Wingless {Clifford A.U}

Chapter Eleven

A/N: Okay I need to clarify this really quick: I realize that Ashton has a little sister named Lauren, but I kinda forgot when I created Lauren's character who is actually based off of a friend of mine, so it was a little confusing and I didn't notice until recently so yeah, awkward mistake.

Astrid stood outside the front of the building waiting for Lauren. She had skipped most of the day, besides first period. She couldn't focus on anything, every time she tried she kept thinking back to her's and Michael's fight. Speaking of which, she had no clue where he left to. She thought maybe he would come back so she could apologize for being cruel, but the longer he was away the more she thought he left for good. She really screwed up this time.

Lauren walked out of the building, her blonde hair pulled back in a messy bun, hand in hand with Ashton. They approached Astrid and Lauren looked at her.

"There you are, I thought you were home sick." she said and Astrid shrugged.

"I went to first period and some stuff happened so I just decided to skip the rest of the day." she said.

"Oh, what happened?" Lauren asked but Astrid shook her head.

"Just some stuff that doesn't matter. You guys ready?" she asked and Lauren nodded. Ashton was being surprisingly quiet, he usually would have made some rude comment about how she looked or something stupid like that.

They all got into Ashton's car, with Astrid in the back seat and started heading towards Lauren's house. She leaned against the window and stared at the houses as they drove by. She could hear Lauren giggling at whatever Ashton was saying. She didn't understand what Lauren saw in him, to be completely honest. He was a serious jerk, and Lauren deserves much better than him, but of course she never listened to anything negative that Astrid had to say about him.

They pulled into Lauren's driveway, and all got out and entered the house. Lauren's family was one of the wealthier families in the town and so she had a pretty big house that was well decorated. Astrid sat on the couch and messed with the ring around her neck, a constant habit when she was upset. Ashton and Lauren sat in the recliner, Lauren in Ashton's lap with his arms around her, while he pressed kisses on her neck. It made Astrid want to be sick just watching them.

"So, are we going to watch a movie or something, or am I just going to have to suffer through watching you two be all over each other until Luke comes to pick me up?" Astrid said and Ashton rolled his eyes and Lauren looked embarrassed.

"You're just jealous sweetheart." Ashton said, Astrid cringing when he called her sweetheart. She hated it when he called her that, and he knew it.

"Of what exactly?" Astrid asked, sarcasm evident in her tone.

"That Lauren has someone like me and you don't have anyone." he said and she laughed out loud.

"Okay Ashton, just keep telling yourself that. I don't need someone like you. " she said and he rolled his eyes.

"Well when you're like the way you are, you can't really expect to have anyone now can you?" he said and she scowled at him.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"You're undesirable." he said, a smirk on his face.

"At least I'm not a jerk unlike you." she said and he laughed.

"If that's supposed to be an insult you really need to learn something more original if you want to offend me." he said and she glared at him. There was no getting to him.

"Come on guys enough. Astrid when are you going to learn that you can't win these battles?" Lauren said and Astrid gaped at her.

"Of course you'd take his side. I'm going to the kitchen I'm hungry." she muttered getting up and leaving the room.

She opened the pantry and pulled out a bag of popcorn and threw it in the microwave and pushed the start button and watched. So much for a best friend who always had your back. The kitchen door opened and she turned around expecting Lauren, but it was only Ashton.

"Ew." she muttered and he rolled his eyes. "What do you want?" she mumbled.

"It's the kitchen, I'm pretty sure it's free range." he said and she rolled her eyes and turned back to the microwave.

She heard Ashton's phone ring and he let out a sigh before answering. "Hey, babe, I told you I was going to be busy today." Babe?

Astrid bit her lip and tried to tune out his conversation with another girl. What was she going to tell Lauren? Was she going to tell Lauren? Of course she was, she couldn't let something like this go unnoticed.

"I'll call you back later okay? Okay, bye, love you too I got to go." he said and hung up his phone. Astrid kept staring at the microwave, counting down the seconds. She was going to talk to Lauren after she got out of the kitchen, but she felt him walk up behind her and put his arms on either side of the counter, trapping her between him and the counter. She held her breath.

"Turn around and look at me." he said in a serious voice. She hesitated, but turned around to face him. "You heard everything, didn't you?" he asked and she nodded glaring at him.

"How could you. Lauren loves you, and you're screwing around with another girl. She'll be heart broken when she finds out." she said and he shook his head.

"That's why she's not going to find out, because I'm not going to tell her, and neither are you." he said.

"You make me sick Ashton. I'm telling her, whether you like it or not." she said trying to push past him, but he grabbed her wrists, pulling her back. He dug his nails into her wrists and she winced.

"You will not tell Lauren about this. If you do I swear to God I'll kill you, and if you decide to tell anyone else about this little conversation, I'll kill them too. Do you understand?" he said darkly. She struggled to find her words, Michael was right. He gripped her wrists tighter and she let a small cry of pain.

"Answer me." he said through gritted teeth.

"I-I understand."she stuttered and he let her go.

"Good girl." he said as she rushed out of the kitchen. She had to get out of there. Lauren saw her walk towards the door, and she stood up.

"Where are you going?" she asked and Astrid turned around as Ashton wrapped his arm around Lauren's shoulder.

"I-I um, got to go. I just remembered I have to help Maddie with something." she said making up an excuse. She didn't wait for Lauren to say anything, and left slamming the door shut and running down the side walk.

Once she got several blocks away from Lauren's house, she pulled out her phone and dialed Luke. After it rang a couple of times he picked up and she sighed with relief.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked.

"I need you to come pick me up, now." she said. There was silence on the other end of the phone.

"Sure, I'll be over there in a few minutes." he said.

"I'm not at Lauren's anymore...something happened. I'm going to meet you at the school." she said.

"Wait what happened?" he asked, she could hear him fumbling on the other end.

"I-it doesn't matter right now, just meet me at the school in like ten minutes." she said and he sighed.

"I'll be there as soon as I can. Just wait out front." he said.

"Okay." she said and hung up and started running to the school, getting away from Lauren's as quickly as possible.

A/N: So...maybe she should've listened to Michael's warning...I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and vote/comment. Thanks.

-Xx E.J