Josh sat on the couch with his head in his hands as he relived the argument that had just occurred with Elijah. He knew he shouldn't have said those things to him, but his emotions had gotten the better of him.

He didn't know what he could say to make it better, but he knew that he had to say something. Elijah was already insecure about his life here, and Josh had only made it worse with what he said.

The guilt consumed him within an hour after the argument, causing him to stand up from the couch and make his way to Elijah's room. He lightly tapped on the door with his knuckle and waited a few moments, but there was no answer.

"Elijah," Josh said, tapping the door again. "Hey, I'm sorry. Can we just talk?"

Again, there was no answer.

Despite his better judgement, Josh waited a few more moments before opening the door and letting himself inside. What he found was an empty room with an open window. He made his way over to the window and looked out. Elijah was nowhere in sight.

Josh sighed, shutting the window and turning around to leave the room. He was about to shut the door when he noticed Elijah's phone sitting on top of the dresser.

He shook his head with a tense jaw, thinking how irresponsible it was for him to leave without his phone. Josh then pulled out his own phone and decided to call Fox.

"Hey," Fox answered. "If you're going to ask about going to Ryan's tonight, I'm probably just going to stay home. I'm not in the mood."

"I was gonna ask if Elijah went back to your house," Josh told him.

"He left a while ago. I assumed you picked him up," Fox said.

"I did and then we got in a fight and he left without taking his phone," Josh said with a sigh.

He could admit to himself that he just assumed Elijah would go back to Fox. He didn't know his brother well enough to know anywhere else he would go.

"He's not here," Fox said. "If he comes around I'll let you know."

"Alright."

After hanging up the phone, he went back downstairs.

Josh didn't begin to worry until it got dark out and started to rain. The last thing he wanted was for Elijah to be walking around at night in the rain. Who knew what could happen.

It was only because of Josh's worry that he went back into Elijah's room and grabbed his phone and put in the passcode he had seen Elijah use. Josh didn't want to have to do what he did next, but his paranoia was eating him alive.

"Hello, Elijah," Trevor answered the phone in a bright tone after two rings.

Josh cleared his throat and awkwardly replied, "It's uh... it's Josh."

"Oh!" Trevor said, sounding surprised. "Hi."

"I'm assuming Elijah's not with you?" Josh asked, trying to move past the discomfort he felt.

"He's not. Is everything okay?" Trevor asked in a sincere tone.

"He just went out without taking his phone. I thought maybe he'd be with you," Josh explained. "Give me a call if he shows up?"

"Of course," Trevor instantly replied.

The two of them stayed on the line for a few awkward moments before Josh choked out a strangled "thanks" and hung up the phone.

His own phone was lighting up with texts from Ryan asking where he, Fox, and Elijah were, making it clear that Elijah had not gone to Ryan's place for the game.

Josh groaned and took Elijah's phone with him back downstairs to the living room, making sure the volume was turned up on both phones. He turned the hockey game on a low volume, trying to calm his nerves. He tried to tell himself he was just being paranoid. Elijah was old enough to go off by himself without a chaperone. He was fine. He could take care of himself. But still, Josh worried.

This was exactly what Elijah hated about him. Because Josh felt the need to watch out for him, protect him, when he was capable of doing it himself. He wasn't a fragile little kid. But Josh treated him like he needed to be watched. It was enough to anger anyone.

More time passed and eventually Dan, Mindy, and Ava arrived at home. Josh tried to muster up an excuse as to why Elijah was gone without his phone on him, but he couldn't think of anything but the truth. He didn't want to lie to Dan and his mom anyway. Especially not to Dan when it came to Elijah.

"I thought you were going to Ryan's," Mindy said in a confused tone as she and Dan made their way into the living room. Ava headed straight for the kitchen.

"I was but uh," Josh stuttered, looking at Mindy and Dan's waiting looks. "Elijah and I got in a fight and now he's gone."

"He's gone? What do you mean he's gone?" Dan asked in a rushed tone.

"He left through his window and left his phone here," Josh sheepishly explained. He was worried for Dan's reaction.

Dan felt a feeling of dread creep up on him. "He's not at Ryan's? Or with Fox?"

All Josh could do was shake his head, not knowing how to tell Dan he had driven his son out of the house in tears.

"I'm going to call Susan and see if he's with her," Dan said, pulling his phone out and leaving the room.

"Dad? What's going on?" Ava asked as he passed by her. She gave Josh and Mindy a strange look before turning and following her father.

Mindy and Josh just watched them as they left.

