I'll Know When I Get There

Summary: One phone call was all it took to rip Ryan Sloane's life apart (Parrish/OC)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Teen Wolf, Ryan however is all mine.

Chapter 28:

Jordan had known all about the lacrosse game at the high school and part of him felt a little bad for prolonging the sheriff getting there but this was important, there was an urgency in telling him what he had found on his patrolling. There was no way that anyone without something important to say would be caught wandering along the coast in search of someone else, Jordan knew that Meredith Walker's presence would interest the sheriff.

Stepping up to his boss at the very same time that the older man was trying to leave his office, Jordan lifted a hand up to stop him, which was enough to catch the man's attention and stop him in his movements. He let his coat hang off his arm and looked at Jordan expecting him to speak, so Jordan went right ahead.

"Sheriff, I know you're in a hurry, but I was out on patrol and I found someone walking from the coast to the high school." Jordan stated and clearly he had piqued the sheriff's interest.

"That's got to be at least fifteen miles." The sheriff countered, concern lacing his tone. This is exactly what Jordan was expecting, the sheriff would definitely be intrigued and he certainly wasn't disappointed.

"She was pretty determined." Jordan replied and turned his entire body towards the corner of the room, where the one and only Meredith Walker stood, staring right back at them.

"I'm looking for Lydia." Meredith announced and met the sheriff's gaze.

Jordan turned his attention back to the sheriff and tilted his head to the side as if to say 'what did I tell you'. The whole situation was a little weird and if other things in Beacon Hills hadn't been just as weird, then Jordan would've brushed it off, but his mind fell back to what Ryan had said to him not long ago: what if there was someone, or something more sinister than another human being lurking in Beacon Hills?

What if there was something hidden in the shadows, waiting for the right time to strike? He didn't have to look very far to see prime examples of bizarre sightings, in fact, he had witnessed a few himself. Ryan definitely had a point and it absolutely terrified Jordan to think that maybe she was right, maybe there was something more sinister out there, waiting, stalking, hunting.

"I got this." The sheriff said, breaking into Jordan's thoughts and bringing him back down to earth. He nodded at his superior and turned around, locking his eye on his desk.

Now seemed like the prime opportunity to call and check in with Ryan, sure he had only been at the station for a few minutes but after walking into the house and finding her asleep on Kylie's floor the night before, he was constantly finding himself concerned about her, and there was no doubt in his mind that she was always worried abou him.

Heading over to his desk, Jordan pulled his chair out and sat down, letting out a small sigh of relief in the process. He had done his part, he had gotten Meredith to the station and onto the sheriff's radar, now all he could do was wait until he received further instructions regarding her. In the meantime, he had things to do and people to call.

Wrapping his fingers around his phone, he lifted it up and pressed it against his ear, his other hand moving swiftly over the number pad and dialing Ryan's house number. Waiting as it started to ring, Jordan rapped his nails against the desk. Seconds later, the answering machine picked up and he immediately straightened up in his chair.

This was odd, really odd. He had left her at home and she hadn't mentioned going out, so why wasn't she answering? Immediately his thoughts went to Kylie and fear struck him hard; had something happened to the little girl, had she hurt herself?

Jordan reached out and pressed down on the hang up button. He then dialed Ryan's cell phone number and waited for it to start ringing. Again, after a few seconds, it too jumped to her answering machine and this time he was prepared. He wanted to leave her a message to let her know how absolutely worried about the two of them he was.

"It's Jordan, call me back when you can and let me know if things are okay. I'm a little worried that something happened to you two so please call me back."

He pressed down on the hang up button for a second time and swiftly removed the phone from his ear, setting it back down in the cradle. Lifting his elbows up, he rested them against the edge of the desk and ran his hands over his face, sucking in a breath and silently praying that Ryan and Kylie were okay.

He squeezed his eyes shut and debated what he wanted his next move to be. He could head over to her house and check on her, but that seemed a little drastic, at least for the time being. He'd give her the chance to call him back, maybe there was a perfectly reasonable explanation, maybe she was giving Kylie a bath or maybe the two of them were watching a movie and she didn't hear the phone.

Or maybe something bad had happened to them, maybe Ryan had Kylie locked away in a closet somewhere fearing for their lives.

Jordan dropped his palms against the surface of his desk and shook his head. Without thinking about it anymore, he made a move to grab hold of his radio, fully preparing himself to see if there were any units nearby her place, then he'd kindly request for them to drive by.

