Wingless {Clifford A.U}

Chapter Eighteen

"Ashton? You don't mean Ashton Irwin do you?" Astrid asked nervously, hoping that what she thought was wrong.

"Yeah, you know him?" she asked curiously and Astrid widened her eyes in shock.

"Oh my God." she said worried.

"What?" Cassie asked. Astrid stood up quickly.

"E-excuse me for a moment." she said rushing out of Cassie's bedroom and into the bathroom that was down the hall. She shut herself inside and leaned over the sink, splashing water into her face. Cassie was the other girl, the girl that Ashton was cheating on Lauren with, how could she not say anything now.

Her nerves were getting worse and she felt like she was going to throw up, his words still ringing in her thoughts. It was hard enough keeping it from her best friend, but now she has to keep it from her new friend, it was all too much to handle. Her hands were shaking as she reached for the hand towel that rested on the counter and dried her face and hands off. She wasn't sure what she was going to do, but she couldn't just let Ashton keep leading the two girls on like that, it just wasn't right. Especially when she had to sit back and watch the whole thing because he had threatened her life.

She could tell Cassie...but then she'd confront him, and that couldn't happen, unless maybe she could convince her not to say anything. The problem with that idea is that Cassie won't want to be in a relationship with someone who has betrayed her trust for very long, but she only needs a little time. She let out a shaky breath and stepped out of the bathroom, her mind made up on what she had to do.

She quietly stepped into Cassie's bedroom where Cassie gave her a concerned look.

"Are you okay?" she asked and Astrid shook her head.

"No...I need to tell you something." She said and sat down in front of her.

"Okay, go on." Cassie said getting a bit nervous.

"Please don't be mad at me, just hear me out. I go to school with Ashton and a couple of days ago I-" she started, but couldn't complete her sentence because her voice was breaking too much.

"It's okay, keep going." Cassie said and she swallowed the lump in her throat.

"I have a friend named Lauren Blackwell, she's a really good friend of mine and..." she took a deep breath and exhaled loudly "she and Ashton are a couple, they have been for about a year now." she said quickly.

"W-what?" Cassie stuttered, tears stinging at the back of her eyes.

"I'm sorry, a couple of days ago I overheard a phone call between him and another girl while we were at Lauren's house. She has no clue that he's cheating." Astrid said apologetically. Cassie couldn't believe it and had trouble processing.

"Why haven't you told her? Why is this still going on?" She asked, not trying to hold back the tears anymore.

"Because he wouldn't let me. He threatened my life, I-I was a-afraid of him so I didn't t-tell." Astrid said, her voice was shaking.

"I'm calling him," Cassie said, her tone was angry, "that asshole has another thing coming if he thought he could get away with this." She said reaching for her phone, but Astrid knocked it from her hand.

"No don't!" She said, raising her voice slightly.

"Why the hell not? I'm not just going to sit here stuck in a relationship where I'm being lied to. That's not going work." Cassie said.

"Please, he'll hurt me, and people I love. I'm begging you please don't." Astrid pleaded.

"He's just bluffing. He's not going to do anything." Cassie said and Astrid shook her head.

"You don't know what he's capable of. Please trust me on this. Don't do anything yet." Astrid said.

"So what am I supposed to do? Just go along with this relationship like nothing is going on between him and another girl? I don't think I can do that." She said and Astrid sighed.

"Just a little while. Just so it doesn't seem suspicious like I told you." Astrid said. Cassie sighed and placed her phone back on her nightstand.

"One week. That's it. I'll go along for one week, then I'm ending it." Cassie said.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Astrid said repeatedly, hugging Cassie tightly in which Cassie returned weakly.

"I just can't believe it. He told me that he loved me." Cassie whimpered.

"He told Lauren the same thing. He's a liar and an asshole. Both of you deserve so much better than him." Astrid said.

"I should've known better. I thought he was with someone else a while back, but he swore up and down that I was the only one. But I was wrong, so, so wrong." She said wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

"He's a liar, and a good one, and he knows how to cover his tracks. It could've happened to anyone." Astrid said and Cassie sighed.

"Yeah, I guess. I ordered food about twenty minutes ago so I better go pick it up. You don't have to go if you don't want to." Cassie said, grabbing her keys.

"Okay, I'll stay." Astrid said and Cassie nodded.

"It's right down the road so I won't be long, but I need to clear my head." She said before walking out of the bedroom. 

She watched from the window as she saw Cassie's car drive away. She felt bad for having to break the news, but she also felt both relieved and anxious. Relieved because she was no longer keeping an important secret from someone who needed to know, but anxious because now that the secret is out to Ashton's other girl, there's always that chance that he'll know that it was her who had told and then there would be nothing stopping him from ending her life then and there. She's only worried that spilling the secret will only come back to bite her in the ass.

A/N: So, here's chapter 18. It probably sucks really bad but I'll go back and edit later on after I finish the book. Please vote and comment or leave feedback (try to keep it positive and constructive criticism, because my self esteem is pretty much non existent) Love you guys

-Xx E.J