1969 | a.u. a.i

15

Ashton's P.O.V

I'm clocking out of work and grabbed my keys off the key holder. I sigh. It was a long day. It's been a couple of days since Grace came home with bruises all over her. Once I see Tom he's going to pay. The next day she told me that he threatened her saying that she was next. I'm going to make sure she's not.

I walk to my car and something was thrown at me. I turn and it's Tom in his car, "N*gger lover!" He yells at me. I roll up my sleeves, "Get out the car." I say, walking towards him. He gets out of his car. I chuckle to myself, 'Big mistake kid.' "I'm out my car. What are you going to do?" He asks very cockily. I'm a couple of feet in front of him when I start to pop my knuckles.

"Consider this a warning kid. Ever come around Grace again I will end you." I glare at him. He laughs at my threat. "And what are you going to do if I don't?" He asks, crossing his arms over his chest. That's when I snapped. I throw a hard punch knocking him to the ground. I get on top ignoring his pleas for me to stop.

I blacked out. Next thing I knew I was getting pulled off of him with force. I try to get out of the persons hold until I realize it was my boss. "Ashton that's enough son!" He yells at me. I look at him and then back to the boy struggling to breathe. Then I feel a firm grip on my wrist, "You have the right to remain silent. If you give up the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You-" I drawn out the officer giving me my rights as he walks me to his car in cuffs. He places me in his car and gets in right after. He starts up his car and we go downtown.

Grace's P.O.V

I make it to my house with my mom in the kitchen getting supper ready. I place my bag on the couch and walked over to her. "Hey mom." I greet giving her a kiss on her cheek. "Hey sweetie. How was school?" She asks, cleaning some chicken. I jump and sit on the island swinging my legs. "Boring. Like always." I cackle. She laughs. As we're having small talk the phone starts to ring, "I'll get it. It's probably Tatiana." My mother says, cleaning off her hands quickly.

She answers the phone with a smile, "Hello." I look at her and it fades. She nods at the persons words. "Okay I'll be there. Hang tight." With that she hangs up the phone, "Mama who was that?" I jump off the island. "It was Ashton. He's in jail." She says, turning off the burner and taking off her apron. My heart starts to beat, "What? What did he do?"

She grabs her keys and looks at me with sad eyes. That's when I knew it was something serious. "I'm coming with you." I reached for my coat. "No. You stay here. I'll be right back." My mother tells me. I look at her in disbelief. Then she gives me that look that all mothers give when to not go any further. I sigh and put my coat back onto the rack.

She plants kiss on my cheek and runs out the door. I close the door and walked away from it. I take a seat in the rocking chair waiting for my mother to come back with Ashton. After 45 minutes I hear a car door being shut. I shot out the chair and opened my door. I see Ashton walking towards the house. I run off the porch and brought him into a hug.

He wraps his arms around me baring his face between my neck and shoulder. "Are you okay?" I ask pulling away looking at him. He gives me a soft smile, "I'm fine. Come on let's go inside it's a bit chilly out here." He grabs my hand and pulling me into the house. My mother is back into the kitchen when we walked in. I never noticed her walk past us.

I bring Ashton to the couch. I look at him and take his large hands into my small ones. I rub my thumb over his knuckles and he flinches. With a raised brow I look down and his knuckles are all scabbed up. I scoff and let go of his hand. I look away, annoyed that he got put in jail for another fight.

"Grace?" He places a hand on my shoulder. I shrug it off. Annoyed I ask, "Who was it?" He's silent. I turn to look at him and his expression is worry. He takes in a deep breath and says, "Tom." I roll my eyes, "Of course you did. Why can't you just let shit go, Ashton? You don't have to beat every white person to protect me. It's not worth it." I tell him with a hard tone.

He sighs, "I know. I need to stop doing that but I don't want anything to happened to you." I cover my face with my hands. This is getting old. I look at him with a hard stare, "Ashton just let it happened. You can't protect me forever. One day you're going to realize that looking at me and being protective was a mistake." I cross my arms over my chest. He groans at my words, "Grace nothing in the world is going to make me think that laying eyes on you was a mistake."

He places his hand on my exposed knee. I look away from his gaze. He needs to control his anger. "Grace please. I'm sorry." He says with hurt in his voice. I look at him, "I don't need the apology. Tom does. I know he is an asshole but what you did was out of line. He's a kid." I tell him, scooting away from him.

He eyes hold hurt when I did the gesture. It hurt me to look at him like this so I got up. "Gra-" I look at him, "Stop. I know you were trying to protect me but just give it up. If I'm next then I'm next. There's nothing we can do about it." I tell him, walking away from him. He grabs my hand and pulls me close to him. "You're right. I went out of line this time. I will be a man and apologize for my mistake."

I was taken aback by his words, "Good. We'll go to his house tomorrow when I get off of school." I step away from him letting go of his grip. He nods and leans against the couch. I left the living room and went help my mother supper.