Thank you Loggie12 for your review! Hope y'all enjoy this chapter. I know it's still a little dark. I will pick it up eventually I promise!

Emma felt lost. She had picked the first place she looked at to go to, and here she was: Napa, California. Right now, it didn't look like the poster. She clutched her backpack tightly. She had no idea where to even go. Everyone was swirling around her, full of purpose and meaning. She sat down on a nearby bench, mentally freaking out. Maybe she was way out of her league here. Maybe she should go back home. Home. She turned on her cell phone, receiving close to a hundred text messages from everyone and at least 20 voicemails. She clicked it off, not wanting to hear it right now. It might make her change her mind. She stood up, feeling confident now. They didn't want her and her type of life back home, so she would live it here. Couldn't be too hard to find someone to hook her up, right?

Rachel

She was sitting in the living room crying. None of this felt real. None of it. Grace was watching her warily from the kitchen. Ross was upstairs on the phone with the police, hoping for a lead. He came down eventually looking disappointed.

"Nothing?" Rachel asked.

"Nothing," he confirmed. "She's gone, Rach. Nobody has any idea where she is."

"California, here I come," Grace whispered. Both Rachel and Ross snapped their heads in her direction.

"What did you say, sweetie?" Ross asked, coming near her.

"She likes California. Said it would give her a good tan," Grace said. "Maybe she went there."

"Tell the police to check flights to California," Rachel said suddenly. "Maybe they'll catch her on camera there."

"I'm on it," Ross said, running back to the phone.

"When did she tell you about California?" Rachel asked, curious.

"Years ago. I just remembered it. She joked that she'd go there and meet hot boys and get a super hot tan," Grace explained. "I didn't take her seriously, but when you're upset, you go where you've always wanted to go, right?"

"Let's hope so," Rachel said, kissing her daughter's forehead. She went to join Ross. Grace thumbed the diary Emma had left. It had been an accident that she found it to begin with. It had been shoved behind Emma's dresser, and when Grace went looking for clues, she had discovered it. She didn't like the way she was portrayed in it.

"Am I your favorite?" Grace asked Rachel when her mother came back.

"What? Why would you ask that?" Rachel questioned.

"No reason," Grace shrugged. Rachel felt like she was on thin ice here, so she tread carefully.

"Was it in Emma's journal?" Rachel asked. When Grace didn't answer, she knew it was true. "Honey, I have no favorites. I love you both equally, okay?"

"But you do treat me better," Grace argued. "Emma's right."

"No, she's not. I treat you both differently because you're both different people. If I treated you the same, then you'd be the same, and that's not possible. We're all different from each other, Grace. Emma interpreted the way I treated you wrong. Okay?"

"Okay," Grace replied reluctantly. She didn't believe it. Maybe that's why Emma really ran away, because she thought Grace was the better sister. It hurt her to think that, that this was all her fault.

"It's not your fault," Rachel said, reading her daughter's mind. "Stop thinking it."

"I'll be in my room," Grace said, moving past her. Rachel sighed. This was not how she envisioned today going.

Christy

Life was so boring! Her mother had everything done all the time, and she had no reason to rush about or be panicked about anything. She was missing the excitement she used to have when she drank. Christy went into her room and pulled out the photo of her and the twins. She supposed this must be the kind of life they were having-a boring one. Nothing wrong with boring, she guessed. She looked at her younger self. This was right before she hit the booze and drugs hardcore. Yea, she had drank before, but not to the extent that she did afterwards. Christy sighed, putting the picture back in it's hiding place.

"Christy?"

"Oh, shit," she muttered, cramming everything back the way it was and leaping onto her bed just before her mother came in.

"What are you doing?" Bonnie asked.

"Lying here. What are you doing?" Christy asked back. Bonnie looked over at her closet suspiciously.

"You're not hiding hooch in the closet are you?" Bonnie demanded.

"Smell my breath," Christy said. "Haaaaa. See? Nothing."

"You're just acting really weird," Bonnie said.

"Because I'm bored!" Christy replied.

