(For the beginning of this chapter, remember that a normal thing for James to do is talk for his dogs as he said in his 'Things That I Do That Adults Probably Don't Do' video)

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"Georgie? Poppy?" 

        James called out from the doorstep of his garage. He waited, but no teacup dogs came running. The blonde went outside and checked his backyard. Twice. 

"Georgie? Poppy? Where are you two?" 

          He cleared his throat and spoke in a high-pitched voice, 

"Well, maybe we'll come out of our hiding places if you give us a treat!" 

         James crossed his arms, shifted his weight to one leg and said in his normal voice, 

"Poppy, I already gave you 2 treats yesterday. I do, however, have something better for the both of you." 

"What?" his voice changed, "Whatever it is, I'm not sharing!" 

Regular voice: "I got new toys! For you guys!" 

In Poppy's voice: "Mmmm, still not coming out!" 

"Oh, c'mon! They're new squeaky toys." James squeezed a hollow bone toy in one hand and a fake mouse on the other hand, "You'll love it." 

          He cleared his throat once more and spoke in a low, strained voice, 

"Why don't you find us and show it to us? We'll decide if we love it or not." 

Normal voice: "Ugh! Fine." 

          He continued his search for Georgie and Poppy: checking the backyard again, the garage, and inside the house just in case they were roaming the kitchen or Faith was allowing them inside her room. He walked up to her room and opened the door, 

"Uh," he stuck his head inside, "have you seen Poppy or Georgie?" 

          His twin sister shook her head, 

"No, aren't they outside?" 

"No." 

"Oh," Faith tapped her chin. As if she remembered something, her face lit up, "Oh! Mom was taking them on a walk. She should be back by now."

"Okay. Thanks! Bye!"

          James rushed downstairs and grabbed his phone off the kitchen counter. With a quick dial, he reached his mother. After a few rings, a voice on the other end quivered. 

"H-hello James?" 

"Hey mom! When are you going to be back with the dogs?"

"...." 

"Mom?"

"Sweetie," she sighed heavily, "I don't know how to tell you this." 

          James raised an eyebrow,  

"What? What are you talking about?" 

          A sinking feeling began settling in his chest and his heart paced quicker. Surely, whatever his mom had to say couldn't be that bad? But this was about the dogs, right?

"Mom?" his voice tightened, "Are Poppy and Georgie okay?"

          Another heavy sigh, 

"Honey, they're gone." 

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"Chirp. Chirp." 

          Ari fluffed up his feathers as Jaiden scratched the back of his neck. She giggled at another sight of him looking like a baby owl. The bird closed his eyes and the two were in peace and quiet for a few minutes. 

Rrrring! Rrrring!

          Ari snapped his eyes open and abruptly took off, zooming over Jaiden's head in panic. 

"Ah!" 

          She ducked. A few stray feathers floated down, landing on her hair and house phone (which happened to be in front of her). 

Rrrring! Rrrring! Call from James R. Rrrring! Rrrring! 

         Jaiden picked up the phone and held it to her ear, 

"Hey James!" 

"Hey..." 

          Her friend's usually bubbly voice had stooped down to a blank tone. 

"Are you okay?"

"I'm...no," his voice continued to be bland, "I need you, Jaiden." 

"What's wrong?" 

"Um, my dogs are gone." 

" *quiet gasp* They're dead?" 

"No--my mom was walking them but she forgot to secure the leashes and...my dogs started chasing a motorcycle. The leashes broke and my mom lost track of them." 

          His vocal chords refused to express any emotions. It made him sound like a mindless robot talking. Jaiden could sympathize with it so much. She acted exactly like him when she told her school friends about losing Scruffy. Back then, she withheld her tears from spilling and choked down her misery instead of being open about it.  

"Hey," she calmly said, "we'll find them."

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          The duo along with James' mom searched for Poppy and Georgie. Mrs. R retraced her steps and tried to see if she could find them where she last saw them. Jaiden made flyers with information about the lost dogs and James kept calling out for them. 

          For once, Jaiden wished that history would repeat itself. Just as she found Scruffy when hope was down, she wanted the dogs to show up somewhere.  But after a whole day, they weren't found. 

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"They won't survive a night." 

         Jaiden rubbed the blonde's back in gentle strokes. 

"We've got coyotes, traffic, and they're small dogs." His voice slightly cracked, but he tried his best to not sob in front of Jaiden, "I don't know what to do." 

