The next day Hazel returned to her new "normal" routine. She had been pulled from the boarding school in Boston that she had been attending since she was six years old and was placed in the local public school in Hartford. Hazel didn't really have friends, but it didn't matter. She was disengaged with school and disengaged with life. Kyle, however, had found him a new girlfriend three weeks after the funeral. Hazel didn't buy it. She was convinced they'd known each other longer. She made it known that she was completely uninterested in meeting his "friend". This was the beginning of the end of their relationship. They'd never been close before, but if he couldn't even wait on the grass to grow on her mother's grave before finding another, Hazel couldn't support his decisions. Mary called her every morning to check on her. She was the only one Hazel told about Kyle and Marcy. Hazel did call one cousin, Logan. He was her no-nonsense, older by three years, brother Hazel never had. His suggestion was to go out and have a drink. Hazel obliged and hit the town with him one Friday evening. That quickly became their new routine. If she wanted to have no feelings, Logan and a bottle of gin were the way to make her have none.

Hazel was somewhat familiar with Logan's friends. He went to school in a different town than she, and was already the star of the football team, basketball team, and baseball team, so he was quite popular. People from not only his school but other schools wanted to hang around him at all times. On this particular night, Logan picked her up and headed out on the town. Like with any other ridiculous high school party, they ended up at a bonfire in the middle of nowhere and did shot after shot of some gut busting awful mixture until they were all about half lit. It didn't take Hazel long before she was vomiting behind a tree while Logan laughed hysterically. Luckily for Hazel, she met a very nice guy named Cully Fuller who was sixteen and way more experienced than she was when it came to just about every aspect of life. He hung with her until Hazel finally stopped being sick and helped her back to the party. They spent the rest of the evening chatting and exchanged numbers at the end of the night. They both knew he was way too old for her, but he had a driver's license and a truck and Hazel knew both would eventually come in handy.

It didn't take long for war to enter the Riley house the following morning. Hazel was hung over so she was especially grumpy and when Kyle came in to tell her that he had invited Marcy and her family over to swim, Hazel lost it. She quickly let him know she had no interest in joining his little pool party. Hazel cranked her radio as loud as it would go and stayed locked in her room for the remainder of the day. She had no interest in making nice with any of those people and had definitely reached the point of wanting to get out of there.

About a month after the initial meeting Hazel had her last week of school and final soccer game. She didn't get in until late and apparently Kyle thought it was too late for Marcy to drive back to her house, so he invited her to sleep over. That was it. The last straw. Hazel called Mary, mid breakdown.

"Hazel, what is wrong?" she asked as she sat up in the bed and turned on the bedside lamp.

"SHE is here and SHE is sleeping over in my mom's bed! I can't take this anymore. I hate him!" Hazel sat in the floor of her closet, sobbing in the darkness. "I've got to get out of this house!"

"It's an adjustment," she said. "For you and for him. He's just lonely. Don't you want him to be happy?"

"I want him to walk out in the street and get hit by a bus."

"Hazel!"

"Please be on my side on this."

"I'm always on your side. Always. I just don't want you to regret hating your dad."

"I should've called Logan. He would agree with me."

"Yeah. Agree with you and get you drunk again? No ma'am. That's not going to fix anything. Besides, you are way too young to be doing that. So is the great Logan Riley. Stop it."

"You heard about that?"
"Have you ever heard your Uncle Frank say there's pretty much nothing we don't know? Stop it. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am," Hazel mumbled sadly.

"Is that Hazel?" Frank yawned as he roused up and rubbed his eyes. Mary nodded. "Let me talk to her." She handed him the phone as he sat up in the bed. "Hey, Hazel. What's wrong?"

"Oh Uncle Frank, everything's going wrong. Kyle is the worst!"

"He's your dad, Hazel. You have to respect him. You don't have to like his decisions. You don't have to like his friends, but you do have to respect him. What else is wrong?"

"She is HERE!"

"Are they in your room?

"Well, no."

"Are either of them doing anything right now to physically harm you?"

"No."

"Have either of them physically harmed you or threatened to harm you all evening?

"No."

"So you are ok? You're just mad?"

"Yeah."

"Here's what you do. Go to bed. Just put this day behind you. She will be gone tomorrow. Make up with Kyle. And if things are still bad Friday, I'll come get you and you can stay with us for the weekend. How's that?"

