savior

eighteen

DAY FOURTEEN; SEVENTEEN DAYS TO GO

Ashton lead me into his apartment. Sitting on the couch in front of the television were two kids that I recognized as Lauren and Harry, his younger siblings. They whipped their heads around to face us. At the same time, they both jumped up and ran over to their big brother, concealing him in a giant hug.

"We were so worried!" Lauren said, looking up at him. I scooted back a little, watching the scene unfold in front of me. "We woke up and you weren't here. Harry and I didn't know where you ran off to."

I felt a tug on my shirt. Next to me was Harry, staring up at me. "Who's this?" he asked, turning his attention to Ashton, who was directing me to the dining table. I took a seat. His siblings followed us and sat next to me, their eyes never leaving me. Did they do this often?

Ashton opened the fridge, stealing some cheese from one of the plastic drawers. He peeled off the wrapping. Then he took out everything else he needed to make our lunch; bread, a pan, and butter.

"That's Regan. We're friends now," he said, not paying any attention to us. He flipped the bread and cheese on the pan.

Lauren and Harry still continued to look at me, like I was the most amazing thing to walk through their door. I began to wonder what they were thinking: Ashton only had one or two friends all his life, and now he's brought a girl home. They were probably getting the wrong idea.

I started to beat my fingers on the table as I waited for Ashton to finished. Lauren, Harry, and I watched his dig in the fridge and pull out a glass of lemonade. He poured us all a glass and sat down at the table.

"So, how long have you guys been friends?" Lauren asked, grabbing hold of my arm. Her face showed excitement. She must not have had so many girls come by. If I could be Ashton's friend, I could be hers, too.

"Only a few weeks—"

The smoke detector went off, blaring a loud beeping noise. Ashton jumped up from his seat, a scared expression on his face. He left the grilled cheese unattended at the stove.

"Nice going, Ashton!" his younger brother shouted, getting up as well. Smoke started to rise from the little pan. The food had set on fire. I grabbed the fire extinguisher from the wall behind me, ran over to the stove, and started to operate it.

When the fire was put out, we all calmed down a little. Ashton slumped to the ground, covering his face with his hands. He released a long sigh. "I'm sorry, guys," he said, letting his hands down, putting his arms on his knees. "I'm so not the right person to take care of you two."

"Take care? What about your mom?" I asked. I looked around. "Hey, where is she anyways?"

Harry took a seat next to Ashton on the floor. He wrapped his arms around him. "Our mom is in the hospital. She's very sick," he said.

That explains why I saw Ashton at the hospital the day I figured out that my mom had a miscarriage. He was visiting his mom. Somethings were starting to make sense to me. Whatever was wrong with his mom was keeping her away from her children, causing Ashton to have to stay with them. That must have been a lot of pressure for such a young guy.

Ashton looked at me with yearning eyes, like he wanted me to do something that would take the attention off the subject. "I'll make us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. At least I can't burn those," he said, standing up from his position. His head hung low.

Watching him act like that made me sad. He was doing the best he could to make sure his siblings were safe, but when things didn't work out, he acted so hard on himself. It didn't seem fair.

"Harry, why don't you go help him?" Lauren invited, scooting her younger brother to her older one. Then she grabbed my hand and pulled me into what I guessed was her bedroom.

On her dark pink walls were pictures of her family, all together, looking super happy. In some photos, Ashton and Lauren were having a fight with a birthday cake. They both looked super little. Harry must not have been born yet. A young, pretty woman was smiling and laughing with them. There were pictures of little baby Harry, too, when he finally was born. Altogether, they were a normal family, living together in happiness. It didn't look like that much anymore.

Lauren patted a spot on her bed. I took a seat next to her. "Ashton talks about you a lot," she said.

"What do you mean?"

It caught me off guard, what she said. Never once did I expect that Ashton would even think much about me. I wasn't anything special. Just a regular girl that he went to school with.

"I mean, you're the first person other than Michael that has made him feel like someone cares about him," Lauren explained. "Other than family, of course. I love Ashton. He's been so happy since you came around. I just wanted to thank you."

I couldn't say anything. Hearing those words was a surprise to me. At first I didn't think too much about this whole entire save-Ashton process, but now I had a feeling this could possibly work. He was happy. He was happy. All because of me. All because of me. Wow.

If I could keep this up, but the end of the month, both Ashton and I would be alive. We could continue being friends. Then Michael, Lauren, Harry, and even his mom would be happy. Our lives would be normal. It would be awesome.

Ashton peeked his head in the door. "Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are made. Eat up," he said, a small smile on his face. Lauren and I jumped up from the bed, a little startled. Hopefully Ashton hadn't heard what the two of us were saying. We entered the dining room. Harry was already chowing down on his sandwich.

When everyone had finished eating, Lauren and Harry left the table to go watch more T.V. Instead of joining them, I helped Ashton with cleaning up the kitchen. At first he was reluctant to let me help—he claimed that because I was his guest, it would be rude to make me help—but when I wouldn't leave, he just went with it. "You don't have to help me, you know," he said.

"I know," I replied, turning on the water and filling the sink so I could wash the dishes. "But I want to."

I began scrubbing plates and cups as Ashton handed them to me. One time, he pretended he was a basketball player and threw a plastic cup into the sink. Bubbles burst from the water and hit me in the face. The front of my shirt was soaked. Ashton lips turned into an 'o' shape, and then he started laughing.

Instead of splashing him back and getting both of our shirts wet, I flicked him in the nose with my soapy hand. Bubbles landed on his nose and up to his hair. He started to pout, causing me to roll my eyes playfully at him. "Go get me that pan," I told him.

He raised his hand in mock salute, saying, "Sir, yes, sir!" I laughed. Ashton handed me the pan that he had burnt the grilled cheese on. I scraped the mess from it, and put it under the water.

Ashton placed his arms on the counter beside the sink, resting his head on them. His hair was still wet and full of bubbles. "So, what did Lauren say to you? She didn't tell you any embarrassing stories about me, did she?"

I finished washing the dishes, and turned to face him. Before I could answer him, Lauren walked in, a small smirk on her face. "What if I did? What are you going to do about it?"

Ashton started to laugh. Then he began to chase her around the apartment. Lauren screamed. Harry joined in the fun, grabbing onto Ashton's legs in order to stop him from catching their sister.

It was great to see Ashton happy. There was nothing more I wanted right now than to see that smile on his face. It felt good to be part of the reason for it.

Hopefully it would stay this way.