Luv Reading- thank you so much for always leaving such really nice and thoughtful reviews on my M7 stories. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you! I'm sorry that this AU is maybe a little confusing, so I will summarize what the situation is:
Buck and Chris are police officers with the Denver PD. They've been left as the guardians of their high school aged sisters.
Vin is 17 and does not know anyone else in the group, until he meets Morgan.
Ezra, however, has enough of a history with run-ins with the law that he knows Buck and Chris. Ezra is Buck's 19 year old criminal informant.
JD is in high school with Sam and Morgan. Josiah is on the police force with Buck and Chris, and Nathan will come into the story later.

The next chapter will explain what Morgan is hiding.(It was supposed to be this chapter and I had to cut it off before I wanted to, or it would have been waaaay too long, ha!)

Hopefully that clears everything up! I'm sorry if there was any confusion. Everything Morgan has been through will eventually come out. As always, thank you for the nice reviews and please feel free to ask questions or leave requests. :)

Chapter 7

Vin wasn't entirely sure how he had ended up at the altar with a pretty auburn haired girl facing him. She was barefoot, in tight jeans and some sort of shimmery top that showed enough to be alluring, but it was her eyes that caught him.

The rest of her face looked amused, like she was playing a joke on the universe, but Vin could see the truth in her eyes. She was scared. She was running. She was looking for somewhere safe.

It was something he could relate to. He knew what it was like to need somewhere safe and not be able to find it.

Morgan clutched a handful of silk flowers, her hair tamed into a loose braid off her face that just drew more attention to her eyes.

Vin tried for a reassuring smile. He wasn't good with words, never had been, but this girl needed someone and he was willing to be that someone. It wasn't like he had anyone in his life, having someone—having family—was worth whatever risk there was jumping into this marriage.

Behind Morgan's shoulder, her friend, Sam, narrowed green eyes at him, a silent warning. Vin held her gaze evenly for a beat before looking back at Morgan.

"Um, Vin?" the officiant said, glancing down at the names he had written on his script to remind himself of who stood in front of him.

Vin brought his attention back to the matter at hand. He repeated the words the man said. To love, to cherish…

Well, he'd figure all that out. Loving and cherishing and whatever else he was repeating after the man. For now he'd be by her side, make sure she didn't have to go back to whatever she was running from.

Morgan repeated her vows, a smirk and a raised eyebrow for Vin when she promised to honor and obey. He had a feeling there wasn't much that would make Morgan toe the line and he didn't intend to be the one to try.

"You may now kiss the bride," the owner of the chapel said.

Vin wasn't about to pretend he didn't want to get closer to the pretty girl, but he also wasn't about to push Morgan.

She didn't seem to think about the repercussions of a wedding kiss, stepping confidently toward him and looking up at him with the flecks of gold in her eyes almost luminescent. She wrapped her arms around his neck, making him catch his breath as she leaned her body against him. Her lips crashed against his, overriding whatever vows they may have said without understanding or meaning them.

Her kiss made him dizzy, the way she overwhelmed every sense, until he couldn't think of anything but her.

And then she pulled back, that nearly mocking curve of her lips already growing familiar in the twelve hours since he first saw her.

"Congratulations," the chapel owner said. But Vin could barely hear him, still reeling from Morgan's kiss.

Morgan gave him a wink, then Sam was at her side and Morgan turned to listen to whatever Sam was saying. Vin could see the worry on Sam's face, the way she glanced toward him, then leaned closer to Morgan.

"I wouldn't have pegged you for a gambler."

Vin turned from the girls to the man who had been along for the chaotic ride from the bar.

"Ain't one," Vin said.

Ezra studied Vin. "I would say marrying someone you met less than a day ago—and a car thief to boot—is something of a gamble."

"Can't gamble if you got nothin' to lose," Vin said honestly.

Ezra shook his head. "Well then, best wishes to you and your…bride."

Vin looked over at Morgan, she was shaking her head vigorously at something Sam said. Vin could see the tension between the two girls. He didn't know what it was like to have someone in your corner, the way Sam seemed to be for Morgan. He'd never take that from anyone. He hung back, not wanting to interfere more than he already had just by virtue of going along with Morgan's impulses.

