'Cigarettes and ramen and a little bag of dope
I am the son of a bitch and Edgar Allen Poe
Raised in the city under a halo of lights
The product of war and fear that we've been victimized.'
St. Jimmy - Green Day.

Chapter Eight - Stage Two.

Carey sat alone on the long, beige lounge in the middle of the L.A. Tipton lobby, thinking. Not necessarily about any one particular factor or circumstance, but rather, about all of them tied in together. Her tear stained vision remained focussed straight ahead of her, towards the manager's desk, as her mind continued to tick over all the thoughts mulling in her brain.

It was almost eight a.m. She and Kurt had arrived at the Tipton about half an hour earlier that same morning, and had only just called the police before she found herself where she sat now, driving herself crazy with worry. She wasn't sure where her ex-husband and Mr. Moesby had gotten to, and to be quite honest, at that precise point in time, she didn't care. Carey just wanted to be alone.

The petrified mother had already lost one son. That she was able to admit to herself. Zack had fallen off the boat into the fierce stormy waves, he was gone, and he was dead. But just as Carey was slowly beginning to allow herself to step away from the first stage of grieving known simply as denial, her entire world shattered to pieces around her all over again the second that she found out that Cody, too, was now gone. The mere inclination of her youngest son, distressed and grief-ridden, being outside somewhere wandering the extremely unfamiliar streets of California with nothing for support except his equally agonised girlfriend and the tremendously slim hope of his big brother still, somehow, being alive was enough for Carey to drop to the carpeted ground right then and there and die herself.

"Carey?"

Carey instantly looked up at the sound of her name and forced the tiniest possible smile at the dark-haired hotel heiress who stood before her. London returned the gesture before sitting down beside the twins' mother.

"Are the police here yet?" she then asked softly. Carey sniffled and gazed back down to her lap, causing London to bite her lip, "Sorry."

"Don't be," Carey replied, shaking her head gently, "At least you didn't ask me if I was ok," she added dryly.

London began to awkwardly fiddle with the hem of her baby pink coloured dress.

"I don't think they're here yet," Carey said, eventually answering the heiress' question, "Kurt said he'd come and find me when they arrive."

London nodded lamely, not exactly knowing what else to say. After a few seconds of dragged out silence, Carey wiped her eyes and directed her attention back to her boys' long time friend, "How are you doing, sweetheart? I haven't exactly had the time to talk to anyone yet."

London shrugged with little thought, "I'm doing ok. Better then most people, anyway."

"And what about your dad?"

Again, the heiress heaved her shoulders up and down, "Don't know. He's been too busy trying to impress the media and stop them saying mean things about the boat and the inequity of his industry."

Carey frowned, "I think you mean integrity, honey."

"Yeah, that."

The urge to giggle at London's vagueness subtly crossed Carey's thoughts, but she soon pushed it to the back of her mind. Licking her lips, she then opened her mouth to speak again.

"Your dad got you off the boat pretty quickly, didn't he?"

London immediately seemed to waver at the question. She clearly felt uneasy about talking about the matter with Carey, especially seeing how much pain and anguish was obviously over taking the anxious mother's soul.

"Yeah," the heiress droned quietly, "He sent the Tipton Helicopter for me. I wanted to wait and find everyone, like, Zack, Cody, Bailey, or whatever, but Daddy demanded that the pilot leave as soon as I was safe."

Carey let this new piece of information process through the rest of her mixed up thoughts for a moment or two. As ironic as it may have been to think now, it strangely did her heart some good to think that someone - and London, of all people - was truly trying to look out for her boys. And while this helped as much as it did, there was still something dwelling on Carey's mind that she felt she had to ask, no matter how much it would pain her or London to think about.

"So, you had a pretty clear view of all that was going on while you flying away, right?" London nodded her head as Carey recommenced, sighing, "So… you'd know if there looked to be any chance of Zack being ok."

London furrowed her brow in instant confusion, "What do you mean?"

Without pushing for any further delay, Carey swivelled right around and locked eyes with London, "You saw it all happen, London. Do you really think, even in the slightest, that there is any possible way that Zack could've survived?"

The enquiry fell like a ton of bricks down onto the heiress' shoulders. She could easily see the utter imploring look that filled Carey's vision to the brink, but London couldn't help but ask herself whether this was really what the twins' mum needed to hear, especially now, with so much still unsolved and insubstantial.

In the ultimate end, London sadly glanced down to the floor below her dainty feet and slowly shook her head.

Carey braced herself for the sensation of her world falling apart yet again, however, no such feeling ever came to her. She heaved a huge breath and scratched the back of her neck in silence for a moment, before she slowly felt all denial flow from her body, along with any hopes of Zack's inconceivable survival, and the slight the emotion of anger begin to seep through. What she needed to concentrate on now was finding Cody. The other three stages of grief for her eldest son would come later.

