Waking up in her bed due to the harsh sound of the phone next to her, Ashley rubs her pounding head while reaching, searching for her phone with her eyes slammed shut. Pressing answer while not knowing who is calling her, the yell of a male voice hurts her head even more.
"Ashely? ASHLEy what that hell? Why haven't you picked up your phone again? God it's like you don't even have one for god's sake!" Realizing it is John's voice through the phone, Ashley's brain turns on more than it was before.
"Hon, can you please lower your voice?" Ashley mumbles after turning her phone volume down to one, John was still yelling like the phone volume was set to ten.
"Don't tell me to be quiet Ashley! God what's gotten into you?"
"Nothing, I just have a headache..." Ashley mumbles into her phone reluctantly answering.
"A headache? Really? God go take some goddamn aspirin then. It's not that damn hard."
"I-I know, I just woke up though."
"Yeah right, you were up texting me at four in the morning, just woke up my ass."
"I-I texted you? John are you sure?" Questioning him, confused because she really doesn't remember this.
"Yes Ashley, god would I really say you texted me to call you if you didn't?" John questioned irritably.
"I'm sorry, I just don't remember that, I-"
"Did you go out drinking? What the hell Ashley?! Who the fuck did you go with, some guy from off the street? Some guy that you've been using behind my back? That's what this is about? Go get wasted and then come text me, begging for me to come back? Go and get fucking hammered is your solution? Good god, what the hell is wrong with you?"
"Hon-"
Screaming into the phone again, he continues to yell at Ashley, "No! have fun with the boy toy you took home last night Ashley. Hope you have a great fucking headache!" And the line cuts, her phone turns off as she tosses it on the bed, groaning while falling back onto her bed.
Rubbing her hurting eyes, Ashley slowly moves out of the bed and looks down at what she is wearing, a sweater and shorts, at least I changed, thinking to herself as she makes her way out of her room and down the hall to the kitchen, not even going to the bathroom to do anything, Ashley just wants food.
And when she gets out there, she sees Daniel and Jack cooking in the kitchen, filling the room with heavenly smells, though she is thankful there is now good food in her home, she questions why Jack is here.
"H-Hey guys....?"
"Sleeping beauty is awake! Welcome back to society!" Danny's voice carries through the room and into Ashley's ears painfully, waving as he moves bread onto the griddle, clearly comfortable using Ashleys supplies and food and home in general.
"Hey Ashley." Jack greets her softly, giving her an aspirin and glass of water, smiling at her with that soft, glowing smile.
"Hey Jack," Before continuing to talk to either one of them, Ashley chugs the water with the aspirin and pulls her hair into a bun to keep it away from her face. ",not that I care cause I kinda know you, but one, why are you here? And two, what the fuck happened last night."
Sitting down in a chair at her table, Ashley see's Danny smirk while he looks at Jack, who starts to go red a bit before looking at Ashley with a smile. Refilling her glass with coffee now even though it is about one in the afternoon, Jack starts to talk first.
"Well, I think I'm here cause when our dear friend Billy was running us home, he took Danny out of the car and he started to cry because I wasn't with him, and I guess from Billy's text to me I was crying too. And Danny was staying with you last night and you wanted me to come up stairs too for some reason, something about chips. But I guess we all just passed out, you in your bed and Billy tossed Danny and I on the couch. I woke up an hour ago and Danny said to help him cook food, so here I am!"
Jack smiles cheerfully at Ashley, who just smiles and nods. Not minding at all that Jack was here in her home because he is so sweet and she somewhat knows him...and Danny was here and he trusts him wholeheartedly.
"Well, I don't remember anything about chips, so welcome to my apartment....Danny, you were less drunk than me. SO talk. Now." At the close friend, Ashley demands him to recap last night.
"Ash, you're gonna have to ask Billy, he was the one who was barley tipsey and called the cab and made sure we got home. I only remember dancing, getting someone's number, no idea if it was a girl or guy to be honest, and coming up the stairs with you two."
"Thats not good." Ashley mumbles as she rubs her eyes again, trying to wake up a bit so she doesn't sleep her day away.
"Probably not." Danny mumbles, causing Jack to slap him with a pancake in the face. Which just causes Danny to take a bite out of the so called weapon.
"Don't eat my pancake you half-pint!"
"I'm taller than you Jackie."
"....Fuck you." Jack pokes Danny in the arm as he finishes the pancake Jack threw at his face with no mercy.
