Bad || a.i. or l.h.

6: You Don't Know

Trust me

How did Ashton expect me to trust what he says? He lied to me before about Matt. He could very well be lying to me now. I wouldn't be able to trust that he was okay until I saw for myself. He was my brother, I was going to worry no matter what Ashton told me.

Everything about Elijah and his friend seemed threatening. I couldn't get the image of his wicked glare out of my head. And Matt was stuck back there with him. I couldn't imagine what was going on back there. I was certainly hoping for the best.

I stared blankly at the dashboard and felt the warm tears roll down my cheeks. My stomach was feeling queasy with guilt. I could care less that Matt wanted Ashton to get me out of there. It wasn't right to leave him. If the positions were switched, he wouldn't have left me. I had just won worst sister of the year and I knew I'd never get over it if something bad had happened.

I felt the car come to a stop, immediately breaking me from my daze. I had been too zoned out to pay attention to where we were going but as soon as I looked up I realized we were in front of my place.

I took the sleeves from my jacket and wiped the tears from under my eyes before stepping out of the car without saying a word to Ashton. I should have thanked him for taking me home but I didn't feel like talking.

When I stepped out of the car a cool breeze hit me, blowing my hair back from my neck. I took a quick look, seeing no sign of my mother's car which didn't surprise me.

I heard a car door shut behind me when I made it to the front door. As I unlocked it, I looked over my shoulder seeing Ashton casually trailing up the sidewalk, the slight wind twisting up his brown curls. I watched as he took a few glances around.

"What are you doing?" I asked not too sure why he was following me to the door. I turned my body to face him, becoming eye level as he stopped just before the steps.

"Someone could have been following." he replied stern as his hazel eyes met mine, "It's not the best idea for you to be alone right now."

His words made me paranoid. I took a glimpse down the street, the thought of being followed making me sick to my stomach. I didn't fully understand what was going on and why it was such a big deal but it was scaring me. After what had happened, I wasn't sure if I wanted to be alone anyways.

I looked back at Ashton as he nodded toward the door, urging me to go in. Without thinking it through, I mindlessly turned around and pushed the door open, leading us both in. I watched as he stepped inside the living room and shoved his hands into his jean pockets. He let out a sigh, the look on his face making it seem like he was forced to stay with me. But it's not like I had asked him too.

We stood there for a moment, neither one of us sure what to say. And I definitely wasn't sure what I was doing letting him into the house. Mom wasn't home and here I was alone with this guy. I barely knew anything about him. What little I did know, I had to assume. And it wasn't good.

He knew those men back there well enough to know their names. And he had to know about Matt and the drugs. He was way more involved in this and I knew it. My mind was racing with all these clues I had been oblivious to before and pieces started to fit together.

Ashton had accompanied Matt on his quick trip to the house for the money he had stashed in his room. I assume it was probably needed for some kind of drugs or something. Then back at the café, Ashton came for Matt because they had "important stuff to do" and once again, it was probably a drug deal.

I hoped I was just guessing wrong, but deep in my mind I knew I was probably right.

But one thing that stuck out to me the most was when I had ran into Ashton after work the other night. I had worked at the shop for over a year now and I had never seen him around there or that neighborhood before. So of course it was strange to see him getting out of a sketchy car late at night and just walk off from it. He had definitely been up to something and now I understood what that was. If he was some kind of drug dealer, he was probably the one who got Matt into it in the first place. Matt would have never gotten into something like this on his own and I knew it was the reason he stayed away for so long. Maybe the reason he left in the first place.

"This is all your fault." I spoke out breaking the silence.

"What?" Ashton's head snapped around, looking at me. His eyes narrowed at me.

"It all makes sense now. You got Matt into dealing drugs and look what's happened!" I said throwing my hands up in a fit, feeling the anger build up inside me.

"Why would you think he was dealing?" Ashton asked like he was trying to cover up what I had just witnessed. His face was relaxed and a corner of his lips turned upward. I could tell he was holding back a grin.

"I'm not dumb, okay? I may not understand this whole thing, but I know what I just saw, Ashton." I stated.

I watched as he just shrugged his shoulders and looked off, leaning his back against the wall. He was ignoring my accusation so I continued on, "If you hadn't got him into drug dealing he wouldn't have left in the first place and none of this would have happened!"

I was blaming him for this, but it seemed like the only explanation.

"Why the hell are you assuming I got him into dealing? You obviously have no fucking clue about your own brother." he laughed under his breath, looking down at the floor as he ruffled the sandy colored curls on his forehead.

"And what's that suppose to mean?" I crossed my arms, his comment not helping at all and leaving me curious.

"You're either really oblivious or just dumb as hell." he said like I was supposed to know exactly what he was talking about. "I didn't get your brother into anything, alright? He came to me to buy shit months ago so get your fucking facts straight before pointing your finger at me." he continued basically admitting that he did deal drugs and confirming my assumption.

I looked down, feeling my chest tighten in shock. I didn't want to believe Ashton. There was no way Matt had gotten into stuff like that, whatever it was exactly. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know specifically.

He was always on the right track with his life and to know he pushed everything away, including his family, for drugs was devastating. This information on top of what had just happened was too much for me at once.

I let out a deep sigh and brought my hand up to cover my eyes as I felt the tears forming again. I was in no shape to handle all of this. It was overwhelming and I couldn't handle it all together.

I unexpectedly felt a pair of arms wrap around my back. I obviously knew it was Ashton, but it definitely caught me off guard. I kept my hand covering my face and with the height difference I fit right into his chest. I buried my face into his shirt and let out my silent cries. His biceps gently squeezed against my small frame, pulling me closer.

If I was in my right and stable mind, I would have pushed him away. But right now, all I needed was someone to cry on. He was my only option. And believe it or not, he was helping.

I took a deep breath in attempt to calm myself down and Ashton's hand rubbed along my back trying to do the same. I couldn't picture him being sympathetic like this. It was strange to me.

My crying soon stopped and I kept my hands at my face, not moving from his chest. I felt embarrassed by my sudden breakdown.

"Are you okay?" his honeyed voice spoke, speaking in almost a whisper.

"Yeah." I breathed out, nodding and peeled away from him.

I rubbed my temple, feeling a headache coming on and wondered over to the couch. Ashton followed behind me and plopped down on the other end. I was calming down now after I had let everything soak in my mind. I glanced over at Ashton who was rested back in the couch with his attention set on his phone.

"How long are you going to be here?" I asked

He looked up at me and shrugged. "Eh, I'm not sure." He shifted around to sit up and pull off his jacket, laying it on the arm of the couch.

This was the first time I had noticed the various tattoos scattered along his arm, the black ink overpowering what clear skin was left. He was always wearing a jacket when I saw him before so I hadn't noticed until now. The tattoos really didn't surprise me, though. They looked good on him. I couldn't deny that.

"You don't look so good." He remarked, eyeing me from the other side of the couch.

I shot him a glare, leaning back into the couch. "Thanks captain obvious. If you haven't noticed, I've had a rough day."

I let out a small groan, resting my head back onto the couch and closed my eyes. My head was pounding and I needed silence.