          James took in a shuddering breath and fought to keep his eyes dry. 

          There wasn't much the bruenette could do to make him feel better. She already tried saying a few phrases to help him cope with the fact Georgie and Poppy were wandering in the dark and it would take a miracle to find them. With the encouraging and friendly words she tried to spread, James let more and more emotion slip into his tone. He was letting his guard down, but Jaiden didn't mind. She prepared herself to hug him if he broke down in tears. 

          But he didn't.  

         Instead, James pulled out his phone and read a text on the lock screen, 

"My mom is getting worried," he exhaled, "I need to go home now." 

          Silently, he stood up from Jaiden's front porch, trudged down her driveway, and got into his car. The headlights lit up. His friend stayed sitting by the the front door to her house. Her hand was poised up to call him back, but she held herself back from saying anything. She watched as James reared back and drove out of the neighborhood. 

          Jaiden recalled being even more quiet when Scruffy ran away for the first time. Years ago, she was a victim of overflowing grief. At the time her gloominess was easy to spot. However, she didn't want people to pity or fuss over her, so she clammed up and learned to cry internally. To think that James was most likely feeling the same way made her heart ache.  

          Her gut would've had the courage to say something to her friend, but her mind restrained her from doing so. She had silenced herself in front of him...and it was probably for the best. Maybe her subconscious already knew that words would never stitch emotional wounds, no matter who talked. 

Enough. 

          Jaiden clenched her fists. 

Enough already. 

          She stood up, looking at where James' grey car once was: an empty space by the sidewalk. 

"I don't want you to suffer like I did," she uttered into the night, eyes locked on the space in front of her, "I don't want you to feel the way I did so long ago...but you already are and there's nothing I can do about it."  

          She didn't know if she was talking to herself or speaking as though James was at her side. Whichever it was, she didn't mind. No one was around to hear her anyways. Her shoulders slumped, 

"I haven't done enough to help you." she whispered, "I don't think I'm enough." 

          As soon as the words left her mouth, a bright pair of lights appeared around the corner. Jaiden squinted at the incoming car. There was something the headlights were shining on...two somethings, actually. At first, they gave the silhouette of messy haired cats crossing the road. As the car came closer, it's lights gave a clearer outline of the creatures. 

          Her eyes widened. 

          She didn't think and she didn't hesitate. In the act of pure impulse, Jaiden sprinted to the street and jumped in front of the speeding car. 

"STOP!"

          The vehicle slammed hard on the brakes and all four wheels screeched against the concrete. The front of the car swayed to a complete stop inches away from her stomach. Jaiden glanced at the driver, 

"So sorry ma'am!" Her eyes shifted down, "You were about to run over these dogs." 

          She bent down, picked up a small, frightened dog and cradled it in her arms for the driver to see. A woman in her late 30's behind the wheel opened her mouth in shock, 

"Oh my god!" The window next to her was rolled down halfway, allowing Jaiden to hear, "I didn't see 'em there! I'm so, so sorry!" 

           The woman cast a closer look on the person she almost ran over and noticed small tremors running throughout her stance. For goodness sake, even the dog was trembling! 

"You know," the lady grinned, "anyone else I've ever met would never do what you did there." 

          Jaiden watched the other dog by her feet, but spared a glance at the kind stranger, 

"Um.....thank you?" 

          The woman chuckled, 

"Even I wouldn't do that. You're one brave soul."  

          With that sentence, mini-van reared backwards, steered to the left, and drove away. Jaiden caught a genuine smile on the woman's face just as she disappeared from view. 

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Knock-knock-knock-knock! 

         Jaiden took a step back from the front door and waited. After a few moments, the door swung open and she witnessed a familiar face go from depressed to overjoyed. 

"Jaiden! You found them!" 

        A West Highland Terrier and a Maltese dog dashed forward and jumped into the arms of her friend, who knelt to huddle them. They yipped, barked, and covered James' face with cheerful licks. The blonde laughed,  and hugged his precious dogs. Jaiden noticed his eyes water up. Soon enough, James was hiccuping with heavy sobs. He sniffed and stood up, gazing into Jaiden's eyes with his crying ones.  

         He enveloped her in a bear hug, squeezed her tightly and let his tears drip on her back. Jaiden returned the gesture. She didn't need to hear words, but she knew that he was expressing his gratitude towards her with all his heart.