Broken Innocence (C.H.)

7 - Keep Your Distance

-Calum-

I walked into the house and tossed my keys down on the counter. Ashton was still sitting on the couch. He turned to look at me a second after i set down my keys.

"Is she ok?" He asked me. I walked over and sat down in the chair beside the couch.

"She's really upset Ashton. I know you didn't mean anything by it, but you really hurt her. Evan has been there with her through a lot. Her parents kicked her out, and he took her in. I don't know why they did, but she just seems so hurt by it. I know you and me just want to be friend, and be there for her. But, we need to give her some time and space. I don't think she really knows how to open up to others, how to tell them how she is feeling. I know Evan is not a good guy, but we can't tell her anything right now. She is super upset by all of this, and I don't want to make it worse."

Ashton bit his lip holding back his thought, and paused before speaking. "You know I hate that guy. If he tries to do anything. I'm going to flip out. He can't just go around hurting people." Ashton ran his fingers through his hair.

"Ash, I know, but we can't involve ourselves into that. It'll only make everything worse. Just keep your distant from him. Ok?" I looked over at him, he kept his focus on the football game playing on the tv. He sighed and slightly nodded his head.

-Alex-

Why?

Why do they care so much? I'm not used to all of this. I've never had to open up to anyone. No one has ever known this much about me. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to react. All these emotions are trying to break out. I can't handle this. I just need time.

I grabbed the front door knob and pushed it open. Again, Evan was no where to be found. To be honest I'm kind of glad. I just need the peace and quiet.

Three knocks echoed from the door. I groaned and got off of my comfortable spot on the couch. I peeked out the peephole and saw Matt nervously tapping his foot on the ground. I furrowed my brows then slid the lock to open the door.

"Hey Matt, Um...what are you doing here?" I questioned him.

"Is Even here?" He quickly replied.

"Um no. I haven't seen him since yesterday. Is something wrong?"

He took in a deep breath.

"Uh yeah but... I can't really say anything just call me if you see him." He turned around and began to walk off.

"Ah hell no. Get your ass back here. You can't just say something is wrong, and walk off without telling me. Is he in trouble? What did he do?" I yelled at him then grabbed his arm before he could run off.

"Alex not right now ok?" He tried to walk off again.

"No Matt! Ok now you're freaking me out what happened." I pulled him inside the apartment before he could walk off again.

"You aren't leaving until you tell me what is happening." I raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms while I waited for him to answer.

"Jesus Alex you don't give up do you. Persistent and feisty I like it." He growled while winking. I kicked him in the leg.

"Ow, what the hell was that?" He winced and rubbed his leg.

"I said spill."

"Fine, fine Evan...he uh...used more than he could sell, and he...uh...didn't make enough money this week. He made some people really really upset." I stood there taken back after what he just said.

"He used more than he could sell"

Never, I never thought he would do this to me. After everything I never thought he would go down that path. I couldn't speak. I was just so taken back.

How could he do this to me?

"Alex I uh... gotta go just call me if you see him. Ok?" I nodded without saying another word and he walked out the door. I stood there frozen after the door clicked shut behind me. I knew it. I knew we would just end up like our parents. It was just a matter of time before our worlds would come shattering down. I backed against the wall, and the rest of my body collided with it as I collapsed down to the floor. The pain of betrayal was unbearable. I pulled my knees up close to my chest and threw my arms around them. Tears poured down my face, and small whimpers of pain escaped from my mouth. I threw my head back against the wall resulting in a hard thud. Pain resulted from this, but it didn't bother me because it didn't hurt as much as the emotional pain that I was feeling right now. All the emotions I had bottle up had escaped. I cried for hours, and sat on the floor until I had no tears left. I stared at the wall until my eyes burned. I felt so empty like every ounce of energy was drained from my body. Every emotion, all the pain I just couldn't hold it in anymore. I had reached my breaking point.

Before I knew it I was reaching for my phone. I can't be by myself right now.

"Hello?"

"Ashton?" I managed to croak out. My voice still broken from the hours of crying a experienced a moment before.

"Hey...Alex are you crying...what's wrong?" His soothing voice questioned me through the phone.

"Can you...come over? please..."

"Yeah...are you ok?" He asked again sounding concerned.

"No" That's all I managed to say before I broke down crying again. I tried to calm down and wipe the tears from my face.

"Alex ...i'll there in a second, just hang on ok?"

"ok"

A few minutes passed then a soft knock echoed from the front door. I had no to strength to get up. The door swung open a moment later. Ashton walked through it then turned his attention over to me. I know I looked awful my makeup was smeared down my face, and my eyes were probably bloodshot red from crying. He ran right over too me.

"Hey" I managed to say while trying to softly smile.

"Hey?" He bent down beside me.

"Are you ok?" He questioned.

"No...I don't know" I slightly laughed. I know how crazy I must look. He scooted over and sat down beside me. I leaned over and rested my head on his shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked. I paused for a second. I'm done keeping everything in, and I'm done bottling everything up.

"Yeah...yeah actually I do" I took in a deep breath then I told him everything.

"When I was thirteen...my parents they kicked me out," I took another deep breath then continued. "They kicked me out because they gave up on me. They decided it was better to waste away their lives away with temporary things than take care of me. I got told everyday how worthless I am. How I don't deserve to be there. I would run away when they got super drunk. I just couldn't take the fighting. I would run away, and Evan would come find me and take care of me. He was in the same boat as I was because..." I inhaled again then let it out. "His dad was my parents dealer so thats how we know each other. We bonded because we had no one else to be there for us. We were only there for each other." I continued and told him everything all the details that hurt so back to remember to bring back. I ran out of tears I just felt empty, but it felt so nice to finally talk to someone.