"Night Trev, be careful out there." Blake said as his best friend packed up his things and headed towards the elevator. It was just after 11 and the game had just gotten over. Once Josie had went off to bed he tried pressing Trevor for more information but he snapped and said he wasn't talking about it.
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He had seen the look of annoyance and disappointment in Josie's eyes when she had went off to her room. Now with Trevor finally gone, Blake decided to finish what they had started and this time there was going to be no interruptions. Before Trevor showed up Blake had planned on diving between Josie's legs until she was screaming for mercy and that's exactly what he was planning to do. He came so close to tasting her, Blake knew he wouldn't be satisfied until he actually did.
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As quietly as he could, Blake opened the door to Josie's room. He kind of hoped she was sleeping so he could wake her up with a mind blowing orgasim. However as he knelt at the foot of the mattress he realized she was awake... and crying. "Josie, what's wrong?" He asked immediately scooting up the bed so he could sit at her side. "Josie?" He repeated her name trying to pull her face out of the pillow.
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"What?" She responded in a muffle with her head still down.
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"Would you look at me?" Blake insisted pulling her by the shoulder until she had no choice but to look at him. Her eyes were completely red and puffy and her cheeks were wet and hot from tears. "JoJo..." Blake said calmly, "What's wrong?"
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"Whatta mean what's wrong?!" She suddenly exclaimed, "You saw him!"
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"Saw who? Trevor?" Blake asked.
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"Seriously Blake!" She shouted, "Don't do this! Don't pretend that everything is okay with my brother because the guy that was sitting on that couch was NOT my brother!" As she expressed her rage and sadness, Josie was up pacing the bedroom.
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Turning towards her, Blake immediately pulled her by the arm back down to the bed. It took a minute to get her to stop wiggling from his grasps but eventually she didn't fight his embrace. "Please Blake, don't lie to me and tell me he's okay. We both know he's not." Blake sat silently running his hands up and down Josie's back, trying to bring the girl comfort. She was right, Trevor did look off. He was thinner with giant bags under his eyes. Blake also noted this weird nervous tick he had developed and as hard as he was trying it just didn't seem like he could relax.
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"He looks like he's on drugs for Christ's sakes!" Josie exclaimed fearing the worse.
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"He's not!" Blake defended but deep down he didn't know if he was trying to convince Josie or himself; she was right. He looked strung out.
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"How do you know that?!" Josie argued standing back up.
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"I just know." Blake answered.
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"But how?!" Josie yelled back.
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"Because Trevor Bennett is my best friend. He wouldn't do anything like that!" Blake shouted.
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"That guy you were watching the game with was not Trevor Bennett and we both know it!" Josie was in hysterics again. "Was he lying about talking to my mom and dad?"
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Blake looked down to the floor, "I...I...I don't know. He doesn't tell me any of that. All I know is that he's being smart about all this until he doesn't have to be around these guys anymore." Blake stood up and placed his arms tightly around Josie as she cried against his shirt.
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"I can't lose him Blake." She said as her lip began quivering.
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Blake didn't know what was coming over him but as he held this woman crying in his arms, his heart began to break. A feeling of helplessness came over him and he felt like he would do anything to make her stop crying. "Come lay down baby." He said softly taking her by the hand and leading her back to the bed. As he pulled her close against his chest he kissed the top of her head. "I'll keep a closer eye on him and if I feel like it's too much, I'll pull him out myself."
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"You promise?" She whimpered rubbing her nose with the back of her hand.
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"I promise." He answered softly. "Now sleep Josie. I'll stay until you fall asleep."
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Josie nuzzled in closer resting her head in the crook of Blake's neck. "Can you just stay all night? I don't wanna be alone tonight." She whispered in the darkness of the room.
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There was no way Blake could deny her and as he drifted off himself he felt comfort in Josie gripping him so tightly.
___________________________________
Summer 2006
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"Connie!!" Stacey Bennett screamed coming into the backyard in a panic, "She's gone!!"
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"Who's gone?!" Connor asked seeing the terror in his wife's eyes.
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"Josie! I thought she was in her room playing but I just looked and she's gone. I checked every room of the house!" Stacy cried out. Her daughter was only 7 years old and although young was very independent. She was always sneaking off but her parents knew all her hiding spots so never really worried but now that she wasn't in any of her normal places her mother was in a fright looking for her.
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"We'll find her." Connor assured his wife. "Trevor!!" He yelled for his older child. "Trevor now!"
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Two 15 year old boys came quickly from the basketball court, Trevor and his best friend Blake. "Your sister is missing, you gotta help look for her. Start in the front garden." The man ordered.
