Of all the people to call me at nine at night, I wasn't expecting to see Bradley's name on the display when I picked up my phone as it rang. He sounded frantic.

"You doing anything right now?" He asked.

My typical nightly routine at my father's house involved hiding in my room and running over my Shakespeare lines. It was boring, but it was better than trying to play family downstairs with my father's second family.

"What do you need?" I asked.

Bradley was quiet a moment. "So here's the deal. Lexi and EK got into a fight. Lexi took off two hours ago and still hasn't come home. It's dark, and we can't get ahold of her. EK and I are out driving around looking for her."

I didn't hesitate. "You need my help?"

"Yeah, if you could drive around campus near the athletic department and see if you can spot her, it would help a lot," he said. "Maddox is checking the theater, and Riley is headed to Lexi's work and the surrounding area. Text me if you find her."

"Of course," I said. "Is Emma Kate okay?"

"She's shaken," Bradley said. "They never fight."

I wouldn't ask what they were fighting about. It wasn't my business. If I found Lexi and she wanted to talk about it, I'd let her vent. If not, I'd take her home if that's what she wanted.

"We'll find her," I said, grabbing my keys.

Making my way out to my truck, I passed my family playing Candy Land with Kayleigh. When my father spotted me, he frowned as he took in my determined expression and my keys.

"Everything okay, son?" He asked.

I was real grateful for my dad letting me stay at his house. He footed my college bill, and he was a relaxed parent for the most part, mostly because he'd stopped trying altogether. Still, nothing was going to keep me in the house playing Candy Land when my friends needed help.

"I'm just going out, Dad," I said.

"It's dark," he crossed his arms.

He was not about to play the concerned Dad card. He had no right. I glanced at my little siblings to remind me to use civil language before I took a deep breath.

"I'm nineteen," I said. "I'm going out."

Dad looked like he wanted to pick a fight, but I stared him down. I was as big as he was. His little boy was gone. I was what remained.

"When will you be back?" He asked.

"Not sure," I said. "I'll call."

Dad bit his lip. "You'd better."

He moved, and I walked straight out the door without another look. My truck took longer to warm up than I wanted. Finally, I pulled out of the driveway, and in five minutes, I was circling toward campus.

A few streetlamps dimly illuminated the university track, but no one was using it. I thought I saw a few lights on in the athletic gym, so I parked and used my student access card to bypass the locks. I'd explain later to coach why I was using the gym so late. 

Inside, the equipment was quiet. Most of the lights were out, giving the place eerie shadows. I followed a small humming noise to the back of the gym, but it was only the air conditioner and a line of vending machines.

The locker room was dark, so she likely wasn't back there. I walked up the stairs, following the lights up to the indoor track on the second level.

I'd only used this track once when coach made us run on a day it was icy. I'd found the floor padding odd and the track too short for a run. It took seven laps to run a mile. 

Someone had turned on all the lights up here. There was a chance maybe a janitor was cleaning, but my gut told me that there was a chance Lexi had enough sense to stop running down the street and use the safer indoor track.

"Lexi?" I called. 

Footfalls sounded in the distance getting closer. When she turned the corner, I barely recognized her. Her café uniform was soaked in sweat. Half of her curls were plastered to her face while the rest poofed wildly from a failing hair elastic.

Her eyes went wide as she spotted her in her path. Her eyes were blown wide like a deer I'd cornered the one-time Uncle Justin took me hunting. I hated the way that animal looked at me like it was begging for its life. That look on Lexi's face sent a chill down my spine.

She stopped three paces in front of me. Her breathing was hard, and she looked like her legs would give out at any moment. How long had she been running?

Her breath was ragged as she leaned on her knees. Her glasses slid down her nose. Then her body convulsed, and she threw up on the ground between her feet.

"Slow down," I said. "Take a breath."

"What... are... you... doing... here...?" She panted.

"Hey, go slow," I said. "Let your body catch up."

She convulsed again, and I rubbed her back in slow circles. Her knees gave out, and I caught her in my arms so she wouldn't hit the floor.

My mother's voice rang in my head, shouting orders. Lexi shouldn't be left alone if she was in shock. She needed fluids and rest.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm so sorry."

I didn't think she was talking to me. She leaned against me and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. I slid her glasses back up her nose so she could see and resecured the elastic in her hair so she wouldn't get anything in it.

"Take it easy," I said. "How long have you been running?"

"Don't know," she said. "I... why are you here?

I chuckled. "Your friends were panicked, and I told Bradley I could help them find you. Besides, I'm not the one who decided to burn the rubber on the school track. I'm not even going to ask if you're okay because clearly, the answer is no."

"Did they tell you why I ran out?" She asked.

I bit the inside of my lip. "No specifics and you don't have to talk about it if you don't want. We need to get some electrolytes and water in you."

"I don't want to go home," her words were hollow.

