The Therapist's Son // Ashton Irwin [AU] ✔

32.

I'm on a roll with updating today! However, the next two chapters are both less than 700 words and they're pretty shitty anyways, so I'm just going to post them both at once. Hopefully it can count as one "good" chapter. I wrote these at 3am so thats why they're awful. I apologize in advance. x.

*****

The next ten days dragged on and on and on. A an hour seemed like a day, a day seemed like a year.

I missed my mom.

I missed Luke.

Even though I was angry at him, I missed Ashton.

They hadn't let me out of the hospital until four days after I had woken up. I had told Mom to pass on the message to Ashton since he hadn't been responding to my calls or text messages.

Luke and my mom visited every day while I was hospitalized. Ashton never visited once.

He didn't even call or text me. Hell, he could have sent a pigeon up to my hotel window with a note around its neck. I had not heard from my boyfriend for an entire week. There were so many possibilities. Maybe he finally saw me how I see myself. Maybe he didn't want me anymore.

Mom picked me up when I was released from the rehabilitation center. I was tired, and I wanted to go home.

I hummed along to the new catchy tune by Shawn Mendes that was playing on the radio, and protested when my mom turned it down while we were stopped at an intersection.

"I called your father while you were away," I swore under my breath. He hadn't been messaging me back for nearly four months, and now he acts like a concerned father? "And we decided that you need to spend some time to yourself for awhile. So you're going to stay with him for a month or two."

"Are you serious?" I half-laughed.

"Yes."

"Rob is a work-aholic," Mom asked me when I has started calling Dad by his first name. When did I start calling him by his first name? She told me not to, because it felt and sounded weird. I agreed. "But in all honesty, when he's not eating or sleeping, he's working. And I'm pretty sure he dreams about work while he's asleep. Do you really think I'm already well enough to be left pretty much alone?"

"He'll be calling and texting you every so often during the day. If its necessary, he'll get the neighbor to check in a few times," I sigh. "You need some closure and reassurance, Natalie. Work things out with your father...Maybe look at what he has of Ashley's."

Her suggestion was shocking. I thought they threw everything out that belonged to Ashley.

"Oh, God, no," My mother said when I told her. "We have a storage unit. We'd never get rid of your sister's things."

"I just thought since we didn't bring anything with us..." I trailed off.

"I don't like constant reminders," Mom said. She sounded so calm. It was the first time I've seen her talk so openly about Ashley without sounding sad or angry. "But I keep memories."

"Okay." I agreed.

"Okay?"

"Yes. Okay. I'll go," I clarified. "But only for one week. Seven days. No longer."

*****

Two days later, I was packed. Some sweaters, jeans, undergarments, phone charger, toiletries...All tightly packed in a rollaway suitcase and ready to fly.

I had texted Ashton.

He hadn't replied.

Mom drove me to the airport, Luke was squished in the backseat with my bag.

I told him I was only going to be gone for a week, but he insisted on seeing me off and welcoming me back when I returned at four in the morning in exactly seven days.

I was lucky to have a best friend like Luke.

And even though I was thankful for Luke, I still wish Ashton would have been there too.

I hadn't heard from him now in almost eighteen days. I hoped he was okay.

I hugged my mom and promised to call her when I landed. I hugged Luke and told him I'd email him every day and I would see him when I got back.

Then I took my watch off in preparation for security check.