Sign Your Name Across My Heart

Chapter seven

After what feels like an eternity, I jump as the bathroom door opens, revealing a sweaty Ash, his knuckles red and bloody. I stare at him in shock, not knowing what to do or say. I'm completely frozen, my feet glued to the cold ceramic beneath me.

"I'm so sorry, Libby." It's the first thing that he says after staring at me for a while. The water is still running from the tap, so I reach over and shut it off.

I don't know how to respond, how to act. I'm so frightened. Not necessarily of Ash, but just of what happened downstairs and that I was so closely exposed to it.

"Say something..." He huffs out, still staring.

"I want to go home." I finally speak, deciding that it's probably for the best to be somewhere where I know it's safe, unlike here. "I think I'm just going to call a taxi." I said to him.

"No." He says quickly, reaching forward, holding one hand out. "Let me drive you home, please. It's the least I can do."

I stare for a few seconds, before nodding my head. "Okay." Hopefully this isn't another bad idea of mine.

I walk past him, cautiously walking towards the door. I peer out, taking a deep breath.

"They're gone," He mumbles. "It's okay."

And with those words, I walk downstairs and start to put my heels back on. While doing so, I notice a couple drops of blood on the floor, just a few feet away from me. I wince and close my eyes, pretending I didn't see what's presumably the blood of the man he beat up.

Ash follows a few seconds later, also putting his shoes on. He grabs his keys from the little table near his front door and pulls it open. "Alright, let's go." He says, sounding very defeated. I wonder what's going on in his head.

While driving home, it's eerily silent. I don't like it, but I suppose it's better to be silent than scrambling to find the right words to say at this moment.

Eventually, Ash speaks. "Libby, again, I'm really sorry. That wasn't supposed to happen."

I don't say anything, I can't. "That was a mistake, they should've never come tonight. I would have never, ever knowingly put you in any sort of danger, I promise you." He explains and I can tell by the tone of his voice that he's being serious, but I still don't have any words. I think Ash understands, as he also doesn't speak after that.

Ash slows down once he gets to my apartment, before coming to a full stop just in front.

I unbuckle my seatbelt and reach for the handle, before looking back at him. I stare at his knuckles, seeing as though he didn't clean them off before leaving.

"Your hands," I mutter, softly.

I see him look down at his hands and he tightly grips the steering wheel, the veins in his hands popping slightly. "It's no big deal." He mumbles.

"Do you want to come inside and clean them off?" I ask him.

He looks a little surprised before he quickly nods his head. "Yeah, yeah. Thank you." He unbuckles his seatbelt and shuts the car off.

We enter my apartment together and I hang my keys up beside the door, turning on the main light. I'm not sure what I'm doing but I can't shake the feeling that we need to talk about what happened, even though I'm the one that's unable to speak.

The second I get inside my home, I instantly feel better. I'm happy to be home where it's safe, and no crazed men are going to barge inside. There's even a small part of me that's happy that Ash is with me. I take my heels off again, happy that it's going to be for the last time tonight and I'll soon be seeing my bed.