Authors Note:
I don't have enough words in my vocabulary to say how sorry I am at failing to update for two months. MONTHS? My only excuse would be the combination of 15 units this semester (next semester is 17 eww), being diagnosed with acute tendinitis in the thumb (from texting - I literally now use a bluetooth keyboard to text people. I'm only 22 so this is not good at all) and house searching with my husband that has taken up so much of my time.
Honestly I have the best readers ever, you guys are sooo amazing. I was literally awestruck that a few of my fav authors commented saying they liked my writing? WHAT!? I am seriously having giddy feels right now.
HUGE thank you to beachgirlsrule, Lady Emily, misslady92, Catlover1033, Cupcake, j, Ilovemom, Cupcake, Iluv zamie andDanTrixie, ju, Zenfrodo, Cynthia Darling, Justmeanyways and all guests for leaving reviews. You guys seriously blew me away at your positivity, and I'm sorry to keep you in the dark this long.
Thank you so much. Seriously. Lets all be friends.
Max2013: Yes, I know Carson is a defense lawyer but there is definitely a reason why he was lead lawyer for the prosecution. I am still holding a few cards to the chest right now.

Ned Nickerson had been driving down the highway feeling a bit more elated than usual. He knew that once they were finally in each other's presence, the fighting would stop, at least while they were together. He knew how stressed out Nancy was from all her classes. I warned her. I told her it would be too much but does she listen? No. Too damn stubborn for her own good. It was almost like once Ned had pointed out that it would be too many core classes to take at once, Nancy had seemed almost more determined to prove him wrong.

Well, at least she had been too busy to take on any cases. Ned was beyond happy that she had given up that part of her life when she had enrolled for her first semester. Ned hadn't needed to be worried about some vindictive thug hurting her in a long time, and although he knew she missed it, he was glad to part ways with the sleuthing side of his girlfriend. He knew she was safe.

Ned knew he should feel guilty about Nancy giving up cases, but they always meant trouble for the two of them. Ned had been stood up by Nancy more times than he could count, had cancelled even more dates, and had himself been injured, all because of some stupid mystery.

And then there was that incident that Nancy had confessed to when she had returned from Egypt last year…

Stop. She barely has time for you, she definitely doesn't have time for some Hardy Boy douche bag. Ned's happy feeling left abruptly. Focus on this weekend. He placed a hand inside his pocket, just to make sure the tiny velvet box was still there.

Ned pulled over when he heard his phone go off.

"Ned, its Carson. I know you have a big weekend planned but something has come up. Have you already picked up Nancy? I need you to drive her to the airport, I am booking her a flight right now." Panic was evident in his voice, and Ned knew something was wrong.

"Wait, Mr. Drew, whats going on?" Did he not want her to propose to her that bad? "If you don't want me proposing to Nancy you can just let me know now-"

"This has nothing to do with that," Carson interrupted." We had a situation today in the courthouse. Our defendant escaped. I guess I went a little harsh on the stand because while we were answering the police's questions after he escaped, he broke into the house. Luckily, Hannah was out grocery shopping but he … defaced Nancy's room and stole some of her things. He left a note."

Carson had paused. He couldn't bare himself to repeat the disturbing message, or go into the details about how exactly he had trashed his daughters room.

"He's going after her. A witness reported him getting gas for a stolen vehicle about 30 miles away from her school. If you aren't with her I am going to have campus police take her until you get there."

"I am about 5 minutes away. Where are you sending her?" Ned thought he knew the answer before he asked the question, but he couldn't help himself.

"Bayport."

Ned groaned.

Carson Drew heard Ned sigh, and his panicked worry turned slowly into frustration at the young boy. "Just get her to the airport safely. I took this case as a favor. I've spent weeks doing my best to get a conviction because Bishop needs to be behind bars. You haven't seen the evidence, Ned, and I know you don't like the Hardy Family but I'm desperate. What he does to women…I can't let that happen to my daughter!" Carson's normally calm voice broke.

"I could keep her safe, I don't see how-"

"She needs to leave Illinois, Ned." Carson had managed to regain his calm composure. "At least until he is caught. I know you can take care of her, I did give you my blessing, after all. But this is the only way to keep her safe. You know that if she stays here she will try to snoop around and I just … no. Just take her to the airport. Please," Carson's voice began to crack again. "She is the only one I have now."

