December 2017
Ashton:
The man with salt-and-pepper hair whom I can only assume to be Steven Hale takes the few steps down from the deck to the grass, where he is met by the embrace of his children.
Hannah rises from her chair, but is then frozen in place. I stand and move next to her. Her reaction to the arrival of the kids' father startles and worries me. When Steven stands up and looks at her again with a smile, she takes a defensive step backwards. My protective instinct kicks in and I press my hand gently to her back, which is as rigidly still as her arms.
Steven Hale walks over to us, his kids attached to him by their hands. His smile is confident, irritatingly so, and now that he's up close, I can see that his eyes match Adam's in color exactly. "Hannah, lovely to see you again."
"Steven," she says through gritted teeth.
He then turns to me, a look of curiosity on his face. "And you might be?"
"Ashton Irwin," I respond with a curt nod. "I'm a friend of the family."
"A friend of my family?" He raises his eyebrows, his voice portraying disbelief.
"Yes," I answer confidently, standing a bit straighter. He's not as tall as I am, so I stretch out of my slouch to my full height.
"And more of a friend to our dear Hannah, I assume," he almost mutters, quiet enough so that the kids might not hear him, but I sure as hell can.
Hannah tenses more, looking away in anger. "Ashton hangs out with us sometimes," Mellie explains to her father with a grin. "He lives next door."
"Yeah!" Adam cuts in. "He's a musician!"
Steven chuckles, actually chuckles at Adam's exclamation. Like a fucking Bond villain. "Really?"
"He plays the drums in this really cool band!" Adam continues on about 5 Seconds of Summer, which makes me smile. I've never heard him talk about the band before; I didn't even know that he liked our music. It's a pleasant surprise.
"They have an album coming out in a few months," Mellie adds. "Mom's throwing their release party."
While the kids are talking, Steven and I do not break eye contact. I wrap my arm protectively around Hannah's waist and slowly pull her closer to me.
"Steven." Luna's voice halts all conversation. Everyone's eyes land on her, standing in the doorway leading back into the house. Her face reflects Hannah's horrified expression when she first laid eyes on Steven, but she is quicker to recover. What did this guy do?
"Luna." Steven's voice is cordial. He opens his arms wide to accept Luna in a hug.
She gives him a frosty glare, ignoring his gesture. "What are you doing here? You weren't supposed to be here until tomorrow and you were supposedto call when you were coming."
"I got out of my meetings early today," Steven offers as an explanation, dropping his arms to his side. He pushes his suitcoat back and slides both hands into the pockets of his nicely tailored pants. "So I thought I'd come and surprise everyone."
Hannah slides a shaky hand to mine, gripping it for dear life. I return her squeeze to reassure her that I am still with her, supporting her. She continues shaking, her vibrations growing more violent by the second.
As Luna and Steven stand there, exchanging a few words, all I can think is, whatever he did to this family, it must be bad: Hannah is one of the strongest women I know and this dude scares the shit out of her.
"Say goodbye to Hannah and Ashton," Luna instructs her kids.
Instantaneously, Hannah's demeanor changes. She lets go of me and smiles as she hugs Mellie and Adam goodbye. "I'll see you guys later." Her voice reflects none of the fear she had before.
I hug the kids goodbye myself, trying to piece together this puzzle. She was hiding her fear when talking to the kids, I tell myself, playing detective. So whatever happened, they must not know.
Luna places a hand on the back of each of her kids and ushers them inside. Hannah and I are left outside alone with Steven. He turns toward us with a sick smile plastered on his face. "Well, good luck with your...career."
I respond, keeping my voice as level as possible. "My multiple headlining world tours, number one hits, and platinum-selling albums thank you."
Steven narrows his eyes at me in mild irritation. He then has the audacity to look at and speak to Hannah. "Always lovely to see you, Hannah."
"Just go," Hannah mutters, not her usual witty self.
Steven Hale gives us one more nod before he retreats into the house.
The second he is gone, I turn and face Hannah, who is staring at the ground. "Hannah, what the hell was that about?"
"Nothing."
"Hannah."
"Ashton, let it go."
"I can't," I beg her to explain, to give me any sense of what this man has done to her to make her so meek. "Hannah, please. I've never seen you like this before."
Hannah continues to stare at the ground, but her jaw begins to quiver. I pull her into my arms, pressing her face to my chest. Immediately, she starts sobbing uncontrollably. Her body shakes as she cries, gripping my shirt in her fist, desperately clinging on as if she might completely fall apart if she were to let go. I hold her tightly and let her cry until she is finished.
After a minute or so, she pulls back, shielding her face so I can't see. She wipes her eyes and nose as I pet her hair gently. Finally, she looks up at me, the red in her eyes bringing out the blue of her irises. Though the color is more piercingly beautiful than ever, I can't ignore the pain that made them that way. "I'm sorry..." She says, shaking her head and looking down once more.
"No," I say, holding her face in my hands. "Nothing to be sorry about. I just want to know what that bastard did to you to make you this way."
She scoffs. "One day, I will explain to you why simply seeing Steven Hale makes me want to walk into the ocean, but today is not that day." She looks up at me, imploring me. "So please just let it go."
By now, I know better than to press Hannah about this kind of thing. So I let it go. I pull her into me again. "You got it."
-----
"I'm telling you, it was the weirdest thing," I tell Calum on the phone that night, regaling him with the details of my afternoon spent at the Hales'. "It was like he flipped a switch on her. I'm really worried."
"I would be, too," Calum offers. "It sounds like that dude's a real piece of shit."
"I know." I wholeheartedly agree with him. "I don't know everything, but I doknow that he abandoned his kids to live across the country."
"Do you think that's why she was so upset?"
I think about it for a brief second, but shake my head. "No, I don't think so. The way she acted was completely beyond her control. She wasn't just angry, she was scared."
"Look," I can hear Calum shifting his grasp on the phone. "I think you're just gonna have to listen to her and let it go for now. She'll tell you when she's ready for you to know, but for now, just show her that you'll support her no matter what."
I nod, knowing he's right. "Yeah. I just wish I could help."
"You can, by being there for her."
"Since when are you such a relationship expert?"
"I am excellent in relationships, I'll have you know."
I scoff at him. "Yeah? Why are you single, then?"
"Says the guy whose girlfriend agreed to go on one date with him after months of coercion."
"Okay, goodnight, Calum!" I singsong to him.
"Night, idiot."
I hang up the phone and stare at it for a long beat. I want Hannah to know that I'm there for her, but I also want to give her a little space to reconcile with everything going on at home right now. I could call her, but she may not want to talk. I opt for a text instead.
To: Hannah From Next Door
From: Me
Hey. I was just thinking about you. I know you don't want to talk about it yet but I want you to know that I'm here for you whenever you're ready and that I really care about you. You're strong and beautiful and please don't ever forget that.
It's a few minutes before I get a reply.
To: Me
From: Hannah From Next Door
Well, I HAD stopped crying, until seeing this text from my amazing boyfriend. Thank you, Ash, that means a lot. Glad to have you in my life <3
And for now, if that's what she can do, that's good enough for me.
YOU ARE READING
Youngblood
FanfictionWhen I face him again, Ashton is smiling. He leans back slowly in his seat, resting his folded hands on his stomach. "This is gonna be fun." I narrow my eyes at him. "What's gonna be fun?" "Winning you over." I have to bite back the vomit that fight...
