The Fallout

Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

Brent and I arrive at the County Jail, Asher's usual, and he orders me to stay in the car while he, and I quote, collects the dumbass. I watch as he disappears into the building and comes out twenty minutes later with his friend by his side.

The two of them could not be more different. This fact is obvious as I study their walk towards the car. Brent is obviously handsome, considering we're identical twins and all, with his athletic physique and short sandy blonde hair. He's wearing his Letterman, as usual, which contrasts greatly with Asher's black leather jacket. My brother has more of a clean-cut attractive while Asher... well he is like his own whole category.

Asher Daniels was the epitome of the guy your parents warn you about. His body was adorned with many miscellaneous tattoos, his ears were pierced, as was his nose, and he had dark, wavy hair. He smokes. He drinks. He parties. He sleeps around. He gets arrested (obviously).

On the other hand, he has a chiseled jaw, a surprisingly straight nose considering all the fights this kid gets into, and a nice lean body that I have caught myself unconsciously staring at many times—including now.

I quickly turned my attention away from the window as the boys drew closer. I didn't want anyone, even one of my closest friends, seeing me as this much of a wreck. I faced the windshield so Asher couldn't see my ruined mascara and streaking foundation. The door to the backseat opened and Asher climbed in followed a moment later by Brent climbing into the driver's seat.

"Hey, Princess!" Asher shouted when he noticed my slouched form. "Hows it going?"

"I'm, uh, great," I said. "What about you, Ash?"

He paused a moment before responding. "Great? How about me? That's it?" he asked. "No rape jokes? No smart remark?" I smiled a bit because of his surprise. Maybe I've made one too many jokes about him and his jail time activities, but then again maybe he's been to jail one too many times as well.

"Nah," I waved him off. "Not tonight." I jumped when Asher's face suddenly appeared next to me when he unbuckled his seat belt and leaned forward between the two front seats. I snapped my head to the right, away from his questioning eyes.

"Rory," he whispered as he poked my side. "Hey." Poke. "Rory." Poke. "Princess." Poke. "Little Mears." Poke.

"Dude," Brent interrupted. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"What's up with her?" Asher asked with his finger still jabbing my side. "She's not even threatening to break my finger."

"Rory, do you want to explain to both of us what happened?" Brent asked.

"No. I don't want to talk about it," I mumbled. I felt the annoying head next to me sigh onto my arm before he reached up and grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him.

"Whoa, what the fuck?" Asher's eyes filled with concern as he took in my disheveled figure. His grip loosened on my jaw and he raised his thumb to wipe away my stray eye makeup. "Who made you cry, Princess? I'll kick their ass."

"That's what I said, bro," Brent added. "She wouldn't tell me what went down tonight, though." He glanced away from the road for a split second and frowned at how close Asher and I were. He placed his palm on his best friend's forehead and none too gently shoved him back into the backseat. I chuckled at their antics but didn't offer up any explanations. "Come on, Rory, tell us what happened and we'll sneak you past mom and dad so you don't have to explain to them," he goaded.

That was a pretty good offer; I'm not going to lie. "Okay, um, I w-went to Chris's house you know," I started. "And... and..." My eyes began to water as I was attempting to retell the story. "It's our two-year anniversary, you know?"

"Sure," Brent coaxed.

"And, um, I went to his r-room," I stammered and a tear fell down my cheek. I felt someone's hand grasp mine and looked down to see that Asher had pushed his hand through the small gap between the passenger's seat and the door to entwine his fingers with mine.

"Go on," he said.

"He was, uh, well..." It was unbelievable how hard it was to get out the words. I knew that I had feelings for Chris, but I didn't think that I would be this crushed by his actions.

"You know," Asher started. "It feels a lot better to be mad about it than to be sad."

Huh. I didn't think of that. Maybe if I just got pissed off about it, the tears would stop. I fucking hate the tears, almost as much as I'm beginning to hate Chris for cheating on me. That asshole cheated on me. The realization was like a shock of ice water being splashed on my face. Why should I be the one to feel so horrible while he's off with Lucy Porter feeling anything but horrible?

"You're right," I stated. "How dare he make me feel like shit? Who does he think he is? Nobody makes Rory Mears cry."

"Yeah!" Brent whooped. "That's my girl."

Asher squeezed my hand once before letting go. "You ready to finish that story, Princess?"

"Okay, so I go over to that douche bag's house to surprise him for our anniversary," I explain. "And when I walk into his room, guess what he's doing?"

"Cocaine."

"Watching porn."

"Coming out to his parents."

"Try, fucking Lucy Porter," I spat. Silence. More silence. And then...

The screeching sound of Brent's BMW pulling a U-turn filled my ears as my body was flung against the car door. The car had easily sped up twenty miles per hour and my brother had a dangerous look in his eye. "That little fucker," he grumbled.

"Whoa, B, what the hell do you think you're doing?" I yelled. "You're going to get pulled over! Ash, back me up on this one."

"Sorry, baby girl, I'm all for it," he said through gritted teeth. "The faster we get to this sorry excuse of a man, the faster I can kill him."

Asher is to the side :)