Chasing Her

Ashton

As Layla came out of the bathroom fully dressed I decided I shouldn't bring up what happened. Clearly it brought bad memories that had great power over her.

Enough power to put her in a coma. I felt like this was all my fault. And it was. If I would've never mentioned it.. Then she wouldn't have had to go through that pain. What was I thinking?

I'm pulled out of my thoughts as Layla taps lightly on mu shoulder. She looks up at me concerned. I give her a small smile taking her hand gently and leading her to the car. Once in and driving she turns toward me.

"Can we go to the park?" she asked kindly.

I furrowed my eyebrows confused. "Sure" I reply not knowing where she was headed with this.

The rest of the way was silent. As we got out she grabbed my hand and led me toward a bench close to the water.

We sat in silence for a few minutes taking in the scene.

"Do you really remember?" she asked quietly looking at the pond.

"Yes" I whisper.

"Why are you still here then? You must think I'm crazy or something." she said with a unamused laugh at the end.

I gripped her chin making her look at me. I could see her lip tremble and her eyes water.

"Layla" I said.

"Yes?" She asked. A fat tear rolled down her cheek.

"Your not crazy. You've just been hurt by someone crazy." I say while wiping away the tear. I let go of her sitting back against the bench.

We fell back into silence. This time I was the one to break it.

"Why did you run away from me?" This qestion has been nagging me since that dreadful day so so long ago.

"I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready to tell. I was scared. I was scared that people would judge me. Use me. Just like he did." I took in a deep breath.

Questions raced through my mind. Who exactly was this 'he'? What did he do to her? How did he use her? Did he rape her? I felt like my heart stopped.

She took a deep breath. "When I was little my mom left us. My dad became a workaholic after that. I rarely ever see him. I'd prefer if I never did see him. When he does come home...Hes angry. He slams the front door and breaks anything in his sight. After breaking mostly everything... He's still angry. So he finds me... His own personal punching bag. That day I tried to drown myself was the day when it was bad. The beating was worst than usual. And the water just looked so welcoming. So I tried and when it was too late... I relized... I didn't want to die. And then you came. Like a prince saving the princesse. But thats only in fairytales. I thought that once you saw who I was.. You'd tell.. So I ran."

By the end of it she crying silently. I could tell she was trying to stay strong. Without a word I pulled her into my chest.

She broke. She sobbed her heart out. All I could do was whisper sweet nothings in her ear while rocking back and forth holding her. My heart was breaking.

I wish I could help. I wish I could make the pain go away. She slowly began to calm down. I looked down to find her sleeping with tear stains all down her cheeks.

I kissed her forhead before walking her back to the car. I drove to my house deciding that she would stay with me for tonight. As I pulled into the driveway my sister came running out.

I got out picking her up. "Hey Lilly" I greeted.

"Hello" she chirped with a big smile.

"Can you go inside and get ice cream and a movie set up in my room?" I asked smiling sweetly.

"Yay!! Sure!" she quickly ran insude while I lifted a sleeping Layla from the car. I closed the door behind me as I made my way up the driveway.

As soon as I got inside I put her in my bed covering her up. Lilly came in with a tub of ice cream, two spoons, and the movie Frozen.

She looked at Layla beforw running out of the room. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. Seconds later she came back with an extra spoon. I smiled at her while she put the disk in.

We both got into my bed with ice cream. I sat next to Layla while Lilly sat on the othet side.

"Whens she going to wake up? She's gonna miss the movie!" she pointed out. Right as she finshed her sentence Layla started to stir. After a minute her eyelids fluttered open revealing her beautiful brown eyes.

"Hey" I whispered giving her a gental smile.

"Hey" she whispered back with a small smile.

"So I was thinking that you could stay with me tonight. Is that alright?"

She smiled sitting up anf throwing her arms around me.
"Thank you" she whispered.