Bella romantically. He threw up twice the day they mistakenly kissed and he didn't sleep for the rest of the night."

"Why?"

"That is not for me to tell you. But if he is being shady about Bella's disappearance, she could be in danger."

"Why?" Iverson repeated, fighting the urge to lunge forward and shake the words out of Cynthia faster.

"I've been trying not to think this way but when Daniel broke up with me, he looked and acted like a completely different person. He was shaking badly and his eyes had this wild crazy look, he scared me and it was all because I got admission into Harvard."

"Make some sense Cynthia." Biggie said impatiently.

She closed her eyes and sighed. "This may be  nothing but Daniel is schizophrenic and has been diagnosed with chronic monophobia years before we even met, he said he had it under wrap but when I told him about my admission, I...I think, I think he..he...snapped."

Everything went still. It appeared none of them was breathing. Iverson stared long and hard at Cynthia, she couldn't be saying what he was hearing; paranoia? Monophobia? Isn't that the irrational and extreme fear of loneliness?

He shuddered on his feet and took two steps back from her. "You think he kidnapped her and she..." He took a stressful breath to get the words out. "She may be in mortal danger? Why her? You are the one leaving." He knew how inappropriate that sounded, he wouldn't wish danger on anyone.

"Yes, but it would make sense for him to go after Bella. She is his only sibling, one he spent years searching for."

"What?" Iverson and Biggie gasped at the same time.

Iverson felt faint, so much so he had to double over and hold on to his knees. All these time he barely believed she was missing but she could be in danger while he'd been frolicking around.

"Look, I seriously hope I'm wrong and this is just a misunderstanding but that's all I can tell you and I really have to go now. I have to be on a 5:30 flight." She started getting in her car but Biggie quickly intercepted her.

"Not so fast." He said, blocking her way with his body. "He was your boyfriend and you know all these about him, surely you must have an idea of where he might be now?"

"I don't know!" She suddenly cried out. "He bought a house three month ago so you may want to check there but other than that, I...don't know!" Her voice quivered as she spoke.

Biggie knew her enough to know she was scared shitless. If Daniel was indeed crazy and on the loose, she would rather be very far away before he decided to come for her too.