"I mean if you want to."
"Shut up you overgrown pancake eater!"
"You called me short a few seconds ago, make up your mind bud." Turning with a smirk on his face, Ashley smiles at the two's mindless bickering.
"I hate you, with a burning passion in my heart, you suck."
"I could suck if you wanted...but that'd be gay."
"I-I..just...god finish the food," Getting flustered, Jack sits down with pink tinted cheeks before turning to Ashley, "Billy left his number on the fridge for you, in case you ever needed it. Also, he said you should call him because you said somethings about John? And he said to tell you, don't call him."
.....
"Oops." Ashley continues to mumble as she bites her cheek.
"You called him Ashley?"
"No, he called me and I picked up cause I didn't know it was him."
"What the hell did he want?"
"I don't Danny, I guess I texted him last night when my phone got charged and he called me to talk about it, but when I asked him to lower his voice he freaked out cause I was out drinking." Danny turns around with a pissed look on his face, his lips turned down into a scowl before he waves the spatula around in the air.
"That man needs to grow some goddamn balls and get over himself. God, he thinks he is king of the world and owns you Ash! Why the hell are you still with him when all he does is criticize you?!"
"You're not being any better right now Danny." Ashley clearly and calmly says to Danny, whose cheeks are red from being upset, not at Ashley but at the asshole she calls a boyfriend.
"I'm sorry Ash, but I just don't understand. How can you stay with him?"
"How can I just throw away almost five years of my life spent on him Danny?"
"I'm just saying Ash, your relationship is toxic, it's not healthy. You are always the prey and meak in it and he is the one who has total control over everything. You haven't even gone out just with your friends in three years Ash! When was the last time you had a conversation with him that was nice, that didn't involve him criticizing or yelling at you?"
"..I-..."
"Exactly. That is toxic Ash. Jack does that sound toxic?"
"Kinda, I mean, not to overstep here but yeah, Ashley that doesn't sound good."
"See! He doesn't even know the guy! I just want you to...to start living again Ash. I want the best for you."
"I-I know Danny. I'm figuring it out okay? I just need to stay away and think about it all for a few days. I need to fix this and i don't know how just yet."
"Can I ask who we are talking about again?" Jack interviens calmly, looking at Ashley as Danny starts to move food to the plates on the counter.
"M-My boyfriend, John. We just aren't doing good right now." Closing her eyes as she lays her head on the table, Ashley takes a deep breath and thinks about what everyone has said the past few weeks about him.
This relationship is toxic. It's bad, it never was good. Only in the beginning, it was great and then it went south somewhere along the way and Ashley completely lost track of what was good and bad.
She needed to figure this out, but in all honesty, she was scared. Scared of what John would do or say, how he would react to anything she did. She was scared of him and what would happen when things ended, if they were to ever end.
"Well, on a different note, here is food to get over these god awful hangovers."
-------------------------
On a saturday of headaches and hangovers, there was nothing to do but watch movies. Jack had left Ashley's apartment an hour ago to go home, kinda forgetting the night before he has a dog and plants that need to be taken care of.
While Danny and Ashley sat on the couch in her living room watching some comedian on tv, both Danny and Ashley showered clean, the smell of beer and vodka off of them completely, their laundry in the wash removing any trace of last night, and both were in comfy clothes for the rest of the day.
Ashley's phone buzzed on and off, messages from various people coming through. And though she was only interested in talking to Billy about last night, he has yet to text her back. John had been blowing her phone up with text messages that Ashley needed to ignore as best as she could, looking at them every few texts but never answering.
Jack had given Ashley nis phone number before he left and they had been chatting too, along with Danny's nonsense in the background as he rants to Ashley about anything and everything there is on this earth.
JACK
------------
"Do it! Shave his head! Shave his head!"
Received at 4:46 p.m
"I will not shave my best friend's head Jack, but you can have at it, considering you have replaced him with billy :)"
Sent at 4:47 p.m
JOHN
----------
"Ashley, call me when you can."
"God, Ash come on, don't be mad."
"Baby call me now."
"I swear to god I will drive down to have this talk Ashley."
"Don't be so dramatic Ashley."
"Damit Ashley, get off your ass and pick up the phone!"
Received at 4:59 p.m
Shutting her phone off again and turning her head to Danny, whose head is in her lap and he rants about the Office tv show and how everyone at work is kinda like that show.
