Ash's Darling | ✔

Chapter 48

~Esther~

The trial to put Matthew Aldine behind bars was tomorrow and the nerves were just now hitting me. Ever since I woke up this morning I had been worrying about what could go wrong and it was all I could think about. What if there isn't enough evidence? What if I stand up to speak but my words get caught in my throat? What if I get something mixed up and they think I'm lying? What if he doesn't get put behind bars? Is he going to come after me again?

"Mae?" Ash's hand lightly rubbing my thigh brought me out of my thoughts. "Are you okay, darling?"

I nodded as I took a deep breath. We had been on our way to my mother's house when I zoned out and now that I looked around I realized we had made it. Ever since his mom left Ash had been busy with work so we didn't have time to come get my things from mom's house. I had gone shopping and gotten a few things to wear while I stayed with Ash but there were still things I wanted to get from my room before my mother threw them away.

"Do you want me to go get your things while you stay here?" He asked, knowing I was worried about the trial and I probably didn't want to see my mother.

I took another deep breath as I shook my head. "No, I'll be okay. Let's just get this over with."

Ash agreed and we both got out of his car and walked towards the house. According to Josie, mom had been angry at me ever since I started staying with Ash. Apparently she would say things like 'He'll figure out she's a whore soon enough.' and 'She's got too much baggage, she isn't worth his time anyway.' I will admit, it didn't help my stress but I tried to ignore it as well as I could.

I knew she'd try to say something like that to me today and part of me said to just forget it, that I could just buy brand new things to replace everything she throws out. Although, I knew there were pictures and keepsakes in my room that I couldn't just let her throw away.

So, hand in hand with Ash, I walked into my old house and straight to my room. Everything was where I left it except for a few pieces of clothing in my closet which Josie must've borrowed. I grabbed a duffle bag out of the closet and threw in everything I would need and everything I wanted to keep before zipping it up and throwing it over my shoulder.

I looked at my dresser and saw the three picture frames I always kept there were still in their spots. One was a picture of my whole family at an amusement park when I was around seven. My dad was taking the picture while I stood in front of him. My mom was standing behind Josie and we all had big smiles on our faces. I think that was before my mom started yelling so much, or maybe we were so used to it already that we all just thought it was normal. It's hard to remember most of my childhood, it's especially hard to remember when my mom's anger started getting bad.

The second photo was of Indi, Josie, and I at a fall festival a year or two ago, just after I got over my fear of them. I was in the middle, giving bunny ears to both Josie and Indi. Indi was on my right, taking the picture while Josie was on my left, sticking her tongue out at the camera.

The last picture was of Ash and I, it was a selfie I took as he kissed my cheek while we were on one of our dates. What the photo didn't catch was Ash pulling me closer by my waist and whispering compliments in my ear just before I snapped the photo. I'm sure if anyone other than Ash or I saw that picture they would wonder why I was blushing so much. When I looked at that picture I could still feel the way his hands pulled me in and the way his breath felt against my neck. That day wasn't the first time he had done those things, nor the last, but for some reason that day had felt different than any other so I treasured that picture.

As I reached over to grab the three pictures my duffle bag fell off my shoulder and slid down my arm, pulling my arm down too. I sighed in frustration and tried to throw it back onto my shoulder but before I could, Ash's large hand grabbed it, throwing it over his own shoulder. I looked up at him to find him already looking at me.