The Nerd and The Bully

034. The Truth Comes Out

TW: mention of drugs, overdose and suicide‼️

-Ashton's POV-

I don't know what to do. I haven't spoken to Gracie in two weeks. I don't even know if we're still together or not. We're skating on thin ice. I hate this distance between us.

The story she had told me made sense. I was just to hurt and I didn't wanna think about it. Flashbacks of when my last girlfriend had hurt me came to mind and I couldn't.

Gracie has tried calling me twice but I ignored. I'm guessing the more I ignored her, she'd just stopped trying. I sigh and get up from bed. My dad had wanted me and him to meet for lunch this evening.

I hope Gracie is doing okay. She was scared of me the last time, I remember that. I hope she's easing up. I checked the time and groaned. Time to get ready for this pointless lunch.

-Gracia's POV-

I don't know what to do. Ash hasn't been answering my calls. He's mad at me, I know that. But I didn't do anything. I didn't mean to hurt him. I'll probably try again today.

Gwen, Serena and I had planned to have a girl's day just to get my mind off of everything. I'm currently getting dressed for that. I don't know what we're gonna do but I hope I can take my mind off of everything.

I walk downstairs and my dad is reading the newspaper while my mom is sipping coffee. Callie was sitting at the table, looking through her new schedule.

"Good morning." I say.

"Good morning, honey." Mom says. "I fixed a little yogurt parfait for you. It's in the fridge." She says and I nod.

I walk in the kitchen and grabbed my breakfast. I sit next to Callie. She looked super focused. "Need help?" I ask.

She chuckles. "No, Gracie. I'm good. I'm just trying to see if I can fit all of this in my day."

"I'm sure you can. You managed when you worked at that hotel, this is no different." I say.

She chuckles. "Thanks for reminding me about how I had to clean toilets at 19." She says and we both laugh.

"Girls, we have news." Dad says, sitting at the table with us.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"Me and your father will be leaving for Germany next week and we might be there longer than the other times." Mom says. I frown.

"Oh. What for?" I ask.

"You know, business." She says and I nod.

"We'll miss you both." Callie says and I nod in agreement.

"This weekend, we wanna spend a lot of time with you two before we leave. How about a trip to the mall on Sunday?" Dad asks.

"I don't think I'll have plans so sure." I say.

"Yeah, same." Callie says.

"Go back to eating your breakfast, Gracie. You're hanging with friends today." She says and I nod.

I finish my breakfast and wait for Serena and Gwen to pull up so we can go. After a couple of minutes, Serena comes in and has sunglasses. Gwen is sitting in the passenger seat.

"Get in, loser. We're going shopping." She says and I laugh.

"Really, a 'Mean Girls' line?" I ask once I'm in the backseat.

"CiCi, that movie is iconic." She says and I laugh.

~

We ride to the mall and I'm actually having a lot of fun. My mind was still on Ashton but I was having fun. I just hope we get to talk soon.

"CiCi! You gotta try this on!" Serena hands me a white crop top. The sleeves were laced.

I try it in the dressing room and I actually love it. She had picked ripped jeans for it as well. Thank goodness I have enough money because I'm definitely getting this.

I bought the outfit, along with a couple of jewelry. We had also stopped at a Starbucks to get some coffee. The usual girl thing. We still had a lot of things to do and I was excited.

-Ashton's POV-

"Thank you, son. For coming." My dad says. I mentally roll my eyes.

"Yeah. What is it that you need to talk to me about? If it's about you getting full custody, I don't want that." I tell him.

"I know, I would never wanna pull you away from your brother." He says and I nod. "It's about your mother."

"Dad, my mom died. There's nothing to talk about." I say.

"No. The real reason she had died. I couldn't keep this a secret from you anymore." He says. I prepare myself for what's about to happen.

"Son... your mom didn't die from a car accident. She died from drug overdose which was also a suicide." My eyes went wide. My mom was a drug addict?

He explained to me everything. She was a drug addict, couldn't go an hour without snorting shit up her nose. She would give Austin cigarettes at the age 11, that's probably why Austin resent her. She would also fuck around to get money for drugs.

Turns out when my dad had handed her divorce papers, she had took so much pills and injected herself with so much liquid metal so that she could die. I was shocked.

I left. I couldn't hear anymore. Shit. She wasn't who I thought she was. I can't. I sped home, lucky not to get a ticket. Austin was sitting on the couch.

"Austin, did Mom used to force you to smoke cigarettes when you were 11?" I ask, desperately wanting him to say no. He stayed quiet.

"Dad told you." Is all he says.

"Bro, what? Why would she do that to you?" I ask, tears rolling down my eyes.

"She wanted us to be like her. She didn't give a damn about us, Ash. She would try to put stuff in your nose when you were asleep in my room. That night when you were 6, you woke up from screaming." He says.

I then remember. One night, I woke up hearing my mom and dad screaming downstairs. Austin just told me to go back to sleep and that everything was fine. I went back to sleep, not caring about what was going on.

"No." I say quietly. Austin hugs me. I cry. "I need to go upstairs. I need time to myself." I told him and he nods.

~Gracia's POV~

Shopping with the girls went really well. But I miss Ashton too much. I took out my phone, getting ready to call him. His name then appears. I excitedly pick up.

"Ashton?" I say. I hear sniffling in the background.

"- Baby, I need you." He says and I tell him I'll be there.

I run all the way to his house. I got in and walked upstairs. When I walk in his room, his head was down. He must've not noticed I was in.

"Hey." I said. He raised his head up.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me in his chest, shutting the door behind him. He hugged me. I hugged him back. I missed this. I miss him.

He mumbles something that I wasn't able to really understand. "What?" I ask.

"I thought we were gonna break up." He says, he's crying.

"Oh, no. Come here. I'm here." I say and hug him again. "I love you." I tell him.

"I love you." He says.

"What's wrong? Talk to me." I pull out of the hug to look into his eyes.

"I don't wanna talk right now."

And with that, he pulls me in, slamming his lips on mine.

~~
A/N: Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! So, a very deep truth comes out... how do you feel? Stay tuned for the next chapter! Comment your thoughts and vote! Thanks for reading!