( gif by hazzawckd <3 )

thank you all for the messages 😭 i promise i am okay and i see your messages, it has been me in physical therapy. i was squatting 315 and my lower back popped and I fell. I managed to catch the weight but it was a mess! im back though, so hello !!!

when reading this chapter, I recommend listening to

https://open.spotify.com/track/1491Kis263uUWf18sDnYSG?si=5XgDwwVATLWlHFyHkS__Jw&context=spotify%3Asearch <<

"Are you still alive?" Vanity asked into the phone with a slight bit of humor.

"You could say that." I murmur, staring down at my notebook of designs in front of me. I was glad that Vanity was available for me to pick up the phone. Syndi had a double and Tiana was volunteering at the library, Eliana and Moni were out of the state for work again; which left Vanity at home in the apartment by herself.

It was a beautiful day, and for once I got to sit by myself in a little cafe-bookshop not far from the hotel. I brought nothing but my phone and notebook, giving Vanity a call to hear her voice.

After what I saw on the balcony and what Miles told me, I just wanted some fresh air and to get out of the hotel to be away from Hobie. After the interaction across our balconies, I was scared he would show up to my room and demand he come in and tell me to keep my mouth shut about what I saw. So I left and went to the closest place where I could relax.

"Please tell me you have done something at least fun." Vanity already complains, I feel like I haven't heard her voice in ages, despite us not knowing each other for so long I feel like I have been friends with her my entire life.

"Well, I'm talking to you now, aren't I?" I joke, mainly because I really couldn't think of something fun I've done.

"Talking to me should be the least boring part of your week, not the best." She rejects.

"It's just.. a lot I guess."

"I get it, but I want you to enjoy your time there. It isn't everyday you get to work with a popular band, work under Karl Lagerfeld AND travel all in one." She whines for my sake.

"I just miss the simple life I had." My fingers trace around the dark blue mug, my eyes focused on it.

"And you will be soon, home is boring anyway. You're sitting in a random coffee shop in the middle of sunny state of Washington, make the best of it." She seemed to be in a positive mood today.

"I know, I know. Love today like it's your last or something." I roll my eyes, sticking my hand out in front of me to look down at my nails.

"How's the singer?" She asks.

"What do you mean?"

"Still hate him?"

"I never said I hated him, I just said I don't like him." I restate.

There's many nasty things I could say to describe Hobie and his true form, I do hate him. But at what point does my hate turn into an obsession?

"If it weighs on you a lot, why don't you seriously reconsider quitting? Y'know, asking to come back to work with Deja and June?" She quietly adds. I would like it, probably more than I would like to admit, but that would mean Hobie got the upper hand and drove me away. Besides, that contract I signed keeps me chained here until I have served my purpose; so I don't have an option but to sigh a 'Nah, no fun.'

"Maybe you should show him a good time." She laughs.

I let out a small gag and glanced up at the window that went out to the busy street. It was around noon, an alive time to be up and out on this beautiful afternoon. I sipped my hot chocolate, watching as the people walked by the window, but one body stuck out the most to me.

A tall broad frame in a gray hoodie, black joggers and black sunglasses. He walked by the coffee shop, naturally peering into the window like he was people observing for a quick second and then his gaze looked back out towards the sidewalk. He turned to face the crosswalk, waiting for the light to turn from red to the little white icon of the person walking, his body shifting back and forth on his heels as he waited for it.

"Hey, imma call you back." I hung up the phone without another word, shoving my phone into my back pocket. I grab my items and placed them into the little backpack I brought, heading towards the door before he was too far gone,

I headed out the door into the warm breeze, immediately turning my head to the direction he was walking. It took me a few seconds to finally spot him amongst the sea of people along the busy sidewalk. He was a few buildings away, easily spotted with his gray hood up and his quick pace.

I kept my eyes glued to the back of his head, not daring to take my eyes off of him. There was not a single bit of hesitation in my follow, for some reason wherever he was going was important. It was really none of my business about his whereabouts, but he seems to always love being in mine so I was only doing him a favor by now seeing what this was all about. Maybe he was off to do something illegal or dangerous, which was all the more reason for me to put a little pep in my step to catch him at a distance.

If whatever he was about to do started to get too sketchy or I got a gut feeling to get away, there were more than enough people for me to sink back into being a nobody to get away, but right now I was fine. We were still on a busy side of the street and the direction he was going seemed to be pushing us further into it anyway.

I kept my eye on him again, he was still walking pretty fast in the calmest way possible. It's like he was on a mission, I was dying to figure out what it was. I noticed at the end of the street there was a park with a gorgeous colorful garden within it. The longer he walked straight the more it felt like that was his set destination. It was at the end of the street across the road.

When he got to the other crosswalk, he stopped and waited to cross once more. I stopped myself as well, keeping a far distance behind him near a restaurant. I tucked myself into the waiting line in case he turned around with a sudden urge to look behind him.

His dark appearance walked across the crosswalk once it turned green, making a bee-line straight into the garden that had a few benches and bird feeders. Was he going to sit? Relax? Nah.. That doesn't sound like Hobie at all.

He bent down to knee level where a small little bundle of flowers was growing out from the ground. He pulled the red carnation flowers out from the ground, his hand in a tight fist to pull them out from the ground with his hand gripping the neck of it.

He walks back to the sidewalk, continuing to stride down at a quick pace again.

I pulled myself out from the little corner I was hiding in, following him once more. He was on the other side of the road, going down differently than the one he was on. I crossed the road where he once did, turning right to pass the garden and continue to follow him to where he was going. I hope I don't get lost when I decide to go back to the hotel after I finish stalking him.

