I wake up the next morning and the sun is blinding me. Ashton is sitting at the edge of the truck smoking a cigarette. I sit next to him.
"Good morning," I say and he doesn't even look at me. "Are you okay?"
He shrugs and gets off the truck and steps on his cigarette. He puts the cover on the back of the truck and climbs into the drivers seat and I get into the passenger. He parked in a lot at an old restaurant. We walk inside and sit at the bar.
"Ashton! Haven't seen you in a while!" An old lady says.
"Hi Laura," he says.
"Maggie you've changed a bit," she says fixing her glasses and inspecting me.
"I'm Abby actually. Who's Maggie?" I ask.
"Oh Maggie is Ashton's girlfriend of course, they're the sweetest thing," Laura says and Ashton looks at me.
"We broke up Laura," he says and she gives him a sympathetic look. We order some food and she leaves.
"Who's Maggie?" I ask.
"Just an ex," he says.
"Why'd you break up?" I ask.
"Can we not talk about this?" he snaps and I shut my mouth. We eat in silence and he's quiet for a bit in the car.
"I'm sorry I snapped at you," he says. "Maggie was my girlfriend a year ago...I know we wouldn't last but when she broke up with me it still crushed me. She didn't really have a reason. A week later I get a call from her mom telling me she killed herself. She didn't even leave a note or anything. I knew she had been depressed in the past but I didn't think she would've done that. I couldn't bring myself to go to the memorial...I regret not going...today was the day she killed herself last year and I didn't realize it until this morning," he says.
"Ashton I'm so sorry," I say.
"It's okay," he says.
"So did you bring her up here a lot?" I ask him.
"Kind of," he says.
"So are you trying to like relive your memories through me?" I ask.
"No it's not like that," he says.
"Then what's it like? I look like a rebound," I say.
"No, you're not Abbie I promise," he says.
"You said you'd never cared for a girl like you did me, did you tell her that to?" I ask.
"No Abby, I cared about her but I care for you in a different way. I knew her and I wouldn't last, it was a summer fling but I can see myself with you for a long time," he says and my heart flutters.
"I'm sorry...I was being a bitch," I say and he shakes his head.
"No you weren't, it's okay," he says.
We make small talk on the rest of the way home and we get to my house. He walks me to the door and kisses me. I pull away after a while to open the door but he grabs my hips and kisses me again. I giggle and kiss him back. I hear a cough and we pull away.
I turn around and my dad is standing there.
"I'm sorry sir, I'm Ashton Irwin," Ashton says and holds his hand out to shake my dad's but my dad ignores it.
"Why were you out so late?" He asks.
"We were hanging out and kind of fell asleep," I explain.
"You can go, Ashton," my dad says and Ashton nods.
"Bye Abby, goodbye Mr. Preston," he says and I wave. He gets in the truck and drives away.
We walk into the kitchen where my mom was sitting and she gasps when she sees me and hugs me tightly.
"We were worried sick!" my mom exclaims.
"I didn't know you guys were coming back early," I say.
"So you slept over at some boy's house?" my dad asks me.
"Dad it wasn't like that," I say.
"So what was it like? What did you do last night?" my dad asks.
"We had dinner, watched some movies, fell asleep, and had breakfast," I say and my dad rolls his eyes.
"There's only one thing boys like him want and I think you know what," my dad says.
"That's bullshit! Ashton isn't like that," I say.
"I don't want you seeing that boy, did you see those ridiculous tattoos and piercings he had?" my dad says.
"You can't say he's a bad person just because he has tattoos," I say and my dad rolls his eyes.
"I know that that boy is just going to play you, all he wants from you is sex and you know it," my dad says.
"No he doesn't! He cares about me!" I exclaim.
"Yes he does and how do you expect he's going to get a job later on with all of those tattoos? he's going to be a bum on the street, I won't have you dating someone like that," my dad says.
"Fuck you," I say and go upstairs to my room and slam my door. My dad was such an ass. I go into my bathroom turn on the water in the bath. I needed one. I got into the hot water and my muscles relaxed. I rest my head against the back of the bathtub and close my eyes for a bit. I can't believe my dad actually said those things...sure those thoughts had run through my mind a few times but I didn't let them get to me. I believed Ashton when he said he cared for me but I just always have this little voice in my head telling me it's all bullshit. To hear those words from my dad really hurt though.