"I feel so bad," Josh admitted to his mother.

"He'll come back," Mindy assured him, moving to sit beside him on the couch.

"I know he will," Josh said. "But I made him feel like he had to leave."

"What did you fight about?"

Josh didn't want to get into the personal details of what had triggered his response to Elijah, but he told his mother about the rest of their argument.

"You have to be patient with people's emotions, Joshua," Mindy started. "He doesn't feel like he has a home. He feels like he doesn't belong here and he is allowed to feel like that."

"I know," Josh agreed.

"Even if you might think he's being ungrateful, you have to realize he has emotional trauma," Mindy explained. "He needs us to be a strong support system because he hasn't had that."

"I know, Mom. I feel really bad."

Mindy comfortingly rubbed his back. Dan came back into the living room with a distressed expression, pulling his hand through his hair. Ava followed closely behind him.

"He's not with Susan," he told them. "I really hope she doesn't go looking for him."

"Dan, I'm sorry," Josh said in a low tone.

"It's not your fault," Dan dismissed him, but didn't glance over at him. Instead, he looked out the window as if waiting for Elijah to appear. "You don't think he's walking around in the rain do you?"

"I'm sure he's fine," Mindy assured him. "Probably went somewhere to be alone."

"It's pretty dark out there," Dan said as if he hadn't heard his wife, moving toward the window. "I'm going to take a drive and make sure he's not walking."

"I'm going with you," Ava said, zipping up her jacket.

Dan didn't wait for a response before leaving the house with Ava and getting in his car to drive around the town.

Josh sighed, putting his head in his hands. "I feel so bad."

"He'll come home, Josh," Mindy tried assuring her son.

"Should I go help Dan look for him?" Josh asked, looking up at Mindy.

"We should wait here to see if he comes home," she told him.

They waited together on the couch for what seemed like ages before an unfamiliar vehicle pulled up to the house. Mindy stood from the couch when a man and a woman got out of the car and made their way onto the porch to knock on the door. Josh followed behind his mother out of confusion and curiosity.

"Susan, Dave," Mindy greeted them as she opened the door, making no move to let them inside.

"Where is Dan?" Susan asked. "Apparently he lost our son!"

Josh walked closer to his mother, not feeling comfortable with the angry looks being directed at her by Susan and Dave.

"He's out getting him," Mindy vaguely replied. "There was just a little misunderstanding and we thought maybe he could've gone to you."

"And you know where he is?"

"He's getting him," Mindy said, obviously not wanting to give the two of them too much information.

"So you don't know where he is," Dave interjected in a hard tone. "This is very irresponsible of you both."

Mindy didn't let her stance waver. Josh knew his mother was tough as nails. There was no way these two would be able to get under her skin.

"I'm sure child services would love to hear about this," Susan said in a threatening tone, Dave nodding in agreement.

"Elijah is eighteen," Mindy reminded her with raised eyebrows.

"I know how old my son is," Susan snapped. "You do not get to act like his mother. I'm his mother!"

"She's a better mother to him than you ever were," Josh said, stepping next to Mindy and crossing his arms over his chest.

"You don't talk to adults like that," Dave said in a low tone, pointing toward Josh.

"Don't scold my son," Mindy said in an even tone.

"He needs to learn respect," Dave told her.

"I think he's fine," Mindy replied.

"Of course you do," Susan hissed. "Thats why I never wanted my son getting too close to yours."

Mindy looked as if she was going to start flipping out. Her jaw was tightly set and her eyes were narrowed. She could take them saying bad things about her, but when they started talking about her children, it was a different story.

"You both need to leave," Mindy slowly said. "Dan will call you when Elijah is home."

"He should bring him to me since you two can't take care of him," Susan hissed.

Mindy shook her head. "Absolutely not."

"He's my son! I never lost–"

"He's my son," Mindy cut her off in an angry tone. "A mother doesn't throw her child out. He is mine and Dan's son. He is Josh and Ava's brother. He is part of this family."

Susan and Dave spread even angrier looks across their faces. Josh put himself in front of his mother as he glared at the two in the doorway.

"You need to leave," Josh ordered.

"We will stay here so we can take Elijah home when he gets back," Dave said in a menacing tone.

Josh's glare hardened. "He's not going with you."

"Hey asshole," Fox called out, causing everyone to look to where he stood on the walkway. Everyone was so preoccupied with what was happening in the doorway, that none of them noticed Fox pull up to the house.

"There's another one with no manners," Dave said, rolling his eyes.

