Take Your Hand In Mine ~ Andley

Chapter Twenty-Four

Taylor slumped over onto the ground, blood leaking from the wound the stake had made in his chest.

I don't feel guilty this time.

Taylor has put us all through so much shit, and now he's finally gone. I can breathe now.

I looked up at my dad again, his smile fading. "Bye son."

"Why do you have to go?"

"My job here is done, I need to go back to your mom. But yours is not. Now go see that mate and kid of yours."

Leda.. Andy.. I need to see them..

"I love you dad."

"I love you too Ashley. I'll see you again some day.."

His body collapsed to the ground, his soul flying up into the sky. He's gone, it didn't have to be this way..

At least he's with mom...

I wiped away the tears that were forming in my eyes, pulling myself together. I ran into the living room, but Jinxx and Jake were no where in sight. Where did they go now?

I searched the entire house but they were no where in sight, just gone.

I ran back to Jinxx's place, running to the underground room as fast as my feet would carry me.

I steeped into the room, and Sammi, CC, Jinxx, Jake, and Leda were all banging on the bathroom door.

"Andy you're scaring us! Please open the door!" CC cried.

Oh no, please tell me he didn't do something stupid..

"Mommy!" Leda cried, pounding her little fists on the door.

"Blue eyes open the door!" I stepped forward, taking everyone by surprise. Everyone gasped, staring at me in shock.

"Holy shit!" Jake shouted.

"Ashley! Oh my god! We thought you were dead!" Sammi cried, attacking me in a hug.

"Dad!" Leda beamed at me, sucking on her thumb.

They all hugged me, bombarding me with questions.

"Guys, I promise I'll tell you everything, but I need to talk to Andy."

I stepped up to the bathroom door, knocking lightly. "Babe.. It's Ash".

"Ashley.." He stuttered out.

I started to panic, he doesn't sound too good..

"Andy! Please open up!"

"You're gonna hate me.."

"I could never hate you."

"Are you alone?"

I motioned for everyone else to walk away temporarily, and they listened. I heard the lock click, and I slowly opened the door.

I covered my hand with my mouth, trying the hold back the gasp that wanted to escape my lips. Andy sat on the ground, his eyes puffy and his face covered in eyeliner and tears. His arm was covered in cuts, blood spilling everywhere. He stared at me, his lip quivering.

"Andy..."

I didn't know what to say.. Why would be hurt himself like this?

I stepped into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me.

"Please don't hate me.." he whispered, more tears slipping

"I will never hate you Andy." I stated, taking him into my arms. I wrapped my arms around his skinny frame, holding his shaking body close to mine.

I moved his hair away from his eyes, noticing the blue sparkle that I loved about his eyes was gone. He was broken..

"Why.." I managed to say, wiping up some of the blood.

"I-i t-thought you were d-dead.. I t-thought I lost y-you.."

He started to cry again, and I kissed the tears away. "Well I'm here now, for good."

"H-how did you c-come back?"

"Well, my mom sent me back. I have a duty to fulfill, I promised you I would come back, and now I have."

He relaxed into my arms, tightening his grip on me. "I'm so sorry Ashley! I just, I just didn't know what to do, I didn't know how to go on without you-"

"Hush, it's okay.." I cooed. "You don't have to worry about that any more, I'm right here. Just please, promise me you won't hurt yourself over me again.."

He thought for a moment before speaking up, "I promise."

"Thank you. Now lets get you cleaned up. "

I wiped up all the blood with a wet washcloth and then bandaged the cuts, kissing each one. It breaks my heart that he hurt himself over me, I love him too much to see him like that.

I helped him up, wiping away some of the makeup that was smudged all over his face. He stared at himself in the mirror, his face scrunching up in disguist.

"Why does anyone like me.. I'm just a fat kid with scars.."

I lifted up his chin, forcing him to look me in the eyes. "Don't talk like that Andy. First of all, I will always love you no matter what. We all love you. You are special Andy, you're talented, beautiful, gifted, and your just a joy to be around. And you're certainly not fat Andy, you're actually underweight. And I'm going to be there to help you to the end."

He stared back at me with awe, and his eyes got a bit brighter. "Thank you. Thank you Ash. I love you too."

I pressed my lips to his, cupping his face. There was no lust, all I felt was the passionate love I had for this man.

Nothing's perfect, but we're gonna get through this together.

I pulled away slightly, resting our foreheads together. I toke his hand in mine, whispering "forever" in his ear.

"Ready to go back out?" I asked him.

He nodded, gripping my hand tighter. I opened the door, smiling at everyone who was just sitting there, waiting for us to emerge.

"Thank fuck you're okay!" CC exclaimed.

"Language CC! Leda' s here!" Sammi laughed.

"Mommy! U ok!" Leda gurgled, squirming in Sammi's arms. She passed Leda to Andy, and he started to tear up. "Hey baby girl, I missed you."

"Daddy!" She squealed, smiling at me. I kissed her cheek, relieved to see her again.

"So Ash, can we have an explanation?"' Jinxx asked.

I laughed, "Sure. But I think we should go upstairs, we don't have to hide any more."

We all pulled into Jinxx and Sammi's living room, where they all gathered around me, eager to here what happend. I pulled Andy and Leda into my lap, wrapping my arms around Andy's waist.

I told them everything. About Taylor killing me, the talk I had with my parents, coming back to life, seeing Andy as an angel, and killing Taylor.

They stared back at me in shock, Sammi was tearing up.

"Wow.." CC said.

"Well, we're just glad your back.." Jake spoke, trying to reduce the awkwardness.

"I know I am." Andy blushed, nuzzling into me.

Their was a chorus of awws from everyone, as I continued to hold him. Suddenly, I remembered what I was going to ask him..

"Hey And can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Of course.."

He handed Leda to Sammi and we stepped outside, sitting on the front step.

"Am I in trouble? Andy giggled. It's so nice to see the blue sparkle in his eyes returning.

"No silly." I kissed his nose, making him blush. "I just wanted to ask you something."

"Ask away."

"Well, when I was dead, I thought a lot about all the thing I really wanted to do with you. And there was one really important one that I've been wanting to ask you. Do you want to get matching tattoos?"