Shattered (Continuation of: The Chase) ▹ Ashton Irwin

Chapter Fifty Five

*Brooke's POV*

I dragged my aching and tired body downstairs for the first time this weekend. Since the moment I got home from school yesterday afternoon, I've been laying in my bed and not having any contact with anyone from outside of my bedroom wall. I've got up a few times, but everytime I tried to do something I ended up just crawling back under my covers and crying about something. 

It was Saturday night, but I obviously had no plans. I haven't had plans on a Saturday night in weeks, except for the times that I've hung out with Jessie. And I know that it's a good thng to be staying away from the the stuff I used to to on Saturday nights, but the more I stayed cooped up in here, the more I feel like I'm going crazy. I felt like I was completely caged and locked into my house, even though I had the freedoms to leave right out my front door. I could leave and go do something right this second if I wanted to, but I was too afraid to. There was nothing for me to do anymore, besides bug Jessie and cry to her about Ashton and ask for advice. 

"Brooke," my mother said as I quickly passed through the kitchen. It was getting to be around dinner time, but I wasn't in the mood to sit down and have a full meal with my family who barely ever talks to me anymore. I've been trying to make some conversation with my parents (particularly my mom - our relationship is still trying to build back up from what it once was), but they never really listen. Ever since Ashton and I broke up, I've been trying to talk to them, but everytime I do they don't listen to me. 

"Yeah?" I asked, rummaging through the refridgerator for something to eat. My mom was cooking some kind of pasta but I wasn't going to stick around to try it. 

"You're staying down here, right?" 

"No," I shrugged. There wasn't any food, so I sighed and grabbed some orange juice. "Can I go to the grocery store?"

"Right now?" my mother raised her eyebrows at me. She kept glancing back and fourth between me and the pot she was cooking from. "Dinner's almost ready."

"Yeah, well," I huffed. "Our fridge is empty and I want to get outside for a little. I haven't been out of the house all day."

"But you need to eat dinner," my mother retorted. "An actual meal. It's not my fault you don't do anything anymore."

I took a sip of my orange juice and slammed my galss back down on the counter. "Can you stop?" I asked.  She always says this. She always says I don't do shit anymore, as if all the things I used to do counted as actually living. "Please?"

"Stop what?" Mom was barely even looking at me, as she found so much more interest in pouring noodles into the drainer. I wish she knew why I actually came down here in the first place. I'm not even hungry, now that I think about it. I just wanted to talk to her, I just wanted to ask her for some advice.

"Brooke, calm down," I heard my father's voice as he entered the room. "I can hear you from upstairs."

He walked over to my mother and kissed her cheek, asking her what was for dinner. Deep down I was really glad that they were starting to love each other like how they used to, thanks to the therapy they've been going to on Sundays, but at the same time it broke my heart. It made me think about me and Ashton. But then again, everything reminds me of him, so I shouldn't be surprised. 

"Well can you stop telling me that I don't do anything anymore?" I asked. 

"Where's your brother?" he questioed, completely dismissing my simple plead. "Get him down here for dinner."

"But -"

"Brooke."

I let out a groan, called my brother's name, and then turned back to my parents. They were getting out plates and setting the table, barely making any eye contact with me no matter how many times I said their names. It was giving me a shitty feeling in my stomach; it made me feel guilty, anxious, and alone. I felt very, very alone, when all I wanted was someone to talk to. I wanted to ask my mother how I should try and forget about Ashton, because the last time I asked her she didn't help.