ʙᴀᴅ ʜᴀʙɪᴛꜱ| ᴍ. ᴘᴇʀᴇᴢ

nine

The station was cold and busy. Ash sat in a waiting chair, a seat down from Anastasia who read what seemed to be a romance novel but he didn't read into it too much. He sat slumped in his chair as he watched his mother converse with one of the detectives who seemingly didn't give a shit about what she had to say. Then, she pointed in Ash's direction and the detective's eyes followed, she spoke angrily as she explained what happened.

Ash made up some bullshit story about how he walked home from school and encountered Nate blah blah blah, but it was all just hope. Hope that Nate didn't have an alibi and that his dickhead of a dad didn't care enough to hire some hotshot lawyer and instead would just drop the whole case. "Come on." Linda said breathlessly as she walked over to the pair, grabbing her handbag and keys. "What happened?" Ash asked quickly following behind and Anastasia only rolled her eyes as she swiftly put her book mark into place. "We're leaving." Linda spoke, a content smile on her face. "Thank god." Anastasia breathed in and Ash was only more confused. "Is that a good thing?" Ash asked as they left the sheriff's station and the alarm for the car went off as Linda unlocked it. "Well the guy was a dick." She began speaking, throwing her bag into the back seat as she inserted the key. "But he had to write a report." She shrugged yet Ash didn't know how she was so convincing with those biased cops. "Nice." He replied, fastening his seatbelt and looking out the window.

"Are you okay?" She asked reluctantly, almost too afraid to ask. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" He asked rhetorically. "Well you've had a shitty few weeks." She glanced over, her eyes quickly returning to the empty road ahead. "And your...face is all messed up." She spoke. "I'm sorry."

Ash looked at his mother sadly, ashamed that she felt so guilty for something that was completely out of her control. His face was still battered and painful, fresh scratches and scars scattered all over his face. He pulled out his now broken phone, sighing at the sorry sight. Linda glanced over again, eyebrows raising slightly in shock, yet she kept quiet, not wanting to make any promises about buying him a new one that she couldn't keep. "I was thinking about ordering some takeout." She broke the silence and Ana's breath hitched from the back. "Here, find something you want." Linda spoke, handing her phone behind her to the young girl.

"I'm just glad you're okay now." Linda changed the subject swiftly, speaking to her son in the passenger seat. Ash avoided her gaze, guilt brewing inside of him because he knew that although his life seemed somewhat better, it most definitely wasn't. "Have you been attending any meetings recently?" She asked bravely, her eyes glued to the road. "Mum-"

"Just say yes." She blinked for a long moment. "I need some reassurance right now." Her voice shook and Ash knew she knew the truth and yet he still lied anyway. "Yes." He nodded, his face turning to see hers and he watched as she nodded to herself repeatedly, convincing herself what he said was true. "Okay."

Ana sat in the back, earphones plugged into her ears yet no music was playing. She worried about her brother ever since his problems began, more so worried about the fact that she had no power in helping him at all. Sometimes as she fell asleep at night, she pictured her mother crying, her one and only son gone forever and how it would only be the two of them; another great loss to the family.

"Can I go to the carnival tomorrow?" She asked, pulling out one earphone from her ear as though she hadn't been listening to their conversation. "Gosh, is that tomorrow?" Linda asked herself out loud. "Yeah. And I told all my friends I could go so...?" Ana demanded an answer from her mother. Linda glanced at her son, hoping he would show some willingness to go with his sister. "Aslan?" She asked. "Mhm" was all he mumbled in response.

"How about you go with her?" She smiled as though it was the best idea she'd ever come up with. "No way!" Ana leaned forward from the back seats. "I'm not having him follow me around all night that's so embarrassing!"

"It's 'cause all her friends are obsessed with me." He smirked, nodding at his mother. "Gross." Ana hit his arm, a loud slap echoing through the small car. Linda smiled at her children, happy they could argue lightheartedly like siblings do. "Mum, please." Ana begged. "Let me go with my friends."

"On one condition." Linda looked in the mirror of the car. "You have to go too, Aslan."

"Mum-" Ana butted in, whining about her mother's decision. "Ah ah ah." Linda pointed in the mirror. "He won't be following you around...just attending the carnival." She shrugged. "God do I have to mum?" Ash joined in on the whining. "Yes. Go out, do something other than...I don't know getting beaten up all the time." Linda chuckled a little. "He has no friends." Ana mentioned. "Uh, no." Ash looked from his sister to his mother. "I have friends." He nodded yet he sounded as though he were lying.

"Oh really?" Ana snorted. "Yeah, so many friends." He reassured, getting comfortable in his seat as he avoided any eye contact. "Is Maddy one of your 'friends'?" Ana raised an eyebrow, her face cocky as she put her brother on the spot. "Maddy? Who's Maddy?" He shook his head, staring straight ahead at the road. "Good point, who is this Maddy?" Linda joined in. "His girlfriend." Ana crossed her arms over her chest. "What?!" Ash turned around swiftly in his seat. "Who's Maddy?!" Linda asked again louder. "Nate's ex-girlfriend." Ana nodded to herself as though she was the most knowledgeable person in the world.

"Cal's Nate? As in Nate Nate." Linda looked between her children frantically. "Yeah." Ana nodded looking very impressed by her brother's antics. "No, no you've got it all wrong." Ash laughed awkwardly, feeling his cheeks redden. "Oh totally." Ana agreed with him over dramatically. "That's why you bought her ice cream that one time and why you're always seen with each other."

"H- how do you know any of that?" Ash asked, eyebrows furrowed in genuine confusion. "You're basically a celebrity at school, you know ever since you came back." His sister shrugged as if anything she was saying was normal. "Right." He nodded to himself in utter confusion. "I'm lost." Linda sighed. "So you're dating Nate's ex?" She asked, attempting to clarify the masses of information Ana had previously shared. "Maybe that's why you keep getting beaten up by him." She laughed to herself, making fun of him but quickly stopping after realising it wasn't very funny. "Too soon, sorry."

"I'm not dating Maddy." Ash sighed, done with all the accusations. "You wish you were." Ana retorted underneath her breath. "Ana! Please just shut up." Ash ran his hands through his hair continuously.

The car pulled onto the driveway and one by one they made it out of the car and into the house. Ash made his way upstairs and to his room, shutting the door behind him. He pulled out his phone, only to be instantly disappointed by the completely shattered screen. Pieces of glass fell out on his hands and he rubbed them against his clothes, scattering them across the carpet. He flopped on his bed, staring at the white ceiling above him, sleep was creeping up on him but he couldn't bring himself to do it, he felt like there was something else he still had to do before he completely blacked out for a week straight.

He got up, opening up his laptop. He checked his messages. Empty. Not a single text from the person he wanted one from the most. He dropped his head back against the headboard of his bed wondering why he wanted a text from her that badly, what was this? He was confused by himself and his thoughts, why did he want her to reach out that badly? Was this because of Nate or his own objectives? He told himself he didn't know, but he also knew he did. This wasn't about getting revenge on Nate, this had become something totally different and that scared Ash.