One of the Guys

Chapter 5: Forgotten Shirt

Cecelia's POV:
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I can't sleep and it's driving me crazy. I've tried counting sheep, I've tried the warm drink thing, and I've tried just about every other thing I could think of.

I jump in surprise when I hear a knock on my door. I carefully walk over to the doors and peer out. I see somebody with their back turned away from me. I cautiously open the door and they turn around.

That's when I see Ashton. His face is bloody and tears are running down his face.

"Ashton, what happened?" I ask as I wrap my arms around him.

"Steven." He starts crying again, and I pull him inside. I take him to my bathroom and start to wash off the blood.

"Tell me what happened." The blood still hasn't stopped and I can't seem to get any of it off without more reappearing.

"I walked in and heard yelling. I ran into the living room and mom was on the ground. He kept kicking her, so I yelled at him. He started hitting me, and I just stood there taking it so he wouldn't go back to hitting her." He is sobbing now and I wrap my arms around him. My shirt is covered in blood and tears.

I grab a towel and hold it to his face. I keep running my hands through his hair in hopes of calming him down. I hate seeing him like this. I've never met his father, but if I do I'm going to kick the shit out of him.

I take the towel off his face. The blood has mostly stopped so I start cleaning his face off with water. I know I'm shaking, but I'm afraid I'm going to hurt him. Once I'm done cleaning his face, I bandage his face as best as I can.

Before I can do anything, he grabs my hand and drags me to the closet. He pulls out a shirt, hands it to me and sits down on my bed. I change and put the old shirt in the trash. I walk over and sit beside him. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me down.

We lay there several minutes, and I can feel sleep taking over me. Before I nod off I think I hear him say, "What would I do without you," but I can't say for sure.
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When I wake up, I can't move. Ashton's arms are around my torso and his legs are on top of mine. I try to slip away but he holds on tighter.

"Just a few more minutes," he mumbles.

"No," I laugh. "We have to get up."

"What time is it?"

"Six o'clock. Before you complain, I let you sleep in an hour. We really do need to get up."

He pulls his face out of my shoulder. "I really don't want them to see me like this."

"I know." I sigh and give him a weak smile. "There isn't much we can do."

"Can I at least lie?"

"Yes, I have the perfect one. You tried to steal my chips, and I fought you to get them back. I accidentally pushed you into the coffee table, face first."

That earns a smile. "No way!" He laughs."I'm going with, I tripped over my dog and fell down the stairs."

"Your no fun." I pout and he rolls his eyes.

"I know. I don't have to go home, my stuff is already in the truck. Now get your butt up and get dressed," he says and pushes me off the bed.

"Jackash," I mumble and walk over to my closet. I grab a pair of shorts, a hoodie, and my Nike shoes. I change and walk upstairs to find Ashton toasting bagels.

"What do we have here? Ashton Mcallister making breakfast, for me, Cecelia Anderson?" I say in a sarcastic voice.

"You took too long. I thought I'd help myself. Then I remembered you, so I stuck an extra bagel in. Don't get used to it." He smiles and hands me my bagel and coffee.