Dani's P.O.V:
I hate watching Kaia cry, it makes me want to cry too. She doesn't deserve to be crying so much over someone who didn't even try to patch things up or offer up a decent apology. If I had my way, I would have punched his face a long time ago. That night at the party to be exact.
Kaia is on the floor crying in my arms. I try my best to calm her down but every time she chokes on her words I feel tears welling up in my eyes.
"Kaia, please, don't do this to yourself" I plead with her.
"I don't..know..what to..do Dani, I just..can't get..him..outta my..head" she sobbed.
I look at my friend with tears in my eyes, I hate Ashton Parker so bloody much. If he had no good intentions, why come into her life at all? Why not just stay away?
That's it, I can't take this anymore. I'm going to give that guy a piece of my mind-- whether Kaia likes it or not, it's for her own good. I'll just have to see to her first before I go talk to that asshole.
After a while she's stopped crying. She stands up and goes into the bathroom to wash her face. Her pretty grey eyes are swollen and red from all the crying. I hate that she has to go through this.
"I'm gonna take a nap now" Kaia said to me, walking to her bed.
"That's a good idea" I replied.
I waited till she drifted off to sleep. I made sure to play her favorite songs on loop before I head off. I plug my laptop to the power point so the battery doesn't die when her playlist is going on. Having her favorites on helps her sleep better.
***
I storm all the way back to the Cafe where Ash and his friends were. From across the parking lot I could see them loitering around outside the Cafe. Bunch of idiots.
I spot Ash and walk directly up to him and cross my arms, waiting for him to acknowledge me.
He turns around when one of his mates nudges him to look behind.
Ash immediately sees me and offers me a small smile. So fake.
"Danielle, what can I do for you darling?" Ash says in a chirpy tone. Somebody better hold me back or I swear this boy gonna get it!.
"Can I speak to you alone, please?" I ask him impatiently, I hate standing here with his friends looking at me like vultures. Damn.
"Um..of course" he says, ushering me across the parking lot to sit on one of the benches.
As we take a seat I try to think of what I'm actually going to say to him. I don't want to make matters worse and I'm not really sure whether he even cares about K anymore.
"So how have you been?" I ask him, trying to beat around the bush for a bit.
"Well, I've been better. Just living life you know. That type of stuff" he answers politely.
Why is he being so nice? Or maybe it's because I haven't mentioned my gurl yet. We'll soon find out.
"Oh okay, that's good..to hear" I said.
He looks at me weirdly, like I'm turning purple. Then he opens his mouth to speak.
"Dani, is everything okay?" he asks me.
"What do you mean by 'okay' Ash? Could you elaborate on that please?" I say to him. I'm so tired of him playing cool when my friend is having a breakdown on the other side of school.
"Well darling, what I meant to say was-- is everything alright with you? We're not really friends and I'm slightly confused as to why you're sitting here with me in a parking lot when you have other friends of your own to occupy yourself with" he shot back.
"Don't pretend like you don't know why I'm here Ashton. I'm here because of Kaia and you know that!" I said sternly.
He looks at me and I'm uncertain of the look in his eyes. It looks like suprise mixed with a bit of emotion. Does he still like her?
He looks around the parking lot then scratches the back of his head.
"Look Dani, It's been over a month now and Kaia hasn't tried to reach out to me once. That should say something" he says.
"Well did you even try to reach out to her? Huh?".
"I wanted to but it was better if she just stayed away from me completely".
"I don't think that's for you to decide".
"After what I did, I don't think she would ever want to speak to me again so if you're trying to get me to talk to her, it's not going to happen" Ash said.
He was crouched forward with his elbows on his knees and he covered his face with his hands.
"I know you miss her Ashton, and you want to make amends. If you're sincere enough- she might just forgive you" I said honestly.
"That's exactly the thing Dani! She would forgive me, and I don't deserve to be forgiven. Believe me Dani, I didn't want things to end that way-- or even end at all, but I was put in a very difficult position and I had absolutely no other option so I did what I did" He said.
He looks like he's in pain. The same pain I saw Kaia in a while ago.
I listen to everything he says then notices that he said he had no other option. What's going on here?
"What do you mean you had no other option? Tell me right now Ashton or I'll go over there and ask your little buddies" I said to him.
"You don't have to, I'll tell you everything" he said.
I don't know if I'm ready to hear the truth but I have to do this for Kaia.
Ash takes a deep breath and slowly exhales. He lights up a cigarette before he starts to speak.
"Before the party, Kaia and I were planning on meeting there. She knew I would be there and I knew she was coming".
"Okay, continue" I said, trying to speed him up.
"I was telling my friend Brody over there that I really liked Kaia and that I'm a different person around her. I was gonna ask her to be my girlfriend, that night at the party. I didn't know that Yvonne was listening to our conversation".
"Oh my gosh! It's that sl*ts fault?!" I said angrily.
"Kind of. Well, truth is-- Yvonne showed up at the party before you guys came in and she pulled me out on the balcony. She said that she was sorry for what happened between us and she wanted to set things right. She was saying that Kaia can't be the one for me. I told her I was out and I tried to walk away but she said she would go to the cops about my dad being a drug lord and she would even lead them to his warehouses".
I cover my mouth in shock. I can't believe it. He was blackmailed by Yvonne. All this bloody time. It took a moment to swallow the information, then he hit me with his dad's profession and I lost it again, I looked at him and I looked at his friends, it was obvious-- they must be in a gang.
"Why would the cops believe her? Isn't she on something almost every time?" I asked him curiously.
"Her dad's a cop Dani. They will believe anything that comes out of that snake's mouth" he replied in a tone of disgust.
I stood up and contemplated whether I was going to rush over there and tell Kaia everything or let Ash do it. I'm not even sure if she'll want to see him after their encounter today.
I look at Ash as he stands up from the bench and puts out his cigarette.
"Dani, please don't tell Kaia. Someday I'll have the courage to tell her this myself. But after seeing her today, I don't think she's ready to speak to me yet, so I'll wait".
I can't help but feel overwhelmed with everything I've learnt about their breakup. So much happened to him and he kept it hidden inside, he even kept it from Kaia. Wow!
"Does anyone else know the truth you just told me?" I asked in a serious tone.
Ash looks at me for a second then answers.
"Elena".