Before he got the chance to push the 'talk' button down, the phone on his desk began ringing, the number on the small screen blaring at him. Yes, this was perfect, this was what he needed in order to calm down. Ryan was calling him at that very moment and without putting it off any longer, Jordan lifted the phone up and held it against his ear.

"Hello." Jordan said in a firm tone just in case there was a slight chance that it wasn't actually Ryan.

"You called." Ryan countered in a soft voice. "Sounded pretty rattled, what's up?"

"Nothing, you didn't answer though and I got a little worried." Jordan explained and hoped that he didn't sound too panicked. There was no need to scare her, especially if everything was okay and she was fine.

"Yeah, Kylie saw a spider in her room and I had to kill it before it moved." Ryan replied and followed it up with a chuckle. "She's one of those people that won't go in a room if she knows there's a spider in it."

"Oh okay, I get it." Jordan felt his lips turning upwards into a smile. "You're not one of those people then I take it?"

"Well, I used to be but I had to get over that fear pretty quick when I realized that a grown woman shouldn't be calling her dad in the middle of the night just to come over and kill a spider." Ryan teased and Jordan felt himself picturing exactly what she had described. "Cole used to take care of all the bug issues in the house."

"Any other fears you had to get over once, you know…he was gone?" Jordan questioned and stiffened slightly at the sound of her sighing on the other end.

"Yeah. I used to freak out so bad when there was a noise at night, I'd kick him out of bed to check it out, even if it was most likely the pipes. Now I just ignore it, unless it's something totally out of the ordinary."

"Makes sense. Must be nice having a deputy back in your life now then, huh?"

"Sometimes." She breathed the word out and he pictured her relaxing against the couch. "Other times, like when I can't get a hold of said deputy, I have a mini panic attack and immediately think the worst."

"I'm sorry." He murmured.

"It's not your fault." She countered.

A blanket of silence fell over them and Jordan tried to figure out what to say to her next. She was clearly having just as difficult of a time coming up with her own words, but he knew that it wasn't easy for her. It wasn't like she had ever kept her feelings about him being a deputy a secret, he understood where her fear came from and if he had been in her position, he knew that he'd react the same way.

"Just imagine how much worse it could be if I was still in the military." Jordan tried to joke with her but his voice came out flat and serious. He heard her suck in a breath on the other end of the line and immediately realized that she wouldn't find his joke funny at all. "That was stupid, I shouldn't have said that."

"It's fine," she sighed, "you're only trying to make me feel better. If it's any consolation, I'm glad that you're not in the military anymore, I think I'd be terrified every time the phone rang."

"Yeah." He nodded his head and looked down at his desk. "That'll never happen though, I'm not doing that again."

"That's good to know." She said in a soft tone. "That'd be hard to explain to Kylie."

"I'm not going to leave you two, you know that, don't you?"

Ryan remained silent for a couple of seconds and Jordan waited patiently for her answer. He knew that he was going to do everything in his power to be around for the long haul but it was hard for Ryan to accept them. She had already lost too many people in her life and she knew how quickly everything could change. Just because he made a promise not to let anything happen to him, didn't mean he could stop anything if fate was against him.

"I think so." She whispered and he could tell that she wasn't exactly confident in her reply.

"I know how hard it is for you to let me in, I want you to know that I appreciate it, I appreciate everything that you've given me."

"Uh, sure." She replied hesitantly and Jordan couldn't help but chuckle.

"I mean it. I'm going to get back to work but I promise I will call you if anything comes up here."

"Okay."

"See you later Ry."

Ryan hung up on her end without another word, which was perfectly fine with him. He settled into his chair, relaxing against the back of it before looking around the station, taking note that Meredith had been tucked away inside the sheriff's office. He let out a sigh of content and thought about how much he truly enjoyed his life with Ryan.

It wasn't until Jordan's eyes had caught sight of the sheriff leading Lydia Martin and the girl that Jordan recognized as the sheriff's son's girlfriend Malia through the station that he was pulled out of his thoughts. His eyes remained on them until he could no longer see them and then he stood up, pushing his chair away from his desk and making a move towards them, falling in stride behind them, ready to speak out against the man's actions.

After his discovery of the game locker in the Walcotts house with Lydia, something about her hadn't sat right and if this particular meeting gave him an opportunity to learn more about her, then that's exactly what he was going to do. He kept his focus on them and listened in, watching carefully as the sheriff ushered them into his office in the hopes that he would be able to keep the whole situation low key.

"I'm aware this is probably about the dead pool, but I can't let her leave the station and, in a minute, I'm going to have to call Eichen House and let them know that she's here." Jordan heard his boss say and he fought back the urge to roll his eyes. The man should've called Eichen House as soon as he laid his eyes on her, hell if he had been asked to do it himself, Jordan would've been more than willing.