"Interesting," Bonnie mused. "Anyhow, Baxter is out front with a van and wants to live in our driveway. I told him no, that you didn't need the extra drama."

"I wouldn't be drama," Baxter said, coming in. "I'm just living out there with the occasional bathroom privilege."

"You can stay," Christy said. Bonnie stared at her. "What?"

"Why would you let that loser stay in your driveway?" Bonnie asked.

"Cos if I gave him the couch, you'd be on the street," Christy told her.

"Touche," Bonnie agreed. She dropped the subject. Let Christy do what she wanted. Bonnie didn't know why she would want Baxter hanging around, but whatever. It wasn't her ex husband.

"No strange women in my yard, Baxter," Christy warned to his retreating back.

"Okay," he called back. Christy sighed.

"Why are you bored?" Bonnie asked.

"You know what, that's need to know, and you don't need," Christy replied. She got up and passed her mother. Bonnie eyed the closet before following. She had a hunch there was something in there her daughter didn't want her to see.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked as Christy grabbed her coat and keys.

"Out," Christy answered, closing the door behind her. She needed air. She needed something to do. She paused in her driveway, wondering where she could even go.

The twins.

No. No, leave them alone, she thought. Christy shook her head. They were happy without her. She'd leave it that way.

Erica Bing

Erica and Jack were hanging out at home while their parents were at their aunt and uncle's place. Erica felt sad that Emma had left just like that. She wondered if there could have been anything she could have said to change her mind. She opened her laptop, full of purpose.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked, watching her type furiously.

"Nothing," Erica replied. She had taken some extra courses on the side on computers. She knew things others didn't.

"Are you hacking Emma's email?" Jack asked, leaning over her shoulder. "That's illegal."

"Not if she doesn't know it," Erica answered. "There's nothing here anyway." She scrolled down through Emma's emails. Mostly junk mail and the odd forward of some joke. Erica targeted Emma's Facebook next.

"Whoa," Jack said. "Remind me never to piss you off."

"That's right," Erica muttered. She scrolled down Emma's page. She checked Emma's messages. She saw some messages from some weird people that may have been about drugs or...

"Eww," Jack said. "Put it away. I think that's her pimp."

"This is disgusting," Erica grimaced. "How did we not see this?"

"Cos she lives a private life. She doesn't know half of anything about us," Jack pointed out. "Turn it off. I don't like invading her privacy like this."

"Well, she shouldn't have taken off on us then," Erica snapped. "She can't hide forever."

"I heard Mom say something about California," Jack told her. Erica looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

"They think that's where she's gone," he replied.

"Why would she go there?" Erica demanded.

"How should I know? I'm not a mind reader," Jack said defensively.

"All right, all right. California, eh?" Erica mused. With this new information, she dug deeper into Emma's emails.

"Ha!" she cried. "She tried to delete her ticket confirmation email, but I found it."

"You're almost scarily good at this," Jack winced. "How are you gonna show this to them? They'll know you hacked her."

"You think they'll care about that right now?" Erica asked.

"They will once they start thinking about it," Jack warned her. Erica thought about it.

"You're right. I could just say what flights and times there were, but they probably already found that out," Erica sighed. "This was pointless."

"It enlightened me about my sister," Jack responded.

"Don't tell Mom and Dad," Erica threatened. "Or I'll post shit on your Facebook."

"Okay, okay," he said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. He pulled out his phone.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Making my passwords much trickier," he told her. She shook her head, smiling. He really was naive.

Chandler & Monica

"How could Emma do this to her parents?" Monica asked as they were driving home. She hated seeing Rachel so hollow and empty and Ross so defeated and sick.

"I don't know," Chandler replied. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. It was all a big mystery why Emma went down the dark path she did in the first place.

"Do you think she'll be all right?" Monica asked, teary.

"She'll be fine. She's old enough to look after herself. Maybe not in the best way, but she does," Chandler added.

"I hope our kids don't ever do something like this," Monica went on.

"I doubt they will. Have some faith in them," Chandler said.

"I do. I just had faith in Emma too, and look what happened."

"Emma did not have us for parents," he pointed out.

"Are you saying Ross and Rachel aren't good parents?" she asked.

