Without Me

Desperation

Ashley turned her phone off, there was no use looking at it because as she had expected there were endless tweets on her profile about the photos that had been posted on various media outlets. Although thankfully the photos that been printed were of when Marshall yanked her down and him with his middle finger pointing at the camera. She was thankful because it meant they hadn't taken a picture of when Marshall had been literally on top of her.

Speaking of Marshall he had his headphones on and his head bent over his notebook writing furiously. Ashley smiled as she watched him, when he got in the writing zone he wouldn't come out of it until all his ideas were out on the page. So all she could do was sit and watch as his hand moved back and forth across the pages leaving spindly blank lettering behind. It wasn't long before she got tired of watching him and drifted off to sleep, it was still a few hours until they'd land back in Detroit anyway.

''Ash, wake up, we've landed. Ashley,'' Marshall's soothing tone and his fingers stroking across her cheek woke Ashley up from her sleep. He watched her with a hint of a smile as she stretched out, giving a little yawn as she did.

''Why am I so tired?'' Ashley whinned, dragging her body up and out of the plane seat, before following Marshall out and down the steps.

She cringed as the sunlight from outside stung her half opened tired eyes, it made her dizzy so much that she had to grab ahold of Marshall to steady herself. The moment she grabbed him he turned around to wrap his arm around her waist to make sure she didn't fall over.

''Are you ok?'' He asked concern laced in his tone. His eyes scanning over her as if his gaze alone would tell him what was happening.

''Yeah I'm fine. Probably just blood rushing to my head, I'm ok,'' Marshall wasn't convinced, but she wiggled free of him and he had to watch still concerned as she went ahead of him to the car.

***

''Jamie I'm home,'' Ashley called out the moment she stepped through the threshold, Marshall wasn't far behind carrying her luggage behind him.

''Kitchen,'' came a shout from the teen, who as Ashley turned into the Kitchen was sat at the table a plate of whatever he was having for breakfast in front of him.

''I'd ask how New York was, but the pictures speak for themselves,'' he teased and both adults rolled their eyes at the boy, ''I'm totally fine with this you know because I feel like your going to ask again,'' he added shoving a forkful of bacon into his mouth once he'd spoken.

''I wasn't, but I am going to ask why Alonzo is still here,'' there was a clatter of metal against ceramic as Jamie dropped the fork accidentally down on his plate, ''Jamie?''

''He said they were threatening him what was I supposed to do mom?'' Jamie tried to justify himself, but the look his mother gave him told him that he'd have to try harder.

''So you just thought you'd let him stay and everything will sort itself out on its own,'' Jamie shrunk away down into his seat, curtesy of the glare she gave him. His eyes faced downwards so he was staring down at the remnants of his breakfast.

''How did you know?'' He finally asked after a short silence.

''He was here. The coat and the shoes in the hallway gave into away kid,'' Marshall was the one to reply this time. Jamie glanced over at the man for a quick second before looking away just as fast. The unamused expression coupled with his crossed arms was enough to tell Jamie that he wasn't exactly ecstatic about the new found information either.

''Don't blame him, Ash,'' Alonzo stood in the doorway and Ashley wasn't happy because her face went bright red with anger and what happened next was all a blur for her, but Jamie and Marshall saw everything clearly.

''Get out of my house now,'' the loudness of Ashley's voice made all three males jump, neither expecting the volume she had reached. Ashley hardly ever shouted, making the situation even worse.

''Just hear me out please, just...''

''No, get out,'' this time she walked over to him grabbing him by the shoulders and pushing him out of the kitchen towards the door.

''Ashley, please. They know where I live I just need the picture back, that's all I need and I'll be gone. Please,'' Alonzo begged her, putting his hands on her arms to stop her from pushing him any further away. He breathed a sigh of relief when she stopped and let go of him, taking a step back.

'''I can't give you the photo Alonzo, but I can give you some advice. Go to the police and show them the threats they'll look after you, you can't stay here,'' Ashley explained, watching Alonzo's face drop.

''photocopy it and give me...''

''Dude we don't have the photo we stopped by the station and gave it to the person in charge of Arthur's case. Your best bet is to go to the police,'' Marshall came out of the kitchen and wrapped his arms around Ashley from behind. It was more of a protective move, but he also wanted to make sure that after all this no amount of begging from Alonzo would make Ashley get back with him.

''We can take you if you'd like,'' Ashley offered. She had expected him to say yes, but his reaction was far from just a simple answer.

''For fucks sake, it's just about been a week and you too are already at each other. Are you kidding me, seriously, did I mean nothing to you at all,'' Alonzo was screaming, his face redder than what Ashely's had been. Marshall pulled Ashley away from Alonzo as he picked up the bowl that sat on the sideboard by the door. It was lucky that Marshall had pulled Ashely away because the angle Alonzo threw it, it would have easily hit her.

''You need to calm your shit, ok,'' but Alonzo didn't listen he was to busy throwing anything he could get his hands on, ''Jesus Christ, stop,'' Marshall couldn't bear watching Alonzo destroy any more of the hallway in Ashley's house. He stuck his foot out and Alonzo was so blinded by rage that he tripped over and hit his head on the soild hardwood floor. He was instantly knocked out.

''I called the police they should be here soon,'' it was Jamie who had spoken.

''Where's your mom?'' Marshall asked after shifting Alonzo so he was leant against the wall in a seated position.

All Jamie did was point. Ashely was sat balled up in the corner of the kitchen, her head buried between her knees and her hands over her ears. Marshall sighed as he knelt down beside her and pried her body apart. Seconds later she wrapped herself around him and he cradled her in his arms.

''He's just like Dexter was,'' she sniffed, finally raising her head to look up at him, ''I thought I was past dating guys with anger issues.''

''Well you are now,'' Marshall mumbled placing a soft kiss to the top of her head, ''and please reinstate those assault charges,'' he added. Ashley nodded, but he wasn't sure if she was serious or not.

The police arrived a few minutes later and took Alonzo's body away. Ashley was in no fit state to talk to them so with her permission Marshall handed over the CCTV footage from the past half an hour. They took it gratefully and left.

Once the exchange was done Marshall went in search of Ashley as she had disappeared from the kitchen. He found her upstairs, head bent over the toilet seat as she throw up. He saw her tear stained cheeks the moment she turned away from the bowl and lent against the bath. She gave a weak smile and he sat down next to her wrapping her in his arms once more, while at the same time wiping her tears away with his thumb.

''I love you Ash,'' his whispered.

''I love you too,'' her voice was strained, but he heard it loud and clear.