What Is Left Unsaid : An Ashley Purdy Love Story

PROGRESS ?

TIANA'S POV :

     So far , everything seems to be going as well as I could expect , considering that I'm pretty much trapped in the same vicinity as the two people in the world that I least wanted to see . And from the looks of things , even if I decided to move somewhere that I wouldn't have to see Ash , I'm most likely stuck with Rick for life . Shannon is totally nuts about him , plus , my brother and Brian are pretty much inseparable . So apparently my only options are to learn to co - exist politely with the both of them , or risk screwing things up for both of my siblings . So, in other words , I have no options .

     And the thing that sucks the worst is the fact that Brian is the only one here who understands why that's so fucking hard to do .

     I'm in the kitchen working on making some lunch , when Andy and CC walk through the back door .

     "Hey, there , Tiana !" , CC exclaims , grabbing me for a hug .

     "Dude , maybe it's not such a good idea to just grab somebody who can toss you across the room without permission ." , Andy admonishes him .

     "It's cool , guys , Scott told me to expect that sort of thing ." , I say . "Just don't sneak up on me and you'll be good ."

     "Which means he's gonna get pitched at some point ." , Andy says . " He can't seem to resist shit like that ." 

     "Hey, I'm right here , dude ! I CAN hear you , y'know ." CC says , rather indignantly .

     "Are you saying he's wrong ?" I ask him .

     He thinks for a second , sort of grins at me , and says , "That kinda depends on how hammered I get ." 

     We all laugh at that , they sit down at the table  , and Andy says , " I'll be interested in checking out your book when it comes out . I can't remember the last time I saw something grab Ashley's attention the way that did last night " 

     "He was just checking out the parts I marked for him to get a handle on the cover art ." I respond. 

     "That might be what he started out doing , but it pretty much grabbed him ." CC says . "Andy stood there and talked to him for probably ten minutes , and I doubt that he heard a word ." 

      I listen as Andy relates to me what Ash had said to him the previous night , and I'm actually pretty surprised . I didn't really expect him to have any real interest , I figured he was either just trying to put up sort of a smokescreen for Scott and Shannon , or trying to make himself feel better about what had happened back then .

     There's a knock at the door , so I go to answer it, and I see Ash standing in front of me , holding my manuscript , and looking pretty tired . I step aside and let him in , then close the door . 

     "I figured you'd want this back as soon as possible , so here it is ." , he says , holding it out to me .

     I take it from him , and say , " So does this mean you've given up already ?" 

     "Not even a little bit . I already did a rough sketch , and I'll start working on something more detailed after everybody goes home , and when I'm a bit more awake ."

     "Did you ever fucking go to bed , man ?" , CC asks him .

     "Yeah , about an hour after the rest of you did . Then I got up this morning and finished , and knocked out my sketch , so I didn't lose the idea  ." , Ash responds .

     "Wait a minute , here . Are you saying that you read this whole thing since you took it home yesterday ?" I inquire .

     "There wasn't really much else I could do , you pretty much made it where nobody's going to want to stop until they know what comes next ." he says . "I am seriously impressed by the amount of talent you have , I usually don't have any interest in fantasy , but I couldn't make myself put this down until I literally couldn't make out the words anymore ." 

     "Thanks , Ashley . I just hope other people like it that much ." , I reply .

     Damn it ! Why does it feel so good hearing him say that ? It's not like I'm actually interested in his opinion anymore . I'm not still that gullible little girl whose world revolved around making him happy . So why the hell do I even care ?

     "If everything goes the way I want it to , you'll hopefully have something that you and Phoebe can both work with before Thursday ." , he says . "Like I told you already , I owe you at least this much , Tiana ." 

     I sort of cut my eyes over to the guys , and Ash states , "They know the whole story . Rick and I explained everything last night . I get that you don't want to say anything to your siblings right now . I don't want to make things difficult for my cousins , either , and none of us are going to say anything , either . But I felt like I needed to be straight with everyone else , because this isn't something I'm proud of . I fucked things up big time , and I'll regret that forever . The only thing I have resembling an excuse is the fact that I was eighteen years old , and we both know I wasn't very good at thinking things through before I did them . I don't know if you'll ever really believe me , but I am sorry . I was trying to avoid hurting you , and all I did was make it worse . Trust me , that isn't what I wanted ." 

     Just as I open my mouth to reply to this , Scott , Brian , and Jake walk in , so we both drop the subject for the moment , and Ash quickly changes the topic , asking me about some things I wasn't as specific about as he needed , like colors on certain things , or any decorative touches on Ascha's sword .

     When the guys leave to go over to his house , I have lunch with my brother and Brian . A bit later , when Scott goes to the bathroom , Brian turns to me and says , "You guys looked like you were having a pretty deep conversation when we came in , T ." 

     "Yeah , I guess so . He actually apologized for being an asshole , and apparently he spilled everything to his band mates last night ." 

     "Wow ! That I didn't expect !" Brian exclaims ."So what does this mean , exactly ?" 

     "Well , I sort of have to be able to at least get along with him , since I'm here ." , I say . " Maybe this will at least make it a little easier to do ." 

    "And what about .... ,you know ?" 

     " No . That wouldn't have helped then , and I can't see that it would make any difference to him now . It's not like there's anything left for him to do , anyway , even if he cared ." , I tell him .

     There are just some things that I doubt that he'd really want to hear . Even now .

     

A/N : 

Hey ,everybody , I'm sort of starting to wonder if anyone is reading this . If you are , how about some feedback ? This is actually my first story , and I'd kind of like to know how I'm doing . Thanx !