Oli's POV:
I woke up on my side of the bed, stretching and groaning. Ashton and I had shared my king-sized bed last night since neither of us had wanted to sleep on the floor. Kara had rung me repeatedly yesterday but I ignored the phone until I eventually turned it off. Ash found a few of my old games and we'd played on my PlayStation all afternoon until we put a movie on and fell asleep. The day had been exhausting at best.
I moved my arm and patted around for Ashton, but the bed was cold and empty. I shot upright and frantically pulled back the covers in a desperate attempt to find him, as if he was hiding underneath them. Looking around my room, I saw no trace of Ash ever being there. The games had been put away, the TV was off, the clothes he'd strewn on the floor last night were missing. Where did he go?
Then it dawned on me; he'd left. It was all a trick, a cruel joke, just as I'd thought. He'd never intended on telling me why he'd hurt me. I bet his whole story was a lie. Why would he come out to his parents? It made no sense, he knew how badly they would react - how his friends would react - which was why he'd made me promise to keep our relationship a secret when we were together.
I ran my hand through my hair, yesterday's events twisting into a black hole of lies and manipulation that curdled in my head and sunk deep into the pit of my stomach. I felt sick.
I ran down the stairs two at a time, calling my mum. I burst into the kitchen and froze. Two heads raised to stare at me, both equally confused and unsettled.
"Ashton" I let out a relieved sigh; he hadn't left.
"Oh, Oli, there you are. Ashton was just telling me why his parents kicked him out." My mum smiled sweetly as if it were the most normal thing in the world, her soft Southern American accent chiming like a bell. Her smile seemed somewhat forced, probably due to my outburst. I took a few minutes to overcome the fear I'd felt when I thought Ash had left me. Again. Then my brain processed what my mum had just said, and I exploded at Ashton.
"What? You told her before you told me?" I yelled. Ashton opened his mouth to reply, but my mother jumped in first:
"Now, Oliver, where are your manners? I think it's quite noble that he risked everything for you, by coming out to his parents. My God, you boys are adorable." She smiled in a way only a proud, romanticizing mother can, acting like Ash was my knight in shining armour. I scoffed, rolling my eyes. But I had to ask.
"For me?" I whispered, knowing this had to be a joke. A lie to add to our made-up story of why we broke up. There was no way he'd ever do anything for me, especially not something that drastic. He obviously had nowhere else to go, which was why he had texted me yesterday. He knows I'm a pushover. He knows how to manipulate me. He knows I wouldn't leave him stranded if he was desperate.
He sure is one lucky bastard.
Ash didn't answer my question. He pretended he hadn't heard and took a bite out of his toast. Yum, chocolate spread. I pinched the other slice of toast from Ash's plate and bit into it. Ash feigned a look of horror, I smiled at his exaggerated hand gestures and stuck my tongue out at him. My mother looked truly horrified, her mouth gaping open. I only shrugged, taking another bite of toast.
"What? It's chocolate spread." I defended myself to my mum, then eyed Ash, daring him to object. He just shrugged. I smiled triumphantly and plomped myself onto the bar stool next to Ash.
The door bell rang and my mother left the room to answer it. I took this as an opportunity to nestle into Ash's shoulder and shove my piece of toast into his mouth when he tried to take a bite of his own. I giggled, but the amusement slipped away when I heard an angry voice at the door.
"Oh no.." I complained, pushing myself off the bar stool to lean against the breakfast bar.
"Oliver Ricardo Keaton, why haven't you been answering my- Oh my God, what is he doing here?" A very angry Kara stood in the doorway, seething, pointing a freshly manicured finger at Ashton, who glared back at her.
"I can explain." I began, knowing full well I had no way of explaining this, even if she did give me a chance to try.
"What do you mean, dear?" My mum questioned Kara, joining us in the kitchen. She had no idea what was happening. And, to be honest, neither did I.
"Nothing, Mum," I quickly jumped in, seeing Kara was ready to tell my mother everything about mine and Ashton's past. "Kara. Upstairs. Now." I hissed, signalling for Ashton to follow us. My mum curiously watched the three of us stalk up the stairs to my bedroom.
