Gaia decided to crash at the hotel she and her family

used to stay for staycations, University Inn. She spent the rest of the weekend getting high off of everything. Weed, vicideon, molly, acid, mushrooms, etc. Gaia wanted to numb the pain and loneliness she had felt ever since Fez broke up with her and she found out about her mother's cancer.

The Williams girl had a solid routine for the whole weekend. Do drugs, Fuck, eat, take naps, and repeat. Only one person knew where Gaia was, and she wanted it to stay like that.

Gaia's mom called all her friends, asking if she was at their house. She even called the Jacobs' household but to no avail. When she realized no one had seen her, she almost had a panic attack. Her grandma returned to visit and found her mom on the floor, calming her down. Her grandma tried calling her but got a reply saying she was okay.

Gaia's phone was blowing up from everyone she thought she was close to. Fez was calling and texting her nonstop. So was Ashtray. She sent text and voice messages to the little boy and told him not to worry. Rue was in the hospital but helped Jules call and text her friend, feeling guilty about how she had thrown Gaia under the bus at Fez's house. Jules tried to message and call but only got an "I'm fine" text. Kat and Cassie sent worried messages to her but got the same as Jules. Even Maddy and Nate sent messages and called when they heard from a frantic Monique.

Lexi called and was the only person to facetime Gaia on the phone. It was brief, but she was happy to see that her best friend was alive. She could see she was on serious drugs and heard someone say housekeeping in the background. Gaia quickly got off the phone and told Lexi to tell everyone that she was alive. After she called Lexi, Gaia turned off her phone for the rest of the weekend.

When Monday came around, Gaia was planning on going back to school. However, since she kept fueling her body with drugs, Gaia stayed in the hotel another day.

" Have you heard from her since?" Rue asked Lexi.

" Not on the phone; she's just been sending messages. " Lexi told the group.

Cassie, Maddy, Kat, Lexi, Rue, and Jules banded together to figure out where their friend was.

" What about Fez," Cassie suggested

Rue shook her head" They broke up. He's been trying to get in contact with her too."

"Fuck!" Maddy cursed.

" No wonder she went MIA," Kat shook her head.

" Apparently, she and her mom got into a fight that night, too," Jules added.

" Does anybody know anyone else she would contact?" Maddy asked around. Thinking about something happening to Gaia was scaring the shit out of

Maddy. Everyone shook their head, feeling a sense of worry in the pit of their stomach.

After school, Nate went straight home. He spent the last few days trying to figure out where Gaia was. Gaia was known for going away for 1-2 days, but not for this long. So for her to be missing for four days made him extremely aggravated.

He had heard from Maddy that Lexi had heard her voice a couple of days ago. Lexi told the group that he heard someone say housekeeping in the back. She also noted that Gaia sounded high, which made him even more worried.

So with that bit of information, he had already deduced that Gaia was at a hotel.

One time Nate thought Gaia was cheating because she told him she didn't want to hang out. So Nate followed her to the shady hotel, found the room number, and confronted her.

~Flashback~

" Why did you pick the Travel Inn? It's so fucking disgusting and dangerous" Nate looked around the dingy hotel room. It looked like one of the rooms his dad would take the people he fucked on that tape.

"Because I'm a minor, and the place I wanted to go doesn't let minors rent rooms" Gaia rolled her eyes.

Nate folded his arms and scolded, "Why did you hide this from me? You could have been fucking kidnapped by some fucking creep!"

" I just needed to get away for one night." Gaia let out a big frustrated sigh before she continued, " My mom was at home, and we weren't talking. So I just figured I rathered be in a place all by myself instead of with someone who resents me."

Nate's demeanor went from angry to sympathetic. He hated his dad and wanted to get away from him by any means necessary. Nate could understand the want of being alone all too well. That's one of the reasons why he felt so close to Gaia; their shared pain of isolation.

Nate walked over to his girlfriend, pulling her into a hug" Listen, I'm sorry I freaked out on you. You know how I feel about my dad and how I feel at home, so I get how you feel. I just couldn't live with myself if something happened to you. I need you in my life GG."

