Robert was lying in his bed with the crook of his arm over his eyes. It was Saturday morning, the beginning of the weekend, and he was already wishing it was Monday. What the hell was he supposed to do with himself until it was time to go to back to work? He knew how he would prefer to spend his weekend, lying in bed with his blankets pulled over his head and his mind turned off, but that wasn't an option. He decided he hated weekends with a passion.

He made himself get up and went downstairs for some breakfast, finding his parents already in the kitchen. His dad got up right away, saying, "Fancy some breakfast, Robbie?"

"Yeah, cheers, dad," he said, and gave his mum a hug and kiss before he made a mug of tea. Then he slumped in his seat at the table and tried to think of what he could do to fill the hours until he could safely go back to bed again.

As if his dad was reading his mind, he asked, "What d'you have planned for today?"

"Uh, dunno," he said, keeping his eyes on his mug.

"D'you remember? You promised you'd get your hair cut."

Robert hadn't forgotten, he just hadn't been able to do it yet. The night after he'd told his dad he'd do it, he'd come home from work and felt like he was suffocating as soon as he walked in the house. He went for a long run as soon as he could change out of his work clothes. Exhausting himself seemed to be the only thing that made the rest of the evening bearable. By time he'd finished, cleaned up and eaten, the hairdresser's was closed.

"Yeah, I'll do that," he said. That ought to kill about an hour, he thought grimly and slumped further in his seat.

When Robert left the house to get his hair cut, he decided to walk to the salon. It would eat up more of the seemingly endless hours that stretched ahead of him. It was a warm day and the sun was out but he barely noticed, turning off his mind as soon as he started walking, looking at the ground while he put one foot in front of the other, his hands shoved in his pockets.

When he walked into the salon, he was greeted loudly by the hairdressers who all knew him. He almost always got his hair cut on the spur of the moment, never bothering to make an appointment ahead of time so nearly all of them had cut, or more accurately, wrestled with his hair, attempting to make it look more under control. This time he got Julie, one of the younger hairdressers with tattoos on her arms, a nose ring and pink streaks in her long blonde hair. She usually got the younger clients, the ones who weren't afraid to have her touch their hair.

She greeted him with a smile, saying, "Alright, Robbie?"

"Alright, Julie," he replied, and managed to smile back.

He didn't say anything to her when she got ready to cut it and she didn't bother to ask him either. She'd always cut it the same way, and it had always looked fine to him. While she worked on him, he turned off his mind, not hearing the women chatting around him. When she was finished, she asked, "How does it look, Robbie?"

"Looks fine," he replied, not really noticing how it looked, or caring.

"Well, I made sure to leave it longer this time. I know that's how your girlfriend fancies it," she said, smiling at him.

Robert felt like he'd just been kicked in the chest. He didn't say anything in response, just paid her and left, trying to ignore the crushing pain and desolation that threatened to overwhelm him again. Until that moment, he'd managed not to remember she'd been with him the last time he was there.

The hair cut he'd had before that had been his first since he'd been home. He'd gone to get it cut while she stayed with his mum. When he came back, she'd taken one look at his hair and burst into tears, declaring it had been ruined. The next few days he'd caught her looking at him mournfully, still grieving the lost inches. He'd thought it was funny she'd had such a strong reaction to seeing him with shorter hair but he understood. She'd never seen him with his hair the way he usually wore it. When she'd first met him, his hair was longer than usual, and grew longer still over the two months he was a prisoner.

When it had gotten long enough it was falling in his eyes again, she'd insisted on coming to the hairdressers with him. She talked with Julie about the precise length she wanted it cut and how she felt it should be shaped. Then she watched every snip of the scissors, speaking up the second she thought Julie was about to take more than she should. Julie took it in good stride, saying she was glad at least someone cared about how he looked, implying he didn't care enough.

Seeing how much she'd made of how his hair looked, he couldn't help remembering the first time she'd asked about the length of his hair in the flat, and the look of wonder on her face when she'd done it. That's when he realized she felt about his hair the way he felt about hers. That had been a revelation to him. His hair had always been the thing girls bemoaned about his appearance, but Georgie loved it.

After Julie's comment, it took hours of walking before he felt like he was ready to go home again. It was quiet when he walked in the house and hung up his jacket. He found a note in the kitchen from his parents. They'd gone out to see a movie and have dinner. Feeling relieved he wouldn't have to sit through another awkward meal, he decided to make a sandwich. He got meat and cheese out of the fridge, then went to get the bread out of the bread bin. That's when he noticed the coffeemaker was missing.

