A/N: I started writing the final chapter of this story, and once I got to page 16, I decided to make two chapters out of it. It kind of broke off nicely into two sections. So, I'll post the first half now, while I'm finishing the second! Since I'm almost done with the whole thing, I'll post the last chapter tomorrow about the same time. And yes, I'm considering doing a sequel! Let me know if you have ideas. Thanks for reviewing!
"But I want Daddy to say goodnight to me too!" Carly whimpered as she rubbed her eyes in bed that night. She hated when she didn't get to say goodnight to either of her parents, and she was especially cranky tonight since it was past her bedtime.
Sara sighed and sat down on her daughter's bed, all tucked in, but apparently not feeling cozy and ready to settle down. "Carly, Daddy's out finding Riley. You know that."
The mother wasn't in the most patient of moods. After finding their oldest and her friends outside on the porch apparently smoking, Riley's subsequent running away, and Carly being upset that Nick wasn't there, she was ready to call it a night. Sara wasn't going to admit that she wanted Nick back here with them just as much as she did, along with Riley.
"When's he getting back?" She whined, her face contorted in a particularly troubled but adorable shape.
"When he finds Riley." Sara stated simply, pulling her daughter's covers up a little more to her chin. She gave the five year old a kiss on the forehead and stroked her bangs away. "I'll tell him to come in and say goodnight when he gets in."
Carly grumbled in disappointment, then turned on her side away from her mother. She didn't see how finding Riley should be so hard. Her mommy and daddy were investigators after all. They solved everything, so Carly knew that Nick would find Riley.
Sara was about to say something else when she heard the garage door open downstairs. Carly heard it too, and immediately sat up in bed.
"Daddy!" She exclaimed, throwing her covers off. Before Sara could stop her, she had dashed across the room, opened the door, and was heading downstairs. Sighing in exhaustion, Sara stood up and followed after her. Her husband had called her from the road, and hung up when he thought he'd spotted Riley, but hadn't called to give her an update since. Sara was on pins and needles, wondering if Riley was okay.
She quickly climbed down the stairs and found Carly already in his arms, her little legs wrapped around his torso and her face buried in his shoulder. Nick was kissing her cheek, and whispering something gentle to her. Sara's eyes then fell on Riley, her long wavy hair falling forward to shield her face as she stood just behind Nick. Her arms were crossed, and from what Sara could tell from her body language, and the fact that it had been over half an hour since he'd called, Nick had already given her a bit of a talking-to. Sara had her two cents worth to put in, once Carly went back up to bed. She was relieved that Riley seemed relatively okay, but wasn't exactly in the most nurturing, motherly mood.
Nick leaned forward with Carly in his arms so he could put her feet back on the ground, but her feet remained clutched to his sides. Sara could tell that Carly was probably whining to her father to spend time with him, and to get to stay up longer. She could hear her tiny voice pleading with him, but couldn't quite make out the words.
Sara cleared her throat a little. "Carly, listen to your father."
Nick made eye contact with his wife and patted Carly on the back. It was obvious he'd had a long, rough night. His face showed a certain amount of relief, however, and Sara hoped he'd gotten through to Riley somewhat. The girl was hurting, but she also needed some sense knocked into her.
"I'm gonna go tuck her in." He told Sara softly, then turned with the girl in his arms to look at Riley. "Ry, why don't you ask Sara to help clean up your arms a bit." He suggested.
Riley made a somewhat timid eye contact with her father, giving Sara the first glimpse at her face. Obviously she had been crying and the pair had been through some sort of ordeal together. Overall, Riley reminded Sara of one of those scared little girls that they came across at crime scenes, and if she didn't want to throttle her for putting them through this, Sara would want to gather the kid up into her arms and rock her gently until she was okay.
"Can't you stay?" She whispered pleadingly. That was perhaps the first time she'd requested her father to stay with her, but Sara realized it was only because Riley knew she wanted to bite her little head off. Her stepmother had never been shy about expressing when she was upset with her or didn't approve of what she was doing.
"You'll be fine." He assured her as he readjusted Carly in his arms. "I'll be back in five minutes."
