Dare || m.c.

➵ 1.0 - jade

Dr. Richard was skeptical about the note. After a lot of frustrated attempts, Jade and Ashton were able to convince him that Jade didn't write it. But he still wanted to talk to a family member. Where the fuck was she supposed to bring a family member from? The only "family" she'd ever had was her mom and dad and they were both dead. For some reason unknown to her, her parents had run away from home when they were still in their teens and never once looked back. All Jade had of her "family" was the number her mom had left her and Jade didn't want to call it. Why should she? No one had ever tried to reach her or her parents. She had no reason to go out of her way and contact the people who had abandoned her parents.

Jade told Dr. Richard that she didn't know any relatives she could call and have him talk to, but that didn't really go over well with him. He wanted someone, anyone. But Jade had no one. In the end, he ended up talking to Jack and Sandra. Jade considered Ashton family, and if he couldn't help then she would really be alone. But he helped. Of course he did. And so Elizabeth Evans was buried in the small town of West Hartford, Connecticut without many people finding out that she was gone.

Jade was there in the cemetery when it happened. She saw her mother's body being descended into the ground forever. And she still didn't cry. She didn't let herself. She stayed there for almost two hours after the gravediggers left. Ashton stayed with her. Neither of them said anything the entire time they were there. They just sat there and every once in a while Jade's eyes would well up with tears and she would blink them away.

Ashton cried, though, very quietly. Jade knew Ashton didn't want her to hear him, so she tried to block out the noise, but it was hard. It was hard to ignore the muffled cries of the only person who actually gave a shit about her. It wasn't until they were almost to the car when Jade spoke. "Why did you cry?"

Ashton took a moment before saying, "I miss my parents sometimes."

Suddenly, breathing was difficult. It was the most natural thing in the world and still Jade had trouble with it. Sometimes she hurt for Ashton so much she actually felt like crying. She stopped waking and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry, Ashton." Jade couldn't imagine what it must have felt like to have both his parents stripped away from him at just the tender age of ten. She had lost her father, but she was a little older when it happened.

"Don't be," Ashton said. "Life just gets a kick out of fucking with people, it's cool."

Sometimes Jade didn't understand Ashton at all. She knew he was hurting and he rarely ever let it show, but Jade could understand that. What she didn't get was how he could be so lighthearted about things. He always tried to look at the positive side of things. Jade could never do that. She always saw the negative. Ashton tried making everything into a joke, but Jade almost never found it funny. Her life might've been a cruel joke without a punch line, but his wasn't. He had his brother to look after and he couldn't afford to joke about it like that. Harry needed Ashton.

They drove back to Ashton's house in silence, where Harry once again greeted Jade. This time he didn't hug her for long, though. He had his friend over and they were in the middle of playing video games. Sandra had food ready, but Jade didn't want to eat. She wanted to sleep. Just sleep and never wake up. She told Sandra that she wasn't hungry and went into Ashton's room again, curling up on the bed. Ashton came in a few minutes later. "C'mon, get your ass up," he said, snapping his fingers.

"I don't want to."

"Well, that's just too bad." Ashton pulled on her arms until she was sitting up, but fell right back on the bed once he let go. "Get up, J." He grabbed her by her shoulders and leaned her back against the bed frame. He thrust a plate with a hamburger in her face. "Eat this."