"Ok," Hazel sadly agreed.

"Want us to stay on the phone until you go to sleep?"

"Nah. I'm good."

"Good. We love you."

He hung up the phone and turned to Mary. "She'll be fine."

"Seriously? You think you just handled that?"

"What did you think was going to happen? You aren't driving two hours to pick her up tonight. She's just tired and upset. She'll be fine. She's not in any danger, she's just mad. Let her cry it out and she will eventually wear herself down enough to get some rest. We'll go get her this weekend."

"If you say so…"

"And what's this about her getting drunk with Logan?"

Hazel called Cully Fuller quickly after hanging up with the two of them. She knew her connections would come in handy and she was right. She asked him to give her a ride the following morning to Bay Ridge and he agreed. She paid him $50 of her birthday money and made out with him and he was more than willing to do the driving.

"So where are we headed?" he asked before cranking the radio to full blast.

"Got enough gas in this thing to get us to Bay Ridge?"
Cully smiled. "Buckle up. Looks like we're going on a road trip!"

"Yes!"

Hazel wasn't exactly sure when they left if she could actually sneak away to Bay Ridge, but she knew that was the only place she wanted to go. Mary reminded her most of her mom. She was soft spoken, kind, gracious, and had the most loving demeanor. She was always quick to hug the pain away just as her mom had always done. Thankfully, Danny and Joe were the only two home when she arrived at the Reagan Household. The younger kids were hanging out with Mary's mom for the day. Hazel knocked on the door and waited in anticipation as her favorite cousins soon answered. "Hazel!" Danny exclaimed as she dropped her duffle bag on the porch and opened her arms for a big hug. "What in the world are you doing here?"

"Can I borrow a bed tonight?"

"You got it. Does Mom know you're coming?"

"Nope. Just in the neighborhood and thought I'd swing into someplace a little more normal."
"Well you know there is absolutely nothing normal about our family, but I'm glad you're here."

"Thanks, Danny," Hazel sighed.

"Who is it?" Joe asked as he wandered out of the kitchen and into the foyer. "Hazey Belle!"

"Hey, Joe!" They embraced as they made their way inside.

"Chunk your bag over there and let's catch up. Come sit!"

Mary called to check in just as the three were getting settled in the livingroom. Danny answered as the other two chattered nonstop.

"Hey buddy. Everything going ok?"

"We're good, Ma."

"What are you doing?"

"Well, funny you mention it. Hazel just got here so I'm not sure what we're going to do."

"Hazel Riley?"

"Uh huh. She just got here."

"Did she drive?"
"No… some guy dropped her off. She's got her bag packed and said she needed a bed for the night. We told her to stay here. She seems sad."

"Yeah, she's been going through some stuff. Look, I'll tell the Planning Committee I need to go. I'll be home in just a little bit. Make sure she stays put."

"Ma, she's not going anywhere…"

"Danny."
"Ok. Ok. I'll make sure we're here when you get home."

Mary gathered her stuff and looked to the Planning Committee for the Policeman's Ball. "I'm sorry. I need to run."

"What's wrong?"

"My niece just showed up at my house. I think she's run away. See you next week."
Before Mary left, she placed a call to Frank.

"Detective Reagan?"

"Hey Frank. I just talked to Danny and Hazel has apparently made her way to Bay Ridge. I believe she is a bit of a flight risk at this point, so I want to get home and see exactly what's going on. I'm pretty sure nobody knows she's here but us. There's no telling what went down last night."

"What did Danny say?"
"Just said some guy dropped her off and she has a gym bag."

"Some guy?"
"Like I said, I don't know. That's what I'm going to find out. I'll see you at home."

Danny, Joe, and Hazel couldn't think of anything exciting to do so they settled on making a key lime pie when Mary came home, complete with a great soundtrack and a dance party.

"Hey," they all said nonchalantly as Danny zested a lime and Hazel stirred the mixture.

"Hi," she said as she moved in front of both of the three, waiting for an explanation. "What is going on here?"

"Key lime pie. Dad's favorite, yeah?" Danny smiled.
"Yep."

Joe looked to Mary. "Hazel is way better at this than Jamie. Can we keep her?"

"Uh huh. Can you finish up here? I need to speak with your Hazel for a minute."

"You got it, Ma."