"I just hope Cody and Bailey are alright," she whispered hopefully to London.

"Cody, did you hear something?"

Bailey bolted upright in the small double bed and allowed her eyes to dart around the dusty old motel room before she shot a glance to her left, awaiting a reply from her boyfriend. She frowned in confusion as Cody lazily looked back at her and forced his eyes open, rubbing them drowsily. Bailey soon gasped slightly under her breath.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, sweetie. Were you asleep?"

Cody groaned and let a yawn escape his lips, "I think so. Either that or dead," he quipped sarcastically.

"Cody," Bailey said in a scolding tone.

Ignoring the reprimanding look in Bailey's eyes, Cody sat up and threw the blankets off he and his girlfriend, "What's the time?"

Bailey reached over to the small side-table beside the bed and turned on her phone. She and Cody had both switched their mobiles off at about ten-thirty the previous night once they had finally had enough of London and Woody constantly trying to call them.

"It's just after eight," she announced, yawning now, too.

Cody's sleepy eyes suddenly widened in surprise as he hastily swung his legs around and hung them over the edge of the bed, "We gotta' get going."

Bailey sighed, "Go where?"

"Another bus, or a train? I dunno', whatever we can get," Cody replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Convincing," Bailey grunted under her breath.

"What?"

Stuttering over a quick reply, Bailey crawled across the bed and wrapped her arms around Cody. He relaxed in her warm grip as she nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck, "Do we have to go now?" she mumbled.

Cody furrowed his brow, "What's the matter?"

"Nothing, I'm ok, I just thought I heard something."

Cody smiled softly at his Southern Belle and gently detached himself from her grip. Tilting her head up, he placed a tender kiss on her hairline, "You're just being paranoid. We have to go," he began, standing up off the bed, "We might make it to Newberry today, and then we'll have Zack back, and - "

"Cody," Bailey interjected. Cody froze and glanced tensely at her, imploring her with his eyes to follow up her suspicious interruption of his talking of Zack with whatever it was she wanted to say.

Backing down slightly at the uneasy expression laid across his face, Bailey licked her lips and tried to think of something to say that would break the awkward silence that had rapidly taken over the room.

In the next instant, however, both teens jumped as the tension was sliced with the noise of the door handle to their room jostling slowly.

"What's that?" Bailey spat quietly.

Cody's vision stayed fixed on the door for a second or two before he shot an apprehensive stare at Bailey. Completely forgetting about the doubtful moment that had just passed between them, Cody then dashed over to his girlfriend's side and grabbed her arm gently.

"I'm not sure," he whispered, "Come on, we'll climb back out the window."

As soon as the two took a single step in the direction of the open window, the door abruptly flew open, causing both Cody and Bailey to flick their heads around.

"How the hell did you get in here?" boomed a voice from the doorway.

The voice belonged to a boy who was dressed in a black hoodie and a pair of navy blue track pants. His sharp green orbs were accessorised with an eyebrow piercing above his left eye, and his short, dark brown hair had a lightning bolt buzzed into the side of it.

"D'you hear me?" he blasted again.

"We, uh," Cody stammered, "climbed in through the window."

The boy growled in annoyance and continued to scan Cody and Bailey up and down, "Well, what are you doing here?"

"We just needed somewhere to sleep for the night," Bailey quickly cut in, trying to console the situation, "We're leaving now, really, we are."

The boy looked to Cody for conformation, who did so by nodding his head, "We'll be out of your way, ok?" the younger twin spoke calmly, "We don't want any trouble."

After about a minute of immense hesitation, the boy cursed silently under his breath and began walking over to the side-table where Bailey's phone had been, "Well, you're going to get some if you don't get outta' here now."

Bailey found Cody's hand and tightened her grip, "But we just said we - "

"No," the stranger cut in, "I mean you gotta' get outta' here with me."

Cody frowned, "Huh?"

"Look, I'll be more than happy to explain," the boy began, pulling out the drawer and reaching in to retrieve a few small, clear bags, "but for now, unless you wanna' purposely get caught up in my mess, you better come with me."

Bailey raised a suspicious eyebrow, "What was in those bags?"

Just as the boy opened his mouth to immediately reply, another loud commotion erupted from outside the room. The three teens stiffened in surprise at the sound of an additional door opening with a slam against the wall and what could only be identified as the sound of skateboard wheels weaving up and down the corridors.

"Shit," the boy spat, this time cursing out loud, "Come on, grab your gear. We'll take your idea and jump out the window."

"What was that? Who is out there?" Bailey asked anxiously.

"Questions now, Bailey? Really?" Cody answer cynically. Snatching up his own, and then, Bailey's pair of shoes, he quickly threw the farm girl's to her and then helped her out the window after the young stranger. As soon as the younger twin had landed firmly on the ground, too, he heard the sound of a second new voice roar from the front steps of the structure as the boy shoved he and Bailey behind a bush.

