Zac was up pacing the room as the sound of the rain steadily increased. It was coming down in buckets it seemed and he was wracking his brain, trying to think of where Emma could be, hoping with all of him she was at least holed up safely in her car, and not alone and soaked to the bone somewhere. 'Whoever wrote the song "It Never Rains In California" wasn't bullshitting' he thought, though he couldn't remember who wrote it at the moment. Just as he began to think it couldn't rain any harder, it did. "Fuck.." he muttered, grabbed his keys and jacket and was off to resume his search. Emma woke again when the rain got so heavy it sounded like someone was beating on the car. She was in such a deep sleep, the sound of it made her dream, re-living Tay beating on her locked door and begging her not to drive and the quick glance she stole at Zac's face just before she sped away. She sat up as she realized where she was and what was really happening, then shook her head as the tears came again. She reached in the back seat for a bottle of water, grabbed aspirin and her money roll out of the glove box, slammed it shut and grabbed the box of crackeres she'd bought the night before. She popped about four aspirin (two just didn't cut it when she was feeling like this), swallowed some water and then tore open the crackers, knowing that would be all her stomach could handle just then. She ate slowly, counted her money to make sure she was right with her earlier count, and watched the storm rage around her. The wind was picking up even more and the waves were no longer, gently lapping against the shore. They were huge, angry crashing waves, pounding the shore, almost to the rythym of the pounding in her head, and breaking against the rock jetty in huge white, fountain-like, sprays. She hoped that Zac was still too angry with her to come looking for her in this slop, one reason being that it was dangerous to drive this twisting, coast-hugging highway , with so many steep drops and sudden curves that would take you straight into the depths of the ocean if you misjudged even once, in this blinding downpour. The other reason was that she still wasn't ready to face him, see the awful look in his eyes as he told her he was too angry to ever forgive her, she didn't think she would ever be able to. When the rain let up enough for driving not to be such a hazard, she started her car and left the campground, heading further north, maybe even all the way to Santa Barbara, she thought, but then thought against it. She was driving with no license and if she got stopped, or busted sleeping in her car with no ID, she would be in jail so fast her head would spin. She stopped at the next beach she found that permitted camping and got something a little more sustantial than crackers to eat.

The search and run went on longer then Jen had guessed it would, telling her that Emma was more in love with Zac than she was willing to admit to herself. Taylor was stopping by every day, always hopeful that she'd heard something from Emma, and always looking crushed when she had to tell him she hadn't. There'd been a couple of times that she'd needed either someone to work for her, or stay with Hannah so SHE could do the work, and she'd been at a loss because Emma had just always been there when she needed her. Taylor graciously stepped in, suprising Jen by saying, "Go on and get it done...I'll stay with her." She was grateful for his help, and knew that Hannah was really becoming attached to him. She hoped that Emma would turn up soon, for everybody's sake. So Zac would stop cruising every beach he knew of, day in and day out. So Taylor would get over the nagging guilt he was feeling, and let himself be happy, and she thought he could be with her, if he could make things right for Zac. So she would have her best friend back, the sister she always wanted but wasn't blessed with until the day they discovered they had every single class together. Such a long time ago, she thought. They were fourteen at the time, and through the rest of their high school years they remained inseperable. Emma was there when Hannah's chicken shit birth father took off, even before she began to show, helping her find a place to live, hunting down baby things, accompanying her to Doctor's appointments. Jen chuckled to herself as she toyed with Hannah's blonde ringlets, remebering they day she'd teased Emma, saying that she was the best 'father' a baby could ask for. She truly missed her friend and was becoming worried, which she never did, knowing that Emma could take care of herself quite well. It had just been too long.

Emma woke with a nagging pain in her back and shoulders and groaned. She was tired of sleeping in her car, or on the sand. She was tired of taking outdoor showers, tired of eating fast food that made her stomach queasy again, or convenience store junk. She had even quit speaking, resorting to notes if she absolutely HAD to get a point across. She was tired of bawling her eyes out three or four times a day, tired of living on the beaches and not even feeling the desire to take a wave, feel her blood pump as she shifted her weight and became part of the ocean until she either lost her balance or the wave crashed down over her head, shocking her system into holding her breath and kick violently up through the rolling water. Not once in the entire week she spent out here, seven whole days, had she even had a tingle of an urge to get in the water, except to get the sand off so she could eat without getting a mouthful of it.. She took one more outdoor shower, in the dim light of dawn, changed into her last set of clean clothes and headed for Jen's. It was the only other safe place she could think of, besides alone in her car. "You look like shit, Zac." Tay told his brother, "Get some SLEEP." he urged. "I've been trying.." Zac complained. "I'll sleep later." he said, reaching for his keys again. "Zac don't..." Tay grabbed his wrist. "She will get in touch with Jen." "Yeah? When? How many days longer has it been than she said it would be? Four? FIVE?" he snapped back. "For all I know she might be.." he stopped himself before he could say the words. If he said them out loud, then it made the possibility very real. "Zac...I..." taylor had no idea what to say, he already felt so guilty he thought for sure it was eating a hole in his gut. The only thing that kept him from going insane was Jen's presence, her warm hand on his shoulder, her soft kisses on his cheek. He closed his eyes and sighed. 'You do NOT deserve any of that, LOOK at him' he told himself. Zac LOOKED exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes and he couldn't remember the last time he'd spoken more than a couple of sentences at a time. "It's alright Tay." Zac told him. "You tried to help..good intentions and all.." he pulled his wrist gently from his brother's grasp. "I HAVE to go.." he said and started for the door, just as Tay's cell phone rang. "Hello?" he answered it and his heart stopped. "Get over here and bring Zac with you..she's asleep for now." Jen's voice insisted in a rough whisper. "DON'T LET HER LEAVE, JEN..WHATEVER YOU DO. SIT ON HER IF YOU HAVE TO." he said forcefully and loud enough for Zac to hear. Zac stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at Taylor. "Let's go.." Taylor said softly, slipped on a pair of shoes, grabbed his jacket and keys and preceded Zac out the door.

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