Hopelessly Falling [book 2]

Chapter Thirty-Six

XXXVI
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Layla's POV ***

"When are you back?" I asked Ashton as he twirled his keys around his finger. He tried to shake Jake off of his leg, but he didn't let go.

"Few weeks. Then you have me for a whole two months," he replied with a smug smile.

"Oh, joy," I commented sarcastically and he laughed.

"Jake," he said softly, ruffling the the top of Jake's head as he kept his arms tightly looped around Ashton's leg. "You gotta let go bud," Jake finally let go, and Ashton knelt down to be at his level. Jake frowned as he threw his arms around him, and Ashton returned the hug. "I'll only be gone for a bit-"

A knock on the door cut him off, and all of our attentions snapped over to it. I glanced at the two of them before walking over and opening it. My eyes widened when I saw Eli. I didn't remember his face getting hit too much by Ashton, but the abundance of cuts riddling his soft skin and the black eye he sported suggested differently.

I swallowed the lump in my throat at seeing what my brother had done to him, and tried not to think about the fact that he hadn't particularly been planning on stopping, either. Eli's eyes were wide when he saw me, too, looking a little nervous to be talking to me. But then his eyes looked behind me to where Ashton was still with Jake.

Jake smiled and went to trot over to greet Eli, but Ashton put his hand on his chest to stop him. He looked at Ashton slightly confused before Ashton stood up, glaring coldly at Eli.

"Y-you're still here," Eli commented, clearly having expected him to be back at school by now. Ashton didn't reply as Eli looked down to the floor. I noticed Ashton's eyes flicker with guilt momentarily when Eli wasn't looking, the damage and severity of his punches worse than we both had thought.

"I'm leaving now. You should, too," Ashton spoke, his voice deep. I watched as he walked away from Jake and towards us. He didn't so much as offer Eli a glance as he walked through the door, purposely bumping his shoulder into his as he passed him. I sighed disapprovingly at him before he called out a half-assed goodbye to me over his shoulder.

Eli had hid it from Ashton, but I saw him wince in pain when they bumped together. He didn't look back up until he heard Ashton's car drive away. The underlying pain in his eyes made my heart sink in my chest.

"Can I, um," he started, his voice slightly more hoarse than usual. I shook off my thoughts as I peeled my eyes away from his split lip and opened the door wider.

"Yeah- yeah come in," I told him, and he stepped inside, looking over at Jake as I shut the door.

"Eli?" Jake questioned up at him with baby eyes, as if asking permission to greet him. Eli cracked a small smile and knelt down, bringing Jake in for a hug. Jake hugged him back, letting his signature beaming smile immediately spread on his face at being able to hug him again.

Eli winced again slightly as he stood back up, and I marched in front of him, looking up at his face once again observing the marks. I couldn't help myself as I reached up and gently tilted his head this way and that, assessing the damage. He only let me do this for a few second before removing my hands with a small smile.

"Hi, Lay," he finally greeted me, and I frowned at him.

"Hi, you freak," I replied as he kept my hands in his. "Jake wanna go make us all those cool chocolate treats you wanted to make earlier?" I looked down to him and his face lit up before he nodded and ran out of the room. I turned my attention back to Eli, who hadn't stopped staring at me the whole time.