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"I'll check the backyard." Blake volunteered.
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"Thank you Blake." Connor replied as he took off towards the side of the house. This little girl was going to be the absolute death of him.
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Blake had been friends with Trevor since elementary school. The two friends had become constant fixtures at one another's houses and whenever they were at Trevor's house they were constantly being followed by his kid sister, Josie. She was a sweet little girl but very mischievous and didn't follow rules very well. Trevor would constantly be telling her to beat it and she would always sneak back in the room shortly after.
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As Blake jogged down the hill in the Bennett's backyard he noticed a small stuffed horse laying in a pile of leaves. He recognized it as belonging to his friend's sister and knew he was on the right path. Picking it up he stuck it under his arm and followed the path that lead to the next door neighbor's yard. "Josie! Josie! Jooosie!" He kept calling out but wasn't getting any response.
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The neighbors next door owned their own stables and holding the stuffed horse gave him an idea. He knew Josie loved horses, he then remembered him and Trevor walking her to riding lessons down the road last year. The horse stables were probably a good bet so he took off running through the neighbors' farm. Not only were there horses, they also had goats and two pot belly pigs. Blake passed the pens and quickly rounded the corner into the stables. When he entered he saw a little girl sitting on a bale of hay stroking a brown horse's nose who had his head poked through the bars of his pen. "Josie!" Blake sighed in relief seeing that she was alright. "You can't run off like that kid, you really got your family worried." Blake began to scold the younger child.
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It was then that he realized Josie wasn't looking up at him and the reason was because she was crying. "Hey..you okay?" He asked sitting down on the hay bale next to her. Josie didn't respond, she sadly continued stroking the horse as she shook her head. "This have something to do with why you ran away?" Blake asked.
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"I come here when they yell a lot." Josie answered softly.
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"Who? Your parents?" Blake asked.
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Josie nodded in confirmation. Blake had to remember she was a lot younger than him and hearing her parents fight was probably pretty scary. His own parents definitely had their fair share over the years. "Adults fight sometimes. It's nothing to be scared of though." He said trying to comfort her.
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"They yell really loud and do it all the time." Josie said starting to get visibly more upset which was the opposite of what Blake wanted. And as he thought more about it, Trevor had mentioned his dad sleeping out of the house a few nights last week. Maybe things were bad between them. "Listen, you get scared next time, don't run off. Try finding your brother, and maybe you can take a walk down here together."
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"But you guys always tell me to go away!" She argued, her face scrunching up like it always did when she was mad.
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"I'll make sure we don't do that anymore." He laughed.
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“You promise?” She said looking up at him sadly.
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“Pinky promise.” Blake said holding out his pinky for the little girl to take. She smiled shyly and locked hers with his.
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"Ok." She sighed trying to stop crying. Her light eyes were even bluer from the tears.
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"Who's this guy?" Blake smiled pointing to the horse Josie kept petting.
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"This is Jupiter. He's really nice and soft." She answered. "I come here when I'm sad, they're my friends." She said smiling sadly at the beautiful animal.
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"Hi Jupiter." Blake said standing up to rub the horse's neck. "Sorry to steal Josie but I gotta get her back home. Her family is worried." Selfishly the horse grunted and stomped his front hoof a couple times.
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Josie giggled at the horse's protest. "He doesn't like that idea!"
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Blake smiled at the little girl seeing her laugh finally. "How 'bout I be Jupiter and give you a ride back?" He asked crouching down in front of her so she could hop on his back.
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Josie smiled and jumped on Blake's back wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. "Giddy up horsey!" She shouted in joy as Blake held her legs and sped out of the stables.
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Blake awoke the next morning right in time for his daily jog. Last night he had a dream of finding Josie in a horse barn when she was a little girl. He remembered that day and even then he felt helpless when he saw her so upset, a similar feeling he had last night. This dream sparked his memory of how much Josie loved horses and that's when he got an idea.
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Quietly he slipped out of bed ,careful not to wake the sleeping women next to him, to track down his cell phone. He opened his calendar to see what was scheduled today and it didn't seem like anything that couldn't be moved. Quickly he emailed Ingrid telling her to get in touch with his appointments today and move them to different days. Even with it being 5 in the morning, Ingrid responded quickly letting him know she would take care of it. He sent another email thanking her for the quick response and to call with any emergencies; for the first time in years Blake Ashby decided to take a personal day.
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As he headed upstairs to change into his jogging clothes he sent Roland a text telling him he needed something done right away. He knew just how to lift Josie’s mood.
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