Nick made eye contact with his wife again as he walked Carly to the stairs, as if he were telling her not to get started on Riley just yet. Sara didn't know the whole story of what had happened, and she didn't want to take yet another step back by yelling at her prematurely. She nodded at Nick as he disappeared up the stairs.
Sara turned to look at Riley.
"So, do you need me to help you with something about your arms?" She asked, not in a threatening voice, but not a gentle one. It was a voice that told Riley she just wanted to get to business. Riley nodded wordlessly and walked over to Sara, not making eye contact, and displayed the insides of her forearms. Small pieces of gravel spotted her arms, amongst some minor bleeding she must have gotten when she fell. Sara imagined that she'd run from Nick when he confronted her. That didn't seem out of the teenager's realm.
"Alright, let's go to the sink." Sara prompted her, and led the way. She turned on the faucet and adjusted it to a warm temperature. Sara then guided Riley's arms under the water and gently rinsed the dirt off. Riley watched, almost in a daze, as Sara helped her clean, and then dry her arms. She was trying to comprehend what had gone on that night. Running away seemed like such a good idea at the time, mainly because Sara had pissed her off, but now that she'd seen how worried both Nick and Sara had been, she almost felt bad. Almost.
But then Nick had come after her. He searched for her! When she was eleven and angry at her mother, she did the same thing, and her mom couldn't have cared less. Riley stayed at a friend's house for a few days, hoping her mother would call and ask after her, but she never did. She just went home by herself a few days later and the first thing her mother had said was to clean her room. Her mother had always been so consumed with herself, unwilling to let Riley get away with dramatics or shift the attention away from her.
It felt good to know that her father cared for and loved her enough to go searching for her, after only a few minutes. He was actually worried about her. She'd scared him, she could tell, when she saw the look on his face. Sure, he was angry at her for pulling such a stunt, but above all he was a scared father. Something could have happened to his little girl, and Riley could tell how distraught he would be now if something ever did. Was it wrong to kind of like his reaction?
Riley was snapped out of her thoughts when Sara began to work some Neosporin onto both her forearms. Her gentle touch rubbed it in to her fresh, but now dry wounds. It felt kind of good and reassuring to Riley that she would do that, especially when she was still angry. Riley finally looked at her stepmother's face and could see it wasn't quite as fierce as she had remembered from a few minutes before. Maybe Sara would forgive her.
Riley opened her mouth, and her croaky voice made an offering that had previously been unheard – an apology.
"I'm sorry I ran away." She said softly, causing Sara's hand to momentarily stop on her arm. "I didn't mean to worry you guys so much."
Sara looked at her stepdaughter's face to check her sincerity. The kid looked genuinely sorry, and like she'd already gone through quite an array of emotions that night. Suddenly, all the yelling and lecturing Sara wanted to give her flitted away. Riley needed, and perhaps now wanted, her help in many different ways.
"Thank you." Sara told her and gave her arm one last rub. "That means a lot that you apologized. That was a dangerous thing to do, and you scared us to death."
Riley nodded and rubbed at her upper arm uncomfortably. Why did she all of a sudden feel like she was in the middle of an episode of "Full House"? She hoped this family wasn't going to graduate to a new level of corniness reminiscent of the Tanner clan.
"Sorry. My friends just showed up, and I know I shouldn't have let them hang out, but I'm trying to make new friends." She tried to explain in a bit of a rush, feeling her hands tense up. "And then they started smoking, and I didn't smoke, but I know it wasn't good since Carly and Nolan were around, and…"
"Okay, Riley. Calm down." Sara put her hands on her shoulders to stop her. It was a relief to hear her say exactly what she'd done wrong, honestly, and not have to lecture her and deal with her comebacks. And she'd actually had the strength not to try cigarettes. "We're just glad right now that you're okay."
Riley nodded, relief showing in her face. For once, she didn't want Nick and Sara to be disappointed in her, because it was exhausting. And she realized that it actually hurt to have them angry with her.