Fox walked up onto the porch directly behind Dave and Susan, scowling at the back of Dave's head.

"What are you doing here?" Josh asked his friend.

"I was driving around looking for Elijah," Fox replied. "I just came by to see if he was home yet."

Dave turned to Fox and looked as if he was trying to intimidate him off the porch, but Fox wouldn't budge. His feet stayed planted in place, not willing to move.

"This is the boy I saw Elijah with," Dave told his wife. "Back before he came to see us."

Susan directed a glare at Fox, but he didn't stand down.

"Fox, why don't you come inside?" Mindy suggested, though it sounded more like a command.

Fox pushed past Dave and walked into the house, standing behind Mindy.

"We are waiting here for when Elijah comes back," Susan asserted.

"They told you to go, so go," Fox argued in a stern tone. "Elijah won't go back with you."

"Fox, Josh, go wait for me in the kitchen," Mindy instructed the two boys. She put her hand up before either of them could protest and motioned for them to leave.

Fox and Josh each shared a look before making their way further into the house and into the kitchen.

"Why the fuck are they here?" Fox asked as he leaned against the counter.

"Dan called Susan to see if Elijah was with her and they just showed up here," Josh explained with a sigh.

"Why did Elijah even run off? What did you two fight about?"

Josh didn't want to admit exactly what he had said to Elijah to upset him. Fox would most certainly judge him harshly for it and he was already feeling badly enough.

Luckily, Josh didn't have to answer him because Mindy came into the kitchen, grabbing both of their attention.

"Are they gone?" Josh asked his mother.

"They're off the porch," she answered.

"But are they gone?"

"They're in their car," Mindy admitted. "Outside the house."

"We should call the fuckin' cops or something," Fox suggested with a scowl. "To get them out of here."

"Hopefully Dan brings Elijah home and they'll see that he's safe and leave," Mindy said, though her tone didn't sound hopeful.

"They don't care about his safety, they just want control over him," Fox responded in a low tone. "Just a few weeks ago that asshole punched him in the face."

"That's what happened?" Josh asked, his voice filled with shock.

Mindy and Dan alluded to the fact that Elijah had gotten that bruise when he went to his mother's house weeks ago, but they had never said Dave had hit him.

"I called Dan, he will deal with it when he gets home," Mindy assured them.

"Has he found him?" Josh asked.

Mindy shook her head. "No, but hopefully that just means he is somewhere inside and not walking around at night in the rain."

The three of them were silent for a few moments before Mindy spoke again.

"Is there anyone you can call to see if he's with them?" she asked, looking toward Josh and Fox.

"He's not at Ryan's and he's not with Trevor," Josh said, shaking his head. "The only other person I can think of that he'd go to is Fox."

Fox scoffed. "He wouldn't go to Trevor."

"What about any of the other guys on the team? Or any of the GSA kids?" Mindy asked with a thoughtful expression.

"Claudia maybe?" Josh suggested.

Fox rolled his eyes. "He wouldn't go to Claudia."

"Well then who would he go to if you know him so well?" Josh questioned in an irritated tone.

"Me," Fox sharply answered. "If we hadn't gotten into a fight earlier, he would've come to me."

Josh couldn't even argue with him because he knew it was true.

The three of them moved to the living room and looked out the window where Susan and Dave sat in their car outside the house. It was a few hours later when Dan and Ava arrived home, without Elijah, and Susan immediately jumped out of the car to chase after him.

Mindy stood from the couch and went to the door to meet her husband and daughter. Ava stomped into the house with a scowl on her face, taking off her jacket and shoving it into the hall closet before slamming it shut.

"Ava," Josh said in a low tone. "What's the matter?"

"Seriously?" she nearly screeched, throwing her arms up. "Elijah is missing and his mom is here trying to steal him away from us and you're asking me what's the matter?"

"She's not going to steal him," Josh assured her, shaking his head.

Ava let out a loud groan and pushed past Josh, stomping up the stairs to her room.

A few moments later, Dan and Mindy arrived in the living room.

"Are they gone for real now?" Fox asked to which Dan nodded.

"You boys should go get some rest," Dan said. "I'll wait up for Elijah."

"Dan–" Josh started.

"It's late," he cut him off. Josh could tell how stressed he was and he didn't want to make it any worse on him.

"Fox, let us know if he goes to your house," Mindy said.

Fox nodded and moved toward the door, not saying anything.

Once Fox was gone, Josh let out a sigh and made his way up to his bedroom where the guilt he felt kept him up all night.

**