No Rules To Love

Chapter Twenty Eight:

"Talia! You can't stay in bed all day!" Ashley shouted from the other side of my bedroom door. "What the heck is up with you?"

After rolling over in my bed, so I was face down on the pillow, I placed the spare pillow over my ears. I closed my stinging eyes and kept them shut. I did not want to move from this position, much less tell Ashley why I was so upset. By doing so, I would risk crying again, and I had done enough of that to last me a good few years.

Now, I didn't only cry when I was upset. I cried when I was angry too. Only this time, I wasn't just angry; I was furious. Not only at Hunter, but at myself. I was still fuming that I let him affect me so much and I allowed myself to fall in love with him. Only, I didn't fall in love with him. I only thought I did. He made me think I was in love with him.

Well, that was what I was trying to tell myself anyway, but we all knew that wasn't true. I had fallen head over heels for Hunter. And last night, he ripped my heart from my chest, stomped all over it and left it lying there on that park bench.

"Please go away!" I shouted, hoping she would hear me. I swallowed a couple of times in a futile attempt to lubricate my vocal folds. My voice was non-existent because my throat was dry. All the moisture in my body had seeped out through my eyes. In my haste to hide in my bedroom, I hadn't brought my usual water bottle to bed. "I want to sleep!"

"It's 2 p.m." Ashley shouted. "No-one needs to sleep that much! Tell me if there's something wrong. I can't help you if you don't open up."

I had to agree with her because she was right. As much as I didn't want to relive the story, I had to tell Ashley. There was no way I could — nor did I want to — keep this from her much longer. She was my best friend, and I knew she would try her hardest to help my situation. I somehow peeled the covers from me and got out of bed to head to the door. But I mustn't have been quick enough because Ashley kept banging on my door.

"Talia, if you don't open the door in the next 30 seconds, I'm going to..." Only Ashley didn't have time to finish her sentence. I stopped her in her tracks by opening the door to see her furious face staring back at me. "Oh." She finished. She then took in my appearance. My dishevelled hair (more-so than my usual bedhead), my blotchy face and my red, puffy eyes. And let's face it... I probably stank, too. "What's happened?" She asked me, the worry evident in her voice. She grabbed my shoulders and guided me to my bed, and we both sat down. "Tell me everything."

I had no choice but to do exactly what she told me to do. Yes, I cried, but I had never experienced this pain before, and it was horrible. Ashley was being the perfect best friend as she cradled me and rocked me to soothe me, running her hands over my head. I apologised for messing up her clothes with my snot and tears, but at that moment, she didn't seem too bothered. I knew she would scold me for it later, though.

"I just want this pain to go away," I mumbled, sniffling as I did so. "It's horrible. Why do people aim to fall in love when it hurts this bad?"

"Oh hun, I'm so sorry," Ashley muttered. She then sat me up and put her hands on my shoulders. She wiped away stray tears from under my eyes. "Right, time for some tough love. I'm going to go to the shop and get you one tub of Ben & Jerry's. One. That's all you're allowed. And one girly film of your choosing. But after that, you're going to clean yourself up, stand up tall and dust yourself off. Because you, missus," she tapped me on the nose, "have a West End show to audition for. And you're not letting one big-headed arsehole stop you from doing that. Have I made myself clear?"

I nodded and sent her a weary smile. My face ached because this was a position my face hadn't been in for hours.

"That's my girl." Ashley smiled. "You wait there. I'll be right back."