Love Is A Roller Coaster (An AmazingPhil/Fantastic Foursome Story)

Chapter 8-Phil's POV

“Dan, can you help me with something?” The first thing I do when he wakes up is bombard him with questions. What a great friend.

Ruffling his even-messier-than-usual hair, he groans and asks flatly, “What?”

I pull out a small bag from my sweater pocket. I glance at the kitchen, making sure Ashley is still eating. “Can you hide this for me? Somewhere she,” I gesture toward the table, “can’t find it?”

“Do you need it back?” I stare down at the package, thinking about what’s inside.

“Yes, but not for a long time.” I hand him the bag, and he starts to unwrap it. “No! You can’t open it. Just hide it. Please.” I stare into his eyes, the way I always used to when I asked a favor of him, and he stuffs the thing into his sweatpants, a look of sincerity on his face. “Thank you.”

I hug him awkwardly, and he whispers into my ear. “You're in love, Phil. Whether you realize it or not.” At that moment, I hear movement upstairs so I let go of Dan. His face is adorned with a smile, and I can tell he meant what he said. I walk back to the kitchen slowly, kneeling down behind Ashley and wrapping my arms around her in the chair.

“We’re gonna have a talk tonight. You’re not getting out of it.” I kiss her hair and stand up, taking her dirty plate. She starts to twirl the strings of her hoodie.

“Phil, where’s mine!?” Natalie walks into the kitchen. “How rude.”

“If Dan would ever actually do anything maybe you could have breakfast.” I reply.

“What about me?” He pauses and Natalie bats her eyes at him. “Oh. No way, girly. I’m too lazy. Plus I made you desert last night.” He winks at her. “But how about we go get some breakfast? Like in an hour.”

“Fine. But it better be good.” As Natalie pouts, Dan glances at me. I mouth a thank you, to which he nods back discreetly.

Ashley continues to sit at the table as they make plans, twirling her sweater, until a tear tries to escape. She wipes it away quickly, but I see it.

~Later that morning~

Natalie walks out to the car, but Dan hangs back. “Phil.” I look up at him from the couch. “I’ll make sure to stall her as much as possible. I’ll-take her shopping or something.” He really hates that. “That should give you a few hours with the commute and all.”

“Thank you, Dan. You’re an awesome friend.”

“Mhm. I don’t know what for, but I can tell you need this time. Use it wisely.” Natalie beeps the horn from outside. “See ya.”

As soon as Dan steps outside, I run upstairs to our room. “Ashley. I’m coming in.” Surprisingly, she doesn’t protest, so I enter. She’s sitting in the middle of the bed, arms wrapped around her legs, holding my Gengar shirt.

“Did you tell him?” Ashley glares at me sadly.

“No. I didn’t tell him anything, I promise. But he could tell I wanted some alone time with you. I can’t very well hide my emotions, I guess.” I kneel on the bed next to her, and she nuzzles against my side. “Now what happened?” She doesn't say anything, but rather presses closer to me. "Please, Ash."

Reluctantly, she grabs her laptop from beside her, opening it and pushing it towards me, eyes squeezed shut. Facebook chat is open, three unread conversations sitting. The one opened, though, is from a man named Aaron. The words "slut", "whore", and "bitch" stand out. I also notice "fucking a faggot". She hasn't said anything back to the guy, but she has obviously read the messages.

“Two years,” she whispers quietly. “Been worse since you got here.” I look at her, begging for more. Sighing, she continues talking. “He always used to tease me about how ugly I am, the little emo girl, go kill yourself!” She’s started to play with her hoodie strings again. “I never told anyone because I was too afraid. He just...despised me for some reason, even before I talked to him. And it wasn’t some crush or something. He really hated me. He beat me up, but I lied to Natalie about the bruises. I got spit on, teased constantly, and everything just....I was afraid of him.” Her breathing has became shallow and quickened. “And one day...he took me into a dark alley...and...”

A tear rolls down her cheek and she is unable to finish the sentence. I think about the words he said and piece it together. Rape. I take her in my arms, cradling and letting her lay against my shoulder. She starts to shake, but is determined to keep speaking now, even if the words are broken. “Now-Now you’re here. And he-keeps saying I’m...you know. But I’ve never even had a boy look at me before! And just because he-” She cuts off in a burst of sobs again. “Your videos saved me. It felt like there was no one I could talk to, so I pretended you were my friend. And it worked. I finally was normal. I was stable, if only barely.” Tears are still silently running down her face, but she can speak now. “And then yesterday...I started talking to another friend of mine...and he appeared. I hadn’t talked to him for a year, since that happened, and it kind of broke me.” She buries her face against me so hard that it hurts. I just hug her tightly, not saying anything.

When she finally stops crying, I kiss her, trying to comfort her. “You know I’m always here now. You don’t have to settle for videos anymore. If I’m gone like last night, just text me. Dan isn’t as important as you are.” I nervously reach for her arms, pulling her hoodie sleeves to her elbows. I trace my fingers along the lines, and Ashley squirms. “Stop.” I stop touching the scars, but don’t let her cover them again.

“How can you like me?” She makes a move toward her sleeve, but I catch her arm and hold it. “I’m just an ugly bitch who has to fucking mutilate herself to release stress.”

“You know that’s not true, Ash.” She looks down at the floor. “I like you because you’re kind and sweet and caring. I liked you before I even knew who you were. And now that I do...” I make sure she’s looking at me. “Now that I do, you are the single most beautiful human on this Earth.” She fights my grip, looking back down. “And if you don’t believe me...” I can feel anxiety building up in my chest. “I have a secret too.” She looks up at me slowly. I pull away from her, standing up. I pull down my sweats, revealing the shorts underneath. I pull up the hem of one short leg. Red lines are stretched across my skin. “I know how you feel. But trust me, Ashley.” I look deep into her eyes. “I love you, and I don’t think there will ever be a time when I don’t.”