Run // Ashton Irwin [AU] [Sequel To TTS]

Prologue

It was three in the morning. Austrailia was asleep, and the sun hadn't risen yet. Debbie was asleep in bed when her house phone rang. She muttered incoherently, sitting up and rubbing at her eyes. Still half asleep, she reached over and fumbled around for the landline phone. She yawned before hitting 'answer', too tired to bother looking at the caller ID before holding the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" She groggily said.

"Debbie?" A familiar voice came through the speaker. One half of her wanted to hang up instantly, predicting her ex husband was calling to complain about their daughter's visit, or to say she needed to go home early. Another part of her missed him, and she felt relief wash through her veins at the sound of his voice. She had never intended for their marriage to end as badly as it did. She knew that life doesn't always work out the way you want it to, and this was just one of those situations. "Natalie is gone."

"Wh-What?" Debbie stuttered, still feeling groggy and confused. She knew her daughter had barely been in Los Angeles for a full twenty four hours, what did Rob mean she was gone? She glanced at her bedside clock, and quickly calculated that it was about eight in the morning in Los Angeles, California.

"It's eight there, right? Sometimes Natalie goes for morning walks and stuff." Debbie explained, her voice laced with both exhaustion and annoyance.

"No, listen. I last saw her yesterday before I left for work," Rob objected. "I came home and she wasn't here, but she didn't tell me exactly where she was going or when she'd be back. I stayed up all night and she still isn't back, Debbie."

Both Debbie and Rob knew Los Angeles can be a dangerous place. They used to be very nervous about Natalie going out by herself for a long time, unless she wad with friends or her older sister, Ashley. If she had left by herself and still wasn't back, it was very possible that something horrible could have happened to their daughter.

"I'll schedule the next flight there," Natalie's mother said. "Did you call the police?"

"Yeah," Rob replied to his ex wife. "The morons. They said they wouldn't do anything except take down a report until she'd been gone at least twenty four hours. They think she'll be back soon, but I don't know. It just doesn't feel right."

"I'll be there soon. I'm getting online to buy place tickets right now. I'll see you when I get there." Debbie didn't wait for a response before she hung up the telephone, rushing out of bed to get her laptop up and running. The minute the screen lit up, an email notification flashed across the screen, and at first, she was going to send it straight to the 'ignore' file to read it later.

Then she looked closer at who the message was from.

Debbie clicked the icon, an email from her daughter flashing up across the screen.

"Mom,

I really hope you won't hate me for this. I know it's crazy, and I know you won't be pleased with me and I'll be in whole lot of trouble when I get home, but I'm taking a break.

I'm taking a break from life. For a few weeks or months, I'm not going to worry about school or looking for work or who I've hurt and how to fix it. For awhile, I'm going to refresh my mind and take some time to find myself again. I want to remember how to be happy without the pills or hurting myself or the therapy sessions.

I promise you I am safe. I'm being taken care of, and I promise I'll email you every chance I get to let you know I'm alright.

Dad's probably out of his mind. Let him know I'm okay, and I'm sorry my visit was cut short. I'd tell him myself, but apparently he only uses his work email now, and I don't know it.

I love you so much, Mom. And I really hope I haven't disappointed you. I just want to find myself and make you proud.

Natalie."

Debbie read the message. And then she reread the message. And once more, she read it. She was honestly in shock, mixed emotions running through her. It wasn't like Natalie to just vanish, yet it seemed valid.

Was she surprised? Of course. It was only supposed to be a week-long visit, and now she wasn't coming home? Was Debbie mad? No, never. She understood where Natalie was coming from.

She wanted Natalie to answer honestly when someone asked her how she was doing and she responded with "I'm okay".

If this is what it was going to take, then fine. If her daughter was happy, it made it worth it.

Still, she couldn't help but wonder...

Where was Natalie now?

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Important Author's Note:

The sequel to The Therapist's Son is officially started! I know I said it would be a few months, but I've spent some time writing the first few chapters so once I publish this I won't have to stress so much about speedy updates. Plus, I'm just so excited, I couldn't wait!

A few things, and these are really important!

1) This storyline seems pretty unrealistic to me, which will probably make it harder to write, but I'm going to do my best to make it as real as possible. Just roll with it. There will be times when readers are like "Ok but that just wouldn't happen in real life". I get that. But please just roll with it, its a fanfiction. Its meant to be entertaining, even if its not always realistic, kk? Kk.

2) This story is going to have a lot of US geography involved! And I suck at geography, even though I live here, so a lot of this will be based off answers that I get from Google, because everything on the internet is true.

3) I know I say it all the time, but please remember to vote and comment for this to be a successful story. I love getting feedback, but please don't be rude. If you have a suggestion, you can comment it or politely inbox me about it. Remember that since its my story, I have the right to delete any comment that I see as harmful or inappropriate.

4) I'm not putting a trigger warning on this story, because I dont plan on it being as involved with suicide and self harm and deaths as The Therapists Son was. However, I will still always put the * mark next to any chapter that mentions triggering content.

Love you guys, and I'm really excited to write this story and for everyone to read it.

xx Callie