Night shift - Completed

Chapter 64

Ashton's POV

After Cal spoke to Poppy in the bathroom, they both went to bed. Michael and Crystal did the same, as did Sierra and Luke. Yet there I was in the room by myself not quite knowing what to do. Bex and I were great friends and after speaking with Poppy, I knew I had feelings for her but I still hadn't been able to tell her. Bex was now locked in my room in a state, wanting to be left alone but all I wanted to do was comfort her, put an arm around her and tell her it was all going to get better. Why was I so nervous? I headed to my room and knocked lightly.

"It's Ash." I said quickly in the hope it would make it better and to my surprise the door unlocked. I went into my room feeling anxious for the first time ever, knowing a beautiful girl was feeling her worst in here now. I shut the door behind me and finally looked over to Bex, her eyes red and puffy from crying, her makeup streaked down her face and her hair out of place. I felt guilty. How could I let this happen to her? I should have been there to protect her like the guys are to their girlfriends. I let out a long sigh.

"I know I look like shit." Bex said in a flat tone.

"You don't. You've clearly been through something huge and you're trying to get past it. I don't know what happened but I want you to know I'm here for you." Bex smiled slightly as she patted the bed next to her. I obeyed without a second thought.

"There was a guy at the bar..." she began, letting out a huge sigh. I tensed beside her, my hands gripping the bed linen as I thought about what awful story was about to unfold. "He was drunk or something and he tried chatting me up, I said I had a boyfriend. He wouldn't stop though, kept saying he'd seen me come in with my friends and he wasn't there. Poppy must have spotted me in trouble and she rushed down, trying to talk sense into the guy but he wasn't having any of it. He pushed her into the bar and jumped on me. I froze and panicked but Poppy smashed a bottle over his head. She grabbed me and ran me back to the girls and we called Dave. He was still looking for me though, and when he found Poppy he was shouting and threatening her trying to make her tell him where I was hiding. She never backed down. Just as we were leaving he came towards us again, we rushed out but he caught Poppy again, she head-butted him and legged it." She took one final deep breath in and out hoping that she could calm the nerves that were rattling through her body as she tried to speak to me. "I just flipped out on the way home. Poppy was the most active trying to help me and I got annoyed at the others. I started shouting at them and they got defensive, attacking me and Poppy. It was terrible. This whole fucking night was terrible." She choked back a sob as she flung her hands to her face. I put an arm around her shoulders and gave it a gentle squeeze. Words couldn't form fast enough for me to comfort her in that way, so I just hugged her. She flung her arms around me with such speed it was like she'd been wanting to do it for ages. She buried her face in the crook of my neck and held me close.

"Bex, I'm truly sorry that you had to go through something like that. People can be idiots and he's clearly one of them. I'm glad Poppy was there to help but I feel so bad that I wasn't. I want to be there for you, to protect you from anything bad and help you enjoy every moment of your life." I said, emotions speaking before my brain computed what was being said. Surely discussing my feelings for her at this moment would be ridiculous. Ash, you are an idiot. Bex slowly raised her head and levelled it with mine, her eyes locking with mine in an instant. I could have sworn for the first time since I'd gone in that room I saw her eyes brighten.

"You want to know something Ash?" Bex asked quickly. I nodded without hesitation. "The whole time that guy was around, I was thinking about you. It got me through it all. I pretended you were my boyfriend to begin with but he didn't listen. Just having you on my mind made it bearable." Her eyes averted mine as she waited for my response. What could I say? After all this time wasted, I should have asked her to be mine a long time ago after I'd spoken to Poppy about it. Instead I got nervous and kept putting it off, typical me. I took a huge breath in and out. Come on Ash, just say it.

"Bex, this probably isn't the right time to say this but I've wanted you to be mine for ages, I just didn't know how you felt and I didn't want to face rejection that could ruin our friendship. A long time ago someone made me realise I had feelings for you, and it dawned on me that they were right. All I want to do is be able to hold you close, grow with you and stop shit like tonight ever happening to you. I want to be beside you and fight for you and make you feel loved..." The words came out so fast, like one huge sentence my mind and body wanted to get out before I ruined it again. Bex merely stared back at me as I went through it all, finally airing my feelings. The moment my sentence finished I let out a sigh. I hoped I hadn't ruined everything with this. For a moment, the room was silent. We looked at each other as Bex tried to get her head around what I'd said. My heart began to pound loudly. What's taking her so long to answer? Did I say something wrong? I could barely recall what I'd said. This was a disaster.
Suddenly, Bex crashed her lips into mine, her arms pulling me closer to her as i kissed back. My arms hugged round her as she deepened the kiss, my body screaming for her. I knew after a night like this her emotions would be everywhere, there was no way I was letting this go that far when she might not be ready. My hands explored her as our kiss continued, both wanting to finally have a taste of each other that we had longed for. Bex hesitantly and reluctantly broke away to look into my eyes.

"I love you Ashton."