~Chris POV~

"CATCH HIM!" I yell as Lin falls to the floor. Leslie sticks his arms under Lin and he falls. He drags him over to the couch and lays him down. We all sit in shock. I knew this was gonna happen. I knew he wouldn't be able to take it much like longer. His love for Pippa runs so deep in him. Uprooting that, I knew this would be bad. I hope we find Pippa soon. For now, we can't leave Lin's side. We have to stand with him and keep him strong. He's not going to last any longer. If she's hurt, or worse, dead, Lin would not be able to live with himself. What confuses me is why he said Pippa's name. "Somebody quickly grab some water for when he wakes up. We also need a wet towel for his head. Les, you caught him before he could get hurt, right?" I ask. Leslie nods. "Good. Now does anyone have any idea why he said Pippa's name?"

"I think he may be so out of it at this point, that it was the only thing he could get out of his mouth." Daveed says. I nod.

"Hallucinations maybe." Thayne points out.

"That's logical. I guess that could be it." I say.

"We gotta find her soon. I have a feeling that was his emotional breaking point, and that he isn't going to last much longer." Groff says very seriously.

"Yeah no kidding. He's beyond panicked. Beyond scared. Beyond terrified. The man sat up here crying the whole time you guys were gone. He kept repeating: 'She's gone' over and over. He's dug himself into a deep hole of despair and has convinced himself that she is gone, dead, and never returning." I say, glancing over sadly at my unconscious best friend. "I don't know how much longer he can hold on."

"Chris is right guys. We need to support Lin at all costs. He's going to slip and fall down a dark hole if we don't stay with him. I'm worried guys." Jas says, her voice cracking towards the end as a tear slips down her cheek. Anthony pulls her close to him.

"Jas, it will be okay. We will find Pippa. Lin will be okay. We're all worried. Baby girl, everything will be alright. We need to stay strong for Lin's sake." Anthony lightly says, comforting Jas. She nods her head.

"Chris, you and Groff know him the best, has anything like this ever happened to him before?" Oak asks.

"When his abuela passed, it was very hard on him. She and him were very close, and he shut himself away for weeks. We were working on the drafting of In The Heights, and thats where the song Alabanza comes from." (A/N I made that up, so don't count on it being true) "In all times that were tough on him, he just wrote. But this is different. I've never seen him like this before. He was talking to me once, and he said that Pippa is different. He loves her so much, and to see that love ripped apart is hard on me, and I'm not even the one it's being ripped from. I've never seen him cry so much, or be so vulnerable. He's willing to do anything for Pippa, even if it means dying for her. When we heard the gunshot and he yelled, he really meant it. He wanted them to bring her back and take him. I'm scared that if we don't find her soon, he may lock himself away forever." I say. Looks of shock arise, along with looks of fear.

"I hate to be this person, but what about the show?" Renée asks. I hadn't even thought about that. Do we just cancel it?

"Does anyone feel up to it?" Everyone raises their hands.

"It will help us get our minds off of it." Oak says. "I think it would be good for us. But we can't tell the fans about Pippa." People nod and agree. Thayne runs to tell everyone that's in the theater. A sudden shout jolts us all.

"PLEASE LEAVE HER ALONE!" We turn around and see Lin thrashing around on the couch.

"Uh-oh. That's not good." Groff points out. I walk over to Lin and shake him gently. He jolts upright, terrified, dazed, and confused.

"Pippa?" He asks, searching the room frantically.

"No, Lin. It was a nightmare. I hate to say it but Pippa's still gone." I let him fall into my arms.

"Lin, we are all going to do the show or keep our minds off of everything. I'm going to call your parents or someone to come take you home and stay with you tonight." I say. He shakes his head.

"Chris, I'm going to do the show. As long as we don't tell the fans anything about Pippa." He has the glimmer of hope again. This time, nobody can crush it. If doing the show helps him, he can do the show.

"Okay Lin. But we will have Javi on standby in the wings, ready to go on if anything happens." I gently assure him.

