Aston’s POV
I watched as Jess finally came back into the room, it had been at least a half hour, what on earth could she have been on the phone about?
“Everything ok?” I asked her as she sat back down at the mixing boards.
“What yeah,” she said, slightly dazed.
“You sure? What was that call about?”
“Nothing…” she sighed, turning back to her music. For some reason I couldn’t let it go.
“But babe, you were on the phone for ages, surely it was something important.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she sighed. Just looking at her I could tell that she was upset about something. She didn’t even need to open her mouth; her body language said it all.
I left her to work on her music a bit, let whatever it was sink in. As she finished up for the day I helped her lock up the studio and then we went to our separate cars.
“Wanna go out to dinner?” I shouted across the parking lot to her.
“Can we just cook at home?” she asked.
“Yeah that’s fine,” I replied, before slipping into my car.
I followed Jess home. I don’t know why I did this, normally I would try to speed off in another direction and beat her home, it was sort of a game between us. Today though, I was worried about her, about that phone call. I wanted to keep my eye on her at all times.
I parked up next to her when we got home and climbed out of my car, jogging to the door to unlock it for her before following her up the steps.
“You have a seat, I’ll cook,” I smiled.
“It’s fine Ast, I got it,” she replied, walking over to the fridge and inspecting the contents. “Chicken alright?”
“Whatever you want babe,” I smiled, sitting down at the counter and watching her every move. Something was just not right.
Jess’ POV
“I’ve already made my decision,” I’d said into the phone. I spoke to RedOne for a few more minutes before hanging up.
Staring at the phone I took a deep breath and then walked back out into the studio. Aston could obviously tell that something as on my mind, that the call had been important, but I just brushed him off. Something inside of me didn’t want him to know about this at all. I kept having flashes of how things had been three years ago when he knew I was leaving to LA; I couldn’t deal with that tumult of emotions again.
Over the course of the evening he kept prodding me to tell him what was going on, but I just shut him out. We ate dinner in silence and then sat together in the front room with the fire for several hours, not a word between us. Tired of this, I got up to go to bed early. I changed quickly into my pajamas and then stepped into the en suite to brush my teeth and wash my face.
As I came out of the bathroom I saw Aston sitting on the bed, waiting for me.
“Come here,” he said calmly yet confidently. I couldn’t do anything but obey. Slowly I walked towards him, and as I approached he reached his hands out and pulled me towards him until I was sat on his lap, his hands wrapped around me tightly so I couldn’t get away. “Tell me what this is all about,” he said.
I just shook my head.
“Babe, please, you’re scaring the life out of me right now,” he said quietly.
“I just don’t want to talk about it,” I whispered.
“Please tell me that you’re ok,” he said with a croak in his voice, “That you’re healthy.”
“What?” I asked, shocked. “I’m fine I promise you, this has nothing to do with anything like that.”
“Your family?” he asked.
“Their fine,” I said. “Really Ast, it’s nothing.”
“But it is something, because you won’t tell me,” he whispered.
“You don’t need to know,” I said.
“Since when do we keep secrets from each other?” he asked. “I always tell you everything.”
“It’s not a secret, it’s just not worth our time,” I said.
“Then why won’t you tell me!” he asked again, frustrated.
“Because I’m not going to, end of,” I replied, slipping out of his grip. “I’m going to bed,” I said.
“Whatever Jess,” he said standing up and walking out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
I slipped into bed, slightly numb from what I’d just done. I felt awful not telling him what was going on in my head. I was just scared at what his reaction was going to be.
I thought back to three years prior, when I’d had the Mosley offer. Aston had been so insistent for so long that I try my hardest to get the big production deal; he’d told me I shouldn’t let anything stop me from following my dreams. So much so that I had to break up with him to make it work. And here it was again, the same sort of amazing opportunity popping up. Regardless of my decision I knew Aston would be upset. I wasn’t sure we’d be able to get past it this time, which is why I didn’t want to say a word to him about it.
It must have been several hours that I laid in bed, just spinning it all around in my head; Aston was nowhere to be seen. I’d well annoyed him; I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d decided to sleep in one of the spare rooms that night.
But just as I was thinking about where he could be the door creaked open and I listened to him slip into the room. I pretended to be asleep as he wandered around the room, getting ready for bed.
I heard him mumbling to himself as he slipped in bed, leaving a sizable gap between us.
“What is going on in your head babe?” he whispered. Just then I felt a faint touch on my back as he stroked a finger down my spine. “Please let me in…”
I couldn’t help but let a tear fall at this. I didn’t want to hurt him.
Just as this sort of decision had seemingly torn us apart in the past, here it was again, looking to rip everything we’d worked so hard to build, to pieces…
