Testing Love || Be My Outlaw Sequel

Eleven

When Ashley got to the gas station, Andy had nodded off in his car. Ashley walked over to the car, trying the back door to see if it was locked. It wasn't. He sighed and rolled his eyes. This wasn't a particularly safe part of town, why wouldn't he lock the car? When Ash opened the door, Andy gasped quietly and opened his eyes slightly.

"Mmm hey babe," he smiled. But it wasn't his usual smile, the one that made Ashley's heart melt and showed off his perfect teeth. This one was lopsided and made him look sick.

Ashley didn't say anything, he just pulled his boyfriend out of the driver's seat and put him in the passenger's seat. He couldn't believe this was happening. He didn't know what to do. Surely Andy was drunk, right? He had to have been lying when he told Ash no.

"We're going home," Ashley stated as he buckled his boyfriend in.

"Wait," Andy said slowly. "I... I want candy." He slurred. Ash rolled his eyes but went inside the gas station. After he paid, he stormed out and got into the driver's seat. The whole ride home was filled with painful silence, aside from Andy's chewing.

They pulled into the driveway and Ash guided Andy into the house and into their bedroom. He put him to bed and shut off the lights then went to the living room. As much as he wanted to go to sleep with his man, he knew that he should let him have the space he asked for.

In the morning, Ashley awoke to the smell of cigarettes coming from the bedroom. Andy never smoked in the house. Ashley stood up and walked to the bedroom door. When he tried to open it, it was locked.

Andy, are you okay? Why is the door locked?"

"Just a second. Uh I-I had a smoke before and now I uh I'm... you know I'm... Having some um 'alone time.'" Andy knew it was a bad excuse, but it was the only thin he could think of in the moment.

"Oh, sorry." Ashley's face was a little red, and he walked away, leaving him to finish. While Ash wondered why he didn't just wake him up, he also felt that he understood, because since he recently lost the baby, maybe he didn't really feel like being intimate with another person.

Andy felt guilty about lying to Ash, but that gave him all the more reason to do it. Because if he did, he wouldn't feel anything. It made him numb. And he was in too much pain not to be numb. He hated himself for turning to this again, but he didn't know how else to cope. This was all he knew. He picked it up and looked at it for a minute. He knew he shouldn't, but he had to. And so he did. He dropped his head back and inhaled deeply. He hated it so much, but at the same time he loved it.

He cleaned everything up and hid it somewhere he thought Ashley would never find it. Then he made his way to the living room. He sat next to Ashley on the couch. As minutes passed Andy began to nod off, falling forward and waking himself up. This happened several times.

"Andy, baby, are you tired? Did you have a hard time sleeping?"

"No," he nodded off. "I slept... fine." His speech was slow and slurred again. Ashley sighed and held back tears. That wasn't what he was doing this morning. He must be drunk, already. He must be hiding alcohol in there then, right?