Hopelessly Falling [book 2]

Chapter Fifty

"I take that as a compliment," Kevin smiled and then took his arm off of me to stand up. "Okay, here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna play judge and you answer my questions," he told Ashton.

"That's such a stupid idea."

"What's your favorite color?"

"What?"

"Are you refusing to answer the question?"

"Wh- Kevin what the fu-"

"Guilty!!" Kevin proclaimed, and Ashton looked up at him dumbfounded.

"Next try. Why did you do it, sir?" Kevin started again, and Ashton reluctantly decided to go with it. "Why did you hospitalize that guy?"

"Because he's a piece of shit," Ashton replied, and Kevin gave him the 'mom' look. Ashton sighed, "because he threatened me?" He made up, and Kevin switched his expression to a 'proud mom' look.

"That's it. Fake it till ya make it," Kevin replied, and I decided to get us all some water.

Ashton went to say something to me as I stood up, but Kevin yelled at him, demanding his attention back as the 'judge'. I chuckled to myself and went to the kitchen.

Only Ashton and Layla knew about what George did to me. The rest just thought that Ashton beat him up again from the first time George had tried to have his way with me. Maybe I'd tell them one day, but not now. All I wanted now was at least some form of normalcy.

As I was getting our drinks, I heard Kevin and Layla randomly start to argue about whether or not The Lion King was the best Disney movie. Arguments between them two were always funny, and pretty unconventional, as I'm sure you could probably imagine.

As I was finishing getting the last drink, I heard someone come in the kitchen with me, and a few moments later felt Ashton wrap his arms around my waist from behind and bring me into him. I smiled to myself and leaned into the embrace, always loving when he did that.

"You ready for tomorrow?" I asked him, softly caressing his arm as he held me, his chin resting on the top of my head.

"Nope," he replied, and I turned around, his arms still looped around me as I faced him. With a small smile, I went on my tip-toes and planted a sweet kiss on his lips.

"Yes, you are," I corrected, and he gave me a sad little smile.

If you hadn't caught on yet, tomorrow was his custody hearing. I tried to hide my underlying anxiety at the thought of a court room, but obviously knowing Ashton and his annoyingly-observant ass, he caught it.

"The last time you were in a court room was when you had to testify against your brother.. wasn't it?" He asked, and I looked up from the ground to give him a small nod. "Are you sure you should be going tomorrow?"

"What? Yes, of course," I replied, not planning on letting myself abandon him. "You need me there and I'll be there."

"I need you to be safe, and comfortable, and happy. That's what I need," he corrected, and I looked up at him again with a sigh. "Hey," he paused to interlock our fingers, "I need you to not put me before you this time," he told me reassuringly.

"I don't want to leave you stranded," I told him, and he shook his head.

"I'll have the others, and plus, this way I'll be able to look forward to seeing you once it's over," he added, and I frowned a little at him. I knew he was probably right. The last thing anyone would want was for me to have a panic attack in the middle of it all. I usually could hide them pretty well but who knows how bad it could be in there... my brother's trial still haunted me to the day.