Alex wasn't able to sleep that night, and he terribly needed someone to talk. So he decided to text Ella, *Hey*
He was waiting for a reply and he just felt that Ella was the only friend he had then.
*Wassup?*, and the text relived his mind.
*Nothing, I'm just a bit bored.*
And then he didn't get a reply for 10 minutes. He really wanted to text her but he didn't want to disturb her. His decision was final, that he would never try to talk to Ashley again.
Then suddenly his phone vibrated, he looked at it and recieved the call without any second thought.
"Hey, what's wrong?" , and the voice from the other side of the phone comforted him. For the moment he felt like it was everything he needed at that moment.
"Nothing", but Alex's voice was not saying his words.
"Tell me what is wrong.", Ella gave a pressure on her voice.
And then Alex wasn't able to control his feelings or hide anything from her. He told her everything, every feeling of him. Then he felt shy about telling everything to Ella, maybe she would feel sad, but surprisingly, she didn't.
"Listen, Alex, don't be mad at her. She has anger issues, she didn't mean what she said. Maybe she was upsed or annoyed, that's why...", she didn't get to complete her sentence and Alex defended himself.
"She said it on purpose, she had no regret after she said that. I'm done Ella, I'm done with her. If she can't forgive me, let it be that way, I will never talk to her again.", and the last words hurt Alex too.
"You don't mean it, do you?", Ella had a sarcastic voice, and Alex was left speechless after that. He wasn't able to say it surely. But he was too much hurt. Rest of the evening Alex spent time talking to her and talked about different things. He was sure that he wasn't able to see Ashley anytime soon.
Ashley felt bad about Alex's hand. For the first time she felt bad for hurting Alex even if she didn't want to. She knew that Alex was a quiet guy and he showing anger meant it was out of his control. She knew that what Alex did was bad, really bad, and he didn't deserve forgiveness. But she didn't know his reason to go away, and she didn't want to know. She knew that she did not have to feel guilty for hurting him because he hurt her more. But she couldn't stop thinking about him. She wanted to talk to him, she saw the cut in his hand and she wanted to know if he was okay. After that day everyday Ashley started to go to Grinders and waited for Alex, but after a week, she understood that he was not gonna come. So she had to do something because Alex's thoughts were bothering her. So after sacrificing her on day sleep, she decided to show up to Alex's house. It was a difficult decision for her but maybe Alex was more important to her than her ego.
That day, in the evening, she showed up in front of his house. She was a bit nervous to knock the door but surprisingly before any second thought, she knocked the door. She was very nervous because it had been a while since she had came to the house. But then a the door opened and the face and it's compromising smile, took her nervousness away.
"Hey, Ashley darling! Oh my god! It's been a while!", Samantha giggled and hugged her. He cheerful voice was always Ashley's favorite.
"Hey, Aunt Sam, how are you?", Ashley sounded nervous.
"I'm fine dear! Where have you been all these months?"
And this question made her uncomfortable.
"Actually I was busy with my jobs so I didn't really have time to come. I'm sorry!", her voice was normal and cheerful again.
"It's okay, I remember last time you came was seven months ago, and that day also you asked the same question just after coming here, 'Any news of Alex?'. You didn't give up easily. Is everything okay with you and him now?", Samantha teased her, but Ashley wasn't able to smile. Her face went dark, she didn't say a word. Then Samantha understood.
"So......, you two are fighting, right?", her voice was teasing and serious.
"No, it's just... I can't forgive his too soon.", her voice was low.
"I know you can't, it's okay. Take your time.", and Ashley felt like Samantha was the most understanding person. Then she hugged her, her eyes full of emotion. Then Samantha kissed hee forehead and told her that Alex was in his room.
Ashley and Samantha always had a friendship out of Alex's dominance. They used to sit and talk, even sometimes Alex used to be jealous of them. Both of the girls used to tease Alex together. Ashley felt guilty for not coming there for seven months, but she was so broke because whom she thought her bestfriend, who used to share everything to her, left without saying anything to her, and didn't even get to know anyone what he was doing. For sometimes she thought every bad possibilities that could happen but then one day, she heard Alex's album, and after hearing that she was not proud of him but she was hurt, really hurt because the one who used to share every detail of his life to her didn't tell anyone about his victory. And Ashley wasn't able to come to Alex's house after that. So after coming to his house nearly one and a half year after he left, Ashley stopped coming.
