Beside You - Ashton Irwin

13

                                                                            **Flashback**

Melissa Pentworth stood in the corner of the kitchen in her expensive penthouse. Her husband was in another state, on a 'business trip', which meant he was presumably with another woman. She had known about the affairs for a while now. But had done her best to keep it a secret to not disrupt their families dynamic. Her daughter was at a mathletes overnight camp, so Melissa was alone. She had given the housemaid, Siala, a week off so she could recollect her thoughts about her life alone. As she mixed together, a batch of vegan cookies for herself to snack on while she watched the newest episode of 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills', her secret addiction was to constantly be watching this show when she was alone, her phone rang. 

"Melissa Pentworth speaking?" The other end of the phone was silent for a few seconds, she could hear paper being moved around. "Mrs Pentworth, we are so sorry for your loss. Your son, Anthony Gomez Pentworth, has died in combat. You and your family are eligible for the Death Gratuity payment, which is $100,000. We ask that you contact us tomorrow for more information. Our condolences to you and your family. Loss of a child in active duty is understandably very hard. Thank you." Melissa couldn't speak. Anthony was dead. Her husband wasn't there to grieve with her. Her daughter was 40 miles away from home. Melissa felt alone. She slid down the side of the pantry and began to cry. 

She cried for her son. She cried for her family. But most importantly she cried for herself.

She felt broken. Useless. She attempted to ring her husband, but alas, there was no answer to her calls. '...Leave a message after the beep,' "Br-Bruce. Anthony's gone. He's d-dead. Come home. Please." This was the first time she was admitting this out loud. It broke her to even think about it. "I failed you Ant. I-I'm so sorry baby. I said I would keep you safe." She said to herself. Hoping that if Anthony was listening from above, he would hear her cries for him.

Bruce didn't pick up his phone for the rest of the week he was gone.

Andrea stayed in her room for 3 weeks, without speaking to anyone. Melissa heard her tears and cries for Anthony to come home, but she couldn't do anything about it. How do you prepare for this? You can't.

Melissa had to stay strong for Andrea. But how could she stay strong for her daughter if she couldn't stay strong for herself?

"Eddie set the table. I asked you to do this an hour ago! Everyone will be here soon." Laura yelled at everyone. I knew they were all family friends by now, which would be a little awkward for me since I only knew the boys. Eddie muttered something about how this was child labour at its finest. I tried my best not to laugh at her comment but she just glared at me as I put out the glasses of water on the table. We knew there would be heaps of people here so Vano had to go to the garage and grab another table to put on the end of the normal dining table so there would be enough room for everyone to sit and eat. 

Laura and Vano had whipped up some traditional Romanian dishes for dinner, which I was looking forward to eating. It was almost 6 pm so I grabbed Eddie as we walked upstairs to change into something that wasn't trackies and crop tops. I had never liked dresses or dressing up in anything remotely fancy, so I decided my best bet was a black silk corset cami and some black skinny jeans. It wasn't my usual style, but I could at least try to look nice. Eddie walked out of the bathroom in some flowy wide-leg white and pink pants and a white crop top. Her outfit was very her, and I liked it. Her beach blonde hair was wavy per usual, I hadn't thought to do anything with mine so I just left it out like normal. 

I couldn't be bothered to put any makeup on since I had about as much talent in that area as a snail. Eddie had some eyeshadow and her eyes looked bigger from using my mascara. I had a sneaking suspicion she was trying to impress a special someone. Just as I was about to compliment her, the doorbell rang. Eddie's eyes widened as she turned to the mirror in the hallway, "Eddie, you look fine. I'm sure Cal will love it." If looks could kill, I'd be as dead as my brother. Too soon? I had googled ways to move on, and it said humour was one of them. I'm not sure if that was the type of humour www.waystogrieve.com was talking about though.

All four boys and their families stood in the open kitchen/lounge area. Eddie grabbed my hand and pulled me downstairs. "Hey, guys." Ashton was the first to give me a hug, I wasn't aware these guys were huggers. I had grown up in a family where physical connections like hugs and kisses on the cheeks were rare, especially after Ant's death. All the boys came and hugged us while they introduced me to their parents and siblings. We all sat down at the table as Vano brought over the food. Unsurprisingly, Calum and Eddie sat next to each other, while Ashton sat on one side of me, while his younger brother sat on the other side. 

We started off with a light conversation, talking about school and sports, it was such a different dynamic from how my family had dinner, even my extended family. People laughed at jokes that were actually funny, not ones about how women couldn't do things. My Grandpa was very interested in making those ones, and they never failed to make my dad laugh. As much as I didn't agree with my dad's beliefs and values, he was still my dad and a criminal. I looked over at Ashton's brother as he started talking about his favourite video games.

"I wish I could go there and fight in real life with a real gun!" He was so young and impressionable, I knew he didn't mean any harm with that, and probably didn't know the realities of war, but I had to say something. "H-hey don't say stuff like that ok? War isn't that cracked up as it is in video games." He looked at me funny. Along with everyone else except Eddie, my aunt and uncle, Landon and Ashton, Landon was glaring at his food, holding his cutlery rather hard. He had always looked up to Anthony, and talking about his death was still hard for him. 

"I-I.. my brother said it was very scary." Everyone looked at me when I said this, none of them knew I had even had a brother. "How does he know?" I looked down and blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall. "His name was Anthony, he was a US Marine Corp and he fought the bad guys in Afghanistan." Everyone was silent for a while. Understanding what I was trying to say. "Was?" Luke spoke up. "Y-yeah died in combat. He saved 6 innocent lives during a raid, the bullet went through his chest." Everyone fell silent. "He was given a-a badge of honour at his funeral service. I still have it. It's my good luck charm. Do it for Anthony, you know?" 

Everyone slowly nodded. "What position was he?" Ashton's brother asked me. I laughed a bit. "He was only 18, so he was a Private First-Class." Ashton's brother nodded. "I'm so sorry sweetheart." Calums mother said to me. "Y-yeah. I was only 13 when it happened." I hated the fact that I had just become Debbie Downer during this dinner, but it was probably the time I talked about it. "Landon? Are you ok?" Vano asked his son. "No." Everyone was confused about why Landon had started acting this way when Anthony was brought up. We were all sitting in very awkward silence. Everyone was unaware of what to say now. "So, Andy, a little bird told me you're a future Harvard student!" Luke's mom said to me. "I-I... yeah, I guess. I'm not so sure now." 

There was silence again until Landon spoke up. "You're rich enough to afford that school, you're smart enough to have gotten in, but you're too selfish to realise anyone fucking here would kill for that opportunity, Andy." Everyone at the table was shocked by Landon's language. "I-... I'm sorry. It was quite selfish of me. The only reason I was going to go to Harvard was to impress my dad. My motives were wrong, and I understand that. But I honestly can't see myself sitting at a desk for the rest of my life, sorting out some middle-aged man's divorce. I don't want that." 

Tears were streaming out by now. I was finally getting all of this off my chest. "I know what Emilia was thinking when she moved to England, Landon. I need to escape my family right now. My Dad's in jail for 15 years. My family's being investigated by the FBI, everyone at school hates me because of some stupid rumour and now Tori Banks wants my head." Everyone at the table was silent after my confessions. "Well, thank you, Laura, your cooking was amazing. Andy, I hope that things get better for you and your family. We all have your back, kid." Mikey's dad said to me. I nodded as everyone started getting up from the table. Eddie ran around from her side and brought me into a much-needed hug. "I don't tell you enough how much I love you, Eddie."