It has been wayyyyy too long and I'm really sorry about that. Between exams and the longest case of writers' block ever, I just haven't been able to write much. But I've finally finished! YAY! I'm still trying to decide if I should continue my other Team SK fic, A Very Starkid Vacay, so any opinions on that are totally open. I'm uploading this chapter for the second time because something glitched out with my computer and the chapter was filled with weird code, but I think I've fixed it!

~aheartfulloffandoms

When Jaime got the text from Meredith she felt like a terrible person. She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach when she realized that she had destroyed a relationship. It made it even worse that she had destroyed a relationship between two of her best friends. But at the same time, she felt slightly relieved. Maybe she had just saved Lauren from more suffering, at least, she hoped that she had.

But now, she was barely eating or sleeping, she was extremely stressed. The dark circles under her eyes were getting harder and harder to hide. People were beginning to notice her shift in behavior. She was far less energetic and less positive than normally. Joe seemed to especially be noticing the change, on account of the fact that he asked Jaime about Lauren just about every five seconds. Day in day out, Jaime worried about Lauren. She could never shake the feeling of emptiness that Lauren's absence caused her.

It had only been 5 days now, since Lauren had been taken and two days since Brian and Meredith broke up. She and Joey had planned their date for Friday, which was in two days. Brian had been especially grumpy and hard to be around. Their group was falling apart bit by bit, and it was all Jaime's fault, well kind of. Jaime felt a kind of responsibility for this whole thing, and she felt that it would be her job to set it right. She knew that she had to tell someone, someone who would keep it quiet, and help Jaime fix things. She immediately thought of telling Joe, since he was so worried about Lauren, and she would have to tell him eventually. But she worried that he wouldn't take the news so well and freak out. Her next thought was to tell either Julia or Dylan, since they were both good in times of crisis. She wondered what would be better, Dylan's calm fatherly advice, or Julia's possessive mothering. Eventually she decided that Dylan would be the best one to tell, and that all she needed was some of Dylan's fatherly advice and a hug. She she found him after rehearsals and pulled him aside. They walked to a little cafe and sat in the back corner, drinking coffee. "Dyl, thank you so much for this, you have no idea happy I am that you're here." He looked a little confused but he still smiled.

"Really, it's no problem, so what's up?" She leaned in slightly and sighed.

"Dylan, what I'm about to tell you must stay between you and me only, you can't tell anyone." He nodded and she kept going, "Look, Dyl, it's all my fault, Brian and Mere." She held back tears and he looked like he was going to say something, but she stopped him. "Anyway, I should start by telling you the truth about Lauren, she's not actually sick," Dylan looked confused, "Lauren was kidnapped five days ago, and I've been getting these notes from her kidnapper, telling me what to do if I want to keep Lauren safe. They told me not to tell anyone but I can't hold it in anymore. And a couple of days ago, they left me a note with all these pictures in it, one of Lauren all beat up, and the others were pictures of Brian and Lauren that caused the break up, And I hate this, and I just want Lauren back, and i just want it all to stop!" She was now sobbing and Dylan pulled her into a hug. She cried into his shoulder for a while before he pulled away and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Jaime, you should have told everyone." She just cried harder.

"That's the thing! They told me if I told anyone, they'd hurt Lauren! But I couldn't keep it in anymore and now Lauren's going to get even more hurt!"

"Hey Jaime, hey, it's all going to be ok, they aren't going to hurt Lauren anymore. We're gonna get her back, I know you don't want the police involved, so why don't you set up a camera in your apartment, in case they try to get in again." Jaime nodded. "I have an old camera at my apartment, I can bring it to your place tomorrow or something, ok?" She nodded and he walked her home.

Once they were back at Jaime's apartment, and Jaime had locked the door, they noticed the envelope on the table. Jaime stared at it, frozen in place, and Dylan took a moment to process the situation. After a minute, Jaime picked up the envelope and opened it. She pulled the first note out and read it.

Jaime, great job with Brian and Meredith! My inside sources tell me that it was a very messy breakup filled with resentment! It's exactly as I had hoped! You've done well, and Lauren sends her love! I will send the next task tonight. -RR

A tear rolled down Jaime's cheek as she put the note to the side and pulled out another note.

I told you not to tell -RR

She pulled out the last paper and gasped out loud. The paper was a photo of Lauren. She had her eyes squeezed shut and her shirt was ripped and soaked in blood. She was lying on her stomach with her face turned to the side so that Jaime could see a large gash on her cheek. Her back was covered in large gashes and cuts. Dylan stared at the image in shock. "Jaime, we have to go to the police, we can't let this keep happening." Jaime shook her head, tears streamed down her cheeks.

