Almost Alice » l.h

3.5

a m y

Ashton had picked me up after work. He worked at a music store after getting fired from KFC. He'd had a job at a music store before - that was his first job - but he got fired for not doing anything except listen to music and taking home DVD's. Ashton wasn't very competent before but he was now; he had a great work ethic.

"Hey," he smiled as I got into his car, "what's up?"

I leaned over and pecked his lips. "Nothing. Alice went out with Luke to go swimming at your place so I've had no one to talk to all day."

"You didn't bother calling Violet or something?" he asked as he pulled away from the curb.

"I tried but she said she was with Michael for...something."

"Something?"

I shrugged. "She wouldn't tell me."

"Maybe she's hooking him up with a hot date." Ashton chuckled.

I couldn't remember the last time Mikey had a long-term girlfriend. Had he ever even had one? Luke and Calum would always joke that he was probably afraid of commitment or something but I doubted that was the case. The last girl he even held hands with was in the middle of the school year last year, so that was about a year ago.

"What if they're going to talk to Ross?" I wondered quietly.

After what happened last time, I didn't want Michael or anyone talking to him again. There was no getting Ross to stop anyway, he was a lost cause. Any interaction with him would just cause more drama no one needed and more harassment toward Alice. He hadn't really done anything to her in the passed week but that didn't necessarily mean it was over.

"Do you think he'd actually bring Vi with him, though?" he asked. "You know how protective he is over her."

"But you know how much Violet doesn't care." I reminded him. "Violet does what she wants when she wants and doesn't let anyone stop her. She's persistent and would without a doubt convince Michael somehow to let her go."

Ashton sighed and shrugged. "Well even if they did go to see Ross, it's not like we can do anything about it. We don't know where they'd be. Let's just go hang out with Alice and Luke and relax."

-

"Oh, they're relaxing alright." I mumbled, staring down at my sister and Luke, who were cuddled up in Michael's bed. "I've never seen her relax that much since we were five and went to visit family in America in the middle of a blizzard and the power went out. We had to cuddle together in our onesies to stay warm."

Ashton chuckled and shook his head. "C'mon, it's cute, babe. Alice is actually close to a guy that doesn't have a boyfriend."

I knew he was referencing Alice's closeness with Calum, who had had a secret boyfriend for the passed five months or so. Calum was the first best friend she'd made since she was in school.

"Speaking of, what's he doing today?" Ashton asked me.

I shrugged. "Probably AJ. Should I wake them up?"

Luke was laying on his back in the center of the bed with Alice on top of him and the blanket kicked off - I assumed Alice did that since she's done that since she was little. Alice was on her stomach, laying on his chest. The lower half of her body was only half on Luke with one of her legs over his hip and resting in between his legs. One of her hands rested on his chest by her face while the other grabbed onto his arm. He had an arm around her and the other under his head. Her face was half in his chest but the part of her face I could see looked relaxed and peaceful.

I didn't like it. Just because she was with Luke.

I definitely liked Luke, he was one of my best friends, but he wasn't really the best boyfriend material. He had bad anger issues and she didn't know how bad they could get. Even the day he went and beat up Ross was nothing compared to how bad he's been other times.

Why did she have to pick Luke?

"No, don't wake them up!" Ashton whisper-yelled. "I know you're worried about them being together but it's obvious he's trying."

"But what happens if the same thing happens with the last girl he dated?" I asked him.

"She was fine, she just got scared."

"Luke's hands were bruised into her arms."

"But she hit him first because he stuck up for himself." Ashton added. "It's no wonder he got so pissed off at her."

"But that's not-"

"I'm not trying to justify why he put his hands on her like that, I'm just saying she set him off." he said calmly. "Alice won't do that, she's too nice."

I looked back down at them. "But what if something else makes him mad and he takes it out on her?"

"Amy, there are tons of 'what if's' we could go through," he said, "but none of them will be solved with you always being around to protect her because you can't. Alice is growing up and learning to handle thing by herself and I think you should trust her a little more."

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Quick update bc I won't be updating for a while.