"Stay here until me and this loser are outta' sight, ok?" he urged strongly, "And don't come back here."

Before Cody could open his mouth to protest hiding away, the boy turned on his heels and dashed over to where he had obviously left his bike laying on the gravel covered turf.

"Lucas, you dodgy prick!" the second boy continued to yell, "Give me back my dope, arsehole!"

In the next instant, the screaming teen jumped back on his skateboard and latched onto a piece of lose string caught up in the spokes of the first boy's bike and quickly began towing behind him, still shouting all kinds of threats at the top of his lungs.

A light bulb suddenly lit up in Cody's brain as the bike rapidly started to pick up speed. Breaking out of Bailey's grip, Cody leapt up from the bush and called out before the boy was out of hearing range, "Hey! Slam on your brakes!"

Without waiting a second longer, the boy pushed his pedals backwards, causing the bike to stop, and his pursuer to prolong flying forward until he and his skateboard crashed into a pair of garbage bins sitting on the corner of the street.

With no further delay, the boy ditched his bike and sprinted back to Cody and Bailey, gesturing with his head the direction in which to follow him. All indecision aside, the younger twin and his girlfriend shot a quick glance at each other and then instantly followed.

After cruising through about two and half blocks, and finding an alleyway to stop in, the three teens finally came to a halt to take a breather.

Cody was panting slightly as his eyes briefly scanned the area around him. He scrunched his brow at his first real impression of the town in daylight. Seeing that he was running for what may well have been his life no more than a minute or two ago, he hadn't exactly taken the time to stop and notice just how dull and foul his surroundings were.

All the buildings around where the three teens stood were run down in some way or another, and there was certainly more graffiti staining the walls and doors than the younger twin had first suspected. And still, even in these pleasant, shining hours of the mid-morning, police sirens could still be heard wailing in the distance.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, the mystery boy tried to hide his smile as he watched Cody tow Bailey in by the hand and give her a gentle hug to calm her nerves, "So, how'd you know that would happen?" he asked.

Cody looked up, frowning, "What do you mean?"

"When dipshit back there flew forward into the trash cans. How'd you know?"

"It's the law of inertia," Cody answered proudly, "Ever heard of Sir Isaac Newton?"

The boy hesitated for a second, "Did he sing that song 'Benny and the Jets'?"

Bailey forced herself not to giggle as Cody simply shook his head "Never mind, er, Lucas?"

"That's my last name. It's Nate," he replied, "You?"

"I'm Cody," the younger twin said before nodding his head towards Bailey, "This is my girlfriend, Bailey."

Nate grinned a friendly grin at the blonde farm girl, but all Bailey did was scowl in reply, "Don't smile at me like that," she sniped, "Not until you answer my question."

"Bailey," Cody urged softly.

Nate merely shrugged his shoulders, "What question?"

"What's in those bags you took?"

"Didn't you hear the guy chasing me?" Nate asked casually, "It's pot."

Bailey gasped under her breath, glancing sharply at Cody, before shooting Nate a glower of disgust.

"Whoa, hey, just chill for a sec, ok?" the dark-haired boy began, "It's not mine. Really. Look, I told you I'd explain everything, didn't I?"

Bailey creased her nose in uncertainty, "So whose is it, then? And why do you have it?"

"Bailey," Cody cut in again, clearly not wanting to aggravate Nate.

"Dude, it's fine," Nate assured the younger twin, "I said I'd explain, and I will."

Bailey let go of Cody's hand and pushed a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear before folding her arms impatiently across her chest.

Nate shoved his hands in his pockets, "The creep who was coming after me is named Dan… or Dave, or something like that - anyway, a few of my dumb arse friends thought it'd be a smart idea to steal the stuff from him when they heard that he had left his stash lying around at that old motel. But then, of course, when they found out he was still hanging around, they all got too scared to confront him and sent me in to do the job."

"Why you?" Cody asked curiously.

Nate smiled smugly, "Doesn't take much to scare me, man."

"Well, it sounds to me that your friends are pretty influencing over you," Bailey again concluded.

The grin across Nate's face grew wider at the fiery tone in Bailey's voice, "I'm not into that shit, ok? I swear. I mean, I'm stupid, but not that stupid. My job is to look out for my friends and make sure they don't get themselves in too much trouble - that's it."

Bailey rolled her eyes in further doubt, "Whatever you say."

Nate simply countered the gesture and then turned to face Cody, "So, what about you?"

Cody raised an eyebrow, "What about me?"

"What's your story?"

Cody hesitated for a moment, cringing at the reappearance of the few images that had managed to creep his way into his trivial slumber the night before, "We're trying to get to Newberry Hospital."

