Weight In Gold (Brendon Urie)

The Parents

AN// I don't know how many of you read it, but I posted a chapter a few days ago which is now deleted. It was really, really bad. Pretend like it didn't happen. Thanks!

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I wake up the next morning with a pounding headache. I check my phone to see that it's 8:30 A.M. Unlike the past few days, the sun isn't pouring through the window and everything doesn't seem perfect. I would have thought that after finding out that Luke wasn't dead, I would feel a million times better. But I don't. Now I have to deal with knowing that an entire group of people will go on living their lives, remembering me as nothing but terrible person.

I groan and roll over, letting the blankets that were wrapped around my body cover my face. "Ashley," I hear Brendon's sleepy voice say. "What?" I respond, slightly annoyed because of how tired I am. "Can I have some blankets back?" he asks. I look over to see that I've taken all of the covers. Poutily, I push some of them back over to him. "Thank you," he says and attempts to lean over and kiss me. I dodge him and get out of bed, walking downstairs to go an get a bowl of cereal.

When I reach the kitchen, I make myself a bowl of lucky charms and sit on the couch. I few seconds later I hear Brendon's footsteps enter the room and immediately become annoyed again for seemingly no reason. I hear him get himself some cereal as well, and then come to sit by me. He tries to hold my hand but before he can I pull my arm away. "Are you alright?" he asks, observing my cold behavior. "I'm fine," I tell him bitterly. "Is there something I did to make you mad at me?" He looks at me with a confused expression when he says this. "I told you, I'm fine! God, why can't you just accept that and drop it!" He continues to look at me seeming very comfused. "Ashley, do you need me to get something for you? Is it that  time of the month?"

When he says this, I get pissed off beyond words. I put my bowl on the table and stand up. "I'm going out, and I'm taking the car. Don't wait up for me," I tell him before grabbing his keys and storming out of the front door, not even caring that I'm still in my pajamas. I don't know why I'm so upset with hI'm right now, and I know I was probably being unfair, but everything about him is making me upset this morning.

I drive around for a few minutes thinking about where I could go before I remember someone else that I need to apologize to. Hopefully it won't go as bad today as it did yesterday. I take a series of turns that lead me down many familiar streets. Eventually I arrive at a house that I had hoped I would never see again: my parent's house.

I take a deep breath and run my hands through my long hair. I look down at my outfit and realize that my parents are probably going to judge me because of it. I'm in the clothes I slept in, which happens to be sweat pants and an old Red Hot Chili Peppers T-shirt. I take a breath and step out of the car. I walk up to the door and look at my feet before ringing the door bell. After acknowledging that this is my last chance to turn back, and then not taking it, I reach up and press the button that will notify my parents that they have a visitor. I stand in front of the door for a few seconds before the door handle moves and the door swings open, revealing my mother. The smile that she had fades away when she sees me. "Ashley," she says dissapointedly. "what are you doing here?" My hands start shaking so I hold them behind my back. "Oh, I was in the area so I thought I'd drop by," I say, trying to make a joke. My mother does not look amused. "Is dad here?" I ask her. She shakes her head.

"Ashley, what are you really doing here?" she asks me after a moment of standing in uncomfortable silence. "I came to apologize," I tell her. "I know that you want me to live in Chicago, but maybe we could rebuild our relationship? You know, see each other for holidays and birthdays or talk over mail? I just think--" my mom cuts my off here. "Ashley, I don't think you understand," she says. I look at her but don't speak to show her that I'm listening. "We didn't want to say this when we sent you away because we were trying to be kind, but when we made you go to Chicago it was meant as something permanent. If we're being perfectly honest, we never wanted to see you again."

Any tears I was trying to hold in fall when she says this. "But mom," I try to protest. She shakes her head. "Please don't call me that anymore. Why don't you go back home?" I feel like there's a river running down my cheeks at this point. "But this is my home." She shakes her head again. "Not anymore."

Now I start to get mad as well as sad. "What happened to family?" I yell at her as she tries to close the door on me. She looks back at me slightly confused. "The last thing you told me before I left was that you loved me, I thought you meant it," I tell her angrily.

All I want is for her to tell me that she's sorry, or that she still loves me, or something like that, but she doesn't. She closes the door in my face, like a final barrier between us. I run back to the car and start it, immediately driving back to the house. All I can think of during the drive is Brendon, and how awful I feel for how I treated him this morning. I hope that at least he can forgive me.

I get to the safehouse a few minutes later and park in front of it. I run inside and put the keys on the kitchen counter before I walk upstairs. "Brendon," I call out to make sure he's home. "In here!" He yells back to me. I immediately go into the bedroom and  look at him. He's laying on our bed.

"I'm sorry about this morning," I say, still crying about my mom. "It's okay," he says, looking down at his phone. When I continue to stand at the door quietly rather than walk over to him, he puts his phone down and looks at me. "Ashley, what's wrong?" he asks me worriedly when he sees the tears on my face. I walk over to him and crawl on top of him, laying my head on his chest. "I went to see my mom." I tell him. "Looks like it didn't go so well?" he asks. I shake my head. "She told me not to call her mom anymore, and that she never wants to see me again." I can feel my tears soaking through his shirt as I tell him what just happened. "She did?" He says this sounding extremely surprised. I nod. I don't bother saying anything else because nothing else is important.

Brendon runs his fingers through my hair which calms me down. I take some deep breaths, flooding my senses with the smell of him each time. Eventually, a calm sleep washes over me and I finally feel at peace.