she will be loved -- ashton irwin

ix.

she really could not believe what she was seeing. ashton had heard everything. she paced back and forth in her room, her palms pressed to her temples.

she'd managed to hide her secret for years. she'd mastered using her concealer and powder so well, there was no way anyone could see. she'd gotten so used to lying about it all that it was second nature. and all of that was crashing down to nothing as she sat around watching.

ashton's mother was running against her father in the election. ashton now had information that could ruin her father's entire career, which, in turn, could potentially ruin hunter's entire life.

hunter heard the chime of the doorbell ringing through the house. she peeked out of her window to find the absence of both jonathon and kimberly's vehicles and the presence of the one she'd become familiar with the previous evening. as a mixture of butterflies and anxiety stirred in the pit of her stomach, hunter raced down the staircase to the front door, where she found ashton irwin leaning against the door frame.

"i was beginning to wonder if you were going to even let me in or not. i thought maybe you had run off or something," he chuckled, but hunter's face remained flat. "may i come in?"

hunter had to act normal. she had to put those lying skills to use. "sure."

ashton stepped inside carefully, taking a look around the foyer he had entered. "damn, this is really nice."

"we can go upstairs to my room, if you want," hunter brushed off everything he had just said. ashton nodded and proceeded to follow her up the staircase into the room she had been standing in the night before as he looked up at her through the window.

"can we talk about last night?" he asked as she sat on the edge of her bed.

"oh, yeah. it was a really nice night, ash, i had a great time," she forced a smile.

"not the date, hunter. you know what i mean."

she furrowed her eyebrows. "no, i don't, if you aren't talking about the date."

"come on, don't do this. please. i want to help you, hunter. don't play stupid with me."

hunter cringed as she heard those words fall from his mouth. it was the exact thing her father had screamed at her. "ashton, i--"

"listen to me. hear me out. i heard the whole thing that went on in here last night. i was standing right outside the open window. you don't have to hide it from me anymore, hunt, i want to listen!"

"and why is that? so you can run and tell every newspaper in this city that jonathon sutton is an abusive father? so you can ruin the whole election for him, everything he cares about? do you want to ruin my father's life? do you want to ruin mine?"

"wait, what? i--"

"no, if you get to speak, so do i! you and i both know you don't care about girls. you use them. you're only doing this so you can get all of this inside stuff and run and tell your mommy so you guys can win."

ashton sat quietly as hunter yelled. he wanted her to get it all out, because only god knows how long she's been holding it all in.

"why aren't you talking?!" she screamed, tears beginning to shine in her eyes.

"you wanted to speak, and like i said, i wanted to listen. are you finished?"

hunter dropped her hands to her sides in defeat. "yes."

"can i speak? and will you listen?"

"sure."

"okay. remember that day that your friend and calum went out on that date, and they set me up with you?"

hunter nodded.

"that was way before i knew about this election stuff. that was before i knew you. like you said, i wasn't very good to girls. just ask your sister. but, as cliche as i may sound, you did something to me, hunter sutton. other than that night, have i been anything other than a gentleman to you?"

she thought for a moment, before shaking her head. he had always been respectful to her whenever they were out, other than that first night.

"i really like you, hunter. a lot. please believe me when i say that. and i'm only here, trying to get you to talk about this because i really, really like you. i'm here because i want you to have a safe haven. i don't want you to be living in this hell all alone. i want you to know i'm right here, and i want to help."

she sniffled and rubbed her fingers across her cheeks, clearing them of teardrops. "you aren't doing this to help your mom?"

"god, no. i'm doing this to help you."

hunter sat up straighter and tried to keep her wall built up, to prevent herself from crying harder than she had been, but lately, she had just grown tired of it. her back arched, her head falling into her open palms, and the wall collapsed. tears fell from her eyes like a waterfall. she soon felt ashton's fingers wrap themselves around hers, and he gently pulled them from her face, forcing her to sit up and look at him.

his eyes fell on the dark blue and purple bruise on her forearm, and his jaw dropped. he'd heard jonathon's harsh words, but he didn't realize it went beyond that. "did he do this to you?"

her eyes darted away from his.

"hunter, it's okay to tell me. please."

she nodded, her gaze still to the floor.

"oh, my god," he gasped. "i'm going to get you out of here, hunter, this isn't fair to you. you don't deserve this."

"no," she said quickly. "no. you can't tell anyone, my dad will get in trouble, and he'll never forgive me. please don't; i can handle this."

"you aren't any match for him, hunter, you can't do this alone."

"i can figure it out! i've been living in this for years. don't tell anyone. just.. stay here with me a little while. don't leave me, ashton."

ashton leaned back to lay down on her bed, after kicking off his shoes, and hunter followed suit. he wrapped his arms around her, her head resting against his chest as she cried quietly. his fingers stroked her hair, and every now and then, would wipe under her eyes.

"i would never."