He looked around even though he knew it wouldn't have been moved to another spot. His mum must have gotten rid of it or perhaps put it away somewhere out of sight since the only one who would use it now would be Betsy. He quickly finished making his sandwich, trying to ignore the pain in his chest and push away the despair that was threatening to settle over him.

He got a can of pop before he headed up to his room with the sandwich. After he sat on his bed, he opened his laptop and logged onto the internet as he started eating. When his homepage came up, he was about to take another bite out of his sandwich but stopped as he stared at the screen. His homepage was his e-mail account, and he couldn't fucking believe it. She'd sent him another e-mail.

He set the sandwich back on the plate, no longer interested in eating, and stared at the screen for a moment, looking at the notification. Then he sighed deeply and clicked on his inbox. The new e-mail was there, along with the other two she'd already sent him. He knew he should've deleted them, refused to read them even, but he hadn't been able to make himself.

The first e-mail had arrived two days after she left and was filled with all the same shit she'd already told him about why she'd left him. He didn't know why she'd bothered to write it down. She'd said all of it so many times during the week before he drove her to the airport, he could've written the damn thing himself. And who cared what the reasons were? She was gone.

The second e-mail had been sent a little over a week later, and had been depressing as hell to read. He sighed deeply before he clicked on it and read it again.

Dear Robert,

I hope you're doing okay. I'm okay.

It feels good to be home, but it's hard too. The truth is it's a lot harder here than I thought it would be. I'm not the same person I used to be and I think it's hard for everyone to realize that. I guess it's hard for me to realize it too.

The best part about being home is being with Grandma May again. She tries hard to make me feel comfortable and takes good care of me like she always used to. Marianne is very sweet. I like her a lot.

I haven't gone out much. I really want to go into the city though. I want to go back to see some of the places I used to go with mom and Frankie. I'm going to try really hard to do that.

I guess I don't have much else to say except I love you and miss you. I hope your mom is good, and your dad too. Please tell your mom I miss her. Like I said before, I know you probably don't want to write back to me. It's okay. I understand why. If you do write to me, I promise I'll write back to you.

Love, Georgie

It hadn't been all that difficult for Robert to read between the lines. She wasn't doing any better in Chicago than she had with him. The signs were all there she was struggling to cope.

---Then---

Robert had been out for several hours visiting some local universities when he returned home. As soon as he opened the front door, he saw his mum asleep on the couch with Peaches curled up next her, the TV on with the volume turned low. He tried to be quiet when he closed the door and hung up his jacket, not wanting to disturb her. He checked the kitchen but Georgie wasn't there, then he quietly went up the stairs.

When he went in their bedroom she wasn't there either and he made a quick check of the rest of the rooms but came up empty. As he came back down the stairs, his mum was just waking up.

"Oh, Robbie. You're home," she said, sitting up and stretching as Peaches walked away, looking disgruntled her nap had been interrupted.

"Where's Georgie?" he asked, going her to give her a hug and kiss.

"She just popped out to the shops to get a few things we needed."

"Oh, alright," he said. "D'you want me to make you some tea?"

"Yes, that would be lovely," she said smiling.

He had just picked up the kettle to fill it with water when he heard his mum cry out, "Oh, my God! Robbie!"

He dropped the kettle and ran into the sitting room, afraid something was happening to her. She had her hand over her heart and her eyes were wide with shock.

"What's wrong?" he shouted.

"I had no idea that was the time! Robbie! Georgie's been gone for almost three hours!"

Robert suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe as terror gripped him. The bastard had taken her. His legs could no longer hold his weight and he staggered to the couch, pulling his mobile out of his pocket.

While he struggled to get his shaking fingers to punch the few buttons necessary for his phone to dial Georgie's mobile number, his mum said in a hushed voice, "Robbie! You don't think –."

"No!" he shouted, grabbing onto her hand, trying to stop her from expressing the very fear that was running through his mind. "No! I don't think it! There's another explanation!" he said loudly, willing it to be true.

He heard a click as his mobile connected with hers and listened to it ring while his mum held his hand tight. 'Pick up, Georgie. Pick up,' he pleaded over and over in his mind, listening to it ring with his eyes squeezed shut. He knew she still found her mobile confusing to use having never owned one before, and prayed that was the reason why it was taking her so long to answer it.