And with an air of finality, Carson hung up.

Somewhere in the back of Ned's mind, a rational side tried to tell him that Carson had been simply under stress, and that if he was able to think clearly, he would have seen that Ned would have done anything for his daughter. Hell, he was proposing to her tomorrow night, preparing to vow to protect her forever.

*Were* going to propose, you mean. Now some stupid Hardy Boy is going to take care of her, for god knows how long, because her dad doesn't think you can.

Ned's knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel and sped up. Anger had faded into worry as the news began to sink in. If she really was in danger, Ned needed to hurry to her side.

Nancy Drew's head dropped down abruptly, waking her up from a two minute nap she had just inadvertently taken during her Journalism 102 class.

She was supposed to be taking notes off the board, but she had found herself too tired to function properly, as she had spent the previous night finishing two essays and studying for a test in chemistry.

Nancy's choice to take nearly double the necessary credits didn't seem like such a bad idea at first. She had figured that 5 classes didn't seem that many, but the 18 units she was now enrolled in had begun to take their toll on her. It wasn't that she wasn't smart, she knew she was intelligent, it was just that she felt that she had filled her plate up far too much then what she could handle.

Still, its what she needed to do to graduate on time with both a degree in journalism and criminology. If she kept on track, she might be able to graduate a semester early.

Nancy tried in vain to focus her attention on her note taking, but it was useless. Today's lesson was on diction and the way word choice affected your writing. Nancy had been an AP English student in high school, so todays lesson seemed a bit elementary to her. She could always learn something new though, so she began to listen to her professor again. Just focus. This is the last class you have to get through before the weekend trip with Ned. She smiled, and still somewhat absorbed in her own thoughts, she began to listen.

"Now these words I've written on the board all mean the same thing, right? " From the front of her class her teacher had been writing down words like "fondness" and "enamored". "They are all words for love. But some of these words mean different things to different people. If I were to tell a family member I felt lust towards them, that would be completely inappropriate. But I do feel a certain fondness and love towards them. Right. I think you guys understand the importance of connotation. So today we will be replacing words in an article with a synonym that will get your readers feeling different emotions. The article is -"

The professor was interrupted by two campus police officers who had barged into the classroom door.

"Sorry for interrupting. We are looking for a Miss Nancy Drew? She needs to collect her belongings and come with us."

He was amazed at how easy it had been to break in. He gazed in awe at the large front room he found himself in. So this is what a lawyer's salary can pay. This guy lives in a fucking mansion.

He entered a living room and looked at the photos on the wall, most of them featuring a strawberry blonde child with blue eyes, smiling, looking up at him. She's could do. He began to think of the beautiful things he could do to her. Eagerly, he began to look for her room.

He found her bedroom on the second level of the house. He laid himself on her bed and breathed in the scent of freshly washed sheets. Looking up from her pillow, he saw photos and a small assortment of souvenirs on a desk.

Raymond Bishop picked up a few trophies for himself. He grabbed a pair of her underwear, a photo of her with two other good looking girls, and for good measure, pocketed a diamond ring that he had found hidden in her top drawer.

He sat back down on the bed, enjoying a chocolate bar he had found in the desk drawer. When he was finished, he looked up at the walls and saw a school pennant hanging above her bed. He hastily scribbled a note for the fancy pants lawyer and left the house. He knew where his next stop would be.

Creepy right? I actually imagined him doing some pretty M stuff in there, but I don't like that being in my own head, let alone in writing, so I'm not going to even go there. Let's just say I need to dial back on my SVU reruns.

I hope Nancy attending AP classes isnt too OOC, I mean, She is smart enough to take them and they would help her if she really did want to be an investigative journalist. They certainly have helped me in my collegiate studies so far.

The teacher here is literally molded from my current speech professor, who has the habit of asking "okay?" and "right?" after every sentence, which is kind of a weird speech habit for a speech teacher.

And if you were wondering, yes Bishop stole a Koko Kringle Bar from Nancy.

Reviews? I loved hearing from you. Keep it coming:)