I Will Follow You Into the Dark

CHAPTER 59

Derek dialed Trent's cell number with shaky hands. There was no answer. He left a frantic message and hung up struck to his very core with fear.

Derek paced around for at least half an hour. He thought about calling Jen, but he knew that she'd just come over. And he didn't need to deal with her right now. He wasn't sure he could manage himself, much less a concerned, caring friend who would be just as nervous as he was. He sent Meredith a text message that he'd gotten no response and sighed.

He tried to think of somewhere Trent would go, of some logical explanation for his disappearance, but he couldn't. He couldn't dwell on that subject too long because his mind kept conjuring up images of accidents and kidnappings and stupid reckless teenage behavior. And those flashes of his worst nightmares were making him crazy.

How can I calm down? An idea suddenly struck Derek. His albums. For his birthday and Father's Day and Christmas and sometimes for no reason at all, Trent had put together special photo albums for Derek. Some were full of childhood photos of all the things he had missed, and others were loaded with baseball games and other current activities. The albums meant the world to Derek not only because they gave him a way to feel closer to his son but also because Trent had made them specially for him. Like the photos of Meredith from so long ago, those albums were among Derek's most treasured possessions.

Walking quickly to Trent's room—they had dubbed it so a few years back after Derek decorated it for him, Derek opened the door to the room that radiated his son's presence. And he stopped dead in his tracks for the second time that day.

There Trent lay in his bed sleeping.

Derek was overwhelmed by a rush of emotion. He raced across the room and pulled his sleeping son into a tight embrace. "You're OK. Oh, my God! You're OK!"

Groggy, Trent tried his best to return his father's hug. He listened as Derek gushed about how happy he was that Trent was there and that he was fine.

Suddenly, Derek dropped Trent back down on the bed. "I ought to kick you're a**," he said as he got up and pulled out his phone. He glared at Trent and then left the room.

"Mer, honey, he's here. I found him sleeping. I'll bring him home as soon as possible if I don't kill him first for upsetting you so much.

"..........."

"Yeah, he looks fine. I didn't even ask.........I called you first so that you could stop worrying. I'll let you know when to expect us," Derek said as he hung up the call and took a deep breath. "Get.Out.Here.NOW!"

Trent walked out of his bedroom looking down at his feet.

"You owe me an explanation," Derek said through gritted teeth.

Trent said nothing.

"Trent!"

Trent looked up at him and started trying to explain, "I want to live here with you. He won't listen to me. They're unfair. I'm sick of it. So I moved out here."

"You are smarter than that. You can't make that decision on your own."

"My friends with divorced parents did. At 14, kids can decide which parent they want to live with. I'm 15, Dad. I want to live here."

"Trent, you know those rules don't apply in this situation. You're going home. Your mom and Steve were so worried."

"He doesn't care about me."

"You know that's not true."

"Well, I can't do it. I can't live with him anymore."

"Trent, you don't get to choose. Especially after pulling a stupid stunt like this. Give me your key. You can't keep it and just show up here unannounced. Wait...........how did you get here?"

"I flew."

"And how did you pay for the ticket?"

"Mom's credit card."

Derek squinted at his son for a few minutes before telling him, "OK. Here's the deal. You're going to go home and I'm taking you there to make sure you actually go home. You're going to work for Steve doing whatever he wants for as long as he wants to pay them back for your ticket. You're also going to work for him to pay for the tickets I buy to get you home."

"No! That's not fair!" Trent began.

"Shut up. And then you're going to deal with whatever punishment they cook up. Do you understand?"

"Yeah. Don't you even care why I ran away?"

"Teenagers hate rules. I remember........"

Trent just stared at the carpet.

"Look. I'm not ready to listen to that story yet. I'm too upset by all of this, and I'm tired. I had a long, crappy day. Your mother was beside herself with worry. Call her and apologize. We'll talk in the morning."

Trent called his mother, and Derek heard him apologize. Then he went to his room and fell into bed, more exhausted than he had been in a very long time.