Broken

• Chapter 142 •

I'm in love with Ashton. I'm in love with Ashton. I'M IN LOVE WITH ASHTON! What am I going to do? Do I tell him? Do I not? I've never been in love before. I'm freaking the fuck out.

"Hey guys," I mumble to Zach and Vanessa.

"Why are you wearing Ashton's shirt?" Zach deadpans.

I clear my throat, "Uhm... I got robbed?"

The twins shrug and accept my answer. "What happened to your foot?" I ask Vanessa.

"I stepped on a lego really really hard and a part of it got stuck in my foot!"

My eyes pop, "Seriously? Ouch, that sounds painful."

Zach shrugs, "She's okay, now. She was just being a baby."

Tough guy, huh? Vanessa frowns and I hand him a lego and smirk, "Okay Zach. Why don't you step on a lego and see if it hurts?"

His eyes pop open, "No way, I'm not stupid!"

Vanessa and I burst out laughing as Ashton comes in with a plate of pancakes. My heart has a few spasms but eventually calms down. We eat the pancakes and the twins rush off to their room, Ashton has been sort of quiet. He studies me silently and I groan, "What? What is it?"

He winces and shakes his head, "There's just... Something I have to tell you, I want to tell you. I don't want to keep shit from you."

My heart trudges nervously, I nod and wipe my mouth with a napkin before jumping off the counter.

His eyes are filled with pain, he watches me for the longest time before sighing, "Sit down."

Ashton and I make our way to the couch. I sit facing him, my elbows rest on my knees. My face is plastered with concern as he plants his face into his hands. He lets out an exasperated sigh before rubbing his temples.

"Just... Promise to hear me out before you leave..." he mumbles.

I frown, "What? Why would I leave? I'm not leaving—"

"... Yeah, we'll see... I—I was locked away for drug dealing."

"... Okay?" my eyebrows knit together. Is that all? He was a drug dealer? That's his big shady job?

He shakes his head, "I started about two years after mom's death... "

- ASHTON -

"Hide! Ashton baby please, hide!" mom's distressed eyes meet mine as the banging becomes louder.

"Aw, come on, sweet pea. We won't hurt ya!" a man's voice rings.

We hide in mom's room, quaking and sweating with fear as the boots creak the floorboards outside the door. Mom holds her hand clamped over Vanessa's mouth. Tears silently stream down her face as the baby turns blue and then limp. She gives her to me and urges me into the closet.

"Mom, I'm scared. What do they want?" I whisper.

Mom shakes her head, "I don't know, baby. But whatever you do, do not leave this closet, do you hear me? Do not leave your sister. Okay? I love you so very much."

I shake my head, I don't understand. She bites her lip as she closes the closet door. Men burst through her door, and I stare through the crack in the closet, silently holding sleeping baby Vanessa to my chest. I blink, and they're grabbing her. I blink again, and they're ripping off her clothes. A piercing scream that is set to the frequency that would shatter my heart to pieces, again and again, escapes her lips. I freeze, fear chills me to the core, engulfing and paralyzing my senses. I'm unblinking. Unmoving. Unthinking. Unable to answer her cries of pain as I stay rigid, useless in this closet with baby Vanessa in my arms. It's all I can focus on for now; her cries.