When I saw her

What if

"If you want, we don't have to talk about it, just tell me you won't do it again." I said, walking over to her.

"Give me one reason why I should stop. After all, you seem to like inflicting pain." Angel said, her electric blue eyes staring into mine.

"I care about you and don't want you hurting yourself." I blurted before I could think about what I was saying.

"You turned me down and now you're saying you care about me. Make up your mind." Angel's eyes had suddenly turned cold and distant.

"I care about you as a friend. And if you really like me, then you'll stop." I said.

"Fine." Angel said, not looking at me.

"Why did you...?" I asked.

"You already know." I barely heard her say. I guess I did know. It was because of me. Ironically, Angel was my Protector, but this time it'd been me protecting her because of me.

"Ashley." I said, looking at her. She put her iPod away.

"Done arguing?" She asked. I rolled my eyes and nodded.

"Nothing's going on between us." I said before she could say anything else.

"Fine, I believe you." Ashley said, glancing at Angel who now stood on the balcony. "But I think she likes you."

"Maybe." I replied, staring at her.

"I never thought I'd say this, but do you like Angel?" Ashley said, staring very directly at me.

"No." I replied. I couldn't like her like that. I glanced at Angel. She was staring at her wrist, tracing the pattern made by the cuts. I hated that she'd hurt herself over me. Some people might be saying that it was a sign I liked her, but I'd feel the same if it was Ashley. Except Ashley wouldn't cut herself over me.

"Really." Ashley challenged.

"Since when did you become Team Angel?" I asked. Last time I checked Ashley hated her.

Angel's POV (from last night)

I couldn't fall asleep, so I ended up standing on the balcony, staring out at the waves with a cup of coffee.

"Hey." A voice said. I knew it wasn't Sapphire.

"Hi." I replied. Ashley came over and stood beside me.

"I'm sorry about what I did. Or more like what I didn't do. Which was walk away." I said, watching the waves crash against the rocks.

"I know and I'm trying to forgive you." Was all she said.

"I don't expect you to." I said. It's hard to to think about the what if's. What if I'd walked away. What if I hadn't been stupid enough to get in that mess in the first place.

"I know." Ashley replied.

After a few minutes, she asked, "What happened?"

"To what?" I asked, slightly confused.

"Your arm." She said, looking at my wrist.

"Nothing." I mumbled.

"Doesn't look like nothing." She said with a raised eyebrow. "And you owe me."

"Yeah, I guess I do. If you really want to know, I cut myself." I replied.

"Yeah, I guessed. It's too bad it can't really take away the pain." She murmured.

"Are you saying...?" I asked. Ashley had made it sound like she'd done it.

"Yeah. After what you did I was fucked up." She said, looking across the ocean. "And if you say sorry one more time, I'll kill you. Even if I don't stand a chance against you."