I laid flat on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. There was a huge thunderstorm going on outside and I wasn't able to sleep no matter how hard I had tried. Every time I was close to drifting off to sleep the loud sound of thunder woke me up again, so I had given up. Luckily I was awake when my phone started to quietly vibrate against the table. I picked it up without checking the caller ID, just thankful to have anyone to talk to.
"Can I call you?" Ashton's voice came through the phone, sounding surprisingly awake for this time of night.
"You are calling me" I said quietly, sitting up.
"I want to hear your voice" Ashton continued, and I was sure that he hadn't realized he was actually talking to me yet.
"I know, you can hear it. I'm on the phone." I sighed.
"Dani, I don't know what to do." Ashton's voice dropped. A clap of thunder was heard from outside and the sky lit up for a moment before returning to its dark, rainy, state.
"What's wrong?" I asked, not bothering to mention how he had actually called me by my first name for once.
"I'm such a fuckup. I killed my pregnant girlfriend." Ashton muttered, and I heard a door slam behind it. I could hear the wind and rain pelting down on the sidewalk through the phone, telling me that Ashton had gone outside.
"It was an accident." I said.
"I'm drunk." Ashton blankly stated, in case I hadn't known.
"I figured that out." I admitted, having a feeling all along that Ashton was a little under the influence.
"Fuck, I can't smoke in the rain." Ashton groaned at himself and I heard another slam.
"Where are you?" I asked, curious about all the door slamming.
"I'm in the car and I can't bring myself to start it." His words were slurred and made it a little hard for me to understand him, but I eventually got what he was saying.
"Don't, Ashton. You're drunk. Go back inside." My voice got louder as I hopped out of bed and began to search for some shoes.
"No, I want to drive." Ashton whined, I could practically see him pouting.
"Ashton, where are you?" I asked again. I was assuming that he was just outside of his house, but I wanted to be sure. I didn't want to go out in the rain for nothing.
"I don't want you to come find me. I just wanted to hear your voice. I can't even remember what Kenzie's voice sounded like anymore. I killed her...I killed her..." Ashton drifted off, the sound of his voice getting harder to hear through the rain coming down on his car.
"Ashton, I'm serious. Where are you?" I demanded. I wasn't even conscious of the fact that I was talking so loud, that didn't matter anyway. My parents had left for a business meeting upstate earlier that morning and wouldn't be home until tomorrow.
"I'm in the car, Dani. I'm going to try and drive again." Ashton said, the sound of my name still sounding strange to my ears.
"Are you in front of your house?" I asked, finally finding some shoes. I slid them on and grabbed a sweatshirt I had hanging off the corner on my dresser and slid in on my arms, zipping it up.
"My house?" Ashton questioned.
"Yes, your house. This isn't funny anymore Ashton, please just tell me where you are." I groaned as I began to make my way down the stairs and to the front door. I had no idea what Ashton was going to try, I had to get to him as soon as possible.
"I'm drunk." He repeated.
"Where are you?" I asked one final time, but I was already on the way to his house. I slammed the front door behind me, putting my hood up before I stepped out into the rain.
