Getting to Know You

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

NATALIE'S POV:

I listened to Ashton's shallow breathing as he slept, unable to fall asleep myself. I carefully swept his curls to the side, not wanting to wake him. He had asked me a few questions earlier that I needed to answer. 
'Are you okay? How can you act like nothing is different, how can you act so happy? Are we ever going to talk about this?' 

I let Ashton sleep while I thought about what I was going to say. After having been so strong for me, the least I could do was be strong for him, even if it was going to hurt. I didn't want to tell him about how Diane left, I didn't want to tell him any more about Marcus... but if he was going to be there for me like he said he would be, then I would tell him. I wanted him to understand. 
ltI watched as Ashton's lips curved into a small smile when he woke up, tightening his arm around my waist.  He kept his eyes closed, dipping down and placing a single, tender kiss on my neck. 
"Ash?"  I asked, taking a deep breath to steady myself.  
"Hmmm?"  He hummed against my neck, making my skin tingle.  
"I've got some things I need to tell you." I whispered. 
"Nats, you don't have to tell me right now..." He said, looking up. His offer was beyond tempting...
I shook my head. "No, no I want to.   I just need to get it out, okay?  I'm tired..."   I said, my voice shaking slightly.   "I'm tired of having this hanging over me...  I don't want to have to tiptoe around it anymore.  Not with you."   I whispered.  He took my hand, twined our fingers together, and waited. 

"Well..."  I took a deep breath, ready to dive into the waters I have been afraid of for two years.  

"I don't really know what happened, Ash.  One day, she was just gone.  I was waiting for her at the high school, she was supposed to come pick me up from my AP Studio Art consult with my teacher, and she was running late.  I sent her a message asking where she was, but after an hour of waiting I just picked up my portfolio and walked home.  When I got there, my dad was a complete mess.  He started yelling at me, asking where she was, tellin-"  My breath caught in my throat and  I buried my face in his neck, not wanting him to see me cry anymore than he already had.  I was surprised he hadn't been scared off already.  "Telling me that it was fault she had left."  I finished, taking a breath to steady myself.  Ashton rubbed circles onto the back of my hand with his thumb and I was able to continue, focusing on his touch.  

"He shoved me."  I paused, remembered the first time Marcus had ever put his hands on me.  "He didn't hit me, but he shoved me and I fell over.  My portfolio flew out of my hands and my papers scattered everywhere.  He kicked my portfolio as he walked out the door, and after that I didn't see him for a week.  He just disappeared.  I don't know if he went looking for her, or if he slept at work, or at a bar...  But I stayed home and I missed that week of school.  I called her twenty times a day, sitting on the stairs by the door waiting for her to come home.  She never answered, and she never came back." 

ASHTON'S POV:

Natalie's eyes were glazed over as she spoke, remembering the day Diane had left.  She was seeing something far away that I couldn't.  She was quiet for a moment before she spoke up again, her gaze returning to the present.

"See?"  Natalie let go of my hand and pulled her phone out of her pocket.  She fiddled around with it for a moment before she handed it to me.  "Scroll down."  She said, a hint of disdain and disappointment in her voice. 

There were hundreds of them.  Two years worth of messages, not a single day missed, some days more than one had been sent. 

"Where are you?"

"When are you coming home?"

"Are you coming home?"

When I reached the bottom, I noticed that she hadn't messaged her in a while.