I'll Run to You // Awsten Knight

Chapter 46 - It Was You

"Hope!" Maliki called from down the sidewalk, causing her to make a 180 that would give anyone whiplash. "I have to show you something and it can't wait."

"Why are you here? How did you even know I'm here?" It wasn't a question they should ignore but did anyway, and Hope would've insisted they answer it until she saw that Maliki was holding up their phone to her as she spoke, and she couldn't get a good look until she grabbed it, giving a giddy smile as she saw it was just Awsten walking with a new cup of coffee in his hand. She recalled seeing Awsten that day; it must have been a few weeks prior to her leaving for tour as he was wearing the shirt she got him. "Are you just here to rub in how I couldn't be with my boyfriend until now?"

Maliki rolled their eyes as if what they were trying to get her to see was obvious, but before they could explain what it was, Hope interrupted, "Wait, where did you find this?" She kept scrolling, finding it was a whole album of Awsten.

Every single photo, he was either across the street from the photographer or they were behind him. It didn't make sense all until in a single second something clicked in her brain. No, it's not true. She thought to herself.

But could it be? Could Maliki be the one who was watching the two the entire time?

"I don't believe it... you were watching us the whole time, weren't you?" Hope took a step back with the phone still in her hand, clearly, if it was true, Maliki didn't seem at all worried if she found out.

"I'm sorry you had to figure it out this way, Hope. I thought you were smarter and would know that it, in fact, was me," they sounded menacing, voice soothing and smooth as caramel. "But," they continued, "I only did it because I knew there was something going on with this Awsten guy. He didn't seem good enough from the start, and now I know why."

Maliki took the phone from her hand and zoomed into the photo more to his hand, and at first she didn't see it, until she did. A small, silver ring, shining in the sunlight on Awsten's finger. But...how?

Hope couldn't find any other words than, "When?"

"Remember when I said I was going on vacation?" A glint in their eye started to become more and more noticeable, almost as if Maliki was enjoying this. "Well, that was only a few weeks ago, I did go on a vacation, only to pay your little guy a visit. To, you know, check up on how he's been behaving without you. So, it turns out he's been back with his ex girlfriend for quite some time. Looks like the cheater taught the old dog old tricks."

Hope found it ridiculous, mostly since they got the joke wrong, but Awsten cheating on her? Now that would be impossible. He promised her. "But.." she started, "he promised me."

"All promises are meant to be broken, honey-" Maliki trailed a hand down from Hope's elbow to her wrist.

"Don't call me that." She snapped her arm back, going rigid after. She had too many questions, Maliki was the stalker. Awsten was cheating on her. Why? When? Why?

A sigh left Maliki's mouth, "I've only done this to protect you, Hope. I'd never do this to you in my life. I knew from the start that Awsten was some douche coming into your life just to ruin it. He didn't deserve you. He never needed you like I did. I can help you break up with this guy in just the right time, you don't need to be with a guy that never wanted you. He only wanted to use you for popularity and leave you once he got what he wanted; I just figured it out before he could hurt you to your face."

Baffled, she took another step back, "If you think showing me all of this will make you a hero and I'll get with you, you have to be the most fucked up person I've ever met in my life. Maliki, you're off this tour, you're out of my life, and these photos are coming with me to show him."

"Then," Maliki persisted, "once you kick me off of this tour, I'll just expose your whole relationship to the world and we'll see how that goes especially after they all find out what he did. All of his fans will go against him and love you even more." That glint turned to insane rage.

"You want those fans, I don't want to take them. Nobody is knowing about any relationship," she tried to consider another way out, but she couldn't think so hard on the spot. "I'll..break up with Awsten and you're still on the tour. But I'm not dating you after what you've caused me all of these months."

"Fair," they agreed.

Hope put the phone in her back pocket in order to use it once she saw Awsten walk out of the front door, and it won't be long until he does. She would figure it all out. It wasn't true. It couldn't be true. But then there was that proof.

She walked past Maliki to the to the front door in order to hide the hot, growing tears at the brim of her eyes. All of those days and nights had been of fake feelings for her.

That ring. That ring. It was all she could think about until Maliki was gone when she turned around and Awsten walked out of the house.

Hope hadn't noticed him until he spoke, "Are you ready to go?"

It was like being hit with a brick wall when Hope turned back around and saw the look on Awsten's face, pure innocence and joy.

How could he?

She saw the look change once he saw that she, in fact, was crying. "Oh no, what happened?"

...How could he?

"Are you fucking with me right now?" She said with anger, it made her feel more confident and less shaky once she heard herself.

Awsten grew more concerned, and maybe even a little nervous. "What are you talking about?" He tried reaching for Hope's hand but she pulled away before he even got close to her.

She took out the phone from her pocket and pulled up the same image of him with the ring on. "You've been with your ex this whole time, haven't you?" That was when all confidence was lost and Hope started sobbing, but kept the phone up for Awsten to see what she was trying to show him. "You've been wearing that ring she gave you when I'm not around, do you think I'm stupid? How could you even do this to me?" She was shaking, she was crying, she was broken and hurt and her heart was shattered. But she would not walk away without an answer.. she thought.

"Hope, I'm not with her, I haven't dated her since," Awsten's voice was now shaky too.

Hope knew there was guilt in his face. He knew he did something wrong, he did something horribly wrong and he couldn't take it back, couldn't fix it. He was caught and there was nothing he could do about it. It was done. She knew.

"Then explain why you've been hiding that ring from me and wearing it when I'm not with you. You got back with her and you're still in love with her. I don't understand why or how you could just toy with me like that. I thought I could trust you, Awsten."

His name coming from her was now like a knife stabbing him straight into the heart. Everything about this interaction since he came outside had him flustered and scared.

"I told you already, I'm not dating her!" Awsten raised his voice unintentionally, and regretted it as soon as he realized.

It cause Hope to flinch backward, away from him.

Before she could say anything she would also regret, Hope managed to say something, "I don't want to see your face again. You're out of my life and I'm going to have nothing to do with you. Don't try to contact me, don't do anything. Don't send somebody I'm still friends with to come talk to me and defend you. It's all over.. fuck this and fuck you." Then she was storming away and into the house to grab her stuff.

She was leaving and wouldn't look at him as she did. It was heartbreak and betrayal, it was murder and it was loss, grief and irrational. All of it.

Hope didn't know what else she could do. She wanted to believe Awsten, but he wasn't answering anything other than the same thing over and over. "I'm not dating her!" was all she thought about as she quickly packed her bag back up. She ignored the tears streaming down her face and she walked past Ginny asking if she was all right, none of this was all right. Everything was all wrong.