Later that night Ashton's dad told him to meet him at the club, and he brought me along. I stayed in his chill room while he talked to his dad for a bit then he texted me to come to The Lounge.
When I got here I found Ashton sitting alone at the half-circle couch and go to sit down beside him.
"Aht. Aht." He points at the ground beside him. "After last time here, tonight you're gonna be trained on how you should act while you're here with me. While you're in training you kneel beside me."
I look at him like he's crazy, but the look he gives me makes me listen and eventually kneel. Curse me for wearing a short skirt, my knees are directly on the hard floor.
After a few minutes, I see Mikey and Kyle approaching and roll my eyes before they get fully to the table. Great, the misogynistic idiots are here. They are clearly tipsy already too.
"Heeeey! I knew you were lying to us last time. When you left I said to Kyle 'There is no possible way that's his girlfriend and no possible way he treats her like that'. You fucking liar." Mikey chimes.
"I didn't lie. She is my girlfriend. She's just been misbehaving this past week so we're trying things a little different." Ashton states.
"Well, duh, that's what happens when you give 'em too much slack like you were. They think they're in control and don't know how to act." Kyle slurs.
I internally scoff.
"How are you guys drunk every time I see you? You'd think one of you'd lose the ability to get hard by now." Ashton jokes, changing the subject.
They remain the same idiots for a while, making unfunny jokes until a waiter stops by.
"Can I get you guys any drinks?" It's a bleach blonde girl in an outfit that doesn't even cover her ass cheeks.
Mikey and Kyle both order hard liquor, not that they need it. Ashton orders a mixed drink with liquor.
I feel Ashton's hand come down to play in my hair. "Do you want a drink?"
"Can I have margarita, Sir?" I ask.
He looks back to the waiter. "She'll have a water."
Mikey and Kyle laugh.
I want to scream and say a few cuss words at him, he totally did that on purpose. But I obviously decide against doing so.
The waiter eventually comes back with the drinks and after 3 more rounds of them, with me getting water each time, I now have to use the restroom.
"Sir?"
Ashton looks at me, raising his eyebrow.
"C-can I go to the bathroom, please?"
"Yes. And don't take long."
I walk into the bathroom and peek at my phone. It's been vibrating in my pocket for the past half an hour but I had to ignore it while out there.
I'm stretching out my aching legs when it rings again. An unknown number. This time, I answer.
"Hello?"
"Aria, finally!"
I scrunch my brows and look at my phone. Why is my mom's boyfriend calling?
"Can I help you?" I ask, hesitant.
It was only a few months ago when he tried to sexually assault me. What does he want now?
"Yes actually. Your bitch of a mother left me for some rich guy so I wanted to let you know the truth."
"The truth?"
"What I did to you was not me. It was your mother, she made me do it! And I wanted to say sorry before I never see you or that slimy cunt again."
I stumble back a little, confused. I knew my mother was a bitch but never to this extent.
"What? Why?" My voice is hoarse as I ask the only questions I can really get out right now.
There's a long pause. "Ashton. It was Ashton."
My heart drops. He has to be lying. He has to be. He's upset with my mother and trying to take it out on me.
"I don't believe you." I whisper.
"Do you really think I wouldn't have noticed her coming up the stairs when she did? Why do you think she came home right when I started, that's not a coincidence. Do you think I'm stupid enough to try something like that right when your mother was supposed to be getting home from work? It was all planned." He says the words and they sound believable.
"W-why would my mother do that? Why would he?"
"She was going to foreclose on the house. He offered her enough money so she didn't lose it as well as enough to get back on her feet. We were broke. I guess she saw she had no choice. And as for him, you'll have to ask him why."
Oh, I'll ask him alright. Right before I slap him in the face and pack my shit to leave. I'm fuming. But eventually my anger turns to sorrow. Heartbroken doesn't even begin to describe what I feel.
I poured my all into this relationship, our monthly anniversary was supposed to be happening next week.
Why?
"Thank you for letting me know." I hang up.
Sliding down the bathroom wall my butt collides with the floor and I don't even pay attention to the sting from the bruises made last night. Tears fall uncontrollably.
I sit with the devastation for at least 20 minutes before I hear the door swing open. My head is covered by my knees to my face as I hug my legs. I don't even bother to look up, I already know who it is.
"Princess? What's wrong, why are you crying?"
I don't respond, I just cry harder. How dare he act like he didn't set me up. And had the nerve to think he wouldn't get caught.
He squats down to my level and uses a finger to lift my chin to look at him, worry evident on his face. I quickly push him off and stand up.
"Don't touch me!" I yell harshly, tears now replaced with anger again. "Keep your filthy hands off me, jackass!"
He pauses to look at me, furrows his brows, and without another thought starts fumbling with his belt. Before he can get it off, I yell again.
"You had me setup to be raped!"
The hand on the belt pauses. His face comes to look at me again and his eyes soften.
"Aria......"
"No! Don't Aria me, stupid jerk!"
He swiftly grabs my hands and puts them above my head, smashing me into the wall. "I don't care how mad you are, you're not going to raise your voice at me and call me names." He growls.
I don't reply and just glare at him.
"I didn't set you up to be raped. How would I know that your mother would come up with that plan, of all plans? I simply told her to kick you out and make it look believable. I didn't find out that was her plan until you told me yourself what he did. And he's lucky I didn't kill him and then piss on his grave."
So his excuse is that he didn't set me up to be assaulted, but he still set me up. He's going to have to come up with a better excuse than that.
"Why?"
"I... I wanted you."
"So why not be like a normal person and get me the regular way? You know, dating for some time first and then moving in down the line?"
He sighs. "Aria, you can't even begin to understand the things I felt for you when I first met you. I was impatient, and for that I'm sorry. I truly am."
He reaches out to push a piece of my hair out of my face but I turn my head away before he can.
"Please forgive me." He grabs my waist and pushes himself closer to me, so close that I can't breathe right. His hands start to travel over me.
"Diamond!" I shout. I need space to breathe and right now he's suffocating me.
He immediately stops what he's doing and steps back. I breathe out a sigh of relief that he remembered my safe word, I've never used it til now.
I storm out of the bathroom, making sure to bump his shoulder with mine as I do so.
Great, now I'm going to have to call an Uber.