A few weeks have passed. Megan has moved out of the Strand residence and into her own apartment. It's a Monday morning, Owen walks into the living room where Avery is sitting reading a book.

'Go get changed into something comfortable.' Owen tells her. She looks up at him confused. 'And your hiking boots.'

'Why?' Avery asks.

'The weather's nice. I thought we'd go for a hike.' Owen tells her. 'It will get us out the house.' Avery puts her bookmark in her book and puts it down. 'Plus, we haven't had much father/daughter time together.'

'Okay.' Avery nods standing up. 'I could use the time away from my phone.'

'You're leaving your phone here?' Owen asks shocked.

'Am I crazy?' Avery laughs but then realises what she's just said. 'Don't answer that.' She adds. Owen just smiles. 'I'm a teenager. I don't go anywhere without my phone; but knowing you, you've chosen somewhere with no service or very little service.'

'Very true.' Owen nods laughing. 'I'm going to make us some food and fill up some water bottles whilst you're getting ready.'

'Coolio.' Avery grins. She stands up and walks up to her room to get ready and Owen prepares packed lunches whilst she does. He also packs a backpack for each of them. Once they're ready, they make their way out to the car and Owen drives to a park.

.

When they arrive at the park they'll be hiking through, Owen parks and Avery waits whilst he goes to get a map. Whilst she's waiting, she makes use of the service before she loses it and texts the group chat she has with Megan and Jason.

Avery: Going on a hike with dad - won't have service so don't worry if I don't respond

Jase: You? Hiking? Never thought I'd see the day

Avery: Haha very funny

Jase: You know you love me

Avery: Unfortunately

Jase: Ouch

Jase: Have fun though

Trouble: You two have such good banter

Trouble: I second what Jason said, have fun

She's putting her phone away in her backpack just as Owen is returning.

'You ready?' He asks her.

'Yeah.' Avery nods. They both start their walk down one of the trails.

'You know, I didn't think you'd agree to this.' Owen tells her truthfully.

'Well, as you said earlier, we haven't had a lot of father-daughter time since I moved here.' Avery responds. 'Plus, it'll give me some fresh air and time to clear my head.'

'I'm glad you did agree.' Owen smiles.

After a few hours of walking, they reach the end of the trail where there's a beautiful scenery of rocks and a pond.

'Woah.' Avery gasps. 'I've seen things like this in L.A. but not like this.'

'T.K. and I came up here when we first moved here.' Owen says. 'I thought you'd like it up here.'

'I do.' Avery smiles. She steps closer to her dad and hugs him. He wraps his arms around her.

'Thank you for today.' She says. 'I've really enjoyed it.'

'Of course.' Owen nods as they part. 'We can come up here more if you like?'

'Just me and you?' Avery asks, hopeful.

'If that's what you want.' Owen nods.

'It is.' Avery smiles.

'Then how about we come up here every couple of weeks or so?' Owen suggests.

'I'd like that.' She smiles slightly. They both sit down on one of the rocks and get their lunches out. She sees that he has made her one of the agreed lunches they discussed. She smiles again and starts eating. An hour later and they've finished. They pack their rubbish away into their bags, being careful not to leave anything behind. 'Can we stay here for a little while?'

'Sure.' Owen nods. They spend the next half hour in almost complete silence before making their way back down the trail.

When they're halfway back to the car, Owen steps on a rock causing him to fall and twist his ankle, wincing in pain. Avery bursts out laughing.

'Great to know that my daughter likes to laugh at my pain.' Owen laughs slightly.

'I'm sorry, I couldn't help it.' She says, helping him stand up. 'It's just that I didn't think you'd be the one getting injured. Normally I'm the one getting injured.' She adds. 'Are you okay?'

'I'm fine.' Owen nods. 'I'll put an ice pack on in the car.'

'You can't drive with a sprained ankle.' Avery states. 'I'll call T.K. when we get to the car and see if he can help.'

'I'll be fine.' Owen shakes his head.