Nate's eyes widened, "Newberry? That's heaps far from here."

"I know," Cody answered, "I was actually kinda' hoping that you knew some way for us to get out there? A bus, or something?"

Nate chewed on his bottom lip for a second and then shook his head, "Sorry, man, I wouldn't know. I don't think many people around here would be able to afford to get too far away from this dump of a town, anyway."

Cody froze for a split second as he felt a whole new weight crash down onto his shoulders. Closing his eyes, he pushed his hair back out of his face and sighed, trying to hold himself together, "Well you gotta' know someone who's more familiar with the area, or something?"

Scratching his head, Nate wavered for a few further seconds, "Well, there probably is one…"

Cody's eyes brightened in delight, "Who?"

Bailey continued to watch Nate closely. The reluctant tone that absolutely coated his voice wasn't exactly a very reassuring factor concerning the person he was thinking of.

"My cousin, Ty, has been out here roaming the streets longer than the lot of us," he eventually said.

Bailey's vision narrowed, "Sounds like a healthy lifestyle. Being, what, a bunch of street kids?"

Nate's expression changed to one of mock offence, "We prefer the term 'independent nomads'."

Opening her mouth to dispute Nate's argument, Bailey was quickly cut off by her boyfriend, "And do you really think your cousin will be able to help us?"

Nate shrugged, "I'd say so. No-one knows this area better than Ty."

A true, genuine smile threatened to beam across Cody's face, "Well, what are we waiting for?"

"Whoa, no, hang on a minute," Bailey interjected, taking a hold of Cody's arm again. She turned her awareness back to Nate, "When we first met you, you were running off from some crazy guy on a skateboard with a few bags of illegal marijuana. Why on Earth should Cody and I trust you?"

At this statement, even Cody managed to drag himself out of his blissful world of anticipation and allowed his vision to cast onto the silent image of Nate. Bailey remained stern faced while the dark-haired boy rolled up the sleeves of his hoodie in deep thought.

Finally he turned to Cody, "Look, if you hadn't warned me about slamming my bike brakes on, I would've ended up in a nasty struggle with Dan… Dave - whatever. And as far as I'm concerned, I'm pretty sure I helped you guys out of a pretty sticky situation in the first place, right?"

Cody shot a conceited glance at his girlfriend, "Right?" he echoed.

Bailey stubbornly looked away, finding interest in a blank spot on the ground, "Right," she eventually agreed softly.

Taking a second or two to smile in success, Nate then looked back to Cody, "So, I reckon you and me are just about even. I want to help you."

Bailey's head flew back up slowly at the authentic concern in Nate's tone.

"Why do you need to get out there anyway?"

The self proclaimed nomad waited for an answer, but instead frowned in confusion at Cody's sudden withdrawal from the conversation.

Bailey soon sensed her boyfriend's feelings of distress creep back up to an uneasy level, and instantly squeezed his hand tighter and whispered something to him that Nate couldn't hear.

After about another second, Cody exhaled deeply, "I'd rather not talk about it, if that's ok."

There was no denying the increase in Nate's curiosity, but still, he submissively heaved his shoulders in a shrug, "Sure, man, it's all good."

In the next instant, Cody felt his eyes squint at the hand that had been ejected towards him and looked back up to meet Nate's open gaze.

"I know that trust isn't something that some people go giving out to anyone and everyone. Believe me I do," he started, "But I really do want to try and help you guys. Even?"

Cody's world began to slow down as he attempted to take in every single piece of information that had been fed to him.

It was clear that Nate was being genuine about wanting to help, and Cody appreciated that solely in itself. On the other hand, however, Bailey's undeniable skepticism of the hooded wanderer was something that the younger twin couldn't possibly ignore.

While his beautiful farm girl may not have been the most excellent judge of character, Cody was still very reluctant to do anything that may have even the slightest inclination of making her feel uncomfortable.

There was no stopping all these dynamics from running constant circles in Cody's mind, and if he was being completely honest, the more they weighed up, the more his common sense was screaming at him to simply say 'no' and walk away from Nate without looking back. But there was still one ultimate factor that Cody absolutely refused to overlook. Nate's cousin, Ty, could get him to Zack.

Bailey watched extremely apprehensively as Cody then forced a small smile and joined with Nate in a handshake,

"Even."

Quick enough update? HAHA :)

Hello everybody! So, it's been like, what, two weeks? I'm pretty proud of myself, lol.

What did we all think of this chapter? And do we like Nate, or is he untrustworthy? Hm..

Obviously, 'Benny and the Jets' was not sung by sir Isaac Newton, but by Sir Elton John, so there's the disclaimer for that lame little bit.

That's really all I wanted to say here. Feedback on Nate and Carey's depressing appearance in this chapter would be much appreciated :) Thanks guys! :)

Reneyyyyyyyyy x.