Both boys were frozen in shock. Meredith simply stared at the spot where the boat used to be.

Sam glanced over and saw Joe's lips quickly moving but he wasn't speaking; he was sure he was praying.

Finally Meredith turned around, her face streaked with tears and her eyes cold.

"Does he know how to drive the boat?" Sam asked gently.

Meredith nodded. "We both got our licences a few years ago."

"Well at least there's that" Sam said, trying to offer some support.

Meredith shook her head and walked past Sam and Joe. "Come on. Let's go back."

She led the way back down the pier and towards the clubhouse. Sam and Joe hung back a bit so they could talk.

"She's oddly calm" Sam whispered. "Don't you think?"

"She's just repressing her fears and worries" Joe said quietly. "Look at the water. It's a mess of waves. It's not safe"

Sam glanced over his shoulder at the water. Joe was right. There were white caps and once and a while, water would splash up over the pier.

"But Meredith said Andy got his license so..." Sam said.

"Sorry but a certificate has nothing on Mother Nature" Joe said and they sped up to catch up with Meredith. She was already getting on her bike.

Sam and Joe did the same and the three of them rode along the road.


They were the last to arrive back at the cottage.

Everyone else was there, discussing how they all had came to the same result: no Andy.

"We all covered a large part of Victoria Beach" Quinn said. "Where on earth can he be?"

"Who knows?" Finn shrugged. "I bet it'll be a really obvious place too."

"Maybe. He is- hey, look, here comes Joe, Sam and Meredith" Kurt said and they all looked over as the three of them rode into the lot.

"Any luck?" Rachel asked.

"Actually, yes" Sam nodded.

They all began to speak at once, asking questions of where and how and is he here.

Meredith stood by quietly, obviously unsure how to settle the large group.

Finally, they stopped talking so someone could explain.

"Andy took the boat" Meredith announced

Several of them gasped but they were all wise enough to refrain from a bombard of questions.

"We went down to the pier and the boat was gone. Now that I think about it, Andy did have the boat keys in his pocket yesterday so I guess he forgot to take them out and that's how he had the keys" Meredith explained.

They were silent for a moment before Mercedes spoke up.

"Any ideas of where he might have gone?"

"Maybe he went as far as he could go" Puck suggested. "What's across the lake?"

"Winnipeg" Meredith answered him. "But Andy would never do that. It's a bit ridiculous."

"May I say something?" Kurt asked. Everyone looked to him. "I was thinking. Meredith, you said that Andy has run away twice. The first time it was in an alley behind the library and the second time it was on the rooftop of your stepdad's apartment. Well, I was thinking that they're not just random spots. He chose the library because he likes to read and to escape into books. And he chose the roof of the apartment because he obviously liked your stepdad and felt comfort at that building. He had reasons for his hideouts, is what I'm saying. So we have to think logically. What areas, accessible by boat, may Andy have a connection to?"

"Brilliant" Blaine breathed in awe.

"Genius" Tina nodded.

"I told you! I told you that you'd be a good detective" Rachel excitedly said.

Even Meredith seemed shocked. "I never really thought that deep into it."

Santana cleared her throat. "Um, I hate to be the pessimist here, but maybe it's all just a coincidence."

"Andy's smart" Meredith said. "I wouldn't put it past him."

"Did anyone else feel a raindrop?" Sugar asked.

"Me. I did" Brittany said.

"So, Meredith, any ideas of where he could be? We have no ideas" Mike asked.

"Oh, hey guys!" Will said, coming outside. He stepped out onto the porch. "Hmm, starting to rain again? Anyways, how'd the search go? Any luck? Meredith, I kept my eyes open but I never saw him."

"Andy took the boat" Sam said to him. "We don't know more than that."

"Really?" Will gasped. "Is that safe? Or legal?"

"He has his license" Sugar piped up. "Anyways, if we're gonna go look for him, can we do it soon? I don't want to be caught in the rain again. Because certain members of the group start to smell like dog. I'm looking at you, Puckerman."

"Hey!" Puck frowned.

"Elk!" Meredith suddenly gasped.

"Say what?" Mercedes asked.

"Elk Island!" Meredith said. "Andy is at Elk Island! I just know it!"

"Where is that?" Blaine asked, moving to stand under a tree to avoid the rain that was picking up.