'I'm still calling T.K.' Avery says. Owen goes to protest but Avery cuts him off. 'If I could drive and sprained my ankle, then tried to drive, what would you say?'

'To get your ass in the passenger seat and let someone else drive.' Owen replies.

'Exactly.' Avery grins.

'Fine, you win.' Owen gives in. He goes to move but winces in pain.

'Scrap that, I'm calling the park rangers.' Avery states. 'Sit.' She points to a bench not far from where they are. Owen reluctantly hobbles over to the bench and sits down. Avery gets her phone out and holds it up.

'You're not gonna get any service.'  Owen laughs. 'There's a radio in my backpack.' He takes his backpack off of his back and takes the radio out. He changes it to the park rangers frequency and hands it to Avery. 'They're more likely to come quicker if a young girl concerned about her father calls.'

'Right.' She exhales. She takes the radio from him and presses the call button. 'Erm... hello?' She speaks into the radio. There's some static so she tries again. 'Hello.'

'Hello? Who's this?' One of the Park Rangers asks.

'My name's Avery. I'm calling from my dad's radio. He's a fire captain with AFD. We came out for a hike and he sprained his ankle. He can't really put any weight on it and it's quite a walk back to the car.' Avery explains.

'Okay, Avery. My name's Mick. Do you know what trail you're on and whereabouts on the trail you are?'

'No.' Avery replies. 'I've never been before and I can't see any signs.' She adds, looking around.

'Do you have your phone on you?'

'Yeah.' Avery nods.

'Do you have the What Three Words app installed?' Mick queries.

'Yeah,' Avery laughs, 'my dad made me install it.'

'Okay, it should work with whatever service you have.' Mick starts. 'Can you open the app and tell me the words?' Avery does as she's told.

'Popper. Broom. Car.' Avery tells him.

'Okay, Avery. I've got your location.' Mick says. 'I'll be with you as soon as I can. Keep the radio close. I'm going to patch you through to my personal radio now.' There's some more static. 'Avery?'

'Yeah?'

'Great, that's worked.' Mick states. 'I'm on my way now. If you need any more help just contact me through the radio. I know your dad will probably know what to do try and elevate his leg and if you have a first aid kit with an ice pack in, put it over his ankle, but not directly on the skin. Over his sock will be fine.'

'Thanks.' Avery thanks him.

'No problem. I'll be with you shortly.' The line then goes silent and Avery returns to Owen.

'Someone's on their way.' She tells him. 'He said to elevate your leg and put an ice pack on it if we have one.'

'There's a first aid kit in my backpack with one in. Take that in and then stack your backpack on top of mine.' Owen tells her.  She does as she's told and Owen elevates his leg on top of the backpack and holds out his hand for the icepack.

'I know what to do.' Avery tells him. She makes a fist, breaks the ice pack and places it over Owen's ankle over the sock. Once she's done that she sits down next to him. 'I've enjoyed today.' She tells him. 'Thank you.'

'Of course.' Owen smiles and nods.

'It's given me some time to clear my head.' Avery says, averting eye contact. 'To have some time away from everything. To not think of anything other than what's around me.'

'I'm glad.' Owen nods.

'Can we do this more?' Avery looks back at him. 'These walks. Just you and me?'

'Yeah. Of course.' Owen smiles.

'I don't remember the last time my thoughts have been this quiet.' Avery admits. Owen puts his arm around her shoulders for a hug. 'I'm always thinking about one thing or another.' She pauses for a moment. 'Whether I'm a good enough sister. Friend. Daughter.'

'You are an amazing friend. A wonderful friend. And the best daughter anyone could ever ask for.' Owen reassures her.

'I treated you like shit. You didn't deserve that.' Avery shakes her head. 'We've never talked about it. Not really.'

'Is it something you'd like to talk about?' Owen questions.

'I mean I've spoken to my therapist about it but yeah,' Avery nods, 'I'd like to talk about it with you.'

