Change of Heart (A One Direction & Emblem3 Fan Fiction)

Chapter 47

Ashlyn's POV

"Are you sure you're not coming?" I asked quietly, letting my dark brown curls fall down, covering my face.

Liam looked sad. "Yeah," he said quietly. "Eleanor's court case is being held then, and Louis wants all of us there."

"Plus Dani's there," I said, and as hard as I tried, I couldn't keep the accusation out of my voice.

Liam sighed, running a hand through his brown hair. "Ash..."

"You're right, I'm being selfish," I admitted. "I'll leave you be. I just really wanted to see you. But...I respect your decision."

That last part was really hard to get out, it was like stabbing a knife in my leg and then dragging the blade through my entire body. Slow torture.

Liam sighed. "Ash...Why don't you come to Toronto to support El?"

"Support her?" I asked. "She's never liked me. She's always gotten along with Skylar."

Liam frowned. "You've gotta see it from her point of view, Ash. Eleanor's always been closer to Skylar, you're right. You hurt Skylar by ending your friendship without even telling her, and El's going to gravitate to Skylar's side, easily. And since she and Dani are joined at the hip, Dani's going to take Skylar's side too. But I think if you just let loose a bit and maybe apologized to Skylar, you could get along nicely--"

"Forget it," I said sorrowfully. "I can't do that."

"I don't get it," Liam said quietly. "Why did you even end your friendship?"

"I didn't mean to," I said softly, feeling guilty. "I just got so mad when she left. And when Tiff entered the picture, I guess I threw away our relationship for her. Which is total bull, now that I think about it."

"What did she do to you this time?" Liam asked, concerned.

I turned bright red. No way was I telling him we'd gotten into a fight about our relationships.

"You can tell me," Liam coaxed.

I sighed. "We got into a fight over you, Liam."

"What?" Liam asked, confused.

I let tears cloud my vision of my boyfriend on the laptop screen. "She...she kept going on about how perfect her relationship was. I told her to stop it, because it was making me uncomfortable, and she said she was allowed to talk about her relationship because she was the one in one."

"What are you talking about?" Liam asked, horrified.

"It's not like that," I reassured him, wiping my eyes. "The thing is, you spend so much time with Dani that I feel left out, I guess, and Tiff took that to her advantage and said that I shouldn't be in a relationship when I don't even know where we stand." I took a deep breath. "But I think I'm okay with that. What really pissed me off though..." I trailed off as I swallowed. "Tiff doesn't seem to care about anyone but herself. And I can't believe I ended my friendship with Skylar for...her."

Liam's face was sympathetic. "Oh, Ash," he said quietly. "It's all right."

"I guess what I should establish first is..." I willed myself to stay calm. "Do you even want to be dating me? Or do you think we're better off as friends?"

Liam didn't answer for a few seconds. "I don't know," he said carefully.

"Liam, this is important," I mumbled. "I need to know whether I should even bother."

"Bother dating me?" Liam asked, obviously hurt.

"No," I said. "Whether I bother to keep trying to fight to make our relationship work. Because between you being away on tour and seeing Dani every other weekend, and Tiff bitching to me about how I shouldn't be dating anyone because I don't have the guts to ask where we stand, I'm starting to get really stressed out."