Speak//Ashton Irwin

Chapter 25

Ashton:
I woke up in the morning to Lauren shaking my arm.
"What?" I mumbled in a grumpy tone. Do sleep ins mean nothing to my sister?
She sighed and sat down on my bed. This wasn't something quick. She'd sat down. We were going to talk. It'd probably be about Brooke, and it was far too early to lie to Lauren's face.
"We need to talk about Chris and how you treat him when he comes over, but I don't like arguing."
"I don't like that dick cheating on you," I shot back, raising my eyebrows. The light stung my tired eyes. Can't we do this later?
"Ashton, please don't. I love him." Her voice was laced with pain. I felt like shit.
Love wasn't a good enough reason to let someone walk all over you. "I'm sorry, Lauren, but it's the truth. Would you cheat on him?"
"Of course I wouldn't!"
"Why?"
"Because I love him," she snapped, frowning at me angrily.
"There you go. You wouldn't cheat on him because you love him. He cheats on you all the time. Just think about that for a minute."
Her eyes filled with tears, and she looked away.
I groaned. "Look, I'm sorry, again, but you need to see the truth."
She sniffled and wiped a tear away with the back of her hand. "And what if you were in my position? What if it was Brooke cheating on you?"
"Difference is, Brooke would never do that."
She lowered her head, knowing I was right. I wouldn't ever have to worry about cheating. I trusted Brooke completely. It didn't pass me by that I had basically just admitted I was with Brooke, but Lauren probably knew that anyway. Her and Louis talked.
"I guess I'm just not strong enough. I can't do it," she whispered, defeated.
Chris-the-dick had done a real good job on her. She had zero confidence and didn't think she could get anyone else. She wouldn't leave him, and now he could screw around safe in the knowledge that he'd be forgiven.
My fist twitched to punch the shit out of him.
"I'm trying to work things out and it would be a lot easier if you eased up when he's around. For my sake, Ashton, please." She walked out and closed my door without another word. I sighed in frustration and lay back down.
Where did that come from anyway? If he was coming over today then I was going out.
Since I was up, I decided to get ready and head to the birthday girl's early.
After breakfast at Brooke's, we drove to the mall to do some birthday shopping. She had received money from her family that she wanted to spend. Luckily, it was a Sunday so the shops wouldn't be open too late. That should mean I wouldn't get to that point where I'd rather die than look at another item of clothing.
We also had to be back for cake at four o'clock.
By the time she had spent most of her money and we'd had lunch, it was two o'clock, and we were heading back to my house. That wasn't too bad. Although, after her going back to the shop we started at to buy the first top she'd tried on, I did want to jump out of a second floor window.
My parents were out, and Lauren was at Chris's house. We had the place to ourselves. I desperately wanted to finish what we'd started last night. "You want a drink?" I asked as we walked into the house.
She shook her head and grabbed my hand, leading me upstairs.
Okay, her plan is better.
She backed into my room, biting her lip. I was left breathless at the lust in her eyes. So far she'd been quite shy, but this was new to us both. Her confidence right now was even more of a turn on.
When her legs hit my bed, she sat down and crawled back. My quick breath hissed between my teeth. I kneeled on the bed either side of her legs.
She's stunning.
I laid her back on the bed and slowly peeled her clothes off, kissing her soft skin all over.
"I love you," I whispered and covered my mouth with hers.
We had thirty minutes before we had to be at her house, and I planned to make every second count.

On Tuesday, I woke up to Brooke shaking my arm. A few days had past since Brooke's disastrous party, and we were going to tell everyone about us today. Her parents were watching us closer, Lauren was dropping more hints, and Louis was dropping fucking bombs. We'd run out of time. Keeping the lie going would only make things worse in the long run.
"Morning," I mumbled, grabbing her hand and pulling her down on the bed with me. She laid her head on my chest and sighed. This was harder on her, and I didn't want to think too hard about why.
"It's gonna be alright, Aves," I said, knowing I was in for a slap for calling her that. Her hand slammed down on my chest with a thud. It didn't hurt at all. I laughed and grabbed her hand. "Sorry."
She looked like she was going to fall asleep.
"Nice try," I teased, gently nudging her. She frowned and looked up at me. "If you fall asleep, you're just putting off telling everyone."
That was probably the idea. I tried not to laugh as she sighed and sat up, pouting. I wanted to bite that full lip.
"We should just get this over with. I'm gonna shower, then we'll tell them, okay?"
