Finding my mum

23- the almighty row

When we got back from Eddies grave, Ashley was home and I knew this wasn't going to end well.

Chloe: "go up to your room. It'll be ok"
Me: "I wanna stay with you"
Chloe: "I know you do but I need to talk to Ashley"
Me: "then we can watch a movie?"
Chloe: "of course. Just let Ashley and I talk first"
Me: "I'll be upstairs if you need me"
Chloe: "good girl. I'll be alright though"

I went upstairs like Chloe told me to while she went into the lounge where Ashley was. I put my headphones in trying to distract myself from the massive argument I could hear going on downstairs. I'd never heard Ashley or Chloe shout at each other before which scared me a lot. I'd seen Ashley get angry and I was scared for Chloe in case he lashed out at her.

After what felt like forever there was a loud noise and then it went silent and I knew that it couldn't be a good thing.

I went to the top of the stairs to try and hear what was going on in case they were whispering to each other. Just as I was heading back to my room I heard the door slam so I ran to my window to see who had left: it was Ashley and it looked like his hand had hit something or someone; Chloe. Panic hit me like never before. I waited until I saw him drive away then ran downstairs to check on Chloe.

When I walked into the lounge my worst fears were confirmed. He'd lashed out and Chloe was injured.

I quickly went to get our first aid box then went back to where Chloe was.

Me: "shhhh, it's only me, he's gone out."
Chloe: "I've never seen him like that before"
Me: "let me have a look, I'll be as gentle as I can"

Chloe moved her hand away from her face, saw the blood and panicked. Let's just say that Chloe and blood don't belong in the same sentence. I quickly cleaned up her hand, calmed her down then told her to lie on the sofa so I could properly see her cut. Once I'd had a look, I knew that it could need stitches and I knew that she would freak out about having to go to the hospital. I cleaned and washed it the best I could; to my surprise it wasn't as bad as I thought it was. I put a bandage over it to stop any infection.

Me: "all done"
Chloe: "thank you. How bad does it look?"
Me: "I thought it was worse, but when I cleaned up the blood it wasn't as bad as I thought it was."
Chloe: "how could he? When he proposed he told me that our love was stronger every day then he does this."
Me: "come here. It'll be ok. Let him calm down. When he gets back I'll talk to him. What do you wanna do?"
Chloe: "just be careful won't you? Curl up on the sofa"
Me: "of course I will be. You pick something to watch while I tidy this up then I'll be back"

I quickly tidied up the first aid box, picked up the blanket and went back to look after Chloe. I could feel her shaking and I knew that the whole thing had badly shaken her up.

I was meant to be meeting Aljaz tomorrow and knew that I couldn't leave Chloe here in case Ashley flipped out again. When Chloe fell asleep I text Bex to ask her to help me convince Chloe to come with us tomorrow. Bex asked why and I said that I couldn't leave her here and that I'd explain tomorrow, she could tell that I must be doing it for a good reason which I was. After Chloe woke up, I suggested that she came with me tomorrow which didn't need as much convincing as I thought it would.

Ashley didn't come home so I knew that it would be even worse when he and Chloe saw each other again. I was correct but what I didn't realise was that it would be in public.