"Give us an hour." Lydia countered from their position just outside the office. Jordan locked his eyes on her and wondered where the authority she had came from.

"You got fifteen minutes." The sheriff retorted, apparently he wasn't going to let her make demands, well that was just fine with Jordan.

Lydia and Malia stepped into the room, disappearing from Jordan's sight but that wasn't going to stop him, he was determined, just as determined as Meredith had been to get to Lydia, so instead of backing down, he stepped right up behind the sheriff and didn't even bother waiting to get his attention.

"You called Lydia?" Jordan inquired.

"Yeah." The sheriff replied hesitantly.

"Because Meredith asked for her or because of the other thing?"

"What other thing?" The sheriff shot back and Jordan hesitated before taking a look around the station in order to make sure there were no prying ears.

"The psychic thing."

"You think Lydia's psychic?" The sheriff added quickly.

"Do you?"

"No, I do not." The sheriff replied defensively. "I think that she is, uh...intuitive."

"That's what they used to call psychics, intuitionists."

"Yeah, and I used to call myself a rational human being. Get in here and shut the door."

The sheriff waved him into the room with the three girls, before he shut the door, securing them all inside. There was no way that anyone outside would be able to overhear or see what was going on, which was just fine with Jordan. The whole situation seemed a little out of the ordinary and there was no doubt in his mind that whatever was happening wasn't following any sort of protocol.

Turning his attention to the girls, the sheriff gave them a wave, "ask what you need to ask."

Jordan crossed the room and leaned against the front of the desk. His eyes scanned over the occupants of the room, wondering what he had just gotten himself into. If there was something special regarding Lydia then he wanted to know what it was, he wanted to know what he was dealing with.

Lydia quickly extended her cell phone to the girl sitting on the bench. Jordan's eyes immediately fell on Meredith, taking in the details of her. Her hair was wiry and sticking up all over the place, her eyes wide giving her a permanently shocked look on her face.

Meredith looked up at Lydia and hesitantly took the phone out of her extended hand, pulling it away from Lydia and cradling it in her palm.

"Meredith, aren't you going to answer it?" Lydia asked, her voice soft and soothing but Jordan could easily see that she was far from calm. He took her words into consideration and cocked his head to the side, wondering why the girl had asked if she was going to answer it when it wasn't even ringing, unless it was on silent, but what sort of teenager put their phone on silent anymore? What the hell was going on and what did Lydia have to do with anything?

Meredith slowly rose to her full height and moved in closer to Lydia, situating herself so that her lips were right by Lydia's ear.

"It's not ringing." Meredith whispered in response.

Meredith cautiously dropped back down to sit on the bench and Lydia just stared forward, trying to keep her calm. Lydia dropped down to squat in front of Meredith and Jordan stole a quick look around the room, wondering what was going through everyone else's heads and if they understood what was going on. The sheriff looked like he was as confused as they came, Malia looked almost bored and Lydia looked like she was growing more and more frustrated by the second.

"Meredith, you came here to help us, remember?" Lydia said lowly, desperate to remain calm.

"You called me." Meredith countered.

"What do you mean I called you?" Lydia demanded.

"I heard you." Meredith nodded.

"Meredith, can I ask you a question?" Jordan moved towards the two girls, Meredith nodded her head yes, like any sane woman would in his presence, and he dropped to one knee in front of her. "When you need help, when you need to find something, is there someone you reach out to? Maybe someone you call?"

"It depends, different people for different things."

"So maybe there's a number that can help us? Someone we can call." Jordan pressed and hoped that he was helping them. He really had no idea what was going on, or why Meredith had been looking for Lydia, all he knew was that he was going to try to keep everyone in the room as relaxed as he could.

"Yes." Meredith gave in and looked right at him

"Would you be okay telling us?"

"Yes." Meredith paused and Lydia brought her phone away from Meredith's loose grip. "It's two, four, three, six."

"Mer, we need a few more numbers." Malia broke in.

"No. That's the number." Meredith stayed firm. The more time she spent in the same room as this girl, the more that Jordan noticed she lost her composure.

"Phone numbers are ten digits." Malia pointed out.

"That's the number." Meredith stated.

"Meredith, phone numbers always have ten digits." Lydia broke in, shaking her hands at the awkward girl sitting on the bench in front of her.

"That's the number." Meredith repeated her answer.

"Meredith-" Lydia brought her hand up and pressed her fingers together. The sheriff stepped up and gently set his hands on Lydia's shoulders while Jordan backed away to give him more room.