The ringing stopped and it went to voice mail. Fuck. He redialed her number and listened again, willing her to pick up while he struggled to breathe, wondering how the hell he was going to find her if she didn't.

"Hello," Georgie said in a high, breaking voice. It was obvious she was crying.

"Georgie! Georgie, where are you?" he shouted, even more terrified than he was before.

"Robert!" she cried out, and began sobbing loudly into the phone.

"Georgie, tell me where you are!" he shouted.

"I don't know!" she wailed. "I don't know where I am!" Bloody hell. He immediately imagined her locked in a small, dark space, the bastard not realizing she had a mobile on her.

"Did he take you?" he shouted.

"No, Robert! I'm lost!" she wailed. He slumped over as a tremendous wave of relief washed over him and began breathing deeply, finally able to get air into his lungs.

"She got lost," he mouthed to his mum, while Georgie continued to cry into the phone.

"Thank God," his mum whispered, and got a tissue to wipe her eyes.

"Georgie, I want you to listen to me very carefully. I need you to calm down," he said firmly, getting up and grabbing his mum's car keys, nodding to her on his way out the door. "I need you to look around you and tell me what you see."

"Um," she said shakily. "I'm behind a building?"

"What building?"

"I don't know!" she wailed, and started crying again.

"Georgie! You need to calm down so I can find you! D'you understand?" He started the car and began driving, taking the route she would've walked to the shops.

"Yes, Robert," she sobbed, and then he could hear her taking deep breaths, trying to stop crying.

"Are you next to a road? Do you see a street sign?"

"No, there aren't any roads here."

"What kind of building are you behind?"

"I don't know. Maybe stores?" This wasn't getting them anywhere.

"I need you to walk to the nearest street so you can find out what it's called," he said firmly.

"No!" she wailed. "I can't go out there!" and he heard her sobbing again.

"Why can't you go out there? Georgie tell me what's going on!" he said loudly, feeling alarmed again.

"I'm afraid!" she wailed.

"What are you afraid of?"

"The man!" she wailed. Bloody hell. He quickly pulled over, not wanting to cause an accident.

"Georgie, tell me what's going on right now!" he shouted, feeling terrified again.

"There was a man!" she sobbed. "He was in the store! He scared me! I ran and I got lost! I hid behind the building! I don't want him to find me, Robert!"

"What did he do? Did he hurt you?" he shouted.

"No!" she sobbed. "But he wanted to!"

"What did he say to you?" he shouted.

"He didn't – he didn't say anything!" she sobbed.

"Did he follow you?" he asked loudly.

"I don't know! I didn't look back when I ran!" she sobbed.

Robert closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, listening to Georgie sobbing into the phone, the terror draining out of him. Had she really been in danger, or had she misinterpreted something, overreacted and gotten herself lost? He didn't want to, but he suspected it was the latter.

"Georgie, I need you to stop crying. D'you hear me?" he said loudly so she would hear him over her sobbing.

"Okay," she said, and he could hear her taking deep breaths again.

"I need you to listen to me. I will not be able to find you if you stay where you are. D'you understand me?"

"Yes, Robert," she cried, and he could hear the fear in her voice.

"If you go where the street is, you'll be safe. You'll be safe because you'll be around people. No one will try to hurt you if you're around other people, yes?"

"Yes, Robert," she said tremulously.

"I'm going to stay on the phone with you while you go to the street so you won't be alone, alright?"

"Alright," she said shakily. He was relieved she was able to pull it together enough to follow his instructions.

Soon she was able to tell him a street name and he knew exactly where she was, driving there as quickly as he could. When he spied her standing on the corner, he said into the mobile, "I see you, Georgie."

"Where? Where are you?" she cried out desperately, and began sobbing again as she looked around wildly for him. "I can't see you, Robert!" she sobbed, as people around her looked at her with concern.

He pulled over to the curb where she was standing and as soon as the doors were unlocked, she climbed into the car and attempted to crawl onto his lap, wedging herself between him and the steering wheel, while she sobbed. When he put his arms around her, he could feel her body shaking with fear.

