Rhythm || Ashton Irwin

Chapter Thirty-Five

(Lauren’s POV)

Ashton’s face slowly changed from confusion to a look of shock as his eyes fell on Noelle.  The pit in my stomach continued to grow as I watched my sister slowly step into Cassie’s house.

“Alex,” Cassie hissed, “what is wrong with you?”  She practically spat as he made his way over to Noelle.

“It’s Thanksgiving Cass, today is about family,” Alex countered, moving his younger sister out of the way to give Noelle a tight hug.  I knew they were still friends.  I knew they talked, but I never thought he would do something like this.  “Her family is here.”

My eyes were glued to her.  It was as if I was seeing a ghost, and to be honest, I think I would have preferred that in this moment.  She still looked the same, a little more mature than when I’d last seen her.  Her blonde hair didn’t fall down to the middle of her back anymore, now just brushing her shoulders.

I swallowed the lump that had grown in my throat as I tore my gaze away from her and over to my parents.  They sat rigid in their chairs, both seeming to have frozen out of shock.  That is until my mother suddenly found her voice. 

“You have some nerve,” she practically growled, slamming her utensils that she had been clutching onto the table, causing me to jump and Mackenzie to start to cry. The distaste in her words was almost cringe worthy.

Shannon quickly picked up her now crying children and left the room, Alex quick to follow close behind.  Take me with you.

“Kathrine-“ my dad muttered, resting a hand on her shoulder only to have her shove it off.

 “You,” she seethed, pointing at Noelle as she rose from her seat.  “You are not welcome here.”

“Mom,” Noelle choked out, barely above a whisper.  “I-I just."

“You what?  You thought you could just show up after five years?  What do you need now?  Have you come to drain our bank account again?”

“Katherine, maybe we should take a walk?” Cassie’s mother questioned, clearly trying to loosen the tension in the air.

“No.  I don’t need to walk,” my mother spat, shutting down Cassie’s mother’s attempts with the flick of her wrist.

I felt the tears start to build up in my eyes as flashbacks from my past came flooding back.  It was as if I was having déjà vu.  I let my eyes flutter shut, too anxious to even see what was going to happen next.  Just as the first tear slipped down my cheek, I felt Ashton’s calloused hand link with mine, giving it a small squeeze as he pulled me into his side, blocking my view of the showdown that was currently still happening in the dining room.  Seconds later, there was another pair of hands rubbing my back soothingly.  I didn’t have to open my eyes to know it was Cassie.

“You’re pathetic, you know that?” my mother’s voice rang through the pent house, followed by nothing but silence.

Glancing from behind Ashton, I saw my sister shaking her head in anger before her eyes landed on mine, completely ignoring my mother’s taunting words.  “Lauren..”  The way my name rolled off her tongue was enough to send me over the edge.  It almost sounded like begging.

“She doesn’t want to talk to you either,” my mother said pointedly.

“Lauren,” she said quieter as she began walking towards me.  “I don’t know what they told you,” she said, pointing to my still fuming mother and my expressionless father.  “But I swear I never wanted this.”

She never wanted this?  There was no one else to blame for this other than her.  She was the one that left.  She left me without so much as a goodbye.  She didn’t even try to reach out until five years later.  But she never wanted this.