I nodded. My brain was already doing that doctor thing my mom had taught me. Assess my surroundings to meet immediate needs. There was a vending machine downstairs with snacks and drinks. I was pretty sure there was a blanket in my car too. Mom insisted that was essential.

"Can you stay here?" I asked. "I'm going to get you water. All that running can't be good for your system."

Not to mention she'd just thrown up. She definitely needed fluids. I ran downstairs and found the vending machine glowing in the dark under the stairs. I felt lucky this one took credit cards because I didn't have any change on me. I punched the code for a Gatorade first. That would get her sugar, salt, and electrolytes.

The machine seemed to take forever to process the order, and I nearly banged my fist on the glass before a gentle clunking noise spat out the Gatorade. I repeated the order and waited another agonizing minute for the machine to spit out two ice-cold water bottles.

Next, I pushed into the men's locker room, and the automatic lights came on, blinding me. I blinked for a moment and made my way to the back of the locker room. Every guy in athletics had a locker here for workouts. Mine was in the back corner.

My fingers shook so badly that I nearly missed the last number on my combination. Inside I found two towels, an old workout shirt, a wadded-up gym bag, and my stash of protein bars.

I threw the bag open and shoved everything inside. The three drinks made the bag heavier than I was expecting, but I relocked my locked and headed back upstairs as fast as possible.

Lexi was stretching on the floor. She sat in some yoga position I didn't know the name of, with one leg thrown over the other and stretching her torso in the opposite direction. I set the Gatorade next to her and went to make myself useful.

I used one of the towels to clean up the pile of vomit on the floor while she finished. It wouldn't be cool to leave that for some janitor to find. When I was done, I threw the towel away and handed the second towel to Lexi, who held the Gatorade.

She'd already downed half the sports drink. A little red liquid dripped down her chin, but she hadn't noticed. She wiped her face with the towel.

"Thanks," she said. "For everything."

"You need to rest," I said. "Drink that and one of the waters."

"Are you a doctor or something?" Her voice was weak.

"My mom is," I said. "And I learned a lot from her. She monitored my recovery when I got heatstroke once."

Lexi cracked a smile. "Sorry, I threw up."

"When my little cousin first moved in with us, he threw up almost every night," I said. "The stress of moving and stuff. It stopped bothering me."

Lexi finished the Gatorade in three long gulps. I almost thought she might throw up again if she didn't slow down. As much as I played it down, I did not want to clean up another pile of vomit.

"You want to talk?" I asked.

Lexi traded the empty Gatorade bottle for the water. "It's complicated."

I took a deep breath. "You know, I was eleven when I caught my dad sleeping with one of the interns at his work. I didn't tell anyone. Not my mom or my sister. Instead, I confronted my dad man to man like he always said was important. He told me I was the most important person to him, and he'd do anything I asked. Six months later, he left us for that intern, moved away, and started a new family. That's when I realized that not even adults are trustworthy."

Lexi's shoulders sagged. "My mother isn't trustworthy. She's made that clear to me more times than I can count, and she came to the café today."

"Lexi," I said. "I'm sorry. What did she want?"

"Probably money," she said, "which I don't have since I give everything to the kids she won't provide for and my dad can't afford. She didn't ask for it yet, but it's coming. I know Nicki."

"I'm sorry," I said.

Lexi looked at her shoes. "And then I let her drive me home. Now she knows where I live. She could show up and..."

I closed the gap between us and wrapped my arms around her. I knew some pretty crappy parents. My dad was up there along with Trevor's dad. It was always worse when family hurt you because those wounds rarely seemed to heal.

"You don't have to go home," I said. "My car is here. We can just drive and drive."

Lexi nodded and tried to speak, but only a sob came out. She leaned against me, and I pushed a strand of hair out of her face.

"It's okay," I whispered. "You're okay."

She fell against me. Her head leaned on my shoulder. I barely had half an inch on Lexi. She had long legs that made me wonder if she'd been pressed as a kid to play basketball.

I wasn't sure how long we stood there. It didn't matter anyway. I wasn't going to leave her alone. Lexi was my friend.

"I don't want to go home," she finally repeated.

"Okay," I said. "We can go for a drive."

I led Lexi to my truck and opened the passenger side for her. Once she was in the seat, I handed her a blanket from the back seat and set a water bottle and a protein bar in her hand.

After I closed the door, I sent a quick text to Bradley.

I climbed in the cab behind the wheel and started up the truck. Lexi had finished the protein bar and the water by the time we were at the city's edge. Then she curled into the blanket and fell asleep with her head against the window.

She didn't want to go home. Taking her to my dad's house would just cause more problems. Lizzie would freak, not to mention Kayleigh was there. So I did the next best thing, I pulled onto the freeway and kept driving.

Hey friends!!! A lot of things happened in this chapter. Lexi is opening up to Parker, and we'll see where they end up next week. I'm doing weekly updates now, so keep an eye out on Saturdays. I'm really excited about where this story is going, and your support means the world to me. Don't forget to vote and comment! Until next week.

----- Eliana