Laws of Nature [2]; Liam Dunbar

nine: road trip

It was daytime when Marlow had finally arrived in Los Angeles. And it took her another hour and a half to get information on where Riley lived these days. When all the nice asking and attempted bribing didn't work, she decided to use force instead and knocked the principal out cold. She ransacking his files for Riley's and once she had found the address, she jumped out of the window and back into her car.

Now, she was standing in front of the house where Riley lived and her heart was about to beat out of her chest. Marlow knew this plan was somewhat irrational and that she acted too fast, something she'd chided Scott for not long ago, but she still felt as though this was the right thing to do. So she walked up the driveway to the house and up the porch. Once she was at the door she halted. Marlow had no idea what to say to Riley. She didn't even know if Riley would remember her.

For a second she thought about calling the whole thing off. Just drive back to Beacon Hills, head down, ready to accept her punishment. But she had come too far to turn back now. She had to at least know if Riley wanted to talk. So finally, she picked up her hand and knocked on the door. Her heart began to race as she waited for someone to answer the door. She thought about home and hoped everyone was alright and that no more tragedies had happened. Marlow had turned off her phone to not cause any distractions.

A few seconds later someone finally opened the door. It was an older woman. She looked tired. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a lazy ponytail and there were bags under her eyes larger than Lydia's designer handbags. "Hello," Marlow greeted with a smile on her face. Though she didn't think it would do much. "I'm looking for a girl named Riley. I heard she lived here." she went on, leaving out the physical assault that might have gotten her in big trouble if she hadn't given the school staff a fake name.

The woman leaned on the doorframe, a frown forming on her face. "Where the hell did you hear that?" she asked, annoyance coating her voice. Marlow opened her mouth to give the woman one of her prepared answers. She heard something break inside and the woman waved her off. "Whatever. Riley doesn't live here anymore. Try the alleyways downtown." she went on as she started to close the door.

Marlow looked at her wide-eyed. Teenagers aren't supposed to live out on the streets. "Wait, what?" she asked. "Riley's sixteen. Sixteen-year-olds aren't supposed to live on the street." she went on, sounding harsher than she wanted. "Did you even try looking for her?"

The woman in the doorway sighed in annoyance and frustration. "Listen, kid, this isn't the first time Riley ran away. I have eight other foster kids in this house, I just don't have the time to bring her home just so she can run away again," she explained. Marlow opened her mouth to ask another question but the woman waved her off again. Something else inside broke. "Look in the alleyways. I gotta go! Goodbye." she continued. The woman closed the door before Marlow could get another word in.

Marlow sighed, looking at the closed door. She turned away from the house and walked back to her car. She had no idea what to do next. Probably would have to do what Riley's foster mom said and drive downtown to look for her. Marlow sat in her car, checking her phone. There were messages and missed calls from Stiles, her dad, and Mason. No surprise there. She turned the phone off before checking them, started her car, and took off for the downtown area.

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It hadn't taken Marlow long before she finally found Riley. After driving around for half an hour and getting invited to motel rooms more than once, she found her sitting down on a blanket in one of the alleyways. Thunder rolled through the air and Marlow could tell it would start to rain soon. So Marlow quickened her pace and walked up to her old best friend.