Breathless // lp

Chapter 9.

"Say you love me," Ash mumbled under her breath, mindlessly kicking at the rocks that came across her path. Tear tracks streamed down her splotchy red cheeks, and her whispy hair flew back behind her shoulders as a playful wind  tumbled towards her. 

She was walking agonizingly slow, barely able to carry her guitar case let alone let it drag along behind her. However, Ash didn't care in the slightest. If she could, Ash would have cried her heart out on the road right there. But she had no tears left, and the energy had almost completely drained from her body. 

All Ash wanted was to turn around and see Liam standing there behind her. But as she did so, she only saw the barren road, twisting to a right before being completely hidden behind the foresty trees. 

She almost regretted leaving, but then again she didn't. After all, all Ash thought of herself as was a burden against the both of them. And the fear of Harry being there terrified her. He reminded her of her dad. 

And the closet. 

Ash shook her head, forcing herself to think of something else. 

"Say you love me," Ash repeated, anger building up inside of her. She clenched her fists, gripping onto the guitar case until her knuckles whitened. Forcing herself to walk faster, Ash pursed her lips as tightly as she could. 

The gravely rocks crunched beneath her feet as she walked. Ash bit her lip as she felt another crying sensation sting in her eyes. Looking up, Ash let out a frustrated scream, stomping her foot to the ground and squeezing her eyes shut. 

"Say you love me!" She shouted, letting out a loud sob before falling to the ground defeatedly. Her guitar case tumbled down the side of the road, hitting the pavement with a soft thud.  

Ash hid her face into the sleeve of her hoodie and sobbed. Her feet kicked angrily at the gravel, casuing red marks to appear on the bare skin of her legs.  

"Liam, say you love me," She whispered softly, looking up from her sleeve as the sobs died down to small sniffles. The wind played with her hair, sending whisps of it in front of her face, but Ash didn't bother to wipe them away. Her eyes fixed on nothing, she just stared straight ahead. 

Slowly forcing herself to stand, Ash only fell to the ground again, pain shooting through her legs. She let out a surprised gasp, her heart pounding. The feeling was not foreign to her, yet it never managed to make her feel like hell. Ash let out a small whine. 

The gravely sound of tires over the road made her snap her head up. A blue truck slowed down until it came to a halt. Ash felt her chest tighten in fear. The drivers side door slammed and the sound of heavy boots made Ash start to tremble. 

A man's form appeared in front of her. Ash stared at his boots, unable to look up at his face. She already knew who it was. A finger held her chin and slowly tilted it up, forcing Ash to glance up at the man. 

She let out a tearful cry and breathed heavily. The man smirked evilly. Ash turned away from her father, fearfully shaking herself from his gentle touch. However, gentle soon turned into rough as her father grasped Ash's arm and yanked her up to his eye level. 

"Thought you could run away, huh?"

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Liam toed off his shoes and shrugged off his jacket at the same time, balancing the groceries on his knee in an inhumane posistion. The keys dangled from inbetween his teeth until he pulled them from his mouth and hung them on the hook. The house was strangely quiet, but Liam payed no attention. 

Grabbing the grocery bag, Liam rolled his shoulders back and let out a small groan. 

"Ash! Come here, babe." Liam called out, shuffling into the kitchen and setting down the bag. He reached inside and pulled out a bottle of asprin, as well as several other items before he paused.