Gaia reciprocated the hug " I'm sorry, Nateybear. I'll never do this again."

The two pulled apart and looked into each other's eyes. Nate cupped Gaia's face and leaned down as Gaia lifted herself on her tippy toes to connect with his lips. The kiss was passionate, emotional, and rough. They broke away to catch their breath and looked at each other with genuine love.

" Next time you feel like that, just call me. you can stay at my place, and we can be together." Nate told Gaia.

Gaia nodded her head in agreement as they backed away from each other. Nate grabbed her bag to take to the car to go to his house, with Gaia's hand in the other.

Before he opened the door, he asked, " Where did you want to go?"

" Huh?" Gaia tilted her head in confusion.

" You said "The place I want to go doesn't let minors rent rooms" so I wanted to know what place you wanted to go?" Nate asked.

" Oh...Umm... It's a place called University Inn. Me and my family used to go there to have a mini vacation. It was one of my last memories with my dad and sister."

" How about when we are older, we can make new memories together."

" I think I'll like that."

~Flashback Ended~

He smiled at the memory and how in love he was with her. Then the recent realization popped into his brain. Nate needed her to come back. Not just because he cared, but because he needed to hear it from Gaia's mouth about Harvey. Maddy didn't break underneath his intense interrogation, but Nate knew when Maddy was lying. And she was definitely covering something up.

Jacob's boy quickly took out his phone and looked for the hotel's phone number. He first lied about being a restaurant, trying to get in touch with a customer. However, the manager told him that no one had rented a room under that name. He even asked, using her Fake ID name, and still nothing. He had hit a dead end until he remembered his brother's suspicious behavior when their mom asked if they had been in contact with them.

Nate was at his brother's desk, waiting for him to come out of the shower. He knew he had something to do with it but didn't know what capacity. His guess was that his fuck-up of a brother rented out the room for her. He heard the shower turn off, so he was about to find his answer.

Aaron had just come out of the shower when he was scared by his brother.

" Jesus fucking christ," Aaron yelped. His relationship with his brother is nonexistent, so finding him in his room would be weird if he didn't realize what he wanted. Gaia

" You know where Gaia is, don't you?" Nate asked calmly. He was looking out of the window, not even flinching at his brother's scream.

" I don't know where she is," Aaron lied. He wasn't convincing at all, and Nate saw through him quickly.

Nate rolled his eyes, turned to look at his brother, and said, " Aaron, you're a terrible fucking liar. "

" I'm not. I haven't heard from her" Aaron moved towards his dresser and put on some clothes.

" Then why did you rent a room for her at the University Inn?" Nate asked as he stood up from the chair.

Aaron's face totally cracked, confirming Nate's hunch.

"How did you find out?" Aaron asked.

" You just told me" Nate smiled at his simple-minded brother. Aaron cursed under his breath and rolled his eyes at how easy it was for Nate to get that out of him.

Nate walked up to Aaron with a smug look on his face. He snatched Aaron's phone out of his hands with no pushback. Aaron knew Nate could fuck him up, so he surrendered.

Nate unlocked the phone and called Gaia. The phone rang until it picked up on the last one.

" Sorry double A, I almost missed your call," Gaia slurred. She was obviously intoxicated.

" Hey," Nate greeted. He smirked as he could hear Gaia's mood shift from hearing his voice. Gaia didn't respond.

" You know, getting my brother to get the hotel in his name? Good move. But you should have picked someone who won't fold so easily," Nate chuckled.

Gaia rolled her eyes to the back of her head. She knew trusting Aaron would be a gamble but hoped Aaron wouldn't crack. She was wrong.

" Why are you calling me from Aaron's phone?" Gaia cursed at Nate.

" Is this the thanks I get for ensuring you aren't dead?" Nate asked sarcastically.

" Just tell me what you want!"

" Call your mom and tell her you're okay and coming home."

" Look, I was planning on going back tomorrow. Just give me until tonight, okay?"

