A/N: Thanks so much to all of you who reviewed the last chapter and those who sent PMs wanting an update :) This would have been up sooner, but Christmas came and I was busy (sorry excuse I know LOL). This is not a very long chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.

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Chapter 10: The Good-bye

Taylor sat herself down in the faded blue chair at the furthermost corner of the bus station and held her breath. She was terrified that someone had followed her and would try to keep her from leaving. Fearfully, she kept a steely eye on the door, watching for her mom or Seth... Ryan... or even the police. Someone. Anyone.

After about five minutes, she felt herself slowly relaxing. Maybe she was home free after all.

Home. What a sorry place her 'home' had turned out to be.

If that horrible woman really was her mother, she wondered just how truly screwed up she was--had been--is-- Who am I kidding? she thought. A person with full blown amnesia was pretty messed up anyway. And truthfully, if everyone was like her mother, maybe she didn't want to remember. She had a feeling she was more a socially outcast geek than the prom queen anyway. Maybe it would be better go to go LA. Start over. Make friends. The only problem was that nagging image she couldn't get out of her head. The image of a kiss that was both chaste and passionate. And despite herself, she felt longing for the boy who had kissed her so tenderly, tapped her nose so playfully, and stole her heart so completely.

"Ug! Snap out of it Taylor!" she berated herself. Frustrated, she placed her head in her hands and her elbows on her knees. "Get a grip. It was one kiss who knows how long ago. It may mean nothing to him now."

Absentmindedly, she stuck her hand in her jacket pocket. The letter Ryan had sent her rested beside her bus ticket. She had purchased the ticket for the 6:30 am bus to Los Angeles. She looked down at her watch. It was 6:21.

She had that one memory of Ryan. She knew that had to be enough. But one thing wasn't. She searched her bag and pulled out her cell phone. There was something she had to do.

"Hello." The phone was answered on the second ring. "Taylor?"

"Mother." she answered coolly, fighting the urge to scream a stream of curses over the line.

"Oh thank God. I've been so worried--"

"Save it." Taylor spat venomously. An old shaggy man- her only companion in the station- looked up from his magazine curiously. Taylor didn't have the time or energy to notice him. "Look, I just called to tell you that you will never see me again. Ever. Even if I get my memory back, I'll never come back to you-- you horrible bitch."

"You don't mean that."

"Oh don't I? Actually, it's the only thing I'm 100% sure of. After what you did to me--"

"I was trying to protect you!"

"You were trying to control me!"

"Taylor, listen--"

"No. No more. I'm tired of you trying to use me. I don't remember you, and I don't care too. If you were like this to me now, I shudder to think what you did to me before. You'll never hear from me again."

Taylor could feel the heat radiating from the other side of the line. "Taylor Townsend! You ungrateful fool! You have no idea what I've done for you! I am your mother! You do not speak to me that way." her words came out in a furry.

"I don't have a mother." Taylor's words were so calm it scared her. How bad did it have to be to be relieved to denounce your own mother and feel no remorse about it?

"Bus 2526, Newport Beach to Los Angeles - Now boarding" was heard over the intercom.

"You're at the bus station?"

"Good-bye, mother." She hung up the phone even as she heard the faint sounds of Veronica's angry protests. She was officially done with her mother. Strangely, she felt a weight lifting off her shoulders. She looked at her watch. 6:26. The bus was early.

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It was times like this when Ryan really wished the Rover hadn't been destroyed in the earthquake. As it was, while he was running from the police Veronica had called on him, he had to call Sandy. Sandy was none to happy with the stunt Ryan had pulled at the hospital, but after he filled him in on the details, Sandy agreed to help.

It wasn't like either knew where to look, though. When Taylor was 'together' she was unpredictable at best. But with amnesia, it was anybody's game.

Ryan's cell rang while he and Sandy were heading toward the airport. It was Veronica. "She just called. She's at the bus station. I think she's heading to LA. Get her and bring her back or you'll be sorry you ever met me." she warned. She hated herself for stooping so low as to call that urchin for help, but knew if anyone could get her daughter back; it (unfortunately) was him. The police would just scare her off.

"I'm already sorry I met you." he mumbled while shutting his phone. "She's at the bus station." he told Sandy. "We need to hurry."

The digital read out on the dash said 6:28. Feeling like he was running low on options, he opened his cell back and called her number, praying she would answer this time.

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She looked at the caller ID. Her breath caught when she saw it was him again. She hadn't answered any of his previous calls, but as she exited the building to her waiting bus, it seemed evil to not at least tell him good-bye.

He jumped suddenly when he heard her voice. "Taylor?" he hadn't really expected her to answer.

"Yeah, look. I'm sorry I didn't answer before."

"It's ok. It's fine. Look, I'm on my way to the bus station. Please don't leave without seeing me."

She stopped walking. "Wait, how did you know I was here?"

Wow, he didn't want to answer that. "You're mom called, and Seth confirmed my suspicions about the amnesia."

"So, you're all working together." she sighed under her breath.

"No. No. Nothing like that. Not with Veronica anyway." Words were never his strong suit, now he was stuck with the near impossible task of talking Taylor into staying. Fate was cruel sometimes.

She wanted to believe him, but how could she? One incredible, unforgettable kiss-one perfect memory- a truth teller did not make. When she didn't answer him, he began to panic. "Taylor, please. Just stay there. We can talk. Just don't leave." me. "Not like this."

She didn't answer. She didn't know how. Words would not form. She was now feet from the bus.

"Taylor, please." he repeated. His words hung in the air like a dense fog. Why couldn't Sandy drive faster?

Finally, from the other side of the line, came one of the saddest voices he'd ever heard. "Good-bye Ryan."

And that was it. The line went dead. Tears welled up in his eyes, stinging them mercilessly. He refused to let them drop. Instead, he told Sandy to hurry, but he knew they were probably already too late.

It was 6:32.

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