White Horse

Chapter 35: The burden of a secret

~Harry's pov~"Ashtyn? Ashtyn was the one who came up with the idea?" I repeated in complete shock. Did I hear him right? Did he actually say it was Ashtyn's idea?"Yea. I know. It's shocking. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it first hand. Trust me I tried to talk her of it but she's a stubborn girl. She thought it would be best for them to break up while he was gone. It was even her idea to have him cheat on her with Annabelle. Annabelle was blackmailed into it at first, but then she actually fell for him. She was the type of person that fell for anyone who gave her the slightest bit of attention.Don't get me wrong, she was a sweet girl but the lack of parents really made her do anything for some love. So it wasn't too hard for Ash to convince her to do the dirty with Matt. The plan was for Caden to catch them during a party but that didn't necessarily work. She ended up leaving early 'cause her dad was having some mental breakdown. Matt and Anna went the entire way before Ashtyn found them and told them that she had left.""So if she missed them then how did she find them in bed together?" Zayn mumbled, refilling his cup with more tequila. He took a long swig of his drink and reclined into his seat. Devon took a a few gulps of his own beer before setting the bottle down on the coffee table. I could tell that Liam wanted to tell him to use a coaster, like he always told us, but didn't want to sound rude. With a sigh Devon continued the story. "The second time was a drunk, unplanned accident. We were at another party and Matt was seriously drunk. And just as a side note: Caden. And Annabelle could pass as twins. They both have light hair and tan skin. They talk the same and act the same. Anyways, Caden showed up at the party unexpectedly and was dancing when someone told her they had seen Matt go towards the bedrooms looking weird. Caden thought that he was vomiting, cause sometimes he couldn't hold his liquor if he drank to much, so she went after him. Unfortunately for her, she walked into what she thought was the bathroom but was really the guest bedroom. That's when she saw Annabelle and Matt half naked and extremely drunk, making out in bed. She was never the same after that. She really thought that she and Matt would make it to the end. When he died, she only got worse.""I think I speak for everyone when I ask: Why the hell would Ashtyn do that to Caden?" I asked when he was done."Ash has lost two uncles and a cousin to war. Her aunt and even her father went into the military. She hasn't seen her dad since she was about ten. She knows what it's like to deal with that sort of pain. What she did was undoubtedly wrong, but her intentions were in the right place. She thought that Caden would deal with a little pain from the breakup and get over it, and then not care as much if Matt was never going to come home. She never knew how badly Caden would react to him cheating. All in all she was trying to protect her.""So what does this have to do with the current tension between Ash and Caden?" Liam asked."Ash never told Caden that she was the reason why she and Matt broke up. Caden just thinks that Ashtyn knew about Matt cheating on her before she did and never told her. In a way that's true, so Ash never corrected her. Ash brought that up at the London eye and now they're mad at each other." "This is seriously some messed up shit," Niall groaned, rubbing his eyes with his palms. He got up from his seat and went into the kitchen. A few seconds later we heard the sound of the microwave starting up. Second after that there was a sound of popping. Niall came back a few minutes later with a bowl of popcorn and more beer. He set the popcorn down onto the coffee table and dug in. "Watching Caden fall apart was one of the hardest things I've ever been through. She's the type of person who loves so passionately with out reserve. She loves with no boundaries and with all that she has. When someone she loves like that hurts her, it's a wound that never really heals.""She's a special girl," Louis agreed looking towards the staircase with a faint smile. "One whose become very guarded. If she's let you in its because you've earned it and because she's deemed you worthy enough. Don't betray that or she'll never let you back in again. You got one shot. If you lose her trust don't expect to get it back."Devon leveled a pointed look at Louis. They held each other's gaze for a few minutes before Louis looked away. "Yea I know. I don't plan on hurting her.""Good because if you do, every sports team back home will catch the first flight here to beat your ass." "Every sports team?" Liam chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "Yea. Caden was head cheerleader before the accident. Everybody loved her. She was so energetic and bouncy. She could make even the quietest of people scream their lungs off during a football game or a basketball game. Her smiles contagious. If any of the guys back home caught wind of one of you hurting her, they'd be out for blood. Yours to be more specific.""People liked her that much, huh?" "Yea. I mean don't get me wrong: Our school was filled with your idiots and your sluts and everything in between. Caden just brought out the better in people, that's why everyone likes her so much. She has her faults of course but a lot of people chose to look past them and focus on how much good she's done. She just-""Woah wait. Go back," I interrupted, leaning forward in my seat. I gave him a hard look before speaking. "Did you say that Caden was a cheerleader?""Yea. Caddie is a very athletic person. She was a cheerleader up until junior year when she got into the car accident. She also gave up softball that year. She stuck with swimming and horse back riding." "Car accident? What car accident?" Zany asked. "Now that, isn't my story to tell. If you wanna know what happened you'll have to ask Caddie," He answered. After that it got quiet. It was as if the silence was choking us so that we couldn't speak. That was some heavy stuff that Devon just placed on our shoulders. In a way I wished we didn't have to carry this burden. But I'm glad we know. "Just remember that Caden can't know any of this. This stays between the six of us, not including Ash. Don't even tell Ash I told you. She'll skin me alive. Promise?""Promise." We replied.