Blind Fate

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

At the end of dinner, Max and I help each other with the dishes. As we do them. I tell Max that Amanda and I are together but it doesn't mean that it will stay that way. She doesn't seem convinced but she doesn't argue either. When we finish the dishes, Ashley is sitting at the counter on her phone and Amanda left to get in the shower.

I look at Ashley, tapping the counter to get her attention. "Thanks for taking care of Max, Ash. But I'll give you the night off and I'll sleep with her." Knowing she gets nightmares, I didn't want her to be alone.

"Uh uh. I want to sleep with Ashley," Max argues and Ashley's eyebrows knit together.

"At my house you always slept with Cherrie." I turn to Max with a raised eyebrow and she glares at Ash before looking to me.

"I'll be fine by myself. Go spend time with your girlfriend, dork." This was the first time Amanda had been referred to as my girlfriend since high school. It felt foreign and unknown. But I didn't feel the need to correct her. That doesn't mean I didn't stop the eye roll though.

"You never like to sleep by yourself," I argue.

"Yeah, well, I've grown up since last time you saw me."

"It's been two days, Max."

"I'll sleep with her," Ash intervenes before looking straight at me. "Max is right, you should spend time with her. Like you said before, you never know what's going to happen. Take advantage of this while you have it."

I sigh. "Fine. But you come get me if you have a nightmare, deal?" I say to Max. She nods her head once.

"Yes, sir."

"Yeah, don't call me that," I say finally before walking away from the girls and down the hall to Amanda's room. I open the door, stepping in quietly. I freeze when my eyes fall on Mandy. She's wearing only a towel, her hair dripping wet from the shower. She's staring intensely at herself in the mirror, her fingertips grazing over her collarbone. I then realize that a bright blue bruise resides on it. Guilt immediately fills my gut, weighing me down. I quickly make my way over to Mandy. "Shit, Mandy, did I hurt you?"

Her eyes flicker to me in surprise. She hadn't even realized I was there. She doesn't answer right away. She just looks back into the mirror, staring longingly at her collar bone. Up close, I realize that it isn't the bruise she's looking at, but a scar that resides underneath. I step closer behind her, watching her through the mirror. Her eyes come up to meet mine in the reflection.

"I didn't tell anyone about it. It was right after he proposed." She looks back down at it. "We had a fight and he threw his wine glass. A shard flew up and got me. It was the first time his anger was clearly an issue for me." She gulps and I reach out, placing my hands on her arms. "I threatened to leave him. He threatened Andy, Ian." Tears fill her eyes and my instinct is to wrap my arms around her but I stay put, letting her finish. "After that night, things just got worse. I had no one to turn to about it. I thought he was going to kill me."

My heart breaks at the sight before me. She's tearing up, watching her reflection in the mirror. I press a light kiss to her shoulder and she shuts her eyes. "I'm here," is all I say. When I do, she turns around, hugging me tightly. I hug her back immediately, letting her small frame melt in my arms.

"Thank you for saving my life," she says in a small voice. I close my eyes, holding her a bit closer.

"What kind of world would be one without Amanda Evans?" At this, she chuckles lightly, pressing a kiss to my cheek. We pull back, locking eyes. I look down, her gaze so intense that it urged my next words. "I have scars, too."

When I look back up at her, her face is slightly confused. It would make sense why she didn't feel them last night. Our night together had been so urgent and fast that even I didn't remember most of it. With a deep breath, I turn around in front of her. I unbutton my shirt with ease, pulling it off to reveal the scars from the several whippings I had received as a child. I close my eyes as her fingers make contact with my skin, running lightly over my scars. Her touch leaves a burning sensation on my skin.

"Ian," she starts before I turn around to face her again. She smiles slightly up at me. "We're both just as fucked up."

"I hate that you went through what you did."

"In a way, it was a blessing in disguise," she says to which I look at her confusedly.

"How so?" I ask.

"It got you back to me, right?" And then she reaches up, dropping her towel.

———

In the morning, the light shines brightly through the curtains and onto my face. I groan lightly, pulling the body next to mine closer. I hear her groan in response as she opens her eyes, looking up at me as soon as she realized where she was. She then smiles, leaning up to kiss me.

    "I could get used to this," she says, settling into my bare chest. I smile, holding her close to my body. "I wish we could just stay here forever. Just me and you."

    I smile at the thought, imagining a world with just us. No problems, no abusive relationships, no responsibilities. Just me and her together. But that wasn't reality. In reality, we were being hunted by a crazed lunatic and I got dumped by car accident. That doesn't just go away.

    As much as I wished it would.

    I sigh, running a hand through her hair as she looks up at me. "Me too. But unfortunately there's a young mouth I have to feed so we are going to have to get up soon." I glance over at the clock on the nightstand. It's 6:10. "But..." I start, turning my attention back to Mandy with a smile. "I think we should be able to salvage another hour or two."

    She smirks in response and I flip us over, hovering over her for a second before I press my lips to hers. Her hands run up my chest to my neck, pulling me as close to her as possible.

    Shocking me, she pushes me over, flipping us so that she's straddling me. The kiss doesn't break, though. And in that room, we continued to spend the rest of the morning tangled up in each other.

    At 8, we clean up, getting clothed and brushing our teeth. Then we head out of the room. Mandy heads to the kitchen to get breakfast started and I part from her to check on Max and Ash. When I enter the room, Max is already out of the room and it's only Ash.

I'm about to speak to get her attention, but stop myself when I watch her pour pills into her hand, tossing them back into her mouth. My eyebrows knit together. If she had a headache or something, she'd be taking ibuprofen or Advil and that doesn't come in a prescription bottle. She sits on the bed, staring at the wall for a second before turning around. Her eyes widen as she realizes I'm standing at the door.

"Ian! How long have you been here?" Her voice sounds nervous.

"Long enough. What the hell are you on medication for, Ash?" Her lips press together in a tight line.

"I, uh, get migraines." I stalk towards her, grabbing the bottle off the bedside table.

"Bullshit." She takes the pill bottle out of my hands, looking down nervously. "Ash, what is going on? And don't you dare lie to me."

She looks up, remorse in her eyes. Her eyes glaze over with tears as her eyes scan my face. She fiddles her finger and I raise my eyebrow at her. I was starting to get impatient. What was she not telling me? She opens her mouth to speak but closes it, not saying anything. I sigh impatiently, crossing my arms. She looks down, avoiding my expectant eyes as she speaks.

"I'm sick, Ian."

"Clearly," I retort angrily. She flinches slightly at the coldness of my voice. But I couldn't help it. Why was she sugarcoating it? Whatever it is, she's getting medical help for it, right? Why is she sugarcoating something she's fixing? Doubt fills my mind when I take in her expression. The fear in her eyes says it all. "Ash?"

She takes a deep breath. "Ian, I have cancer."