A Broken Spirit

Chapter Thirty Two

I gasped as he stroked my cheek.

"Talk about what?" I asked quietly, struggling to keep the hate out of my voice.

"Us." he answered his voice dripping with disdain.

I laughed as the words left his mouth. He glared at me.

Such a wave of anger washed over me as he said those words. I felt an overwhelming sense of confidence as I looked into his eyes.

"There's never going to be anything between us, I love Ashton." I told him smugly.

He smirked at me. "You misunderstand, you belong to me." he said menacingly.

I snorted and turned away from him. He quickly grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him, as he pushed me against the wall, and placed his hands either side of my head, leaning against the wall. My sudden confidence had completely disappeared. As I closed my eyes, I could smell his stale breath. The bad memories began to spin around my head.

"Dale please-" I begged.

"Not today, but I want you at my beck and call. If I call you are to come to me." he hissed in my ear.

"No Dale, I can't." I sobbed.

He grabbed a handful of my hair and began to twist it, causing me to cry out in pain.

"You can, otherwise Ashton is going to get hurt!" he spat.

I nodded.

"Do you understand?!" he yelled as he began to twist my hair tighter.

"I understand!" I cried as my eyes began to water.

At that moment the door opened. Dale instantly let go of my hair and stepped back. I turned to see Luke standing in the door way, staring between the two of us.

"What's going on?" Luke asked.

"Laura was upset, so I am trying to comfort her." Dale stated as he pulled me towards him into a hug. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as he held me tightly in his arms. I longed to pull away from him, but I couldn't let Luke know what was going on. I had to protect Ashton. I closed my eyes trying to imagine that I was in Ashton's arms, but I couldn't. It felt too different, he didn't even smell the same. My stomach turned as Dale smirked at me.

Eventually he pulled away from me, smiling down at me. I wanted to punch him. How dare he treat me this way and then pretend that he was just being a nice friend. Dale smiled at Luke as he left the room. I sighed, walked past Luke and slammed the door behind myself.

"Are you okay?" I heard Luke call after me as I walked down the hall.

"Yeah." I called back as I continued walking.

I rounded a corner and nearly walked into Michael as he ran around the corner.

"Oh my god Laura, I'm sorry!" he exclaimed as he skidded to a stop.

"It's fine." I told him smiling slightly.

"You brought pizza?" he cried excitedly looking at the bag in my hand.

I nodded and followed him as he walked away. He led me into a huge gym. Ashton and Calum were using exercise bikes, clearly racing each other, the speed they were pedalling! I handed Michael the bag and wandered over to the large trampoline that sat in the corner. I perched on the edge and swung my legs over the side, as I watched the boys messing about. I sighed as they laughed, wishing that all the pain I had endured would go away. I breathed deeply as I tried to calm my nerves. I had never been more unhappy in my life. Now on top of everything else the one person left in my life who mattered to me was being used against me. I knew, as did Dale, that I would do anything to protect him. He was my world, I couldn't bear the thought that he could get hurt because of me. I laid down on the trampoline, staring at the ceiling. All of a sudden the boys appeared beside me. Michael grinned mischievously as they began to bounce around me. I screamed as the momentum propelled me into the air. They all laughed and continued.

Michael grabbed my hand and pulled me onto my feet. The other boys stood up and we began to bounce around together. Despite myself I giggled and joined in. As I messed around with the boys I forgot about everything that happened.

I smiled as Ashton landed a somersault.

"Easy!" stated Calum.

He made a decent attempt but he landed face down.

Michael and I laughed at him Ashton and Luke continued messing about.

Eventually they stopped and sat down, as I returned to laying on the trampoline. Ashton gently lifted my head and placed it in his lap as he lounged next to me. Luke lay on my left and Michael on my right. Calum sat quietly at my feet.

"How did rehearsals go?" I asked them as Ashton gently stroked my hair.

"Awesome, Ashton's drumming sucks though." Michael teased.

Ashton laughed and kicked Michael playfully in the stomach.

"Ouch!" he squealed pouting.

We all laughed.

"You squeal like a girl Mikey." Calum joined in.

Michael pouted again and glared at Calum.

"I love you guys." I announced randomly. They glanced at me for a moment.

"We love you too." they said in unison. A stray tear rolled down my cheek as all the boys reached against me and hugged me tightly.

AN- Hey guys, sorry for the delay in updating, hope the chapter is worth the wait! Keep commenting please guys :)