She nodded, frowning nervously. I got out of bed and kissed the top of her head. Whatever happened when we told them would be fine. Nothing was going to stop me being with her.
"It'll be fine, babe. I promise."
After taking the quickest shower I had ever had, I threw on some clothes, and we made our way downstairs. Her parents were drinking coffee in my kitchen with Mum and Dad. Good. We only had to do this once.
"Hey, guys, can we talk to you for a minute?" I said as Brooke and I sat down on the small sofa opposite them. Louis looked up from the floor where he was sitting and a huge grin spread across his face. Great.
"Why, Ashton, of course, you can," he said enthusiastically, throwing down the stack of pictures from holiday that he was holding. Lauren also had a shit-eating grin on her face.
Sarah shook her head at Louis, grinning slightly at his...uniqueness. Then, her attention was on us. "What's going on?"
Brooke visibly tensed beside me, and I took a deep breath.
Please take this well for her sake.
"Me and Brooke We're... We're together," I said.
Everyone fell silent. Louis gasped theatrically and slapped his hand over his mouth. He looked between his parents and then back at us. I rolled my eyes. Idiot. "Would you believe it?" He shook his head.
"And how long have you been together?" Sarah asked, looking at Brooke who was chewing on her lip.
Max looked angry, and my parents looked happy. Well, that was two out of the four at least.
They probably all wondered why we didn't tell them before because, let's face it, it was obvious that this hadn't happened since they asked us at Brooke's party.
"Since Italy," I replied.
Max stood up, his face hard and his eyes tight with anger. Veins in his neck poked through the skin. He looked like he wanted to strangle me with his bare hands. "So it is true?" He spat through gritted teeth.
Brooke looked lost, and tears welled up in her eyes. She grabbed my hand, squeezing tightly for support. Hang in there, baby, I'll fix this.
"No, it's not. We are together, but nothing like that has happened," I said, lying smoothly. Louis raised his eyebrows. Say something, Louis, and I swear you will lose your balls.
Max turned around and started to pace the room, deep in thought, obviously trying to figure out if he should believe me or not. "She's fifteen!"
Brooke's hand tightened around mine until I winced. Shit, she's strong when she wants to be.
"Max, calm down. She's sixteen," Mum said soothingly.
"Not when they first got together," he growled.
Brooke shrank back, pressing the side of her body against mine.
Sarah came over. "Are you sure this is what you want, honey?"
Brooke nodded at the same time I snapped, "What the hell does that mean? You think I'd take advantage of her?" I actually felt sick that they would think that. I would die before I let anything happen to her.
My parents jumped in to defend me while Sarah tried calming everyone down. The room was buzzing with tension.
Max glared at me, his jaw so tight he looked in pain. "You're seventeen, Ashton! What on earth do you want with her anyway? You know how she is!" He shouted, making everyone flinch.
I felt my blood boil; I wanted to punch him so badly. 'How she is.' What the hell was that supposed to mean? Brooke sobbed, letting go of my hand, and she ran.
I turned to follow her, but my dad held me back. "Let him go," he said in my ear as Louis ran after her. "You need to sort this out, Ashton."
"I didn't take advantage of her," I whispered to Dad. Jesus. I didn't ever want anyone to think that.
"We know that. All of us."
Dad pulled me back around, and I locked eyes with Max again. Looks like I'm still enemy number one. Sarah held his arm, sobbing quietly and pleading with him to clam down.
I shook my head, gritting my teeth. "You know I would never hurt her."
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and nodded. "I know, but she's not like other sixteen-year-old girls, is she?" There's nothing wrong with her. "Why her?" That one was easy. "I love her," I replied. I wanted to be with her, and I wanted to make her happy. "She's not a little girl anymore, Max. Just because she doesn't speak doesn't mean she's a child. There are plenty of mute people out there who have everything everyone else has," I reasoned.
I was so fucking angry. Angry at Max's reaction and angry with myself for promising her it would be okay. This doesn't look okay. Max laughed humourlessly and shook his head. Sarah let go of his arm and wiped away tears that fell down her cheeks.
"If you love her could you not wait until she's got everything sorted out?" Sarah asked.
"What do you mean?" I asked, frowning.
"Well," she started, dipping her head. "I think maybe you should wait until we've sorted out her speech problem."
"Sorted out her speech problem? When are you going to realise there's nothing wrong with her not speaking? If she wants to talk, she will, but until then, back off!" I ranted, tensing my muscles so much they started to ache.