Ezra was eyeing the girls, too. "Come on," Ezra finally said to Vin. "I'll buy you a drink. Consider it a wedding toast."

Vin didn't think space for the girls was a bad idea, judging by the looks on their faces. He also didn't think there was anywhere open at this hour in the morning, but he'd take his chances rather than interrupt whatever Morgan and Sam were saying.

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"You're supposed to say congratulations," Morgan said, setting her jaw. She didn't want to hear whatever Sam had to say.

She could see the stark worry on Sam's face and shoved down the guilt that she had been the one to make Sam worry.

"Listen," Sam was saying, ignoring Morgan's comment. "When this blows up, I'll be here." Sam's green eyes held Morgan's, making sure she was listening. "No matter what, I'm here for you, Morgan. You know that, right?"

Morgan's chest tightened with emotion she didn't want to feel. She had been making sure she didn't feel anything since…for the last three months.

"I know," she said breezily.

"Morgan," Sam said, her grip tightening on Morgan's arm, insistent.

Morgan risked the pain that would come with letting her mask slip. "I know, Sam. I know."

Sam studied Morgan. Apparently seeing what she needed to, she nodded reluctantly.

"It's not too late to back out," Sam said. "Just rip up the marriage license—"

Morgan pulled away, shaking her head quickly. "No. I'm doing this. I already did it. I'm married."

Sam closed her eyes like she was praying for patience. She opened them again and her voice was even. The way she spoke like she had everything figured out reminded Morgan of Chris and for a second she had a pang of missing Chris and Buck. The two men she couldn't face anymore. She steeled herself. She had made her decision. Found a way to escape the past.

"You listen, Morgan. I don't agree with this. I don't trust this guy. But I trust you. I know you. You're strong and you're going to get through this. And if you think you need to do it with this guy, then…" Sam's jaw worked like she had to fight to say the words she didn't want to. "Then you do it. And I'll be here."

Hearing she had Sam's blessing, such as it was, Morgan's fingers wrapped tighter around the bouquet of silk flowers she still held. She wanted to tell Sam how much that promise meant, but couldn't risk a crack in the fragile dam that she had spent three months building.

She took a step away from Sam, saw the understanding in Sam's eyes.

"I'm going to find a motel," Morgan said, changing the subject—and the expression in Sam's eyes—to safer ground with something bordering on baiting Sam. "Go consummate this marriage."

Sam closed her eyes and took a slow breath, letting it out through her nose as she fought for control and there was definitely no missing her relation to Chris in that move.

"I'll see you tonight," Morgan said, effectively cutting whatever tie may have been there to keep her safely tied to Sam and away from the consequences of her spur of the moment decision.

She saw Ezra and Vin heading toward the door and easily caught up to them, threading her arm through Vin's. He looked down at her in surprise and Morgan smiled up at him.

"You want to find a room?" she asked, letting her smile soften into something seductive, lowering her lashes to look up through them invitingly.

Vin looked startled, unbalanced, and Morgan wrapped the feeling of having the upper hand around herself like a shield that would keep her safe.

"Uh…if you think…I—I want to…are you sure?" Vin stammered.

Morgan ran a hand down his arm, linking her fingers through his and pulling him away from Ezra and Sam with a light tug. He followed.

She wasn't sure. She wasn't sure about anything and hadn't been since the day her world had been destroyed.

"I'm sure," she said without hesitation.

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Ezra watched the newlyweds head down the street together, Vin looking a little dazed and Morgan looking a little desperate. It did nothing to improve his thoughts on marriage and committed relationships.

He looked at the girl left at his side. She was watching them go, worry, fear, anger, distress all an impressive storm on her face.

"Should we find our own room?" he asked.

His question had the desired effect of snapping her attention away from her worry over her friend. She whirled around on him, looking like she was about to slap him.

