Phantasm || irwin

[ 45 ] 1963

[ 45 ] 1963

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"Take care of yourself, Ashton. Please." 

-

Ashton couldn't enjoy his meal after his friends left, though Claire seemed happy about them having left. They slid his plate of food in front of him and he just looked down at it, suddenly at a loss of his appetite. "Can I get this to go please?" He asked the waitress before she walked away. She nodded and took their plates with her.

"To go?" Claire eyed him. "We came to have a nice night."

"I'm not having such a great night, kitten." Ashton admitted to her. The last thing he wanted was to start an argument with her, but he also didn't want her to think the things she was doing were okay. Taking a breath to steel himself, he began, "I don't like the way you treat my friends, and I'm going to have to ask you to treat them better next time."

Claire gasped at his words. Never in their whole relationship had he said something like this to her. He was always letting her do whatever she wanted. "Are you trying to tell me you care more about your friends than me?"

He shook his head. "That's not it. They don't mistreat you, so why do you mistreat them?"

"Because I don't like them." She responded.

"Okay," He sighed, "I understand that you can't always like everyone. But there is a way to treat people, and I'm thinking maybe your parents didn't teach you  those ways."

"Watch the way you speak to me. I'm your wife." She warned him.

"I'm starting to think we may have rushed into this marriage, Claire." Ashton said sadly. He was in love with Claire, but he was coming to realize there were some things about her that he didn't like. He thought she could change and learn to accept his friends, or at least treat them right. But he had been wrong.

Her eyes narrowed into a glare. "Ashton, if you're thinking of leaving me, you'd better think again because I'm not letting you go." Or not letting go of his money, she thought to herself. The blonde found consolation in the fact that Con was planning something, and Ashton would probably not live to see another day.

The waitress soon returned with two paper bags, one with Ashton's food and the other with Claire's. Upset at their small argument, she said nothing and walked back to the waiting car outside the restaurant. Just as Bobby promised, there was a driver waiting to take them home. He took Claire home first and then Ashton, but as soon as they dropped Claire off, the hazel eyed boy asked the driver, "Can you take me to Con's house?"

He nodded and dropped Ashton off there. 

The walked back home wouldn't be too long anyway. He knocked on the front gates and a guard came to the door. "Good night Mr. Irwin," He greeted. "Are you here to see Mr. Hood?"

Ashton shook his head. "I'm here to see Ann."

Since Claire hadn't eaten her food, he hadn't either, and he knew Ann didn't go out much due to her delicate pregnancy, he thought he could have dinner with her and keep her company. He had heard from Ann that Con often arrived late at night and sometimes didn't even sleep in the same bed with her because he said he didn't want to hurt her, as though she needed all the space in their bed.

The guard let Ashton in the house and took him all the way up the drive way in one of their small security carts. 

There, he opened the front door and went to find Ann. She was in the master bedroom, laid in bed, and she smiled when she saw the door open. Her smile dropped a bit when she saw that it was Ashton. "Bonjour, Ashton." She said with a small wave of her hand.