Something Beautiful

↠s e v e n t e e n ↠

Song of the chapter:
Close As Strangers by 5 Seconds of Summer

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The next morning I woke up, feeling stiff. As I stretched my legs, I realized that Ashton's arm was slung my waist. I grabbed his arm and went to pull it off of me. That's when I realized about a dozen dark red lines imbedded in his skin on his wrist. I widened my eyes in shock.

He self harms! I thought. I felt so sad at first but then I was angry.

I sat up in my bed and pushed off his arm roughly, not caring whether he would wake up or not. I stood up and went over to my desk, leaning my hands on the hard surface and breathing hard. I was in so much shock.

I pushed my hair back off my face. I need to go have a shower. I thought.

I grabbed my large fluffy purple towel and stomped out of my room, leaving a snoring Ashton behind. I went into the bathroom that was part of the basement suite and turned on the hot water tap in the bathtub. Water blasted out, and after it got hot, I twisted the cold water tap a bit until I was satisfied with the water temperature.

Water sprayed down on my skin, making it instantly wet. I washed my hair first and then my body. I spent a long time slowly shaving, thinking about how to approach Ashton about his scars. I didn't understand why he had to do it. I mean, sure he had a lot that went on in his life but he didn't seem like the kind of person who would hurt himself like that. I wondered how long he had done it for. Hopefully not long, because those cuts were deep and he was going to end up seriously hurting himself.

When I finally got out, I dried my body and blow dried my hair. My hair was soft like feathers. I loved it so much right after I showered.

When I got back to my room, in my zebra striped bathrobe, I saw Ashton sitting on my bed, rubbing his eyes. I stood in the doorway quietly for a few moments before he noticed me.

"Hey!" He said, clearly surprised to see me standing there.

I just stared at him. I could not believe what he was doing to himself. Everytime that went through my head, my heart started to ache.

He saw that I looked upset and he stood up. "What's wrong? Is it Jason?"

I shook my head.

"What is it?" He came toward me, opening his arms to fold me in his chest but I stepped away from him, crossing my arms tightly.

"You." I whispered.

"What?" He squinted his eyes at me, looking totally confused. "What did I do?"

I stared down at his wounded wrist. I couldn't see the scars but I knew they were there.

His face paled. "H--Hazel. Its nothing."

I glared up at his face. "Really?! It's nothing? Ashton, those scars are so deep!" I exclaimed. "You're going to end up damaging more than just your skin."

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

I felt my eyes begin to water. "Why? Why did you do it?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his light brown curls. "It was my way of dealing with the pain of everything I had encountered."

"When is the last time you did it?" I asked.

"Right after I met you."

I gasped. "So I'm one of the reasons you cut!" I started to bawl.

"No, Hazel, no! That's not why. It was because I had found out my mother was getting really sick! If anything, you have kept me from doing anything drastic!" He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his chest tightly. He set his chin on top of my head lightly. "You saved me Hazel." He whispered.

I cried into his shirt, so sorry for everything that had happened in his life, everything he was doing to himself, everything.

"I love you, Ashton." I murmured.

I felt him tense up, and my heart started to beat quickly. Why did you have to say that?

He pulled away from me and held my upper arms. "What?" He whispered.

"I--I love you." I was so scared of what he would say.

Suddenly I felt his lips on mine, pressing hard, urgently. "I love you too, Hazel." He whispered when he pulled away.

I sighed a breath of relief.

We saved each other, I thought.

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