Danny looks up at her, "Like, it's really funny if you think about it! I can't believe I didn't think about it before!"
"I think you are crazy and tired." Ashley plays with Danny's hair as he rolls his eyes playfully.
"I slept last night." He countered
Ashley raised a questioning brow at the man, "Jack said we got home at four in the morning, when did you wake up?"
"Like....like...like noon....idk." Replied Danny who turned his gaze away from her.
"Did you really just say I.D.K instead of I don't know?" Stopping her hands and looking down at the man, entirely confused on what he just did, trying not to laugh at him but can barely contain her giggles.
"It's the autocorrect man!"
"You're turning into a cyborg...I'm sorry but we made a pack that if we became robots we'd kill the other person, close your eyes Danny." Putting her hands over his eyes, Ashley encloses him in darkness, as he drops in her lap again and plays dead.
"Put me to sleep first at least, jeez. Got to go down in style too, dress me like a pretty princess!" He ordered and Ashley bursted into laughter, lightly slapping his forehead.
"You would make a terrible princess, you'd make a better troll." Ashley told him and he gasped dramatically. The two continued to banter like this for a few hours before Ashley pushed Danny off to go to the bathroom. Once she got done and went to the sink to wash her hands, she could hear Danny talking to someone.
Ashley's brows furrowed in confusion, was he on the phone? Or was someone at the door? "Only one way to find out..." She mumbled to herself before leaving the bathroom. Once she went into the living room, she saw Danny in front of the door.
"She's busy right now, come again tomorrow." Danny told the person, anger in his voice.
"If she's busy why the fuck are you here?" Answered the other person who Ashley immediately recognized as John. Her heart started to pound against her chest, fear filling her being, "Move out of my way, I'm not here for you-"
"I can't do that John." Danny retorted, standing his ground as he refused to let the other man inside.
Suddenly he got pushed back, losing his balance as he stumbled away from the door. John entered and slammed it behind him as he glared at Danny. "Who the fuck do you think you are to tell me I can't go into my own girlfriend's apartment? Huh? What the fuck were you two doing in here?" He yelled before noticing a fear stricken Ashley standing in the distance. "Ashley, baby I missed you. Why weren't you answering the phone?"
"I-I-"
"Cause she didn't want to talk to a bastard like you." Danny interrupted, standing to his feet.
John scowled at him, "Who asked you? Are you my fucking girlfriend? No. So shut the fuck up and stay out of it-"
"John please-"
"Please what Ashley?" John snapped as he walked towards her. "John please stop, don't act like this, he's just a friend. Is that what you were about to say? Huh? Were you about to lie to me like that?" He questioned her, a threatening look in his eyes that made Ashley's eyes begin to water.
"It's not a lie John, it's the truth. Danny's just a friend, please believe me baby I wouldn't do something like that to you. You know that." She pleaded with him.
John took a threatening step towards her but got blocked off by Danny who was scowling at the man. "Back off man."
John glared daggers into him, and if looks could kill Danny would be long gone by now. "Move." He demanded.
"No." Danny replied fiercely.
"I said MOVE!" John yelled, throwing a punch directly at Danny's face which made him knock into Ashley who screamed in fear.
Danny's nose began to bleed but he didn't pay attention to it as he threw a punch at John, the blow connecting to his face harder than John's punch had. "Get the fuck out of here you asshole! Stay away from her!" Danny yelled at him, throwing another punch.
The two continued to fight before Ashley screamed at them to stop. Tears fell down her cheeks as she spoke, "Daniel, please leave."
"Ash-" He started but she raised her hand to stop him. His lips pressed into a grim line.
"Please leave. Now." She repeated, her head hanging low as she said this.
Danny looked between her and a smirking John before scoffing, spitting on John as the bloody saliva trailed down his cheek before grabbing whatever belongings he had and leaving. John uttered a string of curses, wiping it away before he directed his to his girlfriend who was crying silently.
"Ashley-"
"Why do you do this John?!" She suddenly yelled which caught the man off guard. His eyes slightly narrowed at her tone of voice.
"Don't yell at me." He said lowly.
"No! You're gonna listen to me," She said as she walked towards him. "I'm tired of your mood swings, I'm tired of your outrageous jealousy, I'm tired of you randomly popping up whenever you feel like it. I'm tired of you-"
A slap rings out.
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Authors out........