Shawn woke up on the couch the next morning, since he'd insisted on giving his sister the bed. He'd noticed that she had nightmares, judging by how she tossed and turned and mumbled in her sleep. Anyway, he woke up to the smell of eggs and bacon.

"Hey," he rubbed his eyes as he walked into the kitchen. Lindsey handed him a plate with a smile.

"Good morning," she said.

He looked at the clock and noticed that it was only seven. Early for him.

"How long have you been up?"

"Since three. I went for a run and a swim, then came back here and showered and made breakfast."

"Since three?" he said incredulously.

She shrugged, "I get up early."

"Well... I know you don't want to see dad. Maybe I can call him and tell him that you're ok, and me and you can go to Vegas for the week until he calms down. We have to tell him, he's been worried for years."

Lindsey sighed, "Ok, but call him after we get on the road because you know that he's going to come straight over here."

"Ok, are you still packed?"

"Yep. I'm ready when you are."

"Great, I'll go back a bag and get dressed."

Twenty minutes later they were on the road with Shawn driving. After a couple of hours on the road, they pulled over at a gas station. Lindsey went to use the bathroom while Shawn called their dad.

"Dad?"

"Yeah, Shawn, what is it?"

"I have to tell you something, and I need you to be calm about it."

"Are you ok?" he already didn't seem calm.

"I'm fine... Lindsey stopped by to see me yesterday."

"What?" Henry Spencer yelled into the phone, "Well is she ok? Did she say what happened?"

"She seems ok, I don't know dad, she had nightmares last night. She won't tell me why she left."

"Well where are you? I want to come see her."

"She's not ready for that yet. We're taking a road trip, we'll be back in a week."

"Let me talk to her."

"No, dad. And when you do talk to her you have to take it easy. Whatever happened, she doesn't want to talk about it."

"Well that's too damn bad!"

"No, it's not. We're not going to scare her off," Shawn was quickly losing patience.

Henry stayed quiet for a moment, thinking about it, then agreed, "Fine Shawn, I won't ask her about it. But I want to see her. Now."

"I'll talk to her, ok? See what she wants to do."

"Fine. Call me back." And with that, he hung up.

Lindsey came out of the gas station with a bag of candy, soda, and chips. "Ready to go?"

"I called dad."

"Oh..."

"He really wants to see you. He promised not to ask you about why you left. I think we should head back."

She sighed, "I don't know Shawn."

He smiled, "I'll get you out of there if he tries to interrogate you. The man's been a wreck about this for fifteen years. He just wants to see you."

"Ok," she sounded reluctant, "Let's go back then."

A couple of hours later, they were back in Santa Barbara, and Lindsey was looking increasingly nervous.

"It'll be ok," Shawn reassured her.

Twenty minutes later, they pulled up to Henry's house. They didn't even have a chance to get out of the car before Henry was rushing out to meet them.

He flung opened Lindsey's door and hugged her tightly. When he let go and she stepped out of the car, he looked her over carefully for any injuries.

"You're ok," he sounded like a weight had just been lifted off of him.

"Yeah, I'm ok."

Shawn could tell that Henry was about to launch into a million questions, but he gave his dad a warning look and he stopped.

"So... where have you been living?"

"I've been living in Texas recently. Arizona before that."

"Well, why don't you stay with me for a while. Your room is exactly how you left it."

"I guess that'd be ok."

"Great! Let's get your stuff," he pulled her bags out of the backseat and led the way inside.

Shawn wasn't surprised. Henry had always had a soft spot for his daughter. It had almost destroyed him when she left. He spent every day for two months going door-to-door with her picture and looking for leads that never showed up. When that hadn't worked, he stopped showing up to a job that he loved. Considering the circumstances, his boss let it slide. When Henry finally came back, he started acting like it had never happened. All of her pictures were moved into her bedroom, which basically became a shrine. Shawn was never allowed to set foot in the room again. If anyone mentioned Lindsey Henry would fly off the handle. Everyone learned not to talk about it in front of him.

Henry walked directly upstairs with her bags and into her room. Lindsey followed a looked shocked when she saw the room. The two outfits that she had tried on and not liked that morning were still on the bed. Her nail polish bottle was still sitting on the end table, along with the homework assignment she had completed before she ran away. The empty glass that she had filled with water the night before was still there too. The only difference in the room was that there were a few more picture of her in it.

Henry noticed her looking in surprise, "Sorry I never cleaned up," he said, trying to sound nonchalant. He picked up the empty glass from the table. "I'll get this out of your way... when you're done unpacking, come downstairs. I got steaks for lunch."

"Ok," she said, still seeming surprised.

"Do you need help unpacking?" Shawn asked. Secretly, he wanted to see if she was really going to unpack. If she did, it probably meant that she planned on staying. If not, she might be gone again soon, and Shawn wanted to be prepared for it this time.