Destiny

Chapter 27. Tied down

With all the adventure she'd forgotten that she was supposed to go through the books that Jan left so when she woke up by noon the next day, she hurriedly showered, called Ash over and ate, not necessarily in that order.

She was at her table, all six books spread out in front of her, spinning on the swivel chair when Ash knocked.

"Come in if you're not my dumb older brother" she said.

"I heard that dweeb!" Damon yelled from his room as Ash opened the door and walked in.

"Don't care. You love me anyway!" She yelled back. She heard him laughing and shook her head, then turned to Ash.

"Hey" she said.

"Hi" he replied. He appeared to not know where exactly to sit or if he should. There was none of the ease and connection they'd had with each other for years.

"How're you coping with, you know?" She asked. He sighed.

"I've been better. To be honest Melody's been the only grounding force in my life"

"How is she by the way?" Kat asked.

"Oh she's great" he smiled then, as he thought of her. "She's so vibrant and full of life, so willing to see and learn new things. She keeps asking for you though"

"I'll just have to drop by and say hi. I miss her" she sighed and they lapsed into awkward silence. Silence between them had never been awkward.

"Will you ever really forgive me?" He finally addressed the elephant in the room.

"Was it true what he said?" She asked.

"What?" He asked, thrown off balance.

"That you were in love with me. Is that true?" His eyes widened, then he sighed.

"Yes. I fell in love with you" he said.

"Ash, you know I love you. Just not that way. How will we get past that when I feel like I'm hurting you?" She asked sadly.

"These past few days after I found out that Melanie was dead have been eye opening. I realized that I wasn't in love with you, I was in love with the closeness that we shared. I haven't really been close to a female that way ever in my life. So I guess I convinced myself that was love. It was. Just not the kind I thought. Plus you remind me so much of my sister. I never realized until now" he explained. She grinned and jumped unto him, forcing him to stumble a bit and then catch her, holding her to himself.

"I've missed you" she said.

"Me too" he replied with a content smile on his face. "Does this mean you forgive me?"

"I don't think it was ever about forgiveness. It was about trust. I wasn't sure I could trust that the friendship we have is real. Now I am"

Eventually they separated and both sat at the edge of her bed almost in sync.

"So you called me here to confirm if I liked you?" He teased.

"Actually I called you here to blackmail you into telling me all you know about Kayden. Actually more guilt trip than blackmail" she said.

"Why don't you ask him? He'll tell you"

"Not what I want to know. He says he physically can't"

"Oh no. I know what you're talking about. I can't either. I don't know if he told you but you're supposed to discover everything for yourself" Kat groaned.

"I think I just found my new worse statement!"

"I'm sorry Kat" he said.

"Yeah thanks. Load of good that does me"