'We can do that.' Owen says. 'I'm off tomorrow and will probably be off for a week because of this sprain.'

'Thank you.' Avery smiles slightly. Ten minutes later, they hear the noise of a vehicle approaching. Avery stands up just as the Park Ranger 4x4 comes into view and stops. Mick gets out and approaches Avery.

'Avery?' Mick asks.

'Yeah.' Avery nods.

'I'm Mick, I was on the radio with you.' Mick introduces himself. 'Is this your dad?' He motions to Owen.

'Owen Strand.' Owen introduces himself.

'Let's get you in the truck and down to the first aid office.' Mick helps Owen stand up and helps him to the truck whilst Avery grabs the bag. Within fifteen minutes, they're sitting in the first aid room. Owen is sitting on the examination table whilst Avery is sitting in a chair. Mick is examining Owen's ankle. 'Avery told me over the radio you're a fire captain with AFD?'

'Yeah.' Owen nods.

'It looks like a serious sprain. I would go to the ER and get an x-ray to be on the safe side.' Mick tells him. 'Did you drive here?' He questions and Owen nods. 'Is there anyone you can call to come and pick you up?'

'I can call my brother.' Avery states. She gets her phone out calls T.K. He answers almost immediately.

'Hey, Ave. What's up?'

'If I text you an address, can you hop into an Uber and come here?'

'What's happened? Are you okay?' He asks concerned.

'I'm fine. Dad and I went for a hike and he sprained his ankle so he can't drive.' Avery explains.

'Okay, text me the address. I'll be there ASAP.' T.K. tells her. They hang up and Avery texts T.K. the park's address.

'He's on his way.' Avery tells them.

.

A few hours later, T.K, Owen, and Avery are finally home. Owen had been to get ankle x-rayed and they confirmed it was just a severe sprain and advised him to stay off work for 1-2 weeks. Meaning Judd is now acting as Captain for the 126. Avery is sitting in the front room, curled up on the sofa, watching a movie with them when she lets out a big yawn.

'Tired?' Owen laughs.

'No.' Avery mutters.

'Why don't you go up to bed? You've had a long day.' T.K. suggests.

'I'm fine.' Avery states, making herself more comfortable. Within a few minutes, she's falling asleep. Owen and T.K. chuckle and shake their heads. T.K. stands up, walks to the hallway closet, grabs a blanket, and drapes it over Avery before sitting back down.

'She opened up to me a little earlier.' Owen tells T.K.

'Really?' T.K.'s eyes widen.

'Yeah.' Owen nods. 'I wasn't expecting her to but - I think she's ready to address everything that's happened with me and her mom.'

'She hasn't spoken about her mom in a while.' T.K. points out.

'I know.' Owen sighs. 'That's what's worrying me. I know she's not on "Avery-watch", as she calls it, anymore but I'm worried she opened up because-' He stops not wanting to finish.

'You think she's going to spiral?' T.K. catches on and he nods. 'We can't hover over her all the time. She's got to know that we trust her. We'll just have to keep a close eye on her.'

'Jason spoke to me yesterday. He's moving to Austin around Avery's birthday, he wants it to be a surprise.' Owen starts. 'Maybe that will make her feel a bit more at ease.'

'Yeah.' T.K. nods. 'She's really happy around him and he cares about her. He loves her like a sister.'

'He really does.' Owen nods in agreement. 'And she listens to him so there's that.' He adds with a laugh.

'Yep.' T.K. also laughs. 'From what I've seen, he's one of the few people who can get through to her.'

'We'll just have to see what happens.' Owen says. 'I hate myself for saying this, but the moment she starts to get worse mentally, we're going to have to look at inpatient facilities.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Something like this was already planned and then someone in the survey said they wanted more Owen and Avery moments so I thought I'd push it forward to this chapter!

There's also some more Jason coming in the book!!!!

Remember that Megan is from Addicted by DharmaWinter so be sure to check that out for more of Megan's story!!

Let me know what you think of the chapter!

Much love