Nick's footsteps could be heard on the steps moments later, having just put Carly down for the night again. She could get emotional and clingy if either parent was gone for an extended period of time. He was expecting to perhaps find Riley seated on the couch looking upset still, and Sara pacing, trying to hold in her anger. However, when he reached the bottom of the stairs, he found Sara with one arm around their daughter, the other pushing some wispy hair away from Riley's face. The teenager looked calm, remorseful, but overall very tired. Nick slowed and stopped to lean against the wall next to the kitchen, and watched his wife and daughter standing just across from him. It seemed to him that Sara had rarely been so tender towards his daughter, mostly because Riley would never let her. But in this moment, it felt like he was interrupting a special moment between a mother and a daughter.
"Hey." He greeted them both gently, causing both to look up at him. Nick could tell now was not the time for them all to talk. They were all exhausted, and he really didn't want to get into any arguments or have to think up her punishment right now.
"Hey." Sara offered him a small, tired smile. "I cleaned up Riley, but I think we all just better head to bed. What do you think?"
Nick studied Riley as he nodded. She seemed reassured by Sara, and for once accepting of the love from her new family. Nick sensed that she'd been reluctant to let them in at all before, because of what her mother had told her about him. Now that that had been cleared, and the dust had settled a bit, Riley seemed much more comfortable and willing to let them in.
"Yeah. We can talk more tomorrow." He stated, also letting Riley know this wasn't all over. They were all relieved she was okay, but the incident would not go without some sort of discipline.
Riley slowly pulled away from Sara, as she stroked her hair a bit tenderly, and nodded at Nick's promise. She turned and embraced Sara, though only for a few moments, and then walked over to Nick. Riley wrapped her arms around him and felt his hand patting her back gently. She loved that even though she was in trouble, he was still affectionate towards her. He kissed her forehead and then gently pulled her back.
"Go get ready and I'll tuck you in." He promised her gently. Riley nodded and then disappeared towards her room without another word.
Sara then stepped forward to hug her husband. She sighed in relief as they embraced for an extended period of time. Nick pulled back and took her face in his hands, then leaned in and kissed her tenderly.
"Sorry I didn't call." He whispered, his face centimeters from hers. His hands rested at her hips as he looked into her eyes. "We were kinda busy. Got into talking about stuff."
Sara nodded and put her hands on his chest. "She seemed a lot different when she came back. A little more relieved." She explained.
Nick nodded and sighed a little in exhaustion of all that had gone on. "Yeah? We talked about her mother and me. I cleared up a few things, which helped I think."
It was a good thing that Nick had been honest with Riley about his past with her mother, though Sara was sure he would have rather kept some of that information private.
"Good. You can tell me more about it in bed." She whispered, giving his chest a supportive rub. Nick leaned down and captured her lips in a sweet, appreciative kiss.
"Thanks, baby. I'll be right up."
Sara disappeared up the stairs to get ready herself, while Nick walked back to Riley's room to say goodnight. He knocked on her door, and within a few seconds heard a soft 'come in', so he entered and closed the door behind him.
Riley was sitting on her bed in her pajamas, the covers pulled back and ready for her to get in as she worked her hair into a ponytail. Nick smiled a bit at her as he slowly walked over. Finishing her ponytail, she turned to look up at him as he held out her covers for her to climb in. The girl shuffled underneath and looked up at her father as he pulled the comforter up. Just like he does with Carly, she thought to herself. He loved her just like Carly and Nolan.
Nick sat down on the age and looked at his daughter, a slightly serene look on her face. For once, she didn't look angry; she didn't look annoyed by him; she just looked like she was enjoying the fact he was tucking her in.
"Thanks for coming to look for me." She whispered, and took one of Nick's hand in hers. Nick glanced down at their hands and then up at Riley's face.
"Well, I'm your dad. How could I not look for you?" He pointed out, rubbing the back of her hand with hit thumb as he looked at her. Nick knew that perhaps she wasn't as lucky as a child to have a parent who would drop everything if she was in danger or in trouble.
Riley shrugged and offered him a small smile. "Thanks, anyway." She told him. Nick smiled and then leaned down to kiss her forehead gently.
"I love you, Riley." He told her as he sat back up and winked at her.
"Love you too." She whispered. Nick smiled at her again and then patted her leg as he stood up. He left the room moments later and climbed up the stairs to bed, perhaps the most relaxed he had been since he'd learned of Riley.