"Nearby! A few times we were able to walk there! Come on!" Meredith turned and ran out onto the road and down the road in the opposite direction of Town.

"Walk? To an island?" Rachel asked. "That's not possible."

"Just come!" Rory said as the teens followed after Meredith.

"Be safe!" Will called after them.


The beach was cold, wet, windy and understandably empty. They had followed Meredith down the road for a while. The road, which was now muddy and wet, seemed to never end, but finally, Meredith turned left and went on to a little path leading towards the beach. To the right, out in the water was an island. It was large enough for ten houses to fit on comfortably, but it was instead covered in tall pine trees.

"ANDY!" Finn yelled.

"Be quiet. He'd never be able to hear you. The wind is too strong and the waves are too loud. Plus, it's kinda far out" Puck said.

"Now what? Incase you haven't realized, we don't have a boat" Santana crossed her arms but only she could tell of it was for warmth or she was just being sassy.

"Yeah but we can't ju- Meredith, what are you doing?" Kurt asked.

Meredith was kicking off her muddy running shoes and pulling off her sweater, leaving them in a heap on the wet sand.

"You're not planning on going in the water, are you?" Tina asked dangerously.

"I am" Meredith said shortly.

"But that's so dangerous. Be reasonable. You can't swim out to there" Tina hurried along side her as she walked closer to the water.

"You'll catch pneumonia!" Quinn added. "This isn't a good idea."

"I'm not asking any of you to come, now am I? I'm swimming to the island and I'm going to find Andy."

"Good luck" Brittany chimed.

They knew they'd never be able to convince her otherwise so they stood watching her slowly make her way into the water. She went agonizingly slowly until she got to her waist. The she dived in fully. Kurt shivered just watching her. They watched Meredith's head bob up in the waves. Then she slowly tried to swim towards the island. It was only about a hundred meters out, but the waves made it very hard to swim in as they kept pushing Meredith back towards shore.

"I can't even watch this" Mercedes groaned and closed her eyes.

"This is so unsafe. She could drown!" Quinn exclaimed.

Out in the water, Meredith flailed around, trying to get control of herself in the water. Finally, she managed to get steady and swim forward a bit. But every time she seemed to move forward, a large wave would come and splash right over her, pushing her back. Finally, Meredith decided that she's have to go under water again to avoid the waves. They all watched her head disappear under the water.

"Anyone see her? Is she up yet?" Tina asked.

"No, I don't see her. Oh, wait, yeah, there she is" Rachel pointed to where the brown head of hair reappeared on the surface.

By going under water, she managed to move forward toward Elk Island. After ten agonizing minutes for New Directions, Meredith finally reached the shore of Elk Island. She dragged herself out of the water and gave a quick wave to New Directions to signal that she was okay.

Meredith looked about as tall as a doll from where they stood on the beach.

"She's got nerve" Puck said as they watched her disappear into he trees on the island.

"Do you think there are bears on that island?" Brittany asked.

"Unlikely" Rachel said. "It is an island, after all."

"But she said she could walk there a few times" Kurt reminded them.

"How?" Rachel asked. "The whole point of an island is that it's surrounded by water."

"My guess is the water level sometimes goes down and there's probably a big sandbar out there so they can walk" Blaine said. "It seems logical."

"Does anyone think Andy is really on that island?" Finn asked.

"I don't know. Meredith was pretty convinced that he is" Sam said.

"But it's kinda far from the pier" Joe added.

"I wish we brought an umbrella" Sugar sighed. It was still steadily raining and by now, everyone was pretty much soaked.


They stood around for a while waiting for Meredith to reappear in the trees. They were all soaking wet from the thick rain and they were all shivering from that and the wind. It was a miserable day both weather wise and emotionally.

"Is that Meredith?" Blaine asked, spotting movement on Elk Island.

"Yes...No...Maybe. I think it may be Andy" Finn said.

"No that is Meredith" Santana said. "That is Andy." She pointed to another, shorter, figure that emerged from the trees.

"He's alive!" Brittany cheered.

Joe did the sign of the cross.

"Yeah, but how are they getting back here?" Mercedes asked. "I think the waves got bigger since Meredith's voyage."

"The boat?" Sugar suggested.

"Look! They're both getting in the water!" Tina gasped. She began shaking with fear so badly that Mike had to put an arm around her to try and calm her.

