Miles apart (Man × Man) ✔

42) d i s m i s s e d

Ash was woken up by the doorbell. At first he just slung his forearm over his face to cover his eyes, thinking that whoever was behind the door would give up soon enough. But then the bell rang again, and all Ash's hopes for a peaceful morning were gone with that.

Miles groaned and mumbled something incoherent. His eyes were so puffy it was a wonder he could see a thing and his hair looked like he had tried to pull it out of his head. When the doorbell rang for the third time, Miles' eyes widened and he sat up, cursing: "Shit, it must be dad."

"What?" Ash sat up too, gaping at Miles. He must have heard wrong or else he had missed more from yesterday than he had previously thought he did.

"The company isn't doing well and, uh, dad sold the house. Our house. He wants me to move back with him and when I told him I won't, he said he'll come by once I've calmed down." Miles explained. He massaged his temples with his thumb and forefinger, trying to drive away a headache. 

"Sorry, what?" Ash asked again.

"I'll.. I'll explain it all to you later, but I'll have to let dad in now." Miles decided, hastily pulling on a knitted sweater on top of the t-shirt he had slept on. Ash's bafflement only grew when Miles didn't bother to change his sweatpants to the usual slacks or even so much as comb his hair. He just rushed right to the door.

Ash could hear it open and close, while he cloaked himself in warm and comfortable clothes. He didn't give a fuck about Anthony's opinions of his choice of clothing. Then he walked to the living room, not wanting to leave Miles alone with his poor excuse of a father any longer than necessary. 

"Have you had time to reconsider what we talked about?" Anthony said and sat on the couch.

"Yes, and the answer is still no. I'm not moving back there." Miles objected and crossed his arms over his chest. Ash moved closer to him, subconsciously locating himself between Miles and his dad, ready to intervene if needed.

"This must be your doing." Anthony declared, the amiability gone from his voice, and bored a poisonous glare at Ash. Ash answered the glare with a murderous one.

"No, it isn't." Miles declined, his voice unwavering and cold. "This is all on you. I'm tired of you telling me how to live my life and criticizing every decision I make. Nothing is ever good enough for you, but guess what? You're not perfect yourself, in fact, I think you are —"

"Miles Avery Bardot." Anthony warned, standing up from the couch. He balled his fists and his skin turned blotchy and red. He was not used to Miles talking back to him, and he wasn't going to let him start then. "You do not talk to me this way, you ungrateful brat."

When Anthony stepped towards Miles, Miles flinched reflexively and Ash shifted closer to him. He wanted to give Miles the opportunity to face his dad alone, but he wasn't going to just stand and watch if Anthony planned on getting physical. Ash's movement only seemed to anger Anthony more. 

"Dad, I'm tired. I keep waiting for you to change, but you're incapable of that." Miles repeated, meeting Anthony's glare with steady eyes. When Anthony opened his mouth to object, Miles continued: "Yes, you are. All my life you've made me feel like shit about myself. You think you have the right to judge the way I live and criticize the way I look. You keep calling me names and controlling my life and then call it love. But it's not love. It's mental abuse and —"

"Me, abusive?" Anthony chimed, his mouth twisting to a snarl. He took another step towards Miles. "I have never laid a hand on you."

"Sometimes I wish you did." Miles' sighed wearily and slumped to sit on the couch. He covered his face with his hands and took a deep breath through his fingers. "Then at least I would have a bruise to show me that I haven't just made it all up in my head."

"You've always been so sensitive." Anthony sneered incredulously and crossed his arms across his chest. "How dare you say that after everything I've done for you?"

When Anthony was about to close the distance between him and Miles, Ash stepped on his way: "Don't you dare to twist this into Miles' fault."

He was done letting Anthony poison Miles' mind and ruin his self-esteem. He was fed up with Anthony's sense of superiority and the way he treated everyone around him.

"You." Anthony jabbed Ash's chest with his forefinger. "This has nothing to do with you or your lowlife friends. I don't know what you've done to my son, but it has to end. I'm taking him with me and perhaps then he will come back to his senses."

"Enough." Miles demanded and stood up to face his dad with the sort of auctority Ash had never seen on him before. Miles wagged Anthony's finger from Ash's chest and snarled: "That's enough, dad."

The adrenaline rush caused by Anthony's visit had caused Ash to momentarily forget the torment of the past days, but what Miles said next brought it all back to his mind. And this time, Ash knew he couldn't afford to zone out and leave Miles to deal with the situation alone. Not that he wouldn't have trusted Miles to be able to handle it by himself, it was simply a matter of not wanting him to.

"We were at a funeral yesterday, Ash's mom's funeral." Miles began then, with a thick voice. Anthony lifted his eyebrows in mild surprise, but then his facial expression turned to something that asked: why are you telling me this? 

Miles cleared his throat and continued: "She was one of the greatest people I've ever met. And you know what? She didn't have a lot of money or connections or whatever it is that you think so highly of. She didn't drive a Bugatti, I don't think she even had a car at all. And she —"

"Miles —" Anthony interrupted, but Miles lifted his hand to tell him to shut his mouth.

"As I was saying." Miles emphasized. Even as his hands were shaking and his breathing shallow, giving away how anxious he felt, Ash couldn't have been prouder of him. He was finally, finally, standing up against his dad. "She didn't have any of those things and I only got to know her for like a year, but she gave me more than you've given me all my life. You know why that is?"

Miles stepped towards his dad, jabbing his finger on Anthony's chest in turn. "You." Miles whispered and jabbed Anthony's chest. "Are." Another jab. "A." Jab. "Terrible." Jab. "Father." Jab.

"Stop this nonsense now." Anthony spat and gripped Miles' shoulders, shaking him like that could bring some sense into him. "If you don't stop, I'll disown you. I swear I will. You'll get none of my money or my share of the company. You can say goodbye to your old life, because I'm the only reason you have access to it."

For a while Miles didn't say a word. That made Anthony smirk, cocksurely, thinking he had found something to change Miles' mind. That Miles had realized what a fool he had been thinking he could go on without him. That he couldn't possibly live without his fancy car or the galas.

"Do it." Miles said instead, making Anthony's smirk drop. He gripped Miles' shoulders tighter, pursing his lips together and trying to think of something to say. Miles beat him to it: "I'm serious, do it. I'll be better off without you or your money anyway."

When Anthony let his hands drop, glaring at his son too mad to find the words to say, Ash looked at Miles over Anthony's shoulder. He was wordlessly asking: can I throw him out now, please? 

When Miles nodded, Ash placed a hand on Anthony's back and jostled him to the front door. Anthony turned on his heels to stare at Ash, under the gloomy outdoor light. It made the harsh lines of his face look even sharper, crueller. Before slamming the door shut, Ash contemplated if he could add a punch to the escort, but decided not to. Just to see the aghast expression on Anthony's face was enough of a reward.

~~~

Have I remembered to tell you lately how much your comments, votes and support in general means to me? I know this story hasn't been the easiest to read, or that at least it has been awfully sad, but you've still read it this far. You're probably (/hopefully) even going to finish it, as there aren't that many chapters left! Thank you for sticking around, you're golden. 🖤