#ghcsthunter

And suddenly, it was as if he were there again. Connor, with his wide and goofy grin as he enthusiastically sang the words at the top of his lungs, though Beth had never been certain if the dissonance could be considered singing. No matter, it never failed to bring a mirrored smile to her own face.

She only wished she had truly opened her eyes to it sooner, to him sooner, to see that all along the friendship they shared was rare. If only she had told him before he had gone, wherever it was that he had vanished to.

♬ There’s nowhere on Earth that i’d rather be than holding you tenderly.♫

As the chorus came around again, the reverie she had been lost, having shattered into an agonizing ache for the greatest friend she’d ever have the pleasure of knowing. The cache of memory in her mind was overflowing with instances of the last two decades spent together.

He had waited for her throughout college on the other side of the country, and during her entire mission to Mars; even the extended 533 days. Certainly she could wait however long it took for him to return; if only she knew he would. Their friendship was worth that, and so much more.

Her eyes finally opened again in favor of gazing sanguine at the clear sky overhead, yet another example of the various things that reminded her of him. “I won’t give up…” she whispered the promise before repeating words she had once said to him. “It’s not over until you’re underground.”

While the phrase boasted of macabre meaning, the thin line that formed her pursed lips curved up into a subtle smile, remembering his own response and only furthering her determination to find him: dead or alive.