Secrets in her pocket

Part 46 : Trust

Ashley's POV

Something is wrong.

Sitting under a tree in the Westwood park, I couldn't shake the feeling in my stomach that there was something clashing with everything that was related to being reasonable.

At that restaurant, my mind was kind of a bizzare and i needed to collect my thoughts. Thinking through this situation rationally at that point was becoming a difficult task. So, I decided to find some peace alone and now, I can think a lot more clearly.

In all the turn of events, everything is becoming strange. Unusual things are happening and i don't think that Paige is smart enough to plan all this. Obviously, someone is either helping her or someone is behind her with a totally different motive that i cannot think of.

Nonetheless, I needed to have a talk with Lucas. Because I cannot just imagine him doing something like that or maybe I am just naive, still thinking all of this even after seeing the proof.

Just to assure myself, I laid out every single picture in front of me and started observing them. Lucas almost always wears black. There are exceptions but he mostly wears black and that's exactly what the pics tell. But Paige is in a different outfit in each of them. Then, I get sick of seeing them together and stuff the pictures back in my bag.

Having enough of it already, I decided to switch on my phone and saw 12 missed calls from Lucas. Some were from Xavier and Carter too. He is probably worried about me. What am I even thinking after what I just saw. I mentally scolded myself and texted the culprit of my distress.

Me: Meet me in the Westwood park. ASAP.

Lucas: Hello!! Ashley, you scared me. Are you okay? Are you alright??

Me: Just come here.

Lucas: On my way.

I sat back down and hugged my knees. Forcing myself not to cry, I started thinking again about everything that has happened, trying to find something amiss or any loophole. But came up with nothing. I couldn't think straight after seeing those pictures again. I didn't want to believe the fact that I was being cheated on.

Then I heard my name being yelled and I stood up from my foetus position. Lucas was running towards me and as he reached me, he searched my body with his eyes for any sign of harm and when he found none, he embraced me in his arms tightly.

I didn't hug him back.

"What's wrong? Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" He fired question after question after releasing me.

"I am not hurt anywhere physically, calm down." I said, keeping all the emotions out of my voice.

"What is that supposed to mean??" He asked me. He looked genuinely concerned and I forced myself to take a step back.

"Tell me what's going on?" He asked, desperation was clear in his voice and hurt was shining in his stormy eyes.

I nodded slowly and took out the pictures from my bag and handed them to him, I wasn't able to make eye contact with him.

His face changed emotions drastically until they settled on a single one and his face bacame blank, emotionless. That's not at all what I expected. He didn't even appear to be shocked which gave me all the more reason to believe the pictures.

"Do you actually believe these?" He asked slowly, quietly.

It took me a moment to find the right words for his question,

"I don't want to, but I can't seem to find a reason as to why I should not believe them. So, please give me one! Please...., any logical reason would suffice!" I tried to say calmly but my voice was anything but calm.

He gave me a look. A look I couldn't decipher.

"Tell me what are you thinking." I asked him.

"I didn't know your trust for me was so little." His voice cracked slightly at the end. Like it was hurting him to say his thoughts.

"You should not be talking about trust right now." I said sternly as my eyes watered. I am pretty sure my face was turning red.

"If I didn't trust you, I would have thrown these pictures at your face. I would have talked shit to you. I would have broken up with you straight away. But I know about your character and the love you hold for me. So don't you dare talk about trust with me!." I yelled at him. I have never lost my calm before. But all the emotions inside me were just waiting to explode.

He closed his eyes for a second and tried to hug me but I pushed him away as tear drops fell from my eyes. His facade was crumbling and emotions were seeping out.

"Don't touch me and tell me what you think about these bloody pictures!!" I almost shouted again. It was becoming difficult for me to breathe.

He looked at me with concern and caution. "I don't know. This is me but not me! I have never been like this with her. Never! I don't know how this happened! The-they are probably edited or something. But you have to trust me that I have not cheated on you."

I turned around and closed my eyes as a few more tears landed on my cheeks. I don't know what to do or even think. My head hurted and my heart was hurting even more.

"Please tell me what you are thinking. Your silence is killing me." Lucas said desperately.

"Look, I am extremely infuriated and confused and I don't know what to do. I know what kind of person Paige is and how far she can go. But I can't just ignore this." I hissed.

And that's when I saw the black mask and hoodie. More importantly, I saw the shiny dagger.

In the next minute, I don't remember what happened. How I pushed Lucas out of the way, how I punched the hoodie guy, how I was stabbed instead of Lucas or how I landed in Lucas's lap, in my own pool of blood.

Lucas's eyes were wide and he was panicking.

"I've got you. It's going to be okay. Your are going to be okay!" He whispered frantically.

He immediately called 911 as pain started getting worse on my side. My eyes felt heavy but I tried to keep them open.

"You stay awake! Do you hear me, don't you dare close your eyes! Stay with me!" He pleaded as he cradled my face to his chest.

His voice then became a blur and my eyes closed momentarily.

I couldn't feel anything except the pain.

I couldn't think anything except the pain. It was getting worse.

But before I lost consciousness, I told him the truth.

"Lucas..... I believe in you."

I was keeping my promise. He will never get hurt because of me.