While he shushed her, trying to get her to calm down, he couldn't help feeling completely overwhelmed by her again. She'd been to the shops by herself with no problem before. How could something that should've been a simple errand for her, suddenly turn into such a disaster? They'd been home for nearly a month now and it worried him that this was becoming a pattern with her. She'd seem like she was doing well and then completely fall apart on him, unable to cope with some everyday ordinary event.

As soon as he was able to get her to sit in the seat, he drove them home. During the entire trip, she cried quietly, slumped against the car door. When they walked in the house, as soon as Georgie saw his mum on the couch, she went to her, collapsing into her arms and sobbing while his mum hugged her. Robert sat down next to her and his mum looked at him questioningly. He could only shrug his shoulders. After several minutes, Georgie recovered enough to sit up and his mum gave her some tissues so she could wipe her face.

"I was looking for the things we needed when I noticed this man looking at me," she said, her voice breaking, keeping her eyes on the wadded up ball of tissues in her hand. "When I looked at him, he looked away, but then I went to the next aisle and he went there too. He looked at me again but this time he didn't stop when I looked at him. I was starting to get scared so I went to the next aisle to get away from him." She started crying as she continued.

"He followed me and when I looked at him, I could see it in his eyes! I could see what he wanted to do to me! And I – I had to get away before he hurt me!" she said, wiping her tears. His mum started rubbing her arm.

"I didn't know I was running until I was outside! When I couldn't run any more, I didn't know where I was so I – I hid so he couldn't find me!"

Then she began sobbing again and Robert pulled her into his chest while his mum looked at him with concern. He still wasn't sure what had actually happened. Did the man really intend to hurt her or not? His mum interrupted his thoughts.

"Georgie, why didn't you stay in the shop?" she asked gently. "He couldn't hurt you while you were there. Why didn't you ask someone for help?"

"I don't know!" she wailed into his chest.

Robert suddenly had an image in his head of Georgie hunched over their little kitchen table in the flat, her eyes on her plate, saying quietly, 'Sometimes when I get scared like that, I – I –,' and then taking a sip of water. At the time, he'd had no idea what she was trying to tell him, but now he did. She'd get so scared she was no longer able to think rationally, he thought grimly. She'd do something stupid, like run out of a public place where she was safe and get herself lost.

"Georgie, we were terrified something had happened to you when you didn't come home," he said firmly, not quite able to hide the anger in his voice. "Why didn't you ring me to come get you?" She started taking deep breaths, trying to stop crying and sat up.

"I forgot I had the mobile until I heard it ringing, Robert," she said quietly, her shoulders hunched, her head hanging. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I scared you."

"It's alright," his mum said gently. "We understand."

"But you were right. I should've stayed there at the store," she said plaintively. "I should've called you. I don't know why I didn't think of it. I was – so – stupid," she finished miserably, then hunched her shoulders further while she continued to look at the wadded up tissue in her hand. He didn't like hearing her talk about herself that way, and he felt guilty for having just been thinking the same thing.

"You just made a mistake," he said soothingly, rubbing her back. "Next time you'll know better, yeah?"

"I'm so dumb," she muttered.

"Hey, stop that," he said louder. "I don't want you talking about yourself like that, alright?"

"Okay," she muttered bitterly, her head still hanging.

---Now---

Robert heard a knock on his door.

"Yeah," he said, looking up from his laptop. His mum opened the door and her eyes lit up as soon as she saw him.

"Oh, Robbie. Your hair looks so nice," she said, and he quickly closed his laptop and got up so he could give her a hug and kiss.

"Cheers, mum. Did you like the film?"

"It was lovely, but I don't know if your dad liked it. Y'know he doesn't fancy the romantic ones," she said smiling.

"Yeah," Robert said, smiling back. His dad had probably slept through most of it.

"D'you want me to make you something for dinner."

"Nah. I've got a sandwich here, yeah?" he said, motioning so she could see it.

"Alright, well I'll let you get back to whatever it was you were doing," she said smiling, closing his door as she left.

As soon as the door was shut, he sat on his bed and slumped over, looking at the sandwich he no longer had the appetite to eat as he thought about that unread e-mail from her.

****

I named Robert's hairdresser after Julie Walters, the actress. The very first film she ever made was called Educating Rita back in 1983. She played a hairdresser with a pink streak in her blonde hair. I loved that movie when it came out and when I needed a name, it popped into my head. And yeah, she happens to be Mrs. Weasley too.  :)

I hope you liked this chapter and if you did, please vote and let me know what you think!