I was so pissed off with everyone thinking that she had to be fixed. As if she was a broken doll that needed a spare part to make her whole again. I would love her to speak again, of course, but if she never spoke it wouldn't change a thing in my eyes.
"And you say you love her!" Sarah scoffed, shaking her head at me.
"You know what? I think I might be the only one that does. You don't see her how you used to, do you? She's not your perfect daughter anymore."
Sarah started crying harder. She shook her head vigorously. "I love her."
"That's not what I asked, Sarah."
Her face suddenly fell, eyes widened, and she gasped. No. I spun around and saw Brooke standing by the door, looking at her mum with so much pain in her eyes it sucked the air from my lungs. She'd heard everything.
Sarah shook her head. "No, honey... I..."
Brooke's eyes flicked to me for help. I made the few steps over there and wrapped my arms around her waist. She gripped my t-shirt and started pulling me backwards, trying to get out of the house.
Louis glared at his parents hatefully. This was such a huge mess, worse than I ever imagined. Everyone was crying and trying to tell Brooke that she had misunderstood, but she hadn't.
She tugged my shirt harder, and I knew I had to get her out. She was done. We should probably stay and talk so Sarah could explain, but Brooke clearly needed to leave.
"We'll talk tomorrow," I said over my shoulder as I slammed the front door behind us. We practically ran to my car. I locked the doors on the way, and we jumped in. The front door flew open as I tore out of the drive.
Brooke's body shook as she cried silently, leaning against the window. Her feet were up on the seat, and her eyes were closed.
"I'm so sorry, baby," I whispered, stroking her arm. What the hell have I done? "We'll go to a hotel tonight, okay? I'll sort all this out tomorrow. Everyone was upset, and we all said things we don't mean.
She didn't look up or do anything to suggest she'd even heard what I said, but I didn't stop. I had to make her feel better. "What I said about your mum isn't true. I shouldn't have said that, and I'm sorry, but they were talking about you not speaking. It was my fault; I kinda lost it. Brooke, it's not true. Your parents love you the way you are."
She sniffed and shook her head, placing her hands behind her neck, with her elbows drawn together in front of her chest. Blinking, she looked up at the roof, and I could see how hard she was fighting to stop crying.
"Sorry," I said quietly. "I love you."
It was just after eleven in the morning when we arrived at a small motel by the coast. We were allowed straight into our room, but since we had nothing with us, we decided to take a walk along the beach first. My phone hadn't stopped ringing since we left, so I turned it to silent after sending a text to Louis.
Brooke had barely looked at me, and I was starting to worry.
Does she blame me? She should. It's all my fault.
"Brooke, please," I begged, stopping to turn her to face me. I lifted her chin, needing her to look at me. "Can you forgive me?" I held my breath, absolutely terrified that she was going to shake her head. I couldn't lose her five minutes after finally getting her. I just couldn't.
She looked confused for a second. She finally did what I needed and nodded. I breathed a sigh of relief and kissed her forehead. She wasn't angry with me. Though she had every right to. I was such a dick to bring those things up with Sarah, knowing it was a possibility that she could walk back in and hear. She wouldn't have wanted to leave me to face the heat alone.
"Thank you, baby."
She pressed her petite body against mine, and we held each other. The strong wind whipping up from the sea, stinging my skin. If I were cold, then she really would be. We'd have to go back soon.
"I honestly didn't think they would react like that. I knew they would be upset with us for keeping it from them, but I never expected that. It'll be okay. Your parents just need a little time."
Her body was rigid against mine. She didn't move her head from my chest, so I had no idea what she was thinking or how she was feeling. It drove me to insanity. I was supposed to be the one who fixed things for her. How could I do that if I had no clue what was wrong?
I need to lighten this up. Bright side: we're alone for the night.
"Hey, we're at the coast together. Let's forget it until tomorrow and go get something to eat."
She pulled away and smiled weakly. I would never forgive myself for arguing with Max and Sarah when she would hear, but what I'd said was true. Sarah didn't see the same girl, and she did want to fix her.
I wanted to help Brooke. However she wanted me to.
We got some chips and sat on the bench that was facing the dull, fierce sea. Grey clouds covered the sky. It looked about ready to piss it down. Kind of matched my girl's mood.
"Whatever happens with the parents, you have to know how much I love you. I won't ever give up on us," I said, kissing the top of her head.
She made a strangled noise that almost sounded like a sob and tucked her face into the crook of my neck.
Let me in, Brooke. Tell me what happened.