Thin White Lies | a.i.

Seven

Lily brushed a comb through her long dark hair in front of her vanity. She was sporting baby pink pajama shorts and an oversize t-shirt that Ashton had left at her house once, over a year ago. She hated to admit that she'd been living in nothing but Ashton's shirts that he'd either given her or left by accident, but it was completely true. After tonight, though, she wasn't sure if she should be embarrased about that or not.

She smiled to herself as she hummed the tune of that song, Beside You. Sure, there was a very real possibility that it hadn't truly be written about her, or even for her, but a girl could dream right?

Running her fingers through her damn hair, Lily made her way back toward her bedroom, ready to finally fall asleep for the night. It was one in the morning by the time they'd made it home from the hall, and Luke and his band were already passsed out in Lukes bedroom and the spare bedroom, most likely tired from all the travel. She still couldn't believe they'd made the effort to be there for her sixteenth.

She pushed her bedroom door open, her eyes glued to the carpeted floor as she hummed her new favourite tune. Lily reached her hand out, flicking the light off at the wall automatically as she planned to slip under her covers and fall blissfully into a peaceful sleep.

Though, she never quite made it there.

She almost shouted the second her body collided with a much larger, much stronger one. A hand pressed over her mouth instantly, stopping her from making any noise, and she could have sworn there and then that she was going to die.

"Shh," came a whisper. "It's me."

Lily could not believe him right now. Was he quite serious?

"Ashton?!" She snapped, shoving his hand from her face, her voice was barely audible. "What the hell! You scared me half the death! What if you were a murderer!"

"Pretty girl, there is no way I'd be letting anyone come close to so much as lay a finger on you. If you called, I would have come straight away."

"Yeah," Lily grumbled. "Well, you kind of blocked my chances of doing that when you clamped a hand over my mouth, didn't you?"

Ashton smirked, though she could hardly see it in the dim lighting of her bedroom. Lily had a string of fairy lights hanging around the entirety of her bedroom, acting as a night light for those sleepless nights when the nightmares came. But even with them on, they weren't very supportive in helping her see clearly.

"What is it, Ashy," Lily whined. "I was about to go to bed. I'm tired."

Ashton scratched the back of his neck. "I actually just came to check up on you. I know we haven't exactly spoken in a while--"

"Try an entire year," Lily snapped.

Ashton closed his mouth, opened it again, then closed it once more, unsure of where to go from here.

"I just . . ." he said. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ignored you like that. It was wrong of me. Completely wrong. But you gotta understand, Lily, I was so scared of what might happen if I stayed in contact with you."

"What is that even supposed to mean?" Lily growled, trying to push past Ashton so that she could climb into bed, fully ready to face her back to him and ignore his existance until he went away and let her sleep. But, of course, she was unsuccesful.

Ashton pulled her back to him by her wrist, and Lily crashed right into his strong hold, hands resting on his chest as a way of supporting herself.

"You really have no idea how I feel about you, do you, Lily?"

A shiver ran down her spine.

I've got a ticket to another world. I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go. Don't ever leave, she said to me. Words Lily had, in fact, spoken to him.