Once we were all inside, I shut and bolted the door, and leaned against it, dreading what was about to go down. Kara pulled over the chair that sat by my desk, pointed at it, and demanded I explain myself. Kara thumped onto the edge of my bed, I hesitantly lowered myself into the chair opposite her, and Ashton stood awkwardly by the door. He was quite obviously hoping for an escape route.
"Can I-" He reached for the door handle and began to ask if he could leave, but Kara quickly interrupted him.
"No. Sit there." She pointed to the opposite end of the bed. Ashton obliged, knowing an angry Kara was a force to be reckonned with. He and Kara had been neighbours since they were 9, which meant he knew how to handle her. Sort of. "Now, both of you. Explain."
I cleared my throat as a method of stalling, and Ash shifted uncomfortably at the bottom of the bed, "Well.. Ash asked for help, so I'm helping him."
"Helpi- Have you forgotten what he did to you? He hospitalized you, Oli. You had a broken arm, broken ribs, and a pierced lung. You could have died!" Her voice had reached a pitch that only dogs could hear.
Ash's eyes widened in shock. He never knew just how badly he'd hurt me. Physically or mentally. Now, after hearing the extent of my injuries, his head lowered in more shame and guilt than before.
"Yes, thank you, Kara, I'm more than aware that he almost killed me. I was the one in the hospital bed, being operated on, doped up on painkillers, being fed by a drip. But he apologized and I'm ready to move on. He needs my help, I'm not going to turn him away. We've been through too much together."
"But that's exactly my point!" Kara exclaimed, throwing her hands up as if I didn't understand the situation, "He's never tried to contact you, never apologized to you, never asked for your forgiveness, until the moment he's in trouble and needs you to bail him out. Can't you see? He's still using you. He has a boyfriend, for God sake. I bet he's never told you that."
The world slowed down and time stopped for an instance. My entire argument crumbled beneath me. My heart strained in my chest; I could feel it breaking all over again. Ashton said nothing, making my heart hurt more. I'd hoped he would say it wasn't true. I'd hoped Kara was lying. My eyes pleaded with Ashton but he avoided them. He wouldn't look at me. Kara seemed proud of herself. I couldn't help but resent her. All of her points made sense, but I didn't want to believe Ashton was a fraud.
He has a boyfriend...? It can't be true.
"Oli, it's not true," Ashton finally started, like he could read my mind. He tried to reach me, to reason with me, but I was too far away for him to catch in his deathly grip. I felt empty and hollow inside. And he was making it worse by lying. Why was he still lying? "I promise you, Oli, I mean, it was true. It was. I did have a boyfriend. Garrett. But he broke up with me. Two weeks ago."
I remained stoic, staring straight ahead, not paying attention to his words. He grew desperate, springing off the bed to kneel in front of me. He took my unresponsive hands in his and tried to make me look at him.
"Oli, please, listen to me," I moved my eyes to meet his, but I remained expressionless. Why wouldn't he quit the act already? "I didn't love him Oli, I swear, it meant nothing. I want y- He never wanted to be with me."
Kara chuckled under the breath, amused, as if she were watching a soap opera.
"Then I guess you know how Oli feels. You should know how much it hurts to get used. It's not a nice feeling, is it Ashton? You've screwed him over plenty of times."
"Shut up, Kara." Ashton snapped, throwing her a daggered glare. She reeled back, preparing to shout at him.
"Go home, Kara. You've done enough." My voice cracked, I was on the brink of tears, Kara needed to be put in her place. She was hurt by this, her ego wounded.
"But, Oli, you deserve to know-" She defiantly tried to convince me she was right to have told me like this.
"Not like this. Go home. Don't speak on my behalf again please." My voice was stern and emotionless, leaving no room for argument. She stood up, huffing like a toddler at the end of a tantrum, and left without another word. I locked the door behind her and fell backwards onto my bed, patting a spot for Ashton to lay next to me.
We lay in silence for a while before I spoke. "Tell me the story. The real story. No lies. Just tell me."
"Starting with why I dumped you?"
"Starting with why you dumped me." I answered. I stared at the ceiling, doubts and questions running through my head. This was his last shot. If he blew it, it was over. But I needed to hear the whole story before I jumped to conclusions. Unfortunately, a part of me still thought the world of him. That was a part of me I was prepared to kill if I had to.
I took a deep breath and braced myself.
"This better be good."