"No, not at all. I'm just saying you would have been more on top of Emma possibly. Maybe Rachel was too, but I got the sense she didn't know what to do with her half of the time," he explained.

"She didn't," Monica sighed. They rode in silence the rest of the way home. There wasn't much else left to say anyway.

Christy

She had met with Marjorie. She had gone for a walk. Now she was aimlessly driving just to avoid going home. This sucked. Why would her mother helping out finally make her feel this way? It didn't make any sense. She gave in and went home after a while. She eyed Baxter's van, getting an idea. She knocked on his door.

"Yes?" he asked, opening it. Smoke rolled out.

"Ugh. Are you high?" she asked.

"Not quite," he replied.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure. Want some waffles?" he asked, gesturing to his waffle iron.

"What the hell," Christy agreed.

"I have coffee too," he said.

"Sounds good," she nodded.

"So, what's on your mind?" he questioned

"I'm just annoyed with my mother. She's acting like a proper mother and grandmother, and it's pissing me off," Christy complained.

"That's a pickle," Baxter agreed. He knew enough to not get into it with her. She'd talk it out eventually.

"Maybe I should start drinking again," Christy sighed.

"Hey, whoa," Baxter said, putting down her mug. "No. Not a good idea. Christy, you have no clue what your kids went through when you were off your ass all the time. I do. It wasn't pleasant. Go skydiving if you're that bored. Don't start drinking again."

"I won't," Christy said. "I just was thinking it."

"Well, stop thinking it," he ordered. She looked at him. Then all of a sudden, she leaped on him. Having sex in a van-that was pretty exciting.

Emma

She found a place with a "Roommate Wanted" sign, and she decided to try it out. After knocking on the door, she wondered if she was crazy. A girl with a ton of ear piercings and tattoos on both her arms answered.

"Hi," Emma started. "You were looking for a roommate? I'm looking for a room." The girl looked her up and down, chewing her gum thoughtfully.

"Okay," she said. "Come in." Emma followed, closing the door behind her. The girl led her to the living room, where another girl was sitting and smoking a joint.

"Whaddya think?" the girl asked the other. Both surveyed Emma.

"She got cash?" the other girl asked. Emma showed her a wad.

"Looks good to me," the first girl nodded. "I'm Casey. This is Veronica."

"V is good," Veronica corrected.

"I'm Emma," Emma said.

"Cool. You're in, Emma. Your room is over there," Casey said, pointing. Emma went over and looked inside. A twin bed with a dresser and one closet. Good enough for her. She plunked her bag down.

"Where you from?" Casey asked.

"New York."

"Wow," V whistled. "Whatcha doing all the way over here?"

"Needed to get away," Emma said. "Too much smog."

"I hear you. Not much fresh air here though," V said.

"It's good enough for me," Emma replied.

"Want some?" V asked, holding out a joint. Emma took it. She sat down and lit up while the other two girls chattered about the boys they were dating. Emma was feeling happier. This could work. Maybe she could even get a normal job without resorting to selling herself. She really didn't enjoy doing that much anyway. She sat there with Casey and V and didn't think about her family at all. It hurt too much.

Rachel & Ross

"So we know she's definitely in California," Ross said. The police had found her boarding the plane. "What if she doesn't stay there though?"

"She's not answering me at all," Rachel sighed, putting her phone down.

"I think we should give her a little space before chasing after her. She is an adult. She might come home," Ross reasoned.

"What if she doesn't?"

"Give her time. She'll come home."

"You can't promise that."

"I'm thinking it," Ross told her. He went over and hugged her tightly. "We also have Grace to think about."

"She thinks Emma ran away because she's my favorite daughter," Rachel said, muffled by his shoulder.

"That's ridiculous. Did you explain that?" he asked.

"I did. I don't think she believed me though."

"I'll talk to her," Ross promised. "Let Monica know that Emma is definitely in California for now."

"Okay," Rachel said as he left to talk to Grace. She wanted to rush out there and bring Emma home, but she knew she couldn't do that. It would make things worse. If time was what she needed, then time is what she'd get.

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