home (halsey)

8

Ashley

I awoke later on in the day to find myself surrounded by the remains of my cigarettes and my beautiful fiancée.

Earlier, I didn't know what to do. It was too early to witness anything as tragic as the person you love having a panic attack over something unknown. I rubbed my eyes warily and looked around the yard, taking in the nature.

Maya's phone beeped, grabbing my attention. I knew I shouldn't have been looking through it, but curiosity got the best of me. Especially because of what had occurred in the previous hours.

Unknown: Time's running out. Can't wait, love. xox

I furrowed my eyebrows, deleting the message and placing the phone down just as Maya stretched out and awoke from her slumber. I figured the person had the wrong number, so there was no point in keeping the message. She yawned before rubbing her eyes and turning her attention onto me.

"Hey, babe," I said nervously, afraid that she had seen me looking through her phone.

She let out a yawn that sounded like a squeal before walking over to sit on my lap. Burying her head into my neck, she moaned in comfort as she relaxed her body and clung onto me loosely.

"I missed smoking with you," She hummed against my skin, her eyes still shut.

"It's been a while, huh?" I laughed quietly and began to massage the top of her head. I felt her little smile against my skin, causing chills to rise up my arms. Knowing that she was in a better state than she was earlier in the morning meant the world to me.

"Feeling better?" I asked, poking her sides. She squirmed and bit her lip to suppress her smile. Nodding, she kissed my jawline and moved along until stopping at my chin. I quickly grabbed her face, moving mine down to leave a kiss on the tip of her nose.

"I love you. I'm sorry for being a bother and not being able to tell you what's on my mind," She said, pouting while playing with my fingers.

"Hey, it's fine. We have time," I smiled, but her smile dropped instantly. Her façade turned to a cold, stoic one in a matter of seconds. Her body tensed up and she sat awkwardly on my lap, avoiding eye contact with me.

"That's what I'm afraid of. We're going to run out of time," She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

I sighed frustratedly once more, running my hand over my face. What could be bothering her this much? I wanted to give her some space and time, but I couldn't when I saw it literally eating her up from the inside out.

"Maya, I really want to give you time to decide when to tell me, but if I have to keep seeing you being a fucking wreck over whatever is going on, I'm going to lose my mind along with you. Please, just let me know. I'm not gonna sit here and pretend like this isn't affecting me as well," I pleaded, rubbing my temples in frustration.

Maya gulped and scratched the back of her neck, avoiding eye contact. I knew that she was aware of how right I was. She just didn't want to admit that she was being stubborn and torturing herself.

"I don't know how to tell you," She mumbled, now looking me straight in the eyes. "I don't know if you'll believe me."

I sighed and grabbed onto her hand tightly, squeezing it.

"Come on, love. You really think I'm gonna accuse you of lying? That's the last thing I would do. I already know how much this is bothering you. If it was a lie, you wouldn't be so affected," I ranted, lacing our fingers together. She let out a defeated sigh and pushed her hair away from her face.

"Sky is trying to break us up," She said quickly, jumbling her words together. For a second, I didn't understand what she was trying to say. I couldn't help but let out a laugh, though, when I finally deciphered her words.

"What?" I said, a hint of amusement present in my tone. When the hell did this happen?

"You heard me. Sky is going to do everything in her power to tear us apart. I don't know how, but she is, Ashley. Please believe me," She urged, her body beginning to tighten up again. I gulped and bit my lip, thinking of a response.

"But what is she going to do? When did she tell you this?"

"When we went in her office for ring sizing. She threatened to break us up, and she said you only proposed out of guilt and sympathy," She explained, her voice cracking slightly. The veins in my neck started to pulse out of my growing anger as soon as I heard her words.

"Shit," I growled, taking a deep breath to calm myself. I became all jittery and I suddenly felt as if I had the strength to flip over a double-decker bus. "What the fuck is her problem?"

Maya bit her lip and stood up from my lap, pacing around the backyard restlessly. I sat still in my seat, my body frozen from the frustration I was feeling.

"What is she going to do?" I whispered to myself, tapping my foot rapidly against the floor. I looked up to find Maya sitting at the edge of the pool, her legs hanging freely in the water. She stared out mindlessly into the cloud-scattered morning sky, her posture slouched and her arms supporting her at her sides. She turned back and waved her hand, motioning me over.

I walked over hesitantly, trudging my feet as I went along. I needed time alone to think about the giant load that was dropped upon my head. Things were finally going so well in our relationship, and all of a sudden everything was turning on us?

I sat down warily with space between us, looking down into the crystal blue water.

"She's gonna do it, Ashley. She's gonna do something," Maya said, her voice shaky. I moved my feet around in the water, trying to distract myself from my anger.

"Fuck her. She's not gonna do anything," I mumbled, my teeth gritted.

I could feel Maya rolling her eyes at me. I was afraid that if I looked at her, I'd have to face the reality that she would possibly never be in my arms anymore in the span of a week. Because of this, my eyes never moved onto her out of fear of breaking down.

"Look at me," She urged, nudging my arm. I kept a straight face and ignored her constant requests.

"This isn't funny anymore. Look at me, you stubborn bitch," She said, knowing that it would definitely grab my attention.

My eyes turned to slits as I eyed her in annoyance.

"Excuse me?" I laughed, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

"You heard me. Quit being such a bitch about everything. We're possibly never going to be together again and you're acting like nothing is happening. Stop being so naïve, Ashley. You know how capable Sky is, and your ass isn't even the slightest bit concerned?"

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, unable to deal with this entire situation.

"I love how you think I don't care. It really shows me how well you know me," I smirked, knowing it would piss her off. "I'm sitting my ass here trying to think of how to solve this mess that came out of nowhere. Shut up for two minutes so I could think, god damn."

She pursed her lips and turned her eyes away from me, her mouth clearly quivering.

"Fine, Miss Know-it-All," She snapped, the tears visible in her eyes. "Sit here and think hard about what to do because I don't fucking know anymore. I'm done with this, and I'm done with you. I'm going to our room so don't bother coming in there."

She stood up quickly and stormed away, leaving me with a pit of guilt in my stomach. A lump began to form in my throat, but I wasn't going to let myself cry. Instead, I grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled at it, trying to hold my pain and anger inside like I always did. Except this time, I was a bomb that came too close to a match, and while blowing up, I caused the destruction of everything around me.