Ally's POV:
I'm too late. I'm too late. I'm too fucking late! How could this be...?
"Do you know where he went?" I ask hopefully. Mike shakes his head sadly.
"No," he replies. "But he usually doesn't go far."
"Wait, you mean he's run away before?" I ask. Mimi nods.
"Yes, he's done it a few times before. The first time, he went to IHOP. The second time, he went to Grandma's because we'd lived pretty close to her. The third time, he went to Dez's house. And last time, he went to IHOP," she explains.
"Okay, so he's either at IHOP or Dez's?" I ask. Mimi hesitates.
"I'm not sure. He's older now and he can drive. He could've driven somewhere out of town for all we know," she tells me.
"You're just going to let your son leave?!" I ask, infuriated. I set my cup of coffee down and rise to my feet. "You're just going to act like it didn't happen?!" I grip the locket so tight that it digs into my hand. "You're just gonna let him run off?! What if he doesn't come back this time?! What if he doesn't ever come back?! Ever?!" I shout.
"Ally, honey, calm down," Mimi says soothingly. I take a deep breath and sit down. "We know he'll be back. He's our little prince. He'd never leave the kingdom forever."
"Okay... Maybe you're right..." I say.
"You'd better get home. Would you like me to drive you?" she asks. I nod. I'm still very tired so it might be best for her to drive me home. She drives me and when I finally get inside my house, I take off my coat and just slide down the door. God, I've driven him away from his own home! I bury my face into my hands. A few minutes later, I hear someone beside me. I look over and see Jenna sitting down.
"Where is everyone?" I ask.
"After we opened presents, everyone went back to sleep. But I stayed up, waiting for you to come home," she says quietly.
"What did you get?" I ask, trying to brighten the mood of the room. She shakes her head, mentally shaking off my question.
"Did you and Austin make up?" she asks me. I look down.
"He-he wasn't home..." I tell her.
"Where was he?" she asks. I shrug a little.
"I don't know," I admit. "He ran away..."
"I'm sorry..." she whispers, looking down too.
"It's not your fault," I say hoarsely, shaking my head.
"I know but I feel bad for you," she tells me.
"Don't," I say. "I'm not worth feeling bad for."
"Ally, you're worth the world" is all she says. I smile a little.
"Thank you," I say. Suddenly, she stands up and walks in the direction of the kitchen.
I hear the sound of a chair scraping across the floor and a few bumps. Maybe I should go help. A few seconds later, I hear the chair scraping again. Then I hear the microwave. I just don't feel like it. About three minutes later, it beeps and the chair scrapes once more.
Jenna walks back into the room with one of those macaroni and cheese singles. The ones in the shape of Spongebob. She hands the single to me along with a fork. I take it and just stare at it for a moment. She gestures for me to eat it.
"I know you wouldn't eat anything big," she says. I smile at her and eat the macaroni and cheese.
"Thanks, Jenna," I say with a smile as it satisfies my hunger. It actually satisfies it a lot more than you'd think.
"Have you tried calling him?" Jenna asks.
"Not since before I went to his house," I say.
"Try again," she tells me. I take out my phone and hold it to my ear. One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Four rings.
"Hey, I'm—" his voicemail starts but I hang up.
"You should get to sleep," Jenna tells me as I put my phone in my pocket. I shake my head at this as I finish my macaroni and cheese.
"I'm sorry but I can't. I'm worried about Austin. His parents said he could be anywhere," I tell her. "Maybe he'll come here. I'd much rather wait at Austin's house but... I don't know if he'd want to see me."
"Ally, he loves you. Of course he'd want to see you," she says.
"I'm still going to wait up until he's found," I say. She sighs.
"Okay. I'll see you in a few hours," she tells me. We walk up the stairs and go our separate ways into our rooms. I lock my door once more. I put my coat back on and walk out onto my balcony.
I shake and shiver for about three hours, scanning the dark sky. Well, it's not dark anymore so I guess I should say scanning the light sky. Someone knocks on my door and I run inside, closing my balcony door softly so that it doesn't make a sound. I unlock the door and jump into bed, pretending the door was never locked. I throw my coat onto the floor and try not to shake so much.
"Come in," I say quietly. The doorknob turns and in walks my mother.
"Hey..." she says softly. "Would you like to come down for breakfast? I-I made your favorite..." I nod.
"Of course," I say. "But only since it's my favorite." We both giggle. I climb out of bed and follow her down the stairs. The truth is: I'm only coming down because it's Christmas. Not because it's my favorite. My eyes widen. Oh my gosh, it's Christmas! I didn't get anyone anything! I notice something.
I'm still holding the locket.
I slip it into my pocket and follow my mom into the kitchen. Everyone smiles at me warmly, inviting me into the kitchen.
"Hey!" they all exclaim. I smile weakly and wave.
I see many Christmas breakfast foods but I can't really make any of them out. The only plate that really catches my eye is the plate piled high with pancakes. I stare at it as my mom sits me down. I blindly fill my plate but I don't touch the pancakes. Someone nudges me and I look over.
Jenna.
She smiles at me. I smile back then turn my attention to the pancake stack. I eat all that's on my plate, not tasting anything. Suddenly, everyone takes a bite of a pancake, almost simultaneously. Anger boils inside of me.
"How can you all just eat pancakes when Austin is missing?!" I blurt out. Everyone stares at me.
"Austin's missing?" my mom asks.