When Ashley came to Alex's room, she was uneasy to knock his door. But then when she did, Alex opened the door. And his face was full of surprise and for a moment his face did light up but then it went into darkness. He didn't say a word and came back to his table. Ashley took a seat on his bed.
Before Ashley knocked his door, Alex heard some noise downstairs but he wasn't ready for that. Seeing Ashley's face Alex was so happy, he did miss her, but he didn't get anyone to know. He felt victory that for the first time Alex's ego won. And she coming to his house was like a dream coming true to him. But then she controlled himself and remembered every fights they had. He decided not to talk first.
Both of them were silent, for a few minutes. Ashley knew that once Alex gets hurt he never talks first. So Ashley decided to talk.
"What are you writing?", she tried to sound really normal.
"Just trying to write a song.", his voice was heavy like he was so angry.
Ashley wasn't able to carry on with this normal behavior.
"Oh that's nice."
Then there was a pause, but again Ashley uttered, "How's your hand?"
"Why do you care?", Alex's ears also felt it that he sounded very rough.
And Ashley went out of her mind. For a moment she wanted to punch te wall or throw something to him but then again, she tried to control herself.
"Excuse me! What is this behavior?", her voice was trembling.
"I said what you heard. Don't you dare to think that you talking to calmly for once will make ma forget every time you hurt me. You are the reason this happened, now don't act like you care.", Alex shouted. He knew what he was doing but he was done dealing with her behavior.
"That happened because you're such a freak. Don't try to put that on me. You've lost your mind. You've changed. That's all I've understood.", she tried to sound rough but in the last words, she sounded hurt.
Alex didn't know what he was doing but all he knew was that he also wanted to hurt her.
"Don't do this again, Ash!", Alex threatened.
"Don't call me that!", Ashley shouted with her high pitch voice.
"Don't shout on me!", Alex shouted louder.
"I dare you, you have to stop this!", Ashley threatened, putting her index finger on his chest and her voice was trembling.
"To stop what, Ashley? This is what you want right? To hurt me, to shout on me, to talk shit about me in front of me? Then go on, I'm not gonna stop you, but I'm gonna start it myself.", his voice was panting. The word 'Ashley' rather than 'Ash' hurt Ashley but she was the one who told him to stop saying it, and she regretted it immediately.
"Oh, this is what you think? Okay then, yes, I'm doing whatever you think it is. But guess what? You've done more harm to me than this, much much more.", her eyes were wet but she was trying to hold her tears so hard.
"What? Yeah, I know what I did. I know it wasn't right. But I tried to apologize to you many times. If you're not ready to take it then that's not my fault!"
"I also came to apologize to you tonight. Because I've hurt you, you're doing this to me, and you expect me to be nice with you? Really?", she started panting. She didn't want to do it.
"Okay then, done! We're done! We're not gonna be nice to each other ever! End of the story! I can't do this, I'm not doing this, with you, anymore!", and he started going toward the door to go out of the room.
Ashley felt terrible as those words left Alex's mouth. She didn't want it to end, she wanted to fight with him and get out every frustrated part of her to him and then make everything right. But Alex leaving the conversation and leaving their friendship like that broke her. So she said whatever she had.
"So you're running away again! Oh, you're such a mess! I feel pity for you. You can't really do anything rather that running away, do you?", as these words left her mouth, she felt terrible. And then she looked at his face, his face was red and eyes wet, just like her.
"Get out of my house, Ash!", suddenly Alex's voice was calm and it was too much for him to take in. Without any second thought Ashley left the room, closing the door on his face. Then she got out of the house without making anyone know her departure.
Alex felt devastated, he didn't know what happened. He was standing still and suddenly felt a warm flow on his cheeks. He laid on his bed and put on the blanket. He tried to hold his breath and stop his tears but he was not able to. He felt bad for what he said out of anger and how he made her left, but he was hurt by her words too. He wasn't feeling anything rather than that warm and wet stream from his eyes.
As soon as Ashley left his house, she bursted out of tears, she sat on a bench on the sidewalk and started crying. Those were tears of anger at first but then it was full of hurtful memories and words. She didn't know what to do or feel, so she sat there for a long. Then she realized that she would never try to talk to him again.