𝐱𝐢𝐱.

• • • •

The game was in full swing, and the energy at Fiserv Forum was electric—yet Faith felt like she was a million miles away. No matter how much she tried, her focus wasn't all the way there. How could it be, when one of the worst people she'd ever known was just a few feet away, watching her every move?

Terrifying was an understatement. And it became even worse when she remembered something else—how could Derek have found out about her needing to fill in in Milwaukee in the first place? ESPN correspondences between employees were typically made on private servers within the company, and nothing was supposed to connect with any personal email addresses or phone numbers you may have had.

How did he know where she was going to be? As if the situation with Carly wasn't enough, did she now have to worry about the possibility of someone from work being shady, too?

By the time halftime rolled around, the Bucks were down ten and Faith didn't have to worry about Derek during the time when she was doing on court interviews with some of the Celtics' players. The last interview was with coach Brad Stevens, and once it was over Faith took her time going back to her seat, trying to see if Derek was still there or had gone for the concession stands like most people.

For now, he was gone—giving Faith a brief respite from the onslaught of anxiety she'd battled for the last hour or so. She made it back to her seat and pulled up her iMessage thread with Chris, deciding that now was the time to tell him everything that had been going on.

Faith 💜

9:15pm

Hey babe are you busy?

Chris 💙

9:17pm

Hey love I just got back from walking Dodge. What's up? How's the game?

She quickly summarized the goings on of the past few weeks, leaving the real time situation at the end and making sure to apologize for her behavior towards him before leaving. Once Faith saw that he'd read it, the gray typing bubbles appeared and then stopped. She was confused at first but then realized he was calling her. There wasn't a ton of time left until halftime was over, so Faith hurriedly left the sideline and walked out into the concession area, where it was relatively quieter. "Hey, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, I can hear you. I've already started looking at flights for tomorrow morning."

"What? Chris, you don't–"

"Do not even try fighting me on this. I don't feel comfortable with you being there all by yourself. I'm not going to wait around until something happens to you, babe. Absolutely no way."

He was right, she wasn't going to try to convince him to stay put. "Okay. I only have a few minutes until the 3rd quarter starts, but I almost don't even want to go back inside."

"I completely understand. What can you do in the meantime? What about talking to the police?"

"It'd have to be once I got back home. Filing a report and all that. But you know how they are, if there's not enough documentation, they may just write me off as paranoid."

"I get that. How the hell did he even know where you were going to be in the first place?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking. It doesn't make any sense." The weight of the situation hitting her in that moment, Faith felt a lump rise in her throat and tears prick her eyes. The woman was accustomed to being resilient—it'd been how she made it this far in her career in the first place. But here, tonight, she felt anything but. "Chris, I'm really scared. I don't know why this is happening or what I did to make it happen."

"Oh, babe—I wish I could be there right now and hold you. But you need to know that absolutely none of this is your fault, okay? Derek is the only one responsible for his actions, not you. You got that? The last thing you need to be doing is blaming yourself."

Although he couldn't see her, Faith nodded, sniffling a bit as she wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. "You're right, I just...God, I really hoped this whole nightmare would be over long before now."

"Once you get back home, we'll handle it the best way we know how. Do you have to go back in now?"

The ambiance inside the arena had gotten significantly louder, and Faith realized that the third quarter was already set to begin. "Yeah, I need to get back. Thankfully one of my other colleagues is here and she and I can probably hang out afterwards."

"That's great. So long as you trust her, then stay close. I'll be there before you know it."

She was so grateful to have someone like him in her corner in the midst of all this craziness. "I'll call you once I get back to the hotel."

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you, too."

• • • •

Faith wasn't answering her phone.

Chris had arrived in Milwaukee at around 8am that morning, along with his friend Max who was a personal bodyguard. He'd never found the need for one given his build, but the actors union where mostly anyone worth anything in Hollywood were represented by had options for a security detail if need be. When he relayed the Derek situation to Max, he was more than happy to help out an old buddy with a favor.

But now, despite the extra help, Chris was getting worried.

"Still haven't heard back?" Max asked as they made their way from baggage claim and into the lower area where rideshare services and taxis were.

"No, nothing." Chris let out a frustrated huff as Faith's voicemail hit his ears again. "I sent her the flight itinerary and everything. She said she'd get in touch once we landed."

"Maybe she overslept?" Max offered as he flagged down a cab.

"Under any other circumstance, maybe—but based off our conversation last night, I highly doubt it. I'd be surprised if she was really able to get any sleep at all."

"Look, don't overthink it. I'm sure she's fine, alright? It is still somewhat early and the game went into overtime last night. You should try calling her again once we get to her hotel."

His anxiety made overthinking easy as pie. Still, as they finally were seen by a cab driver and able to put their luggage in the trunk, Chris tried his best not to let his mind conjure up the worst case scenarios. Faith was smart and capable of handling herself if things got rough.

Instead, Chris focused that energy into the very needed urge to clock Derek's face with his fist.

It was bad enough that the scumbag had tried to ruin Faith before he'd even met her. She'd made so many strides toward progress, and when the universe put him onto her path, it was Chris's greatest honor to help her progress even further. There was no way he was going to sit by and allow Derek to undo all of that.

Out of habit, Chris checked his phone again. Nothing. Suddenly he got another idea and went to his contacts, dialing Hope's number. She picked up on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Hope, hey. Sorry to bother you this early but I was wondering if you've heard from Faith this morning? I've tried calling but she hasn't picked up."

"I haven't spoken to her except a text she sent me this morning. I thought she'd be at home with you by now."

His brows furrowed. "What? No, she's working the game in Milwaukee—I'm here now, actually. You mean she didn't tell you about Derek?"

"Derek? No, what's happening with him?"

Fear shot an arrow into his heart. "Hope, listen to me—what exactly did the text say? She said she was in Boston?"

"No, hold on let me pull it up...okay, so she said that she had to head home early and couldn't work game 5 because something came up at home...Chris, what's going on?"

Hands trembling, Chris couldn't make sense of anything anymore, except for one chilling realization: Derek had done something to Faith.

• • • •

ALRIGHT so before you throw pitchforks, i have this story mapped out from start to finish and i promise our girl will be okay!! you just gotta wait a minute to get there 😭

questions!!

what do you think happened to faith?

did derek really find her on his own in milwaukee, or did he have help?

might as well say it now, thanks so much for 30k reads! it means the world to me that you guys are enjoying this story, even with all the rollercoaster rides i'm taking you on 💀y'all are the absolute best!