The Great Escape || a.i. *completed & editing*

3.7

I took a deep breath and opened the envelope that would tell me whether or not I would be going to college.

I pulled out the letter and looked up at Ashton and my parents who were watching me expectantly. I unfolded it and looked at what it said.

I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding and put it back in the envelope, putting it on the coffee table.

"Well?" My mom asked.

I shook my head. "Looks like I'm stuck at home til December with nothing to do."

Ashton came over to me and wrapped his arms around me. "You could apply to another college."

I shook my head. "I just don't have the energy anymore."

"I'm so sorry, Sarah," my mom said, stroking my hair.

I shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I'll have to figure how to get along with Lauren, I guess."

Ashton pulled away and looked at me sympathetically. "I'll talk to her."

I sighed and walked up to my room, throwing myself on my bed. It wasn't disappointing enough to cry over, I mean, it's not like I didn't already know there was a good chance I wouldn't be accepted. I just got a little too excited.

"Sarah?" Ashton walked in and sat next to me on my bed.

I looked over at him. Ash jumped on and laid on my neck, purring.

"I'm really sorry," he said, taking my hand.

I shook my head. "It's fine. I mean, I was kind of expecting this. I knew an idea to keep me from spending my time being bored out of my mind was too good to be true. It's just how my life goes."

He frowned. "But I kept you from being bored out of your mind. Does that mean I'm too good to be true?"

"Sometimes I wonder," I said.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "Do you not trust me?"

"I do," I said. "I trust you more than anyone else. I just feel like... One of these days I'm going to wake up and you're going to be gone."

"What?" he asked. "I'm only going to be in college for a few months before I'm home again for the holidays. I'm not going to be gone that long."

"I don't mean physically gone, Ashton," I said.

"I'm not leaving you," he said. "I'm in love with you, and there's not a single girl I could love more than you."

"That's not what I'm talking about," I said, looking him dead in the eyes. It took him a second, but he seemed to understand and his face paled.

"Oh, Sarah, no," he said, laying next to me and pulling me close to him. "God, no. I would never."

"You almost did," I said, tears threatening to fall from my cheeks. "And I haven't been able to stop worrying that if I screw up and do the wrong thing that you might actually do it. And it will be all my fault."

"It would never be your fault, even if I did," he said. "But I won't do that. That was before I knew what you meant to me, and what I mean to you. I could never do that."

I sighed.

"Sarah, you don't understand how much you've helped me," he said, pulling away to look at me. "I try so hard to be the best I can for you, I try to make myself perfect for you."

He sat up and began pulling the bracelets off of his wrists. I sat up as well, watching him as he took each one off individually, revealing his skin underneath. I let out a breath of relief when I saw them.