"Lydia." The sheriff guided Lydia to her feet and ushered her away from Meredith slightly. "Hey. Come here. I think that's the best we're going to get."

"No. No. There has to be more." Lydia was nearly pleading with Meredith, which only served to make Jordan more curious as to what in the hell was going on. "What's the rest of it, Meredith? Huh? Just concentrate!"

"But that's... that's... that's the number." Meredith countered.

"Concentrate!" Lydia shrieked.

"That's...that's the number. That's the number."

"It's okay, sweetheart. We're..." The sheriff closed in on Meredith and gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder. Jordan watched Lydia as she reluctantly stalked away from Meredith.

"That's the number!" Meredith shouted.

The sheriff quickly but gently ushered Meredith out of his office leaving Jordan to hang back inside for all of two seconds before he moved forward and joined his superior. His eyes locked on Meredith as the sheriff gently sat her down on one of the chairs in the lobby before dropping down next to her.

Ignoring them for the time being, he headed back to his desk and dropped down onto the seat. Whatever had just happened inside the sheriff's office wasn't something that he'd constitute as normal. Without following any sort of protocol, the sheriff had let the two females just speak with Meredith, all the while Eichen House was missing one of their residents.

He kept his eyes trained on the girls inside the office and watched them for a few minutes, studying them as they seemed to work on something, probably breaking whatever code of numbers that Meredith had given them before Lydia had pushed her to the brink.

The sound of the sheriff's footsteps broke Jordan out of his trance and he watched the older man lead Meredith towards the front of the station and into the area where the lobby was. It didn't take too much for him to figure out that at this point Eichen House had been notified of the girl's disappearance.

He gave the girls a few more minutes until Malia opened the door and stepped out of the office. His eyes lingered on her and when she tucked herself into the nearest corner and produced her cell phone, he seized his opportunity. He wasn't going to let them sit in the sheriff's office all night, but he wasn't going to blatantly kick them out.

Standing up and tucking his chair under his desk, Jordan headed for the sheriff's office, bypassing Malia who was standing outside the room talking on the phone, and opened the door. As soon as the door was open, Lydia slammed the lid of the laptop shut and squeezed her eyes closed. Clearly he had managed to startle her.

"Sorry, I was just seeing if you guys were okay." He announced and Lydia opened her eyes back up, looking towards him. "You guys need a ride home?"

"Uh, no. We'll be fine." Lydia answered but it was clear by her tone that she wasn't going to stick around for too much longer.

He bowed his head, gave a nod and headed back out into the main part of the station, pulling the door shut behind him. What a weird night it had been so far: first he had found Meredith wandering the coast in search of Lydia Martin, then he had brought her in only to have the sheriff call Lydia so that the two could converse, now he was making sure that the two teenagers were okay and that they weren't stranded at the sheriff's station.

Even with all of the chaos, a smile formed on his face and he couldn't help but wonder what Ryan had been like as a teenager. Had she been like Malia, a little brash but overall a nice girl? Or had she been more like Lydia, dangerously smart and hardly fearful of anything? She was still very much a mystery to Jordan in some aspects but he was determined to figure her out, he wanted to know everything there was to know about her and if things continued to go the same way they were currently, he'd be able to do just that.

He wanted to be around for the long haul, he wanted to be a part of Kylie's childhood and he wanted to see the little girl grow up. What kind of teenager would she be? Would she be like Lydia, who seemed to find herself in unusual situations at every turn or would she be a wild child who fought with her mother day after day? Maybe she'd grow up to be a good kid, a kid who wouldn't find herself in trouble, but even if she did, would Jordan not do whatever he could to protect her?

Then there were all sorts of questions that he'd want to know the answers too in the near future but he knew that it was too early to discuss them with Ryan. Questions like 'would Kylie ever feel comfortable calling him daddy', 'would Ryan be okay with that happening too' or 'would they ever have a child of their very own'?

Jordan wasn't in any rush to become a father, he was still young and busy enough working as deputy that he was never bored, plus as much as he liked being with Ryan, their relationship was still fairly new. He had asked her if she'd ever consider having more kids but she hadn't really been clear with her answer. If she was against it, would that be a deal breaker for him or would he stick with her and focus his attention on Kylie? Would they be able to hang in there and last for the duration of their futures?

There were too many unknowns surrounding him and Ryan, and ultimately his future with Kylie, but he knew that he was excited to be part of whatever was to come, the highs and lows, the good times and bad, he knew that he couldn't control what was next but he'd definitely take things one step at a time.

For now, that was all he could do.

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