"You did what all day?"
"Spent the day helping Gabriel." As Ashley sits in Danny's car on their way back to her home, she looks out the window as he goes into a rant about leaving her alone again and how dangerous that was.
She really didn't see his point as he talked so she started to shut his words out as the rain picked up. Watching each droplet fall and splash onto the glass windows of the car, Danny saw this and sighed heavily to get her attention again, or at least he hoped it would get her attention.
"Nothing bad happened Danny. I just helped him with paperwork because I couldn't sit at home." She explained to him, hoping her friend would understand and end his tangent.
"And was he mad?" He asked.
"Oh he was, at first. I started cleaning when I got there, but he didn't like that so I just helped him sort through his paperwork to make myself useful."
"And you just stayed there until the lawyer got there?" Danny persisted, furrowing his brows at her.
She nodded, "Yep. I kinda panicked because Gabriel thought I should talk to her, but I got a hold of myself thankfully."
"And what did you tell them?"
"I said I would try to talk to her. She seems nice. I told her to call me in a day or two when she was free and I would meet her somewhere. I think that I can try and talk about him."
"Good." Danny was silently dancing in his head that she would be up to talking...trying to talk to a lawyer about all of this. If she did they could take this case somewhere and he could be locked up for a very long time.
But at the same time he was slightly upset that Ashley had gone into work, it was dangerous in his eyes. He only planned on leaving for an hour or two at most but ended up staying with Jack for much longer. He needed a mental break and Jack was a person he could be free around other than Ashley some days.
When he had gotten a call from Gabriel's office, and Ashley was the one speaking to him, worry was coating every inch of him when she asked if he could pick her up. Turns out her phone had died at some point and didn't see the point in charging it if Danny could pick her up.
She needed him to pick her up because her car was taken to be fixed at a nearby shop seeing as it wouldn't start up and Gabriel didn't want her out in the cold at night trying to work on it.
"Gabriel said if I needed something to do tomorrow I could go in again if I stay away from cleaning. I think I was helpful." She said, a small triumphant smile on her face.
"If he said you could come in and help him, you probably were Ash." Danny assured her.
"Are...would you be alright if I went in again?"
"Of course, if you feel fine by yourself there. You don't have to ask me Ashley."
"I-I know that. I just didn't know if you needed me."
"I'm alright. I can just hang with Jack if you don't need me Ash. Did you want me to stay the night?" Danny questioned.
"Yes." It was her simpletest answer of the night that came from her. She didn't feel comfortable with the idea of being alone in her apartment, not yet, not after just one day.
When the two arrived at her apartment, Danny and Ashley were side by side until they got into the living room where both of them had laid down on the couch, kicking their shoes off on the carpet and sighing.
Staring at the popcorn ceiling for what seemed like minutes turned into hours as the both of them just laid there side by side.
Danny knew Ashley was thinking, he also knew what she was thinking about. Ashley knew what Danny was thinking of as well, yet neither of them spoke about it. There was no need to talk for them, not right now. For some reason they both just sat there in the silence with the rain hitting the window.
It was like that the entire night until one of them had fallen asleep, just for the other to do the same.
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"Hello?....This is her...uh...yeah I can be right down." Looking at Danny who was currently slipping his shoes back on his feet, she smiles at him sadly. "That was the police station...they want me down there for a statement and to speak to investigators?"
"You want me to come with?" Nodding, Danny grabs his own keys and heads to the door with Ashley behind him, on of her hands gripping her phone tightly to stop the shaking of it.
John is there. Both of them were thinking it, but their after thoughts were extremely different. While Danny was planning to give a piece of his mind to the man behind bars, Ashley was almost happy, yet terrified to see him.
She couldn't get rid of those thoughts of him, not the bad ones but instead the good ones. She knew she shouldn't be happy to see him at all, she shouldn't miss him. But then again she had spent years with him, before he was her best friend and soon boyfriend, she loved him while he didn't love her.
She knew everything about this was wrong now, after everyone telling her and spending a few days to think it all over...she knew this was a broken relationship that could never be put back together.
She knew they were broken in different ways.
John was broken, he broke himself. But Ashley was shattered, and John had shattered her.
The entire way to the station Ashley's knees bounced as she bit her cheek, sniffing once in a while to keep the tears away as she embezzled herself in the thoughts that were as chaotic as an ocean storm.
Happy. Scared. Glad. Terrified. Good. Bad.
It's was bad.
When Danny had stopped the car in front of the station Ashley was once again pulled out of her thoughts while they got out automatically. He held her hand while they walked the short distance into the station.
Ashley's eyes met the cops and everyone else waiting, which was her friends. Jack stood up first when he saw her, instantly hugging her when he could.
Everyone is big on hugs. She found this comforting and weird over the past few weeks.
"Hey." He greets her.