Hazel wiped her hands on a dishtowel and followed Mary into the livingroom. "What's up?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing. What's going on?"

"I had to get out of there."
"Does anybody know where you are?"

"Do you, Joe, and Danny count?"

She took a deep breath. "How did you get here?"

"Paid Cully Fuller $50 and made out with him."

"Hazel!"

Hazel grinned. "I'm kinda kidding. I just did what I had to do. I was resourceful... Proud?"

"No ma'am. We're just going to keep that tid bit of information to ourselves. Your Uncle Frank would lock you up himself."

"Look, I just needed somewhere to crash until I had time to think. I'll just be here for the night and then I'll have it all figured out. I'll be out of your way by the morning."
"Ok. Number one you aren't in the way and number two you aren't going anywhere. You're going to stay right here until we get this all straightened out, and we're going to start by calling your dad and telling him where you are. I bet he's freaking out."

"Bet he's not."

"Well, even if he isn't, your grandparents are and you know better than to scare them."

"Please don't call him. He'll get mad and make me go back and I just can't. I swear I'll run."

"Hey, I told you I'd fix it and I will." She picked up the phone and dialed Kyle. "Hey Kyle. It's Mary."
"Hey. How are you?"

"I'm good. I wanted to let you know that I have stolen your daughter."
"Hazel? I didn't even know she was gone. I thought she was up at the school. Did she ask you to come?"

"Nope. Frank had already invited her up for the weekend. I just got her early for a little extra girl time."

"Well it couldn't have come at a better time. We've had about enough of each other here lately."

"Told you," Hazel grumbled as she could clearly hear every word he was saying.

Mary elbowed her as she continued with Kyle. "I hate that you guys have had a rough few days. How about she just stay with us for a while and give you both a chance to cool off? We'll bring her back sometime next week."

"That would be great… if it won't be too much trouble for you."

"Nope. No trouble at all. The kids will be ecstatic. We'll see you in a week or so."

Mary hung up and looked to Hazel. "Bought you a week, so don't be sneaking out in the middle of the night. Got it?"

"Got it. I owe you."

"You know it. You can start by helping me with dinner. We have to have more than key lime pie. Let's go."

They ended up making grilled kickin chicken, strawberry salad, grilled corn, and roasted potatoes… all of Frank's favorites. Hazel was just trying to butter him up to let her stay a week. Frank came home just as they finished cooking dinner and had all the rest of the Reagan clan with him.

"Jamie!" Hazel exclaimed as her younger cousin came rushing into the kitchen.
"What are you doing here?"

"Just came to hang out for a day or so… if Uncle Frank says yes?" Hazel gave Frank the saddest face she could muster. Erin quickly walked over beside her and put one arm around her cousin. She also stuck out her bottom lip and gave him the world's most perfect sad face.

"Please, Daddy," she said.

"Well of course!" he smiled as he came over for a hug. "I told you the other day to come stay the weekend with us. I'd be hurt if you didn't."

In typical Reagan style, Frank said grace and then everyone went around the room talking about their day. This quirky ritual gave everyone a chance to speak. You got to have your say, good or bad, but you always had to end on a good. Erin started, since she obviously had more excitement than the rest of the family. She sat up straight with her blue eyes sparkling. "Today I went with Sarabelle and Lennox to try out for the first play of the summer and it was so much fun! We got a new director for this play. Mr. Ownsby said it was his nephew, Troy. He's super cute and has some fun ideas. Ms. Heather and Mr. Bill are still doing make-up and costumes."

"What's the play about?" Frank asked.

"I don't know. It's called Girls in the Night. Maybe it's about spies or something. I didn't read the whole play, just my audition piece."

Mary's mouth dropped as Danny, Hazel, and Joe died out laughing.

"Oh that's great, Honey," Frank said, attempting to reassure both her and himself. "Mommy is going to need to read your script when you get it."

After nearly choking to death following Erin's exciting news, none of the rest of the stories came anywhere close to being that exciting. The boys really didn't have anything to talk about. Jamie had been at soccer camp. Danny and Joe had both just been chilling at home.
"So Hazel, tell us about your trip down."
"It was fine. Completely uneventful. A very nice friend of mine brought me down."

Mary just smiled, agreeing to keep her secret at least for the foreseeable future.

"Well, welcome to Bay Ridge, Hazel Riley. We're glad you're here."