I'm shocked as I watch Ashton stumble in. My mum yelps, startled as Ashton falls over. I get up instantly, rushing over to him. I grab his arm to help him up.
"What happened!" Ashton sounds out of breath, grunting slightly in pain. "Ashton."
"I...need to sit." He groans and I nod, moving him over to the bathroom. I move as fast as I can without hurting him in any way.
"Do you need anything?" I watch him as he breathes irregular. I sit him down on the toilet seat and he leans back. I notice him wince as I move my arm from around his waist. He shakes his head.
"Lift your shirt." Ashton lets out a sigh as I say this. I can tell that he didn't want to explain anything that happened. I didn't want to push him, but curiosity got the best of me. It worried me to see him like this. After a bit of silence, Ashton lifts up his shirt, looking away from me. I'm horrified yet not surprised to see the mess in front of me. Littered all over his stomach were bruises and short cuts. Hesitantly, I run my hand over his cuts softly, making sure not to hurt him.
"Fuck." He grunts in pain and I frown.
"I'm sorry." I pull my hand away and he shakes his head.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it I've gone through worse." It hurts me to think that there could've been any worse than this. I try to rack my brain around the possibilities. The only possible idea I could come up with in my head was his father. That's the only thing that made sense to me. Why else would he come here all bloodied. The last time I'd seen him, him and his father had gotten into a fight. Him coming to my house after all of that was the only explanation that I could muster.
I sigh and grab a cloth from the sink. I run the sink water, making sure it's cold in contrast to his hot skin. When I look back at him he's frowning at me, he shakes his head.
"I don't understand why you're helping me, I don't deserve this after the way I've treated you at school. I know you say that you forgive me for it, but how?" He looks away from me. I kneel down in front of him. He doesn't say anything again so I cup his face in my hands.
"I don't care about the past. What I care about is what we are now, and what we can do to make this better." I spoke, referring to his injuries. Ashton looks at me, a hopeful look in his eyes. I notice a small smile play at his lips after a bit of silence. He sighs deeply.
"I don't know what I ever did to deserve someone like you." I smile at him. I don't know what he meant by that. I didn't think I was that good of a person to begin with but for some reason, Ashton saw something in me that no one else did, and that made me very happy.
"I don't know what you see in me," I watch him and he raises an eyebrow, looking confused. I elaborate. "Everybody else just sees me as some slut to toy with, but you don't." Ashton shrugs at me.
"I'm not everybody else." I leave the topic at that and just send him a warm smile.
"Take your shirt off." He does as I say, removing his shirt and throwing it to the floor. It's then that I realize how much blood is on the clothing. I shudder as it gives me dark thoughts about myself. I look away quickly.
After a bit, Ashton is all cleaned up and I put the first aid kit away. As I put things away I can feel Ashton's eyes on me the whole time.
"You feeling any better?" He nods instantly and opens up his arms. I'm confused until he speaks.
"Can I get a hug now? I've been waiting patiently and I could really use one right now." I nod and advance towards him. When I'm close enough I wrap my arms around him and sigh deeply. I hear him wince but he pulls through, ignoring it.
"It was your dad wasn't it?" It's a few seconds before Ashton actually speaks up again.
"How did you know?" I shrug, it was obvious so why did he seem so oblivious?
"Just gathering information I already had in mind. Last time I saw you both you were arguing and he hit you in the face," He frowns at me. "It only made sense." He nods and scratches the back of his neck. He seemed like he had something to say, but was too shy to let it out.
"Can I ask you something?" I nod, waiting for him to speak.
"Could I maybe stay a few nights here? If not that's fine, I just have nowhere else to go and there's no way I'm spending another night with my dad." I frown at him. I felt terrible about his home life. Here I was, complaining about how terrible my life was while Ashton was probably getting shit from his father every night. I felt selfish.
"Of course you can." I didn't care what my mum had to say. She can't deny Ashton the right stay here. After all, he did save my life. If he hadn't seen me at the party in the yard, I could've died of alcohol poisoning.
"Will your mum care at all?" He genuinely looked concerned about it. This was a side of Ashton that I never really got to see. I can only assume that he hid it underneath so no one could judge him for being soft, weak.
"She won't care Ashton, I promise." He smiles at me, and I can't help but feel my stomach flutter. I liked Ashton's company.
"Can I have a kiss?" I bite my lip as he says this, but I don't deny it. I nod and lean toward him. Once I'm close enough he puts his hand on my cheek and connects our lips. Each time we kissed felt better than the last. Being around Ashton excited me, and I never wanted it to end. He pulls away and sighs.
"Thank you." I raise an eyebrow and laugh.
"Why?" He shrugs at me and stands up finally, chest fully exposed. I resist letting my eyes fall to his knicks and bruises, not wanting to make him feel self-conscious.
"For giving me a chance." I smile too wide at him. I lean in for another kiss and once our lips connect, the door flies open. I gasp loudly as I see Calum in the door way.
"Oh!" He says, laughing softly. "Bad time?" I scowl at him and Ashton laughs.
"You're good." Ashton grabs his bloody shirt and walks past him. Once Ashton is out of view, Calum smirks at me, wiggling his eyebrows. I walk over to him and punch him in the arm. He's annoying. He holds his arm, laughing. I walk past him and he follows.
"Fuck off." He laughs it off, clearing his throat.
"So is he okay?" I nod, wanting Calum to go away.
"He's fine," Calum nods at me. "He's staying over a few days though." He crosses his arms as he processes what I've said.
"What even happened?" I wanted to tell him, but it wasn't my business to.
"You'll have to ask Ashton that yourself." He nods.
"I'll let your mum know." I nod, not really caring. Ashton was staying whether she wanted him to or not. Calum jogs down the stairs and I go to my room, where Ashton sits on my bed. He looks at me and smiles.
Suddenly, my phone starts to vibrate for a call. I take my phone out my pocket and look at the Caller ID.
Luke
I freeze. Why now? What the fuck did he want? I zone out, staring at the contact name until Ashton speaks up.
"Who is it?" I look to him then back at my phone before hanging it up.
"Just Crystal."
He didn't need to know it was Luke. Either way, there was no Luke and I anymore. Just me and Ashton.