Ezra held his hands up before she could raise her hand against him. "I have no illusions that we'll have a romantic tryst," he assured her. But even saying the words led to an unintended image of her looking at him with something more willing than distrust. Her lips swollen with his kisses. Maybe her even moving toward him—

Ezra quickly captured his wayward thoughts, making sure his face revealed nothing of the unsettling route they had taken.

"It's been a long night. I need sleep and assume you do as well. We should find a room—rooms," he amended, "before we try to find a way back to Denver."

Sam's eyes narrowed at him and then her shoulders drooped like without Morgan in front of her anymore, the fight had left her. She had lost the fight. It was a sorry sight that stirred pity in Ezra. An emotion he didn't even realize he had the capacity for.

"Let's go," he said abruptly.

Sam didn't argue and Ezra was pretty sure it was the first time she wasn't trying to maintain control of the situation since he had first seen her yesterday. He told himself it didn't matter to him. He would get her settled in a room, get himself a bed to sleep in, and then figure out a way back to Denver.

They walked past at least three motels with no vacancy signs lit up. Ezra wasn't surprised. It was fall, the leaves were changing in the mountains and that brought out flocks of tourists. He glanced down the street in the direction of the truck their morning had started at in time to see a tow truck hauling away a charred skeleton of a car.

"This is a quaint town," he said, looking ahead again and trying to keep Sam's attention away from the evidence of her friend's out of control impulses.

Sam didn't show much interest in anything in front of them, but thankfully didn't look behind them either.

The last hotel, on the edge of town, didn't have any signage deterring them from a room, so Ezra went in, holding the door for Sam.

She stood near the desk, but didn't say anything. Judging by the look on her face, she wasn't thinking about getting a room. Ezra would wager everything he had that she was replaying everything that had happened with her friend and finding fault in her own actions that hadn't prevented a small disaster.

Ezra went to the desk and pulled out his wallet. "Two rooms. I'd prefer a king size bed, but will take whatever is available."

The clerk, an elderly woman, took an excessive amount of time clicking around on her computer. "What's available is one room. With a double bed." She looked at Ezra with eyes magnified owlishly through her glasses.

Ezra let out a heavy sigh. He really didn't want to give up on the thought of a bed. Maybe he could call Sam's brother to come get her. Not that he relished the thought of contacting Sargent Larabee or Officer Wilmington. He had an uneasy relationship with the police at best. He didn't imagine informing them he had Larabee's younger sister with him—and had been on an overnight roadtrip across state lines with her—would bring their appreciation.

"We'll take it," Ezra said after a look at Sam. She was still lost in her own self-recrimination.

He slid a credit card across the counter in exchange for a key card.

"Come on," he said to Sam matter-of-factly.

She looked up at him.

"We have a room," he said, heading back outside to find room number eighteen on the upper level.

That got Sam's attention. Ezra couldn't help but notice how much she looked like her police sargent brother when she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him.

"A room?" she asked. "One room?"

"Correct."

He found the room and was about to slide the card into the electronic lock when Sam stood between him and the door.

"No," she said firmly. "Whatever you think is going to happen, isn't." She folded her arms over her chest.

Ezra couldn't help but admire how she cut him off from the room rather than taking the easy route and just walking away from him. Another trait she shared with her brother. Although the long lashes that framed her green eyes, and the silky hair that fell over one shoulder didn't make Ezra think of her brother. A fact he may have enjoyed thinking about more if she wasn't standing between him and a mattress that would promise at least a few hours of sleep.

"All I think is going to happen is I will collapse onto the mattress that is behind that door and gain a few blissful hours of oblivion. This is the last room available in Bethlehem unless you want to find a barn and a manger. You are free to share the room."

Sam studied him. Ezra was too sleep deprived to put any effort into a mask. He wasn't hiding anything for once and he let her see that.

She pursed her lips, but stepped aside, letting Ezra open the door. She followed him in silently.

Intending to show he was a man of his word, Ezra went directly to the bed, kicked off his shoes and collapsed on one side. He didn't bother to stay awake to see what Sam did. As he fell asleep, he heard her heavy sigh and felt the mattress shift as she took the other side of the bed. He didn't want to acknowledge the relief he felt at knowing she was staying before sleep finally overtook him.

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