"Hi, are all of you here to..."
"Yeah. They called us a little bit ago, Summer's in there right now giving a statement."
"Oh, okay." Stepping away from Jack, Ashley smiled at everyone else waiting, which consisted of Billy, Marco, and Summers bag. Looking at the 'cells' briefly, her stomach turns when she doesn't see John in one of them. "W-Where...is John?"
"He's in a back room currently. He flipped out when Summer and I got in here, so the cops moved him to a different area for everyone's safety." Nodding, because that made sense.
For the short while they all sat together, Ashley's nerves were going down as her friends just talked to her about anything but this. When Summer had come out, she rolled her eyes and walked to her bag.
"Ashley, your boyfriend is a huge dick." Summer huffed out, her arms crossed over her chest.
"Wh-"
"I went and saw him after I was done talking to the cops, just to give a piece of my mind and god damn. Next time, meet a better man." After that Summer had strutted out of the station and to her car leaving all of them....most of them in a shock.
Everyone was use to this, but telling Ashley to get a better man was out of line.
Bending over so her arms are in her knees, hunched over, "She's not wrong." Ashley mutters under her breath as a few cops came over to them.
"Alright, Mr. Tompson, can you come with me?" Billy stands and pats Ashley's shoulder as the cop takes him away.
"Ms. Nicholus? Would you follow me please?"
Ashley quickly stood to her feet, sparing a glance at the others before following the police officers. They brought her to what she guessed was an interrogation room as the officer gestured for her to take a seat.
Once they did, Ashley's nerves began to spike and she could feel herself breaking into sweat. This should be easy, I'm just telling them what happened, they won't make me see John. I have nothing to be scared of. Her reasoning was drowned out by paranoia. What if they didn't arrest him? Would he come after her? Would he do more harm to her? Or would he apologize and everything goes back to normal?
"-olus. Ms. Nicholus, are you alright?" The officer asked, her eyes kind.
Ashley quickly nodded, blinking a few times to regain her composure. "I-I'm fine, I'm sorry. What were you saying?"
The officer frowned a little, leaning back in her chair. "I asked when did the abuse begin and what did it intel?"
With a deep sigh, Ashley told the officer everything she could remember at that moment. It was difficult for her at first, but eventually her nerves began to settle. She told her about how he acted at the beginning of the relationship leading up to now, and about his past threats to when he had hurt her not that long ago.
A few stray tears fell down her cheek as she explained and when she finished the woman gave her a tissue. "Thank you for your cooperation Ms. Nicholus, it's not everyday that a person in your situation seeks help, and most times it ends up deadly. I'm glad you came to us before it got to that point."
Ashley nodded, a small forced smile lifting the corners of her lips before it fell. They both stood and the officer said she'll keep in touch and will have someone call her later on in the week. Ashley barely could listen to what was happening around her, this is really happening...
Not too long from now, a case would be made against John. She'd get a lawyer. They'd go to court. Then John will end up in jail and she won't see him again, at least that's what everyone hoped for.
She hoped for the same thing, though she felt guilty. Ashley was irritated with herself for being so emotional about this, he hurt me and has been hurting me for a long time. It's stupid of me to feel bad for him, to miss him.
"Ma'am? Is it possible for me to see him?"
"You want to see Mr. McAllen?"
"Yes. If it's possible?"
"Ms. Nicholus, I have to strongly advise you that it is a dangerous decision with the situation you are in. See Mr. McAllen might not be the best thing for either of you."
"I know that, I just....I have to ask a few things. Please?"
"If that's what you want." Nodding even though she knows that this is an awful decision, Ashley follows the cop that leads her to a back room.
"He's restrained and physically you should be safe. I have to stand out here and intervene if anything sounds like a real threat." She didn't like the fact that their conversation would be listened to, but it was better than not see him.
Walking into the room, Ashley's nerves came up once again when she saw John sitting there, handcuffed to the table.
His gaze at her was hateful and crude records Ashley as she sat down in front of him, hands in her lap as she just looked at him for a moment.
About four days here and he looks like he's barely slept, which just makes him look more upset. To say Ashley now didn't want to be in here was an understatement, but at the same time she felt she needed to see him.
To talk to him, because a little part of her misses him.
"Finally Baby, what took you so goddamn long?"
"They didn't call me until now." Mumbling as she plays with her hands, Ashley still doesn't look up at him.
"Are you going to bring me out of this damn place finally?" Shaking her head as she looks down, John grows furious at that. "Ashley. You're gonna bail me out of this damn shot and bring me home. I'm sick of all your bullshit."
"I'm not bringing you home John."
"The fuck your not! Ashley, I've given you four days. You are pissing me off. And I'm not in the god damn fucking mood for you little shit. Get me out of here."
"I can't! I can't do that! Why don't you see that? Why don't you see I don't want to bring you home!"