"No, if we do, then Lauren will just be hurt even more." Dylan sighed.

"Jaime, if we can't get Lauren back in less than 2 weeks, we have to go to the police, ok? We have to do something." Jaime just nodded as Dylan pulled her into a hug, letting her cry into his chest.

"Hey Dyl, could you maybe stay here tonight, I'm kind of scared." Dylan smiled.

"Sure thing Jaime Lyn. I will stay up all night if I have to, we'll get Lauren back, don't you worry. You'll see, it will all be ok." He squeezed her tight before pulling away.

"Thanks Dylan." She said.

After locking all of the doors and windows, closing all the curtains and double checking all the closets, under all the beds and in every hiding space Jaime could think of, Jaime was finally able to relax a little. She made popcorn and they sat down to watch a movie. Eventually, after a long argument, Jaime convinced Dylan to watch Mean Girls, one of her favorite movies. And even though he complained, Dylan secretly enjoyed it. They cuddled, which made Jaime feel weird and safe at the same time. It wasn't any sort of romantic cuddling, it was like platonic cuddling, and Jaime felt like Dylan could just shield her from all her problems. After the movie, they talked for a while, trying to stay awake. They tried to avoid topics like Lauren, Brian, Meredith or anything else linked to the kidnapping. They talked about their hometowns, and high school. It made Jaime wish that she could just go back to New York and escape all of this drama. Hearing Dylan talk about San Francisco made her start to wish that she was anywhere but where she was, worrying about normal things, not this crazy shit.

"Hey, could you tell me a story about San Francisco? Just any long story?" She asked and he smiled and launched into a long story about one Christmas when he was ten and his entire huge family was in town. As she listened to Dylan talk about his huge out of control family, she started to drift in between being awake and asleep. Slowly, she drifted off to sleep, away from the hell that she was trapped in.

When she woke up, Dylan wasn't where he had been when she fell asleep. She looked around but she didn't see him anywhere, "Dyl?" She said, standing up. She walked into the kitchen and saw him, lying on the ground, a pool of blood had formed, coming from a gash on the top of his head. Jaime gasped and ran over to him, checking for a pulse. Thankfully, he was still alive and breathing. There was a post-it note next to him, stuck to a large envelope. She grabbed the note, which was short and to the point.

He was too close.

That was all the note said. A tear rolled down her cheek and she fell onto her hands and knees. She felt so defeated. There was no way that she could protect her friends and it was completely clear to her now that she had to get through this alone. She grabbed the phone and dialled 911. "911, what's your emergency?" a woman's voice answered the phone.

"My friend hit his head at some point in the night and he's still breathing but he won't wake up and I don't know how long he's been there but he's been bleeding a lot and-" She was shaking uncontrollably and speaking rapidly when she was cut off by the 911 operator.

"Mam, just stay calm and we will have an ambulance come to help you as soon as possible." Jaime thanked the woman and hung up when her eyes fell upon the envelope. She grabbed it and opened it. Inside was a single note.

The stakes are higher than ever, successfully complete your new task and 1) Lauren will be fed "real human food" as opposed to the dog food she's used to getting once a week currently. 2) One "special" Starkid in my sights will be allowed to live with only minor injury. I almost forgot to tell you your task! You have exactly one week to get 5,000 dollars, I don't care how, and leave it for me in the rosebush across the street from your apartment building. You know which one I'm talking about. Get the money to me in exactly a week and everything will go over smoothly. Bail on me, and things WILL get messy.

-RR

Jaime gasped and shoved the letter into her shoebox after reading it over a few more times just to be sure that she had read it correctly. She let the tears fall as she sunk to her knees beside Dylan, completely unsure of what to do next. There was no way she would be able to raise 5,000 dollars in only a week! She didn't have much money in her bank account and she had no idea how to get that much money in such a short period of time. She heard the sirens of the ambulance off in the distance, and knew that she couldn't let anyone know about the note. Hurriedly, she stuffed the note into the box just before the paramedics rushed into her apartment. She explained to them what had happened, how she had woken up and found him lying there, and they quickly put him on a stretcher and brought him to the ambulance.

"Miss, you can come with him if you want, there's room in the ambulance." one of the paramedics had tapped Jaime on the shoulder and she smiled slightly, nodding.

"Thank you. But, could you just give me one minute? I should grab my purse." He nodded and she rushed into her room, grabbing the letters and her phone and wallet, and putting them into her bag. Things had been taken too far, she had decided it was about time she did something about this mess.

I just want to make something clear about the timeline. This chapter starts on Wednesday, and ends on Thursday.