"Okay. But just so you know, if you don't, I will tell everyone where you are and ruin your little vacation."

" Yeah, whatever!" Gaia scoffed before hanging up the phone.

Nate put his phone away, feeling slightly relaxed after hearing Gaia's voice again.

Gaia had left the hotel last night and returned to her house since her mom had left.

It was Tuesday morning, and she was getting ready for school. Gaia was doing some elaborate makeup. For some reason, she was in the mood to make a statement.

When she looked in the mirror, Gaia realized how dilated her eyes were. But at that moment, she didn't give a shit.

Gaia walked into school, looking better than usual. Her outfit was sexy, her makeup was bold, and she felt great. Well, the drugs made her feel great.

She went up to her locker and got her stuff, dreading the day when suddenly she felt someone hug her from behind.

" Gaia! We thought you were dead. " Cassie held Gaia, rocking back and forth with her.

Gaia turned around and saw Kat, Lexi, Rue, and Jules coming to greet and interrogate her.

" The fuck you've been?" Rue eyed Gaia. Gaia put shades on so Rue wouldn't know she was high.

" Nowhere. Just wanted some alone time. Everyone else gets alone time; why not me?" Gaia shrugged her shoulder. She knew her going MIA was a dick move, but the drugs suppressed her guilt.

" Gaia, you literally went missing for four days," Kat retorted.

" I called Lexi that one time." Gaia pointed to Lexi.

" Yeah, like three days ago, GG," Lexi folded her arms.

" Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you guys, but I'm just going through something mentally right now. I don't need to be fucking badgered with questions, please. " Gaia snapped. Her high was coming down, and she needed to go to the bathroom and sniff a line.

Everyone, except Rue and Lexi, backed off, giving her hugs and telling her not to do that again.

Rue and Lexi looked at each other, knowing something was off. Lexi didn't want to confront her right now, but Rue did.

Rue followed Gaia to the bathroom and waited until she came out to check her eyes. She caught Gaia by surprise and snatched her sunglasses off, exposing Gaia's highly dilated pupils.

" I fucking knew it; you've been high the whole time you went missing?" Rue accused.

Gaia rolled her eye in defeat " And? I can't get high?"

Gaia moved to the sink to wash her hands.

" Yeah, but you're abusing them, GG, I can tell!" Rue looked at Gaia's face through the mirror.

" Im not. Im just having fun. Why can't I have fun?" Gaia scoffed. Gaia moved to dry her hands, and Rue followed.

" It's not fun when you rely on it to make you feel good. Look, I know you and Fez broke up

," Rue started.

"Why do you care?" Gaia snapped.

" What do you mean why? I fucking care about you," Rue looked at her friend in confusion.

" You only care because of Jules. You've been up Jules' ass since she got here and haven't given a fuck about me since. So don't fucking tell me you fucking care," Gaia got close and pointed her finger in her face. She fought back the tears and quickly stormed off.

Gaia spent the rest of her school day cut off from everyone. She only talked to someone if they directly asked her stuff. She begrudgingly got through cheerleading practice. Everyone could tell she was in a shit mood and just avoided poking the bear. After practice, Gaia was walking together when Maddy called out to Gaia.

" Can I talk to you?" Maddy eyed Gaia, hoping she wouldn't reject her.

Gaia turned her attention to her former best friend " Did you want to talk about cheer?"

" No, I just wanted to see if you're okay? I heard through Cassie that you were going through some mental shit, and I know you still hate me, but I just wanted to check on you." Maddy explained.

" I'm not dead, so I'm fine." Gaia gave a fake smile and tried to walk away.

Maddy stopped Gaia before she turned and said, " If you need to talk, just text me."

Maddy smiled, hoping Gaia would cut her some slack at this moment.

Gaia sighed and turned around. She would be a liar if she didnt miss Maddy a lot. Like a lot, a lot. She looked into Maddy's eyes, which were filled with sincerity, and said, " I just need some time."

Maddy nodded her head and smiled slightly "okay."

She was happy Gaia had finally given her an inch.