Ablaze

Thirty Four

Kaen's POV

Ow. My head fucking hurts.

I flicker my eyes open, suddenly remembering what happened last night.

I stayed up until about four in the morning waiting for Ash to come home... but I guess she never did.

I check my phone for the time— 7:21AM.

No messages from Ash.

Fuck.

Once I wake up a bit more, I start to smell coffee.

Is she home? No... it's probably the stupid fucking automatic shit. Well, might as well go get some, considering I only slept for three hours.

I drag myself to the kitchen, plopping down at the table without even looking.

"Hi."

Her sweet voice shocks my whole body when I hear it and I quickly turn around to see her, sitting on the couch.

A wave of relief washes over me, "You came home." I say as I walk over to her.

"Of course I came home, idiot."

We briefly hug, "Kae—"

"Before you say anything, let me just say this— I'm so fucking sorry, Ashling. For everything. There was so much going on and I didn't even know it was you when I pushed you. I'm so fucking sorry."

"It's okay... relax, baby." She cups my face, "I know that you would never hurt me. I was just more upset at the fact of how angry you were. I haven't seen you like that in so long, so it just surprised me. You had been doing so good at dealing with your anger, and I knew that after this happened, you were going to be angry with yourself. But I'm okay, I promise. I'm not mad at you or anything."

How could one person be this selfless? She was only mad because she knew I was going to be mad at myself... I mean, who thinks like that? Even after all this time we've been together... I still feel like I don't deserve her.

"But I still laid my hands on you, and that's not okay."

"You didn't know it was me."

"I don't care. I was angry enough to not even realize, and I almost hurt you. How could you forgive me?"

She sighs, "Kaen... please stop beating yourself up over this. I'm fine. You would never hurt me on purpose, and if you ever did on accident, it'd be okay... because you could never really hurt me. Please, baby, let this go. It's okay, I promise."

She hugs me tightly and I rest my head on top of hers, "Thank you. I really don't know what I'd do without you. I love you."

"I love you, too."

We hug in silence for a moment before I speak up again, "Oh, yeah... what time did you come home last night? I waited up until about four, but you still weren't home. I ended up falling asleep."

"You waited up all night for me?"

"Well, not all night... but yeah."

"I'm sorry, I should've come home sooner. I was talking with Del for a while once everybody left, then he drove me home at around five, I think. I haven't slept yet."

"You haven't slept at all?" I say concerningly.

"No... I'm exhausted."

"Get your ass in bed, right now."

"If I take a nap now, I'll waste away the whole day."

"Yeah, I don't care. You need to sleep."

"Fine, fine. Come with me back to bed."