The Chase ▹ Ashton Irwin

CHAPTER EIGHTY FOUR

My eyes shot open to the sound of my phone vibrating on the coffee table next to me. I shook my head a few times to fully wake up, and it took me a couple moments to remember I had crashed down on my couch after I came back from Calum's house last night. The room was still pitch dark, and I wondered what time it was, and who the hell is calling me. I took my phone into my hands, and instantly I was confused. Why is Brooke calling me this late?

"Hello?" I said, picking the line up.

"I'm so sorry-" Her voice was cut off by raspy cries, and I instantly sat up. She was crying, obviously, her voice hoarse and shaky. "I'm so sorry Ashton-"

"Brooke?"

"-You were right you were so incredibly right I'm such a fucking-"

"Brooke what are you talking about?"

"-idiot I'm so sorry Ashton-"

"Brooke." I said sternly. I felt my eyebrows come together in utter confusion and panic. Why is she crying?

Well, now that I think about it, it was more of a sob.

Her words were ceased, yet I could definitely hear her heaving breathing on the other line. Was she panting? Or just crying really hard? Maybe it was both. Before she could start to say whatever she was before, I spoke up. "Where are you?" I asked.

"I don't k-know!" She cried out. "Ashton I'm so sorry-"

"What the fuck happened?"

"YOU WERE RIGHT ASHTON, OKAY?" She cried out. Her sudden raise in volume caused me to shift my ear away from the phone. I got up, and shakily grabbed my car keys.

"Brooke calm down," I said as steadily as I could. "Where are you?"

She was silent a couple moments, and my heart started to break with each second that I heard her sniffle tears. Why is she crying?

"...At the end of my street." She finally spoke up. What the hell.

"Okay hold on." I said. With that, I hung up the phone and stalked out of the room, and started the run down the hall towards the stairs.

As I got into my car to drive to her house for the like 1000th time this week, her words replayed over and over in my head.

"You were right, Ashton."

What does she mean by that? What did I even say? As I practically took off into a sprint to find my car, my mind was racing. I literally woke up 45 seconds ago, and I was already full of so much more panic and anxst than I usually am on a daily basis. As I got into my car, my thoughts went back to why I started getting those dreams again. I got them again because I thought something bad was gonna happen. Then, when Brooke talked to me only just a couple nights ago, they went away. They seem to go away if she sleeps with me, which she did last night. If she did sleep with me last night...why did that random nightmare occur?

As I started off towards Brooke's house, I think I figured it out.

Well shit, I guess something bad happened.

*Brooke's POV*

I stood there, clinging to the stop sign at the end of my street. My eyes were focused on the ground at my bare feet, and I no longer feel my hands as they held onto the cold metal pole. I couldn't get myself to let go, though. As I stood there, waiting for someone to show up, I found myself reflecting on the past 20 minutes or so.

I was so oblivious. I was so, fucking, oblivious to the fact that there was so much going on in my house that I could have stopped. I could have fucking stopped it before it got out of hand; and I bet it's been out of hand for a while now. It's so heartbreaking and peculiar to think that I literally just witnessed my own father do that to my poor, helpless mom. Why couldn't she talk to me about it? How long has this been going on? Surely it can't be that long, right?