tongue-tied and heartbroken ||mashton||

Chapter 6

"Ashton?" I asked softly, stepping closer. "Are you okay? What happened to your eye?"

"I- I'm fine. It's nothing." He winced as he tried to wipe away his tears.

"You don't look fine," I said, walking over and helping him up. "Let me help you cover it up. I have some stuff in my bag."

I set my book bag on the sink counter and pulled out some stuff I used to cover my black eyes. I cleaned his face and covered the bruising as best I could.

"Who did this to you?" I asked as I covered the bruising around his eye.

"I'm just clumsy," he muttered. "I tripped and hit my eye."

"It doesn't look like-"

"I tripped," he cut off sternly. "That's all. I told you to leave me alone. I have a girlfriend." He sounded like he was saying it more to himself than to me.

"Listen, Ashton, I actually wanted to talk to you about Emma," I said nervously.

"I don't want to talk to you," he said, pulling away from me and grabbing his bag from the floor. "You don't know anything about Emma. She loves me. And I love her." He pushed passed me and starting walking away.

"Emma's cheating on you, Ashton," I blurted.

"What?" He spun around to face me.

"She's cheating on you. I tried to tell you the other day, but you walked away. I saw her kissing some guy under the bleachers by the football field while you were with Calum and Maruca."

"You're lying. She- she wouldn't do that. She loves me."

"I'm sorry, Ashton, but I don't think she does."

"You don't know anything about us. Stop trying to break us up. Leave me the hell alone." His eyes brimmed with tears as he turned and ran out of the bathroom.

Ashton wasn't at lunch that day. And he wasn't in last period English either. I kept going to the bathroom to see if maybe he was still hiding out, but he was nowhere to be seen. All day I worried about him. I was so worried that I threw up a couple times throughout the day. He was in terrible shape when he ran out that morning. I didn't want anything to happen to him.

At the end of the day, I told Luke he could hang out with Savanna. I wanted to take a walk. I didn't tell him about my encounter with Ashton. Or how worried I was about him. I just needed to talk to him. I needed to know he was okay. I needed to know who gave him that black eye.

I found Ashton outside his house. With Emma. It looked like they were arguing. Or at least, Emma was arguing. Ashton just stood there staring at his feet while she yelled. He looked stiff and on edge. I slowly crept closer, trying to stay hidden by bushes and fences, until I could hear.

"Ashton, what the fuck is wrong with you," Emma fumed. "You were supposed to be at school today. Why weren't you? You were supposed to give me a ride after. You fucking asshole." She shoved him and he flinched.

"I- I'm sorry, Emma," he whimpered, hands trembling.

"I don't want your fucking apology. You're a horrible boyfriend. Why can't you do anything right?" She slapped him across the face. My mouth dropped as I watched the scene escalate. She yelled at him more, shoved him a couple times, and slapped him several times. And Ashton took it all. He didn't argue back. He didn't stop her from hitting him. He just stood there, staring at the ground. I wanted so badly to run out and shove her off him. But I couldn't. She couldn't know I was here. No one could.

Ashton wasn't at school the next day. I was worried about him. Especially after everything I saw with Emma yesterday. I didn't know what had happened to him. So I went to his house after school. I walked, so that I wouldn't have to tell Luke what I saw. Sure he was my best friend, but it wasn't my situation to tell.

I knocked on the front door, and Ashton's mom opened it. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Is Ashton home?" I asked nervously. "I need to talk to him. About school. We're in the same English class."

"Come in, please," she smiled, opening the door. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"No, thank you," I shook my head.

"Ashton's room is upstairs, last door on the left."

"Thank you." I didn't tell her I already knew where it was. I walked up the stairs and stopped outside the closed door. I heard him playing on his drum set. I knocked softly, hoping he would hear.

"I'm practicing, Mom!" he called. I knocked again. I heard him sigh and the door opened. His eyes were red and puffy from crying. He still had a black eye. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you," I said. "It's important. And since you don't want to answer my messages, I thought the best way was to come to you."

"Fine." He let me in his room, which was trashed. It was way worse than the last time I'd seen it. "What do you want now?" He closed the door and sat on the chair at his desk.

"I know about Emma. That she abuses you."

"What? No, she doesn't."

"Yes, she does, Ashton," I sighed. "I know you have bruises that you keep hidden from your friends. I know you are terrified someone will find out and make everything worse. I know you don't want anyone at school to know, because they would all make fun of you if they knew. I know you try to distance yourself from people to avoid getting hurt. I saw her hitting you yesterday and yelling."

"How-"

"I came to see if you were okay yesterday," I explained. "I saw you outside with her. She was yelling. I know it wasn't right to spy, but I figured it'd be better for everyone if no one knew I was there."

"You can't tell anyone," he breathed. "She'd kill me if anyone found out. And you can't tell her you know. She'll kill both of us."

"You don't have to put up with that, Ashton. You can break up with her. It isn't right. She abuses you, Ashton."

"It's not like that. She loves me, she just- she has some issues. And I get in the way. I make her mad sometimes. But that doesn't mean she doesn't love me."

"Ashton, it isn't right. She shouldn't hurt you like that."

His phone dinged, and his expression dropped. "You should go," Ashton said. "Please don't come back. It's not worth it. I'm not worth it."

*Plot twist 👀 this chapter was a little longer than normal to include as much detail as possible. Hopefully it gave you some good explanations about why Ash acts weird around Michael 👀