Confiding in You ϟ a.i.

Chapter 51

==Ashton's POV==

My current state of worry has increased from 0 to 100 faster than I ever thought it could, especially because that picture should have been taken care of already. I stand from my bed and speed-walk to my door, but change my mind just as I reach for the handle.

The first instinct I have is to tell my mom and get her advice, but I know how much she would want to kill me if I told her. She was already pissed about Halloween to begin with. If she found out what actually happened while I left Harry here, regardless of whether or not I meant for it to happen, she would be livid.

So I hesitantly decide to stop being such a pussy and call Maddie. It rings once and then I'm taken to her voicemail. I hang up as soon as I hear the opening "Hi!" of the peppy greeting she made while at my house earlier in the year. I don't have the nerve to listen to her happily telling me to leave a message when she's anything but happy right now.

Instead, I open my conversation with Michael again.

I'm coming over.

He responds in an instant: no you're not.

I whip my door open and jump down the stairs three at a time anyway.

That wasn't a question. Who the hell does he think he is? Maddie is obviously over there and I have to talk to her before she thinks too much about this and starts assuming things that aren't true.

For all I know, she already has.

After going 60 the whole way there and launching myself from my car, I press down on Michael's doorbell a few hundred times. I have to stand there in front of his house for a while, just ringing the doorbell, but it annoys him enough that eventually I hear him stomping his way to answer.

He opens the door so fast it almost hits him in the face, "You're not talking to her."

"F*ck you, yes I am."

I lift my chin to look behind him but she hasn't followed him. He puffs out his chest, ready to defend her, and I roll my eyes.

"You're not," He repeats.

I make an attempt to push past him but pulls the door shut more so I can't even see behind him, let alone maneuver my way into his house.

I could force him away from the door, pick him up and move him or something, but that wouldn't look very good. The two of us would end up in a fight which I'm sure I would win. Maddie would see and I don't think that'd do much to help me convince her I'm not a shitty person. So I stay still and try to contain my anger as best as I can.

See, I think before I act on occassion.

"Mikey, just let me fix this," I say. It's very hard for me not to lash out right now. "Please."

"Do you know how much I have done for you?" He spits, out of nowhere. He's whispering so Maddie won't hear, but with each word his voice raises a tiny bit more, "I f*cking compromised with Milly, you asshole! I'm her bitch now! I've been doing whatever she wants me to do to get Cooper to like her, just so she won't tell him!"

I watch him as he heaves in and out, his hair a firey red now and his cheeks only a couple of shades lighter. He grits his teeth but it's hard to take Michael seriously. Even when he gets angry he just looks like a defenseless little kitten.

"I do all I can to make sure she trusts you and then you do this!"

"Calm your f*cking ass, Mikey," If he's going to lecture me like this, I'm not going to stay completely composed.