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

1.

Author's Note: This chapter takes place before Debbie read Natalie's email. That is all.

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x callie

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"Almost done?" A familiar, soothing voice asked me. I turned around, glancing at my Australian boyfriend. His blonde curly hair was wrecked and knotted, but his hazel eyes sparkled with excitement and wonder. He wore a plain white t-shirt with holes and a pair of black jeans. Even dressed so simply, Ashton Irwin was possibly the best-looking boy I'd ever laid eyes on.

I nodded in response to his question, turning back to the computer screen and rereading the email once more before I hit send. I decided it wouldn't be right to just vanish and not tell either one of my parents. Besides, if neither of them knew that I was safe, Dad would have a search party all over California in order to find me. My face would be all over the news by tomorrow morning. Los Angeles could be a dangerous place, they used to worry about me being out on my own - Especially at night.

So Ashton had exited off the highway so I could find an internet café in order to update my Mom on the situation, since I hadn't thought to go back to my dad's apartment to get my laptop. I was hoping my mother would check her email before she went to work, but I knew her like the back of my hand, and I knew it was highly unlikely. I knew she would get my message eventually, though. I just hoped it wouldn't upset her too much.

I checked the time in the bottom right corner of the screen. It was currently 1:27 in the afternoon here, meaning back in Hornsby, it was about 7:30 in the morning.

I logged out of my email account, stood up and put the extra change that I hadn't used in my back pocket. Ashton held out a plastic cup for me to take. Inside was what looked like iced coffee, and I smiled at him, a silent "thank you".

"You okay, Natalie?"

"Just nervous," I said, sipping the cold liquid. I was glad he had remembered that I don't like bitter drinks. "I don't want my mom to be disappointed in me, you know?"

"Don't worry about that," Ashton said. "Yeah, it's going to bother her a bit. But she'll get over it. When you get back home, you'll feel so much better and that'll make your relationship with your mum even stronger than before. I promise."

I smiled up at him, his words having a calming effect.

"I'm so lucky to have you, Ash."

"I know, and this will be fun, I promise," He giggled, leaning down to plant a kiss on my cheek. "Cheers."

I laughed, tapping my cup against his before taking another gulp through the straw.

"I made sure they sweetened it," Ashton said after taking a drink of his own coffee. His was either the same as mine so they wouldn't be mixed up, or black, I didn't bother to ask though. However it was made, I was glad Ashton was getting some caffeine in his system. He was probably tired from the time jump. He claimed he had slept a bit on the plane, but I wasn't sure if I believed him or not. "I remember you saying that you don't like bitter drinks."

"Thanks," I smiled, feeling butterflies in my stomach. His statement meant a lot to me, and I couldn't help but wonder how much other stuff he remembered about me. "So, Mister Australian," I smirked, using the nickname as payback for all the times he used to refer to me as 'Miss America'. He was in my territory now. "Will we be heading North or East?"

"What about South or West?" He joked, opening the café door for me. The hot July air washed over me as I left the air conditioned café, and I let out a sigh, glad Ashton's rental car had an air conditioner.

"South will eventually get us to Mexico and I only took two years of Spanish. We'd never make it out alive. And we're already a few miles from the ocean. Unless the rental car's engine is waterproof, West is not going to happen." I laughed, walking out into the parking lot.

"Okay," My boyfriend told me. "Where would you like to go then, East or North?"

"Let's go North. You'll love Yosemite," I insisted. "It's all trees and mountains and rivers. Its beautiful, it reminds me of the 'forest' that your treehouse is in." He smiled at me, probably thinking of our first night spent in the treehouse in his mother's backyard.

We were so far away from there now, but it seemed like it wasn't that long ago at all. In a way, I was excited to get back to the place where we first met and our first real memories were made. On the other hand, I knew that my adventure with Ashton was just beginning, and I never wanted to go back to Australia. There was no rush, we had all the time in the world. I was excited to show Ashton where I grew up, my home country.

I wanted to explore with him, and experience things with him that neither of us had experienced before.

"Really? I've heard about that place, it sounds cool. How far away is it?"

"About five hours. We'll probably have to stop for another coffee to keep you awake. You look beat," I shrugged, as Ashton fished the rental car key out of his back pocket. "Or we'll pull over and cuddle and sleep in the backseat again."

"Still no backseat shenanigans?" He teased, opening the car door and getting in. I followed suit, shaking my head.

"Not yet." I blushed, instantly slipping my feet out of my flip flops and placing my bare feet on the dashboard, which was warm from the hot sun shining on it through the car's windshield.

I knew that before we hit Yosemite, I'd need to buy some decent close-toed shoes, especially because Ashton would probably want to go hike, but I wasn't too worried about it right now.

"Meaning it's possible?" I glanced over at Ashton questioningly and he wiggled his eyebrows at me in response. I felt my face heat up and simply cleared my throat.

To distract myself, I flipped through the radio stations, trying to find a decent one, but I was struggling to remember which stations had good signal in this part of the city and which ones didn't. Ashton must have taken my hint, knowing I wasn't ready to talk about "shenanigans" of any sort.

"There are certainly a lot of cars," Ashton muttered more to himself than me, changing the topic as he turned onto the main road. Ashton was a good driver, and I trusted him, but there was a lot more traffic in Los Angeles than there was in Hornsby, hands down. "Is it always like this?"

I laughed sarcastically.

"This isn't even rush hour. You should see it around five at night when everyone's trying to get home from work. And the freeway! Oh my God."

True, I used to live in suburbs outside of the city. However, where would that leave me to go to school? Ashley used to drive me to school every day, but we'd have to leave the house around seven in order to get there by eight.

Traffic sucks.

End of story.

I finally found a good station, and Green Day came through the car speakers. Ashton cheered. At the next red light, he reached for his phone in the ashtray before tossing it in my lap, switching from the brake to the gas pedal when the light turned green, his eyes glued to the roadway.

"The passcode is 8880," He told me, and my eyes widened. He must really trust me. "Open the GPS and turn on my automatic location settings. Next stop, Yosemite, California."