They watched in horror as Meredith and Andy both tried to navigate their way in the harsh water and stay close to each other. Fortunately for them, the waved pushed them towards the shore a bit, but it still seemed that Andy was having trouble staying above the waves.

"Ohmygosh...ohmygosh" Kurt kept repeating as he watched with wide eyes.

The two swimmers slowly made their way closer to shore. Meredith seemed to have a steady rhythm going because she swam to the island, but Andy seemed to be flailing around and splashing his arms to keep his head above the water.

After a moment, Andy was closer to the shore than Meredith, who was slowed by a large white cap wave.

"Keep going, Andy!" Tina called to the boy.

"You can do it!" Joe said. "Just keep swimming."

That set Brittany and Sugar and Rachel up for the song from Finding Nemo.

"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming. What do you do, you swim, swim, swim!"

"I...can't...stay...up" they heard Andy cry from the water.

"Hold on" Meredith said. "I'm...trying to get...there."

By now Andy was really having trouble staying up. He kept going under for a moment, before surfacing and then repeating.

"Someone has to help him" Finn said. "Meredith is too far and he's really struggling."

"He's gonna drown" Quinn agreed in a shaky voice.

"I'm an okay swimmer" Blaine offered. "I mean, I completed level ten."

"Who are we kidding? Sam, you're on the swim team for goodness sakes!" Mercedes said.

Sam looked unsure. "I can swim but I've never rescued someone! I'll end up pulling the kid down more."

"Please just try" Rachel said.

"We believe in you, man" Finn patted Sam's shoulder.

Sam glanced out at Andy. "Okay, fine."

Sam kicked off his shoes and pulled of his socks and shirt. Then he went into the water. They heard him mumbling cruse words as he got deeper in the cold water. He slowly got himself all wet by diving in and swam out to Andy. It was only about fifteen meters, but it was hard, even for him.

"Andy, stay calm, bro" Sam said, spitting out water.

"Help me" Andy weakly said.

"Okay, you're gonna hold on to me, but you have to stop splashing and moving so much because it'll be hard to move" Sam said to him.

Andy nodded and Sam noticed that aside from the lake water, there were also tears in his eyes.

Sam grabbed Andy's arm and pulled him closer.

"Okay now hold on to my shoulders" Sam said. "But not too tight."

Andy slowly did as he was told but instead of simply grasping Sam's shoulders, he wrapped his arms around his neck. Sam could still breath, so he didn't say anything. Slowly Sam began swimming back to shore. He looked behind him once and saw Meredith slowly coming closer to then.

It was quite a feat, but Sam finally managed to pull Andy and himself towards the shore so far, that he was able to stand up in the water.

"Andy, can you stand here?" Sam asked. Andy slowly let go of Sam and let himself fall back into the water. He has able to stand, but just barely.

Sam and Andy began wading slowly. Everyone once and a while a large wave would come from behind and they'd stumble and fall down.

Finally, the made it to shore. Sam was exhausted by the time he was out of the water. His legs and arms ached and he was shivering.

Andy flopped down on the sand, taking deep breaths.

"Are you guys okay?" Mercedes asked, as they all rushed over to Sam and Andy.

Sam nodded, his teeth still chattering.

"Andy, are you okay?" Tina asked gently.

Andy was lying on his back, with his hands covering his face to probably block the rain. They could see that his face was red.

"Yes" he mumbled weakly.

"We don't have any towels or dry clothes or anything" Rachel said sadly, seeing Sam and Andy shiver.

"F-fifty s-seven" Sam chattered.

"What?" Santana asked.

"Fifty seven degrees. That's how cold the water was" Sam said.

"How could you tell?" Mike asked.

"Are you psychic?" Brittany wondered.

Sam held up his arm, showing them his watch. "It measures temperature."

"Yikes" Finn said, shivering at the thought.

"Here comes Meredith!" Sugar said and they all turned to see Meredith weakly walk out of the water. Even Andy sat up to see her.

Meredith looked even more exhausted than Sam had. She hugged Andy quickly then turned to everyone else, Sam especially.

"Thank you."


A/N

I'm sorry that I didn't update last week. I was being lazy. I don't even have a legit excuse. I was just lazy.

Anyhoo, I hope you liked this chapter. It was very dramatic to write. You guys asked for more plot so there you go. Signed, sealed, and late on delivery. Oops.

I'll try to not be a lazy butt and get another chapter up next week. :P Cheers!