I pulled out my phone with the camera app open, my palms sweating. I kept my head down besides a few peaks to make sure I was still following him in the right direction and I wasn't going to bump into another. I couldn't believe I was doing this, really following him. Miles mentioned he could sense things out of the ordinary, but I doubt he would really notice me in a crowd of people going in different directions.

With a few more rights and left I still followed him through the city of Wasington, trying to keep hidden but seem as normal as possible, the distance between us was the only thing saving me if he decided to 'sense' me out. If I was any closer and he turned, I would be right behind him and dead.

So, I kept my head low. While we continued walking, I noticed to the left of me was a black steel picket fence. Behind it was a bunch of tall trees, but eventually through them all I saw gravestones.

I looked ahead of me again just in the right timing to see Hobie turn left into the open gated entrance. I froze in my place, swallowing a lump in my throat when I realized he was going to a cemetery.

I slowly walked again, keeping my eye between the trees as I passed. A shiver ran down my spine with a guilty feeling in the back of my mind, maybe I should've just kept my distance and minded my business. He walked deeper into the cemetery, my mind deciding on whether I should turn back around and pretend I never saw this or keep following him.

I get up to the open steel gate, peaking in to see him walking down the lonesome gravel road. To his right and left were lines of tombstones, the flowers in his hands were down by his side but held onto tighter; I knew because I did the same thing when I visit Ellie all the time.

I slowly stepped into the cemetery, but instead of following him down the empty road where he definitely would spot me, I snuck behind a tree near the entrance. If I follow him and turn around from hearing my footsteps, he'd catch me in a heartbeat, and I already have first hand experience on what happens if you go snooping in places Hobie doesn't want you to be snooping at. No one else was here that I could see or hear, plus it was very secluded behind the trees.

I hid behind a giant oak tree, the trunk wide and tall. Taking a deep breath, I peaked out to the gravestones, watching his back walk down the gravel road still.

He paused when he came up to two tombstones, his shoulders dropping slightly before he turned to his right to face the tombstones. He dropped his head, flowers still down by his side. It seemed he stood there in silence for a moment, pushing his hood down to let the breeze caress his face. With his sunglasses on, I couldn't see his expression very well. But I did see him wipe at his cheeks to stop the tears from flowing down his face.

He opened his mouth and said something short and quietly. He bent down, tossing two flowers to one tombstone and three on the other. What I was seeing right now was very out of the ordinary for someone like Hobie. The mean, ugly, crazy, spiderman(?), Hobie. The Hobie I am seeing right now is placing flowers down in front of two tombstones while crying for the first time since I have ever known him.

I felt guilty watching this, but I was far too deep into this now to turn back. If I knew this trip was for something super personal, of course I wouldn't have followed. But the way Hobie acts and who he is as an individual I didn't know what I was going to see while following him.

When I sensed he was about to leave, I tucked myself back behind the tree fully. I stayed dead silent, practically holding my breath as I listened to his shoes meet the gravel again. I could hear his footsteps walking down the road back in my direction. My stomach was turning in anticipation, but I was pretty safe with my hiding spot.

I shuffled around the other side of the tree when I heard him get closer to the gate, eventually flipping around it completely so I was seen to the cemetery now rather than the street behind me. I peeked and watched him put his hood back up, walking back out to the sidewalk to leave towards the direction he came from. I watched him walk along the street at his fast pace, soon to cross the road again.

I let go of the breath I was holding, knowing I was now in the clear. I waited a few more moments before letting curiosity take me to the gravestones he was at. After checking one more time to make sure he was gone, I hurried up to the gravestones with the flowers on them.

In my red Nike dunks, I jog the rest of the way to the stone until I was standing in the spot he originally was, looking down at the grave with tossed red carnation's in front of them.

Black Tiger
Loving father, husband, son, friend to many and loving to all.

Was this his dad?

There was no date on the tombstone to give a rough date when this person passed, but given the nature of the dirty marks on it I would say this person has been gone for quite some time now. What also doesn't make sense is that this is not the home birth of him, I honestly do not know where he was from, but Washington D.C. doesn't scream him.

I turned to the next tombstone after paying my respects to the person, a small prayer that however he was connected to Hobie, I would try my best to make sure he doesn't have to end up next to him in the ground. I said a small few words about how he was insufferable but remembering how he makes guitar picks for kids; so he wasn't all too bad in a way.

The name was covered by a few vines, the tombstone a small heart that was almost perfectly aligned to Mr. Tiger.

XXX
Should we lose each other in the shadow off the evening trees,
I will wait for you
And should I fall behind
Wait for me.
Daughter, Friend, Sister.

Was this also someone he knew?

Everything about this was so confusing to me. Who were these people? Why was Hobie so conflicted and crying when seeing their tombstones? Why did this specific grave make me feel nauseous when at the bottom of the tombstone read 'Born from a beautiful laugh.' That I always told her. I prayed that it was a coincidence that quote was there, but pushing back the vines and seeing 'Ellie' written across the stone made my knees almost give out.

Finding out Hobie was spiderman and now this was too much to take in. He obviously goes through a lot more than I think he does, no matter what the whole gravestone is. I didn't want to assume that it was my Ellie, my Ellie is across the country; maybe we both just happen to know an Ellie that died. I wasn't going to stay here and figure it out, I had too many more questions in my head that needed to be answered and after today I saw a small different side. But at the end of the day I knew if I went to Hobie and told him I am here for him for whatever he is going through, he would still throw me under the bus.

We all have secrets and we hide them simply because they can be our biggest fears or our worst enemy. I don't know who to trust anymore, but in the back of my mind I feel a bit better knowing I think Hobie doesn't either.