eleven
We had been in the car for about fifteen minutes. I didn't say a single word. I was still shaking but I had managed to get it under control.
We still had an hour ahead of us. I was surprised Luke hadn't called me yet, considering the fact that it was almost 1 am.
Ashton kept his eyes glued to the road. He didn't even bother to look at me.
I took out my phone as soon as I heard a ding go off. My mother had texted me. My heart stopped. Did she know I was gone?
Surgery is running late, see you tomorrow morning.
I sighed in relief and replied with a simple 'okay'. I knew that it was the scrub nurse texting for my mother so I decided not to bother them anymore.
I would look at Ashton every once in a while to see him stiffen at my glance. His muscles were rigged, I couldn't help but notice how prominent his jawline was. His hazel eyes turned a darker shade of brown. The music in the car was particularly terrible but neither of us dared to touch the switches to change it. The air around us was stuffy and awkward. My phone began to ring and a knew exactly who it was. Luke. I was almost positive he would call tonight, he was always very overprotective of me and normally I didn't mind but now he seemed even more intense.
"Hello?" I spoke quietly.
"What the hell? Where are you?" He said quickly.
"I'll be back in a few hours, Ashton and I are driving back from somewhere," I mumbled.
"Why are you always with him? He's an ass, Shannon." And with that, he hung up. I could tell Luke was upset about something and Ashton clearly heard what Luke had said through the phone because his face changed completely. I slide my phone into my pocket and curled up into my seat.
-
An hour later we had arrived in Seattle.
Ashton had taken us to his house after a half hour of constant arguing about me wanting to go home but he wanted to make sure I was "safe." After everything that just happened. I just decided to go along with the plan and continue to shut him out. I was still shaken up from the events that happened earlier tonight but I was trying my best not to show it.
"I'll take the couch," Ashton mumbled as he grabbed a tee-shirt from his dresser. I felt his warm hands meet mine for a moment as he handed me the shirt.
"No, it's fine," I mumbled.
"It wasn't an option Shannon," he said quickly. Confusion covered my face before nodding in agreement. He grabbed a blanket from the corner of his room and walked toward the door. He stood in the doorway for a minute.
"Do you need anything?" He said softly. I shook my head. He closed the door as I slipped on the large tee-shirt. I looked around the room for a while. There was a small twin sized bed in the corner of the room next to his dresser. I had taken a seat on the bed and gotten under the covers. I couldn't get the thought of Ashton out of my head. He shocked me tonight, he had scared me. My wrists were still sore and swollen but I decided to ignore it. I tried my best to shut my eyes but I was never able to. The constant thought of Ashton was burning in the back of my mind. Sure, I was scared of what Ashton was capable of, but for some reason, I wasn't scared of him. I still felt completely safe around him and I was shocked. I checked the time to see it was already close to 2 am. Hours continued to pass by to the point where I had just given up.
2:36
3:28
4:18
Still nothing.
I stood up facing the fact that there was no way I'd be getting any sleep tonight. My feet pattered against the carpet floor and into the hallway. I slowly crept down the stairs trying my best to be quiet. Ashton made it pretty clear that his aunt wouldn't be home until morning. Once I reached the end of the stars I walked into the small living room to see Ashton lying down on the couch. His body was sprawled out and his hair hung loosely over his face.
"Ashton," I whispered. His eyes fluttered open for a moment. He then sprang up which mad me jump slightly.
"Are you okay?" He said quickly, he gripped my arm in an area just above the soreness. I sat down beside him and grasped his hand.
"Ashton, I'm fine, I just can't sleep," I said softly. His grasp grew looser with each breath he took.
After about a minute his breathing became softer.
"Come here," he mumbled into my hair. I nodded my head and crawled closer beside him. He laid back down onto the couch. My body fit neatly in the space between him and the back of the couch. My arm was draped over his chest while his hand ran through my hair a few times. I felt my eyes flutter shut to the feeling of his soft touch.
"Goodnight Shan."
"Goodnight Ash."
-
My eyes flashed open to see Ashton laying beside me. His arm was wrapped around my fragile body, his eyes were closed but his breathing was slow and heavy. I place my hand on his chest and began drawing circles with my fingers. I carefully stood up and pulled the blanket back over Ashton. I backed away slowly then went into his room and grabbed my clothes. I didn't want to be in just a tee-shirt when Ashton's aunt got home. My eyes wandered the room to see some old jeans I had left here a few weeks ago, I had gotten paint on them so Ashton offered to wash them. I grabbed the jeans off of his dresser and slipped them on. I kept on the shirt I had last night and slipped a black hoodie on quickly. I stepped outside of the room and made my way back to the living room. My eyes landed on the couch where he was. He must have gotten up considering the fact that he was no longer there. I suddenly heard a shattering of glass.
"Fuck!" I heard Ashton's voice boom through the house. I ran into the kitchen where I saw him trying his best to clean up the glass, my eyes focused on what it was exactly. Beer, a bottle of beer. "Where have you been?" He snapped. My eyes wandered to see a long cut on his hand.
"Upstairs," I answered quickly. "Ashton, are you okay?" I mumbled softly. I rushed over to him and grabbed his hands and pulled them away from the glass on the floor. I examined his hand before pulling him up behind me. "Sit," I instructed while pointing at the counter. He nodded while I looked for a first aid kit. I tugged the sleeves of the sweatshirt down to keep Ashton from noticing the bruises.
"Above the fridge," he said. I looked up and saw the red packaging. I grasped it quickly and unzipped it. I pulled out a needle and thread along with some numbing gel. I threaded the needle and put the gel on the areas of his cut.
"This may hurt a little," I said slowly. I made the first stitch which made him flinch slightly. I had been standing between his legs while he was sitting on the dingy counter.
"Well doesn't this bring back memories?" He smirked. I rolled my eyes slightly while
remembering the night we spent together the day of the fire last year.
"Why would you be drinking at 10am?" I snapped as I continued to stitch up his cut.
"Why do you care?" His voice was raised.
"Because you could have gotten hurt, much more than you already were," I said softly. He had lightly bumped my wrist with his cut hand as he flinched. I gasped at the pain I felt. The bruises must have gotten worse. His eyes widened and he ripped my hand away from the needle and pulled up my sleeve. His eyes lite up in flames. I pulled my hands away quickly and returned to the needle. He remained completely silent through the whole thing.
"Done," I mumbled as I made the last stitch.
"Whatever," he mumbled. He grabbed another bottle from the counter. I glared at him as he took a sip. I let go of the needle in my hand and took the bottle from his hand. I threw it into the sink. "What the hell?" He laughed. I rolled my eyes. I wrapped his hand with gaze and stepped back.
"I'm leaving," I snapped and walked into the living room where I grabbed my bag.
"How are you gonna get home? I was your ride?" He smirked as he walked in.
"I'll walk."
"No, it's cold," He snapped. I rolled my eyes and walked out the front door. "Shannon!" He yelled from behind me. I didn't bother looking back as I wrapped my sweatshirt tightly around my body and walked out from underneath the porch. The drizzling rain poured down on me as I made my way down the street.