Aurora's Secret

T H I R T E E N

Ashton's house was totally different from the one I used to visit. That would make sense seeing as they've totally moved house but everything that was in the last one was nowhere to be seen. I used to go there after school a lot to cook with his mum, she said she always wanted a daughter but they couldn't have any more children. And so the first time I ever visited, I helped her make some dinner and then I just... carried on doing it for years.

And then I found out she was ill. And I stopped going round to help make food but instead just going around and consoling Ashton who was going through a really rough time.

His dad was a workaholic as a cop and never really came home and so at the age of ten Ashton solely relied on his mum. But she was hit with the diagnosis of level four cancer.

She had two weeks to live.

I tried to help as much as I could. The smile she always had on her face began to fade like every other part of her. I wanted her to keep smiling but by the ninth day of those two weeks she couldn't even open her eyes. I didn't go back after that day but I heard she soon passed in her sleep.

Ashton and I continued to be good friends at heart but for the next three years it was only passing glances and brief words between us. We had been forced apart by the circumstances and I think I reminded him of his mum too much.

Then I was taken and the next time I saw him as a sixteen year old, I was a shell of my former self. Too skinny, frail hair and an empty smile.

I couldn't believe that until today I had completely forgot about him and everything else. When it came down to it he was my only hope on the outside and I had tried to eliminate any kind of hope. When you're faced with four walls and three horrid guys every day for five years of your life, it's not hard to will your mind to do things. My mind was all I had. And so I left my precious Ashton in the deep, dark and unseen corners of my mind.

You see, I never even knew my dad and my mum didn't really care about me. Until I disappeared and I told her to just run and hide, she did, without a trace and I never heard from her again. I didn't expect to but the fact I didn't and that I was still in the boys clutches years later gave me the impression she was glad to have an excuse to leave me.

What I'm trying to say is I had nobody by the time I was taken.

And then over time I realised Kendal, though badly tempered, wasn't as hard and as insensitive as the other guys and so I started to trust him. But when freedom was given to me I turned into an animal and ran for the hills.

I was glad to have Ashton back now because he was actually a normal person.

"What are you thinking about?" Ashton asked softly, breaking my chain of thought. I flicked my eyes up to him briefly and his gaze back made me wonder whether he could actually find the answer just by looking at me.

"Everything." I muttered as I blew into the cup of coffee he had given me. This was my first cup of coffee in years... I had forgotten the taste of it completely though with each sip it brought back memories of things much more than a hot drink.

There was one question that had been plaguing me though. "Ashton... why are you here?"

"Because you're in this room?" He replied half joking, not understanding the question. Or ignoring it.

"You know what I mean."

"Well I was wondering the same thing about you to be honest." He shrugged.

"I escaped, simple as, and I ended up in an alley somewhere near here. I didn't want to go to the police because that would have caused attention so I decided to start up life a new. Then Kendal found me." I told him truthfully. "Now you. How'd you end up in this washed up town?"

He sighed before answering. "Your case was massive. A city girl went missing and a really respectable cop took the wheel of finding you and as I'm sure you know- he never did. Until you escaped yourself and then... he lost you again for two years. Even now he doesn't know you're free."

"Under his roof." I added with a scoff.

"Yeah."

"And so you're living here in this town because..." I urged him to go on. Though it may seem like it, it actually wasn't that I was suspicious or anything. It's just this was all starting to feel like a fairy tail. Sure, I was a hostage for five years but then I managed to break out, stumble across the very hidden town my old childhood sweetheart had taken refuge in and was then brought very close to him on many occasions. He saved me from one of the kidnappers return, even if it was one I had deeper feelings for.

His eyes fell to the floor. "People were angry that we never found you. They started to take it out on dad, vandalism, verbal and physical abuse, our house was torched a good couple times and in the end we had to leave the city. We decided to let the wind blow us wherever it wanted and we ended up here. There's a small deputy station that my dad took control of and he likes having a town to keep safe. I had education and sport and we were away from all the memories of mum. It's perfect for us here."

I watched as he tried to speak with confidence but the slight tremble of his bottom lip told me other wise. I accidentally let out a little sob, not realising how deeply his emotion was effecting me and he quickly directed his attention to me. "Oh Rory, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry." He said softly as he put his drink down next to him, came to the seat by me and took me in his arms.

"It's all my fault." I wept in to his shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

"No! No, it wasn't. You couldn't have helped being taken and then we failed to find you. If anything it's my dad's fault. Mine too." He added. "I honestly wished I could have been there that day. When I saw the scene on the news I noticed how terrified you looked as those monsters took you and I knew you had nobody to rely on. If I had just sucked up my emotions and stayed your friend I might have been with you there that day and you would still be safe." Even though I couldn't see his face due to being in a crushing but warm hug with him, I could tell he had started crying. When I tried to pull away he didn't let me.

"Ashton. None of that matters now. I'm here aren't I? And I'm safe and alive and so are you. That's all that matters." I muttered softly. I couldn't hear him crying though I could the feel the vibrations and movements in his body as he tried to hold it all in. I put my hands up to the back of his head and slowly played with his hair as he noticeably calmed down.

I was surprised I wasn't a wreck right now. The memories of the day I was taken were horrific and shook terror throughout me whenever I remembered them and a good few years into being kidnapped, I still had nightmares about it. And yet trying to console somebody else about things that made me a nervous wreck seemed to help me calm down too.

And anyway. It was just like I said. It's all in the past now.

"I'm still sorry this happened to you." He sighed as he harshly wiped at his face and began to pull away. Once his face was back in sight I stared at him deeply as I noticed there was still a small stray tear on one of his cheeks and I gently wiped it away with a finger.

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