Another chapter...

Summary: Carly is being depressed lately. What's going on and can someone save her from herself before its too late?

With nerves running through my whole body, my finger pressed the doorbell. Many thoughts were going through my head. Was this a good idea as I thought it was? Was my aunt even here.

Otherwise, I would go to Elliot. He had given me his mother's address to make sure that I would always have some place to go to. I thought that it was sweet that he was so worried. I promised to call him from my aunt's house and in five days I was going to go back to Seattle with him.

Finally the door opened and a woman in her 40's appeared. She had long light-brown curly hair and warm brown eyes. She hadn't changed much since the last time I saw her.

"Are you Melinda Jones?" I asked just to make sure that she was my aunt.

"Yes, and who are you? You look like my sister, but I'm sure that you're not her." My aunt said.

A smile formed on my lips. I looked like my mother! "No, I'm Carly Shay, your niece. That's probably why I look like your sister. She is my mother."

My aunt smiled. "Carly, I haven't seen you in years. You look so much older and like your mother. What a surprise to see you here. Please, come in."

I nodded and I gave my coat to my aunt. She led me to the living room before making coffee for us both. When she was finished, she took a seat across from me.

"What are you doing here without your brother or father? Did you move recently? And how are you doing?" My aunt asked me with a smile on her face.

"Well it's not going so well for the last couple of months. The reason that I'm here is because I ran away from Seattle." The words came out of my mouth easier than I expected.

My aunt looked shocked at me. "You ran away! Why?"

I took a deep breath and I started telling her about everything: Faya, Freddie, dad, the depression, Jennifer Apple, the guilt, and the need for having a mom.

After my story was finished, I started crying. I couldn't help it. My aunt hugged me and calmed down.

"Carly, I understand that it has been horrible and you ran away, but you can't stay away forever. Spencer and even your father are probably worried sick."

"I know that. I'm going back to Seattle in 5 days with Elliot. I met him in the train and he has been really protective of me, so I have to call him later so that he knows that I'm okay." I smiled when I thought about Elliot.

My aunt raised an eyebrow before smiling. "Elliot, is he your boyfriend already? Or are you still just friends?"

I couldn't help but blush a little. "Well, I know he likes me, but I told him that I'm not ready for a relationship just yet, so we are just friends at the moment."

"Well, I think that it's really cute. You can call him if you answer one question for me: How old is he?" My aunt looked at me curiously.

"He's 20, so he's just three years older than me. That's not too bad. So can I call him now? He's probably worried already." I gave a pleading look towards my aunt.

"Fine, a three-year age difference is enough. Call him and I think that I'm going to call your brother. He hasn't heard from you for three days!"

I wanted to protest, but I gave in. I quickly grabbed the phone and I dialed Elliot's number. After three tones, Elliot picked up.

Telephone conversation

Normal= Carly, Underlined= Elliot, Bold= Aunt Melinda

With Elliot Forrester.

With Carly Shay.

Carly, I was getting worried. You are safe at your aunt's, right?

Yes, I am. I just had a really nice conversation with her.

Can I speak to her to make sure?

Sure.

With Melinda Jones.

Hello, I just wanted to make sure Carly is okay.

She is fine. Don't worry.

Okay. Thank you. Tell her that she can always call me.

I will let her know. Bye.

Bye.

End Telephone conversation

My aunt hung up. "He said that you could always call him. I'm glad that he is so protective of you and doesn't expect anything else from you. If you know what I mean."

I nodded. I knew very well that Elliot could have taken advantage of me and that I was lucky that he probably didn't even think about it.

A voice disturbed me from my thoughts. My aunt was on the phone. I knew that she was calling my brother. I made myself smaller somehow hoping to magically disappear, but that unfortunately didn't work.

After awhile, she hung up. She took the seat next to me. "I had to call your brother and father."

I let out a sigh. "I know. I just wish you didn't have to.

"They were worried sick. They called the police. You weren't there for three whole days. Your brother said that he underst..." My aunt didn't come any further, because she was disturbed by someone else.

"Mom, I'm seriously never going to pick up Ben and Logan again. They are the most annoying twerps on the whole wide world." A girl's voice yelled.

Two boys came running in and a very annoyed girl came walking in behind them.

Suddenly one boy pointed at me. "Oh my gosh, you're Carly from iCarly."

The other boy looked at his mom. "Did you give us an early birthday present?"

My aunt laughed before shaking his head. "No, she isn't an early birthday present. Carly is your cousin. She is just staying here for 5 days."

Everybody looked at me and I quickly gave them a smile. "Hey." I didn't know what else to say.

The boy with light-brown hair shook my head. "I'm Ben."

"And I'm Logan." The boy with blond hair said.

The girl came to me with smile. "I'm Phoebe." Phoebe turned to her mom. "So I finally have a cousin who isn't guy. That's awesome. Do we have other family members we don't know about?"

"Well, I think Carly can answer that herself." My aunt looked towards me.

"Well, you have an uncle and a cousin, Spencer. You probably have seen him on iCarly. Your mother might have told that her sister died a couple of years ago, so you don't have another aunt." I said.

"Yeah, she told us." Logan said.

A silence followed before Phoebe decided to speak. "I don't have much homework. Maybe I can show Carly around Chicago." She looked at her mom with a pleading face.

"Sure, why not?" My aunt said.

Phoebe smiled and we walked towards the door together. Before we went out, my aunt spoke. "But come home before 6 o'clock. You need to be on time for dinner."

"Sure." we yelled back before shutting the door behind us.

We took a couple steps outside before Phoebe spoke. "Carly, you need to help me."

I gave her a confused look. Why would she need my help? "But promise not to tell my mom."

"I promise that I won't tell." I started getting worried. This didn't seem good at all.

"My mother and father are divorced for a couple of years now. My mom remarried a year ago and my step-dad seemed like a real nice guy at first. Now he has been abusing me both physically and mentally. I don't want to tell my mom, because she's really happy. I don't know what to do. My brothers also don't know. You have to take me with you to Seattle." She said with tears running out of her eyes.

I hadn't expected this at all and I looked shocked at her. At this moment, only one thing was running through my mind: more problems.

I wrote this chapter while on vacation, so that's why it's a little longer than usual. I will update sooner this time and I hope you like the chapter.

Reviews are welcome.