One's Saving Grace

Coming Clean

Lillie's POV-

The blonde haired teenager that I had just slapped sat up and looked at me, a look of shock and surprise plastered across his face. His hand cupped the side of his face while he stood up. "What the hell Lillie, why'd you slap me?!" Gladion shouted.

I glared daggers at him, my frustration shooting through the roof as I stepped back. "How dare you show up here after leaving like you did?!" I shouted.

I turned and looked behind me when I heard something moving in the living room. I saw Ash looking around the corner of the wall and staring at me.

"Lillie, what's going on?" Ash asked me.

Ash got up and started slowly walking towards me, leaning against the wall for support as he approached me.

"Who's that on the porch Lillie?" Ash asked after getting close enough to me.

I glanced back at Gladion and let out a small growl. "Ash...This is my brother...Gladion." I responded, a very noticeable tone of anger present in my voice.

I watched Ash shuffle forward until he stood in front of me, almost like he was shielding me. He took a moment and  glanced back at me. "Is he with your mother?" He whispered to me.

I shook my head in response. "No, he's not." I said.

Gladion looked past Ash and to me. "Lillie, who is this?" Gladion asked me.

I sighed to myself and decided to get introductions out of the way. "Gladion, this is Ash." I said "Ash, this is Gladion, my brother." I told them.

Ash stared at Gladion for a couple of seconds before his eyes widened in mild realization. "Wait a second....is this that family member who you said had left not too long ago?" Ash asked me.

I glanced over at Gladion, seeing if he'd react at all to what Ash had said. He didn't even flinch. Though I grimaced momentarily before nodding. "Yeah...this is the same one who left." I responded.

Ash let out a small growl before turning towards Gladion and staring at him. "Well then, why don't we invite him inside, I'm sure you'd like to find out about why he left." Ash told me.

I took a deep breath and looked at Gladion. "Come on in then." I told him, before grabbing a hold of Ash's un-burned arm and leading him back to the couch. 

The door closed as Ash and I sat down on the couch. We watched Gladion walk in a couple of seconds later and sit down on the other side of the couch.

I took a moment to glance at the clock once more before all of this started. The time on the clock read 1:45 PM.

I let out a quiet sigh before looking up at Gladion, not realizing that my hands were still on Ash's arm.

"What are you doing here Gladion?" I asked him.

Gladion looked over at me and stared for a few seconds. "I came to see how you were doing, find out why you were staying here. Among other things." He responded.

I glared at Gladion for a few seconds. "Well..." I took a moment to glance at Ash before I continued. "I've been doing better the last couple of days and I'm staying here because I couldn't stay at home anymore." I told him.

Gladion sat there and nodded. "That's good to hear." He said.

"No point avoiding this any longer than I have to." I thought to myself.

"Why...did you leave?" I asked him.

Gladion glanced at me and then looked away. "I needed to get out of there, I couldn't deal with it anymore, with what was going on in that house." He responded.