perfect? - montgomery de la cruz

The strongest one I know

When Ashley looked at her clock it showed 4AM. She was laying in her bed, waiting for her boyfriend to come home. She didn't actually want him to come home because that would mean that he was angry and she was gonna have to deal it.

She must've fallen asleep because she was snapped out of her sleep by someone pounding on her front door. She first got worried since it was late at night and she was alone in her big house but then she remembered Monty.

She walked down the stairs and slightly opened the door, peeking out to see who it was before the door slammed open, revealing a very angry, very drunk, Montgomery.

"Babe? Where've you been?", she asked confused.

He stepped inside and slammed the door shut behind him, making Ashley jump.

"Justin? You fucked Justin?"

"I... I didn't fuck him.", she gulped, starting to get scared since she could smell the alcohol radiating from her boyfriend.

"Same shit.", he muttered and stepped closer to her.

"Have you been driving drunk?", she asked him. He didn't answer but stared at her with bloodshot eyes, and he quickly walked towards her, wrapped his hand around her throat and slammed her back against the wall.

"You fucked Justin."

"I didn't, I swear I didn't.", she said with panic in her voice. Ashley was terrified, she tried to pry his hands off but it only made him angry and tighten his grip.

"Monty, please. I'm sorry.", she begged, her eyes were starting to fill with tears.

"You're sorry?", he laughed, eyes also starting to tear up.

"Yeah, you're going to be sorry.", he threw his small girlfriend to the floor. He slowly walked up to her as she cried, crawled backwards and begging him to stop. But he doesn't. He doesn't stop until he felt like he hurt her as much as she hurt him. And no matter how hard she fought back, she knew she stood no chance against an angry Montgomery De La Cruz.

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Monty fell asleep on the couch when he was done with her. She was still laying on the floor, numb.

She knew she had fucked up when she told the court about her kiss with Justin but she didn't think she fucked up this bad.

Monty looked peaceful when he was sleeping. Like nothing bothered him at all. He was sleeping just like nothing had happened. Even though something did happen.

She rose from the floor and went up the stairs. She walked into the shower and turned it on, the water poured down her body and washed away all the blood. She sat down in the shower and let the water hit her face.

She needed to talk to someone but right now, the only one she could talk to was Montgomery. And she really didn't feel like having a chat with him right now.

The first people that appeared in her mind when she thought about people she wanted to talk to was Sam and Justin.

Justin always told her to call him if something was wrong but the problem is that Justin would literally kill Monty if he knew what happened and if Sam wasn't in jail, he would do the same thing.

The only person that would only threaten to kill him but not actually do it, was Tony.

She stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. She didn't want to look into the mirror but her eyes still got dragged there. Ashley almost couldn't even recognize herself.

Her face was very bruised, a black eye was forming on her left eye, her lip was burst and her hair was a mess. She put a small amount of makeup on the worst places and winced with pain when she touched her bruised face.

She picked up her phone and texted Tony that he was meeting her at the park. She quietly made her way down the stairs and opened the door slowly so she wouldn't wake Monty. Even if Tony wasn't available, she still needed to get out of the house.

6AM, she was out of the house and the sun was going up. Fortunately for her, Tony was a fast replier and had already texted her that his family wasn't at home so she could come over to his place instead.

Tony's house wasn't far away from hers so it took only a few minutes to get there. She knocked on his door and he opened up.

"Oh my god, Ashley.", was the first thing Tony said when he saw her.

"Holy shit, when did he do this?", he asked and tried to touch her face but she jerked away. She sat down in his couch and let out a deep breath.

"Just now."

"Fuck..."

"Listen, Tony, I have to talk to you.", she made clear when she looked at him.

"The tape that was played at school, what was it?", she asked.

"It was yours, it was the last part of your tape.", he said and sighed.

"Why didn't you give me it?", she said with a fake calmness that was bound to break in any second.

"I... I thought that... maybe it was too much for you? To be honest in the beginning I thought that I had good intentions but now when I think about.... I don't know...", he tried to explain himself.

"Did everyone hear my tape except for me?", she asked.

"Yes."

"That's why Mr. Porter was on my fucking ass. He knows.", she sighed and ran her hand through her hair.

"He knows.", Tony repeated.

"I am so fucked."

"You're not though, people can help you. You can get help.", he said and grabbed her hand.

"You're not alone in this, believe it or not, it happens to a lot of women.", he continued.

"I... I don't feel like talking to other people about it.", she said quietly.

"You are so strong, you are one of the strongest women I've met. You take his shit on the daily and you keep going, you are the one who fixes everything and you are also the one who deserves a shot at becoming actually happy because he isn't doing it for you.", he softly said and Ashley could feel tears in her eyes.

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, I really do."

"I don't know, I need time. I need time to even think about leaving. I... I love him, Tony.", she said and wiped away a tear.

"I know you do, otherwise you wouldn't have stayed this long of a time."

Tony wouldn't know but what he said really meant a lot to Ashley. He opened up her eyes in a way that they hadn't been opened up before. Maybe it was time... or maybe it wasn't...