Breathless // lp

Chapter 5.

Ash didn't know how long she had cried for. But for hours it seemed she let out wretched sobs and moans that she didn't even know she could handle. Usually Ash would have been immune to such rude comments made to her, but the fact that it was Harry who did it, hurt even worse. 

If someone on the street had told her she looked like a skeleton, Ash wouldn't mind because the chances of seeing them again are slim. But with Harry, he's the one that she has to stay with as long as she's in Liam's care. And it hurt to see that he thought of her that way. And the very thought that he might be capable of taking action into hurting her, scared the living daylights out of Ash. 

After a long debate with herself, Ash peeled her tear stricken face from deep in her pillow and listened to the mindless chatter and laughter that rang out from beyond her bedroom. Slowly, she wiped her face until the tears were no longer evident and walked towards the door. 

Ash pressed her ear to the wood of the door, wondering if Liam had brought friends over. Almost certainly, there were voices she'd never heard before. Unless more people live here. Ash shuddered at the thought. 

Slowly, she creaked open the door and bit her lip as she tip toed down the hallway. She can hear Liam speaking in a cheerful tone, laughter echoing in the large living room. But when Ash appears it stops - or at least softens when Liam spots her and says "Come join us, love!" 

But she doesn't - not immediately anyway. Instead, she merely walks towards the entrance and stands in the doorway, her head of red curls blocking the view of her green orbs.

For a second, Ash almost dares herself to look up from her sneakers but she quickly decides against the thought and continues to stare at the detail in the coffee brown carpet. It's quite fascinating really, the way the darker brown stains collide with the lightness of the carpe-

"Ash, come sit with us!" Liam calls again. Caving in, Ash sauntered towards Liam and plopped down next to him, bringing her eyes up to stare at the four boys in front of her. 

One of them she already knew - Harry. But the other three were ones she'd never seen before. They were all quite attractive, late teens Ash might have guessed. 

"Ash, this is Zayn," Liam said pointing to the one with a black quiff and leather jacket. "This is Niall," He said, moving his finger to point at a blonde boy with braces. "And this is Louis," Liam finishes, pointing towards a boy with light brown fringe and piercing blue eyes. 

"Boys, this is Ash." Liam smiled proudly. Ash gave them a weak smile and waved. 

"Hey Ash! I've heard a lot about you!" 

"Yeah, wasn't she some girl on the streets Liam rescued? How heroic!" 

"She's not a sheltered puppy, Niall!"

"She's not talking. You think she likes carrots? Why isn't she talking? I love to talk, I mean sometimes I go overboard but still I love to talk! Is she shy? I'm not shy I-" 

"WE GET IT, Louis!" Liam shouted, rubbing his temples. Louis scoffed and rolled his eyes, earning a small chuckle from Ash.  

"They're very amusing," She whispered subtly to Liam. Liam snickered and nodded his head in agreement. 

"Yeah, they are pretty rambunctious at times, but I manage to keep them down mostly." Liam chuckled.

"So, you wanna play a game with us, Ash?" Zayn asked cheerfully, pointing to the game of scrabble that was already set up on the floor. Ash looked down at it and frowned. 

"Don't worry, we'll teach you!" Niall laughed, rolling up his sleeves as he began to drone about the instructions. 

After many attempted words, hilarious situations, and bending the rules a bit, Ash finally managed to beat the entirety of the boys.