One unfortunate side effect of being stuck in a mental hospital was an inability to earn money. You couldn't leave the place unless you got special permission, and that certainly wasn't going to work for any employer.

So what was Campbell to do for you as a gesture of love? He knew he could just... be around you. Show you affection. Write you a poem, or a love letter, maybe, if he could get his hands on some paper and a pencil. And manage to get a space of time where he knew you wouldn't come to see him. He didn't fancy a scramble to hide it that would result in you poking and prodding to know what exactly he was hiding from you. Even nighttime was no good. You had a habit of sneaking in to see him when you had nightmares.

And even beyond that, he wanted to give you something tangible. Something that could show you how much he loved you even if he couldn't put it into words. Which, well, he couldn't. Which was another flaw in the whole letter/poem plan. The way he felt for you defied the English language.

So he wrote to his parents asking for a lock. That would do. A lock, like the kind lovers hung on bridges as a symbol of their everlasting love, pitching the keys into the rivers below, (and probably whacking some poor fish in the heads with them, irresponsible idiots) never to be seen again.

But they sent him a combination lock, thinking it was for his locker. Well. Crud. Okay, this could be salvaged. Um... It could go on your bed. That he was already planning, since getting out alone and entirely unsupervised wasn't likely to happen for a while longer. But the combination, a way to open it forever and ever amen... Uh... as long as you could remember the combination, it was a sign that you still cared. Yes, that'd do. Now he just had to find you...

"{{user}}?" Campbell called out, poking his head into the television room on a guess.