"Pancakes were his favorite food," I whisper. "Pancakes were his favorite fucking food!"
"Allyson, watch your language around Jenna!" my mom exclaims. She walks over to me and drags me up the stairs into the hallway.
"What is going on with you?" she asks me. "I want the whole truth. I want to know why you've been acting strange around Austin. I want to know why you haven't been coming out of your room. I want to know why you haven't been eating. I want to know why you left for Austin's house this morning even if he wasn't there. I want to know everything!"
"Alright. I've been acting strange around Austin... because... he hit me. And he called me one of his sluts. And I was mad so I asked him to start bullying me again so I could attempt to get over him and he did. And as for the last few days, I broke up with him. The day I came in and ran up to my room was the day I broke up with Austin. The love of my fucking life. I broke up with him. And I just did not want to eat, to sleep, or to do anything. I just wanted to crawl into a hole and die! And when I went over to Austin's house this morning, I was going to forgive him! I wanted to admit my mistake! I know he can't control himself sometimes because he's bipolar! Then his parents told me he wasn't there and that he could be anywhere. And I lost it! I just lost it! I'm just so stressed and I just want to kill myself! I can't live without Austin! Because he's my whole fucking life!" I take a deep breath and sit down on the floor. "He's my whole life," I say quietly. My mom sits down beside me and hugs me.
"Honey... I-I didn't know... I didn't know he was bipolar. I didn't know about any of thi—wait. Did you just say he hit you?" she asks.
'Yes, mom, but he was drunk," I sigh.
"He was drunk?!" she asks. "What kind of boy are you dating?!"
"Apparently, I'm not dating one," I say. She sighs.
"You really love this boy, huh?" she asks, calming down. I nod. "Flaws and all?" I nod again.
"Flaws and all," I whisper, staring at the wall opposite us.
"You still love him even though he hit you and called you a slut?" she asks me.
"Even though he hit me and called me a slut," I confirm. She sighs.
"I guess you really do love him," she says. "True love."
"True love," I repeat. "True love."
"Do you want to go and look for Austin?" Mom asks me.
"I don't know what I want to do anymore," I whisper. She stands up.
"Come finish your breakfast," she says. I don't move. I don't speak. She picks me up and carries me to my room and lays me down on my bed.
"Austin will come home soon," she promises me.
Austin's POV:
I lay in Dez's bed, staring at the ceiling. They've gone to their Grandpa's house to open more presents. The only thing I even want for Christmas is the one thing I can't have.
Allyson Marie Dawson.
I mean, I guess I could go and kidnap her but that's not the point. I mean I want her emotionally. I just want to take her somewhere. Somewhere we could be alone. And love her and kiss her and talk to her. I just want her all to myself. I don't mean to sound greedy but she's all I want. She's all I want for the rest of my life. If I had to, I could live without everything else.
As long as I had her.
Suddenly, a phone rings. I think it's mine at first but it's on vibrate. I look around and see a light on the other side of the room. It must be Dez's phone. It rings. And rings. And rings. I groan and walk over to it. I pick it up and drop it as soon as I see the name.
Ally.
I pick it back up and reject the call. Wait, why did I do that?! I'm going to call her back. I type in her number and hesitate on call button. If I call her on Dez's phone, she'll know I'm here. Maybe not... She might just think I'm hanging out with him. She might not even know I've run away. Well, she always seems to know everything...
The voicemail icon pops up in Dez's notification bar. I click it and hold his phone up to my ear.
"You currently have an extended absence greeting. To retain your extended absence greeting, press one," his voicemail says. I press one. "Extended absence greeting retained. You have one unheard message."
"Hey Dez, it's Ally. I just wanted to know if you had any idea where Austin's at. He ran away, as you may already know, last night and I'm really worried. If you know where he's at, please call me back. Please, please, please." She sighs. "Bye." I hang up the phone and set it down before I throw it.
She's worried about me. I smile. She's actually worried about me. I pick up my bag but stop.
My parents might have put her up to this. They might just want me to come home. I drop my bag and sit back down on Dez's bed. I chuckle. I almost fell for it. Almost. I'm smarter than they think. It doesn't make a difference whether I'm smart or not though. They still hate me. All of them.
I pick up my bag. I can't stay here. Trish will probably talk to Dez and Dez will probably tell Trish that I'm here and Trish will probably tell Ally that I'm here and they'll probably take me home to my parents. Or Trish will come over and know that I'm here. Either way, it'll still have the same outcome.
I drop my bag. I have nowhere else to go. Let Ally find me. Just let her find me.
Ally's POV:
I put down my phone and sigh. I come down once more that night for dinner. There's chicken, turkey, mashed potatoes, and many other things. I stare at the food on my plate for a few minutes before I finally dig in and finish it. Everyone erupts into conversation after dinner but I just stay silent. Everyone tries to start a conversation with me but it's quickly dropped. Finally, I bring my plate to the sink and look back on everyone.
"M-Merry Christmas," I say before walking up to my room. I sit against the wall on my bed, facing my balcony. I sit there all night. Just sit there.
XxForeverDisneyGirlxX, Gah, I know, right? XD And yes, did you see all of the Auslly moments?! Wait... were there two hugs in that episode? Forgive my awful memory...
Ausllyfan01, oh my goodness, I love you. You're hilarious xD
So, hi! There'll be another chapter sometime today. I meant to update last night but I didn't get to finish it :( But anyhoodles, review!
LoVe, KeNzIe