What Is Left Unsaid : An Ashley Purdy Love Story

Say What ??

KELLI'S POV :

     There was no way I was going to sleep before Tiana came back from her little "outing" with Purdy . She says that they're just being polite to keep things from going south between Brian and Scott , but I know how he was always able to just wrap her around his finger when we were kids . I just hope she's outgrown that , because she sure as shit doesn't need to go through the same hell she did in high school .

     The bedroom door opens and she comes in , making sure to close it quietly so she doesn't wake her friends . She turns around , and notices that I'm still awake .

     "I figured that you'd be sacked out by now ." , she says .

     "Have we met ?" , I retort . "You should know me better than that by now . You know you're not going to sleep until I get details , right ?"

     "Details , huh ? Well , we sat in a restaurant booth , half - ass picked at a plate of appetizers , and I drank enough iced tea to float an aircraft carrier . And we had a conversation ."

     "What kind of a conversation , T ? Please tell me he's not trying to get back in your pants !"

     "Get serious , Kel !" , she says . "I know you don't think much of him , but you know he's not stupid ! If he tried that , I'd toss him across the fucking room , and he's well aware of that ."

     "Then what did he want that was so damn important ?" , I inquire .

    "He wanted to explain why he did what he did , in high school and the movie thing . He apologized , and he said he'd like to try to be friends , but he's not expecting anything else ." , she responds .

     She proceeds to recount everything he said to her , and if there's any truth to it at all , the worst thing he's guilty of is being a short - sighted idiot . Both times . But I'm still not quite ready to take it as gospel truth . There's been too many things on the internet about his activities the past few years , and while I know you can't believe everything you read , enough of it has verification that some of it has to be true . And Tiana has dealt with too much crap already to have to worry about a drunken , irresponsible , pussy - hound .

     "Was that all you guys talked about ?" , I asked her . "Or was there anything else ?"

     She sighs , and says , rather reluctantly , "I told him about the pills . I'm pretty sure he wasn't expecting anything like that , he seemed to be kind of freaked out ."

     "But I'm guessing that you didn't tell him the whole story , did you ?" , I ask .

     "No , there really doesn't seem to be any purpose to that now . How the hell would it help anything anyway ?" , she says , mussing her hair as she talks .

     "I don't know , sweetie , but you need to consider the possibility that maybe you should . If he's actually telling the truth , he deserves some consideration . And if he's not , then he deserves a fucking reality check , so maybe it'll save somebody else a lot of misery !" , I tell her .

     "Maybe you're right , but not just now . I'd kind of like some time to figure out how this is all going to shake out before I go there ."

     "Perfectly understandable ." , I reply . "Now you should probably get into your jammies and get some sleep . Apparently , according to CC , we're going to the recording studio with them in the morning , and I prefer that you be awake when you're driving ." 

     "Why , do you want me to be different than the rest of the drivers in LA ?"

     "You bet your ass I do , hon !"

            

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 ANDY'S POV :

     I'm out here on the front porch having a cigarette , because it's 1:45 in the morning and I can't sleep , and Ashley's car pulls into the driveway . I didn't notice that it was still gone when I came out , I thought he was already back . For some reason , he's not getting out , I can see him sitting there , with his head on the steering wheel . That means something's bugging him . Maybe his talk with Tiana didn't go as well as he hoped .

     I get up and walk out to the driveway , and he apparently sees me coming from the corner of his eye . He rolls down the window , gives me a faint grin , and says , "Waiting up for me , Dad ?"

     "Nah , just couldn't sleep , so I'm having a smoke . What's wrong , man ?"

     He finally gets out of the car , and that's when I see that his eyes are red , and sort of puffy , like he's actually been crying , which is NOT a good sign . Even though a lot of people don't realize it , Ash is actually a really sensitive , soft - hearted guy , but he tries really hard not to let anyone see when things bother him . So for him to have actually gotten to the point of tears , he must have gotten hit with some serious shit .

     We walk back up to the porch and sit down , and he rubs his eyes , let's out a big sigh , and says , "Do you have any idea how bad it sucks when your own words come back to bite you in the ass ?"

     "That happens to everybody at some point . Which words in particular are you referring to , anyway ?"

     "Well , based on my own godddamn quote , I'm a fucking coward !" , he says , as he continues to rub his eyes .

     "What the fuck are you talking about , Ash ?" 

     "Apparently , Tiana tried to kill herself after I left ." , he mumbles into his hands .

     I manage to pull the rest of the story out of him over the next few minutes , then walk into the house and grab a couple of bottles of water and bring them back out . I hand one to him , and crack open the other one myself . He opens his , takes a gulp , and says , "Y'know , I think this is probably the first time I've been glad you don't keep any booze around anymore . If you did , I'd probably start drinking and not stop until I keeled over . I'm honestly not sure how I managed to hold it together until she left . I don't think I've ever felt worse in my life ."

     "Yeah , that's enough to mess anyone up ." , I say . "But she's still here , so focus on that . Did she actually blame you for that ?"

     "No , it almost seemed like she was blaming herself . She said that she did it because she couldn't do anything right , so she felt like everything was basically pointless ." , he sighs . "She actually asked me what was so terrible that I decided I didn't want to be with her , like she thinks she's not good enough . Of course , I guess that shouldn't be a surprise , since I found out this afternoon that her last boyfriend did almost exactly the same thing I did ."

     He then tells me about the conversation he had with Scott earlier in the day about some jerkoff named Landon , who apparently came out a little worse than Ash  had when he ended his relationship with Tiana . ( At least Ashley didn't get himself tossed over a car . Not yet , anyway .)

     "So now we know why she decided to take herself back out of the dating pool , I guess ." , I observe . "I'm not trying to twist the knife or anything , but that can't be good for anyone's self - esteem ." 

     "No shit , Sherlock !" ,  he exclaims . "And if anything , this dude was dumber than I was ! He left her to go back to somebody he knew was a two - timing slut ! What I did was idiotic enough , but even I was never that brain - dead !"

     "Well , at least you finally got things straightened out with her , anyway . Maybe you guys can at least be friends now ." , I observe .

     What I'm not expecting is for him to look at me and say , "Andy , to be honest , I don't know if that's enough . I tried so hard not to think about her for such a long time , but now that she's back in my life , I don't think I want to just be her friend . I need to figure out how to make her love me again ."

     Oh , man ! This could get interesting !