Love Is...

32. Betrayal

CHAPTER – 32

LOVE IS... BETRAYAL

'When I love, I love with no limitations. But if you betray me, I love myself enough to let go.'

"I will miss you, Mrs. and Mr. Bennet. I'll keep your Jane happy forever!"

My shoulders shook from silent laughter as Dad shot an irritated frown towards Mr. Bingley while starting the car and Mom just laughed at his overdramatic antics. I waved and shouted a 'bye, love you' one last time as their car took off from the parking lot. But I didn't miss the furious look that Dad had shot towards Ashton before driving away. It was not his usual warning look, it was something entirely different. The weirdest part was Ashton's reaction. He didn't reply with his trademark smirk or a sarcastic smile. He replied with narrowed eyes and clenched jaw.

This little exchange piqued my curiosity to new levels. What was this about?

With raised eyebrows, I turned towards Ashton. He stepped towards me and smirked while tapping my forehead. "Your eyebrows are touching the sky."

I set aside my little surprise at his action and frowned at him. "Why was Dad looking at you like that?"

Before he could even open his mouth to answer my question, Mr. Bingley jumped in between us, swinging one arm over my shoulder and the other over Ashton's. "What are we doing today, Elizabeth and Darcy?" he asked in his usual over-enthusiastic charm.

"Attending the ball," Ashton replied in a dead panned manner and I chuckled slightly at the sarcasm dripping from his words.

Mr. Bingley either didn't detect the sarcasm or chose to ignore it, as he removed his hand from Ashton's shoulder and pushed him lightly. He turned towards me and snaked his free arm across my waist, pulling me to him, taking me completely by surprise. "May I have this dance, beautiful?" He tried to sound seductive, but with his charm and that infectious grin, he sounded friendly.

But it was the word 'beautiful' that made me blush, not because Mr. Bingley said it now, but because of the person and the way he had said this to me just a few hours back. Slight laughter escaped my lips as he hid his grin behind a smirk; a smirk much like Ashton's but less alluring. "Sure." I giggled and right in front of my building, on the pavement, he made me dance like we were actually in a ballroom.

But Ashton didn't let the spectators laugh at our absurdity or let me laugh some more as he dragged his friend away by grabbing the collar of his T-shirt.

"Ashton!" I hissed, feeling bad for Mr. Bingley.

"Darcy! He is Darcy." His friend corrected me and shot a grin in Ashton's direction with a thumb up sign as if he had done him a favor and handled the situation. Again, my shoulders shook in laughter.

"Stop making a fool of yourself and of your friends," Ashton suggested him, rolling his eyes as he removed his hold from his shirt.

His friend jumped slightly on his spot and asked with a wicked glint in his eyes, "Are you sure this is the reason why you stopped me from dancing on the street with the beautiful Elizabeth?"

"Of course," Ashton answered with disinterest in his voice as we started climbing the stairs that lead to my apartment.

"But you didn't say anything when two years back we walked on the streets of London as cross dressers," Mr. Bingley pointed out and what he said made both Ashton and I stop dead in our tracks.

"You what?"

"You a*shole!"

These were mine and Ashton's words respectively at the same time. The only difference was my question was directed towards him and his curse was directed towards his friend. I doubled over in laughter as his words settled in my mind and all kinds of colorful pictures got painted in my head, thanks to my creative imagination.