"Ashley. You are crossing the line."
"No I'm not! I-I....there are no more lines in this relationship John. There never were for you, why should they be there for me?"
"Ashley Nicholus, I swear to god when I get out of this place you are going to regret everything that just came out of your mouth."
"But that's the thing. You aren't leaving here. Not without handcuffs. You'll go from here to another prison. You can't leave John. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry that you are stuck here! But you put yourself here! You did everything! You did everything to put yourself here and you deserve to be locked up! You deserve it for breaking me!"
"Ashley...."
"You broke me John! You hurt me so much. With everything you did and said to me! And you know what? I stayed there. I went through all of it because I loved you! Because I love you! And that's sick, it's sick and twisted. I thought maybe you would change, that you would stop drinking and get help. That I would be enough for you! But I was never enough for you!"
"Ashley Shut the fuck up!"
"No. I'm not gonna to shut up. You cheated on me more times than I can count! You brought one of them home when I was there! You brought her into my damn bed! You openly talked about those girls like I was just another one of your messed up friends! You dank so much you would beat me! Do you even remember those times! Because I do! You broke me so much John, and you deserve to be locked up in here and every other jail in the state. And I'm so sorry that this is what it came to, because I seriously thought I was enough for you." Fully standing up and leaning over the table, Ashley huffs and closes her eyes as tears threaten them.
"Ashley. Get the fuck out of my face before I beat you again. Lord help you when I get out because I will make you regret everything that came out of your mouth. And I won't be sorry because I'm not a pathetic little bitch like you." That's when the officer comes in and leads Ashley out of the room, closing the door behind her As she walks Ashley down a hallway.
"Are you Alright?"
" Fine. That's all I needed. Thank you."
"Ms. Nicholus, are you sure?"
"Yes. I needed to know what would happen if I went In there. Thank you. Can I leave now?"
"Yes." Walking away from the officer and down the hallway out front, Ashley closes her eyes when she gets to her friends, Hugging Danny tightly even though he has no idea she saw him.
None of them do.
All Ashley wanted to do was cry again, she wanted to cry because she hoped that outcome would come out differently. She hoped that John would be kind and see what he had done, that he would care.
But the cold hard truth was he didn't care. He never did. And that hurt Ashley more than it should have.
"Ashley, are you okay?" Marco asked her, he had seen her looking around absentmindedly while Hugging Danny and was beginning to worry.
She nodded but it was slow as she slowly left her daze.
She slowly let go of Danny who looked worried as well, everyone there did.
"Yes, I'm fine. I don't think they need me here any longer so I'll be leaving."
Marco's lips pulled into a slight frown as he said goodbye to her, the others either gave her supporting hugs or light rubs to her shoulder as they watched her leave. She told Daniel that she would be walking back to her apartment, going to the little cafe she liked first.
He was reluctant to let her do that but Billy told him it would be best to give her space to think, so Danny let her go, making her promise to call him if she needed anything.
Once she got outside she started to feel a little better, though her thoughts still haunted her. Everything had changed in such a short amount of time to the point where even trying to put things in order gave her a slight headache. Ashley felt bad that she was the cause of everyone's concern, of everyone's worry. They had a life of their own but it seemed like they put it aside to tend to her.
The streets buzzed with cars while people walked past her on the sidewalk. Ashley put her hands in her pockets, suddenly feeling a bit self conscious of her space. She hadn't noticed yet, but whenever she was around any who weren't her friends, she'd make herself seem smaller. She'd flinch a little whenever she accidentally bumped into someone and she didn't want to meet anyone's eyes.
After a while, she reached the little cafe and went inside. ordered a normal cup of coffee before taking a seat in one of the booths. Ashley ate in comfortable silence before she heard someone call her name. At first she thought she misheard until she saw the familiar old lady she had come to adore. "Tommy." She greeted with a smile.
The older woman quickly sat in front of her, a beaming smile on her face until it faltered. As much as she liked to joke around and have fun she was old enough to realize when someone was upset and trying to hide it. "Do you want me to ask or not?" Tommy questioned.
It didn't take Ashley long for her to realize what she was referring to, when she did she sighed. "Am I really that easy to read?" She asked, sipping her coffee defeatedly.
"No. If I wasn't as old as I am and didn't know you I'd say you look just fine." Tommy said to her, stealing the last bit of Ashley's donut as she shoved it into her mouth. She swallowed it before speaking, "I'm guessing everyone already knows huh?"
Ashley nods solemnly.
Tommy gums in response. After a second she puts her hands on the table and stands up, "Let's go do something fun. You up for a little road trip?"
Ashley thinks about it for a second before nodding, a smile crossing her face. "Yeah sure, that sounds fun."
"Well let's go."
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Our baby snapped, and she deserved to tell John off. Tell me us we are wrong.
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