A/N: I am so working on my English project. I promise. We're supposed to be writing poems, and I'm... writing. So I'm halfway there. ;) Anyway, I didn't expect to update this fast but... well, your reviews inspired me. That should be inspiration to keep them coming. Although, you can't review unless I write something else, so I guess it's kind of a circular argument. In any case, thanks for everything! You guys all make me feel so good.

By the way... updates may not be so frequent in the past. This is because the school year is almost over and I have a TON of stuff to do. So be patient, kay? Love you all:)

Sitting at lunch with Ranger, I didn't say much. And he really didn't expect me to. I did have a lot of questions, but I didn't want to ask them. Why ruin a perfectly good meal with questions that, deep down, I didn't want to know the answer to?

I looked up, realizing he'd been staring at me. "Don't look at me like that," I said. "I know what you're thinking, and I don't like it."

"I'm not thinking anything," he replied. "I'm just looking at you and wondering, I wonder when she's going to tell me her story."

Big sigh. "I don't really want to talk about it."

He nodded and gave a sympathetic look. "Unfortunately... we all have to do things we don't want to do. Trust me, I know all about it. I have to fly to Florida every Christmas to visit my daughter."

"You don't want to visit your daughter?"

"I want her to live here. Not in Florida."

Wow. That was a big confession just made by Ranger. He wasn't one for emotional statements, so I was taking it in.

"Tell me."

I sighed. "All right," I said, "but only because I'm afraid of you. I don't really remember what happened, but basically, I've been stuck in a warehouse for six months with little food and I miss everyone so much and I just want to see everyone. I want to see my parents. I want to see Valerie. I want to see Lisa, and Mary Alice, and Angie. I wanna see Joe, and I want to see Carl and Eddie, and I want people to tell me where they are."

This was true. I didn't want to go hunting down anyone. But I had a feeling I might not have to. I mean, let's be honest, y'know-? I was only gone for six months. You can't get that far away in six months. You can get pretty far, but... not so far where it's impossible to be found. "I have a question for you," I said, realizing something. "Connie told me you hadn't been in Vinnie's since I'd left. How did you know I was here today?"

He smiled one of those creepy, foreshadowing smiles that gave me goosebumps. "I just know."

"No one can just know something."

"Tank had been picking up an FTA for me, and he saw you. So I figured, if I was Stephanie, where would I go? Vinnie's."

"But... Connie said everyone thought I was dead."

"I didn't think you were dead."

"Really?" This was news to me.

He shrugged. "You have really good luck. I figured, with her luck, she could be thrown out of a fifth-story window and still survive."

This, I figured, was an exaggeration. But I didn't want to press him... or find out for real. "So, you knew I wasn't dead."

"I didn't know. I had an intuition."

"An intuition. Okay, so you thought I wasn't dead. Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"And be considered crazy?"

Well, yeah. Not that Ranger cared much about public opinion. If he did, he'd do something to fix his reputation as being scary. Although actually, it was more than just a reputation. It was the truth. He scared me... a lot.

He signaled for the check. "Do you know everything yet?"

I shook my head. "Connie's phone rang, and she had to go before she could tell me. It's killing me to not know."

"I don't blame you. Listen, I'll tell you what's been going on, but no more than what you want to know. So what do you want to know?"

I did a mental eye roll, and then a sigh. "Where do I begin?"

He drove around Trenton for awhile, not really going anywhere, just going. We rode in silence for awhile, and I wasn't sure where I wanted to start. According to him, all I had to do was ask the questions. But I didn't know what questions I wanted answers to. "Where's Morelli?" I said suddenly, figuring it was the best place to start.

Ranger didn't answer for a long time, and if there's anything I've learned with Ranger, it's never repeat what you've already said. So I had a feeling I'd never get an answer when, all the sudden, he started to talk. "You know, no one really knows," he said. "Basically, the guy got depressed. Hey, his biggest fear is you disappearing, and getting hurt, and never coming back. And then all the sudden, it became more than just a fear, it was reality, and he got scared. And he got depressed. And he ran off. Now, like with everyone who has a broken heart, there's no guarantee that he'll make smart choices. So as far as I know, the guy's off in some other state, living his life the way he thinks he wants it. But he's not happy, that's pretty much all I know."

"How long did he stick around?" Like I cared.

"A month, maybe. Give or take a little. But hey, Steph- you've known him since you two were little. And every little thing reminded him of you. A garage. A Buick. A cupcake. It was all too much for him, and let's just say- he really didn't want to get into it anymore. So he just left. Took off. So I don't know where he is. No one does. Not even his own mother."

"Not even his mom? What about Grandma Bella?"

Ranger gave me a blank Look. "What did you think I meant when I said 'no one'?"

Okey-dokey. "So... you're saying he's gone."

"Absolutely. You wanna go looking for him? That's fine. But babe, you won't find him. This is a definite. I mean, unless you get lucky and stumble across him one day while looking for a Dunkin' Donuts, you won't find him. He knows everyone. He knows everywhere. And if I know anything at all, he's already wearing a fake moustache with a different name in Canada."

I sighed. "Why would he change his name?"

"Well, if you wanted to leave your past behind, would you keep your name?"

No. But then again, I didn't think Morelli and I were exactly alike in that many ways, either. But I gave in. "I know you don't think I'll find him," I started, "but it's not really back home until I do."

Okay, so it was kind of a corny line that sounded like something out of a syrupy Mandy Moore movie. But then again, I really did want to see him again. Even though, I felt like maybe I shouldn't. He's obviously moved on. Ranger, on the other hand... he was there for me. When I came home, who was one of the first people I saw? Ranger. He was here. Morelli wasn't.

"You want to go looking for him, don't you?"

"Kind of."

He sighed. "All right. I'll help you. But only because I love you."

Interesting.

A/N: Sorry so short. Longer chapter later. And don't assume anything... yet. Still not sure where I wanna go with this.