-Later During The Show-

~Lin POV~

I'm so happy they let me do the show. It's really helping. I love this show. The cast is great. I'm about to go on for Helpless. It's going to be hard without Pippa. Carleigh will do a great job. We told the fans Pippa was sick today. I have Pippa's phone, so I announced our engagement on both of our Twitters. It was hard to do, but I thought it best if the world knew. Helpless is starting.

"Boy, you've got me helpless!" Carleigh sings.

We get to my little rap part.

"Eliza, I don't have a dollar to my name, an acre of land, a troop to command, a dollop of fame. All I have's my honor, a tolerance for pain, a couple of college credits and my top-notch brain. Insane, your family brings out a different side of me. Peggy confides in me, Angelica tried to take a bite of me. No stress, my love for you is never in doubt." I start to tear up a bit. I don't even know why. What if Pippa is doubting my love for her because we haven't found her yet? Panic shoots across my face. Carleigh sees and squeezes my hand reassuringly. I can do this. "We'll get a little place in Harlem and we'll figure it out. I've been livin' without a family since I was a child. My father left, my mother died, I grew up buck wild. But I'll never forget my mother's face, that was real. And as long as I'm alive, Eliza, swear to God, you'll never feel so..." I can't do this. I start full on crying and run off stage. Javi runs on to take my place for the rest of the song. Thank gosh for Javi. We'd be in a pickle without him. I promised Pippa I would always keep her safe. And I broke that promise. I promised Pippa that I would always love her. Through everything. What if she's doubting my love? What if she's hurt, and doubting my promises? What if she's doubting me? What if she is dead? Or dying? Why can't it be me? I can't take it any longer. People rush to take my mic off. Groff runs down to come get me. We head up to my dressing room. I fall into a sobbing mess.

"Lin, you need to go home. The environment you're in isn't helping. Someone needs to stay with you. I will." Groff says. I can tell he's scared. These people care about me so much. We couldn't have picked a better cast.

"Groff, I'll be fine. You can stay here." I say.

"No, Lin. I'm going with you. Someone needs to be there for you. We all agreed we would not do the show tonight if you needed someone. I just have the least songs to do. I'm going to go tell Thayne he's going on for me for the rest of the show." He runs out of the room. Minutes later he runs back, already out of costume and ready to go. While he was gone I changed and I'm ready to go too. "Let's go." He says. We get in his car and head to Pippa and I's apartment. When we get there, I head straight to my bedroom. I flop of the bed and clutch one of Pippa's many stuffed animals. I just sit there. Thinking about her. Praying that she is okay. Groff walks in with a pizza.

"Lin, you need to eat." He says. He hands me a slice and I eat it. Groff and I just sit on the bed. We talk and joke like old times. Once it is 11:00 PM, I get a bazillion texts from the cast, asking if I was okay. I reply saying yes. Groff gets up. "Lin, get some sleep. I'll stay on the couch." I nod. He leaves the room and I change to pajamas and go to sleep.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Pippa POV~

I'm in the back of some car. We are in West Virginia from what I can see out the window. I'm scared out of my mind. Nobody is going to find me when I'm two states away. They probably aren't even looking. I bet no one has cried about me being gone. Nobody is worried. Lin probably doesn't love me anymore. He promised he would keep me safe. I love Lin so much, I just hope they found the note. But they probably didn't even look. The car violently shakes. I hear sirens in the distance. A cop car is chasing us, but we are in a huge city. It probably won't catch us, so I won't be saved. I wonder how it found us. My note? So they must've looked and acted on my disappearance. So they care about me. But I bet Lin didn't cry. I bet nobody cried. It might not have been them. It might have been someone on the streets. The car jolts again and the sirens get louder. I look out the window just as I hear glass shatter.

"LIN!" I cry out, just before everything goes black.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1733 words-excluding A/N

A/N Thanks for 594 reads!!! Sorry for the cliffhanger. I hope to publish a lot more this week because I'm having a ton of fun writing this. Thanks for reading and I will update as quick as I can.

❤️~K