Ohne Dich (Sequel to Stirb Nicht Vor Mir)

Chapter 2

June 7, 1999

I woke up in the morning in my own bed surrounded by my own blankets. I took a shower quickly, dried off, put on clothes, and drove to Neil's house. 

I knocked on the door and his mother answered. 

"Hi!" I smiled. 

"Hello!" She grinned. "Come in."

I walked inside and could hear Neil laughing with Ashton. I raced to his living room and saw that he was giving Ashton an airplane. 

"Holy shit!" I gasped. "Be careful!"

"Oh, hello," Neil sat up and turned around to face me. 

"Hi."

"When'd you get here?"

"MWOMMY!" Ashton laughed then ran up to me and hugged my legs. 

I chuckled and picked him up, then kissed his cheek. "Hello! Oh, I missed you so much!" I gripped him tightly and hugged him. "So, yeah, Richard's his fucking grandfather. You do not understand how pissed I am right now." I felt a buzz in my pants, so I grabbed my phone out and answered it. "Hello?"

"Adette Morgenson, where the fuck are you?!" My mom yelled. 

"I'm with my son."

"Neil's house?"

"Yes."

"Come home."

"No!"

"Excuse me?"

"I don't want to be near any of you three! You all cheated on each other! I'm not going to be near that!"

"Will you at least just come home later?"

"Sure, Mom."

"Thanks."

"Bye."

"Bye."

I put my phone in my pocket and rolled my eyes. "Do you mind if Ashton stays with you tonight?"

"Why?"

"I just don't want him near my parents."

"Which ones?"

"Honestly, at this point, I don't know," I chuckled. 

He gasped. "I have to show you this CD I got. Come on!"

I set Ashton down and held his hand as we all ran up to Neil's room. 

"It's called 'Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.'"

"How nice," I joked.

As soon as it hit play, there was this guitar tone that sounded like Black Metal, but I knew it wasn't. There were a lot of random noises, but then it started playing music. 

As soon as the vocals started, my eyes widened. 

Neil chuckled. "Ashton's a fan of it."

I looked down and saw Ashton dancing around. "Jesus Christ. Neil, is this Death Metal?"

"I don't fucking know, but I love it. They're coming out with a new album this month, too."

"I don't know if I really like this. The guitar's good, but I don't like the vocals."

"I knew you wouldn't," He turned it off. 

"I didn't mean for you to turn it off, though."

"No, it's fine. Hey, want to go swimming?"

"I don't have a bathing suit."

"You have a bra and underwear."

"Yeah...And? I'm not going to wear that in front of you."

"It's nothing I haven't seen."

I shook my head and we all went out in the backyard. 

"I'm scared to put him in the pool," I said. 

"Why?" Neil asked as he put on his bathing suit on behind me and away from us. 

"Because he could sink."

"I have floaties for him."

I nodded my head and took off my clothing. "Ashton, come here!" I picked him up and walked over to Neil as he finished changing. 

"You don't wear thongs anymore?" He asked. 

"I've never worn them, dickhead."

He chuckled and grabbed the sunscreen. We all put some on and then I put the floaties on Ashton. Neil grabbed him and held him over the pool as if he was going to throw him in. 

"NO!" I shrieked and went to go grab Ashton from him, but instead, Neil pushed me in. I gasped and came up for air just to hear Neil chuckling. "YOU FUCKING-"

"Language, Adette," Neil stuck his tongue out. 

"Come here!" I said kindly to Ashton, but he just clung onto Neil. "Neil, get in the pool."

He stepped into the pool and stood in front of me. After he put Ashton in the pool, Ashton just started swimming around like nobody's business. 

"He's a pro!" Neil shouted. "Takes after his grandpa!"

"Yeah-wait a second," I said. "No he doesn't."

"But-oh, right. Till's not his grandpa."

"Don't drink the water, Ashton!" I shouted. "I'm watching you."

He smirked and swam over to us. I held him and kissed his cheek. 

"I didn't know that one-year-olds can swim!" I threw him up into the air. 

"I don't think he's necessarily swimming, but just moving his body," Neil said. 

"You do have a point."

"I always do."

Ashton kept swimming and Neil just smiled. 

"So...do you have a boyfriend?" Neil asked. 

"No, I don't."

"Would you like one?"