Hopelessly Falling [book 2]

Chapter Forty-Five

XLV
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Ashton's POV***

Thanksgiving had pretty much gone as expected, with me and and Layla's deeply mediocre cooking, a lot of laughs, and plenty of times that I had to separate Layla and Eli when they thought I couldn't see. I had bribed Jake with ice cream to nudge me every time he caught the two of them holding hands under the table. I didn't look forward to the day that Jake realized he could just get himself ice cream from the freezer and didn't need to accept any bribery.

Crystal told me that her house had been really peaceful and positive the whole day, and I was so goddamn happy for her- and for her mom and Connor. They all deserved it so much.

Now, a few days later, Jake was hell-bent on seeing this stupid new movie that just came out. He had been asking for a week to see it, and I finally gave in. I despised kids movies. But alas, there I was helping him fix his jacket as we were leaving the house to see one.

I had asked Crystal if she wanted to come, but she apparently had been roped into making friendship bracelets with Connor. I smiled to myself as I imagined the scene.

"If I get back and Layla's sheets are even a wrinkle out of place I'm making you pay rent," I said over to Eli as the two of them sat on the couch, half-kidding.

"So you'd prefer if we used the couch, then?" Layla mused and I sarcastically laughed as Eli put his face in his hands. I mean, it was fun to watch her embarrass him constantly.

"What did that mean?" Jake asked up to me as we approached the car. It was getting dark outside.

"You don't want to know. It involves cooties," I replied and we hopped in. He scrunched his nose.

"Gross," he stated, and I chuckled, letting him flick around the radio as we drove. When we finally got to the center of town, there were no parking spaces anywhere. I cursed under my breath, driving to the nearest vacant parking lot instead. It would be a little walk to the movie theatre, but it was fine. Jake could walk off all of the ice cream I had given him earlier.

We rounded a slight corner, the sidewalk fairly narrow as it wrapped around the common. And that's when I saw him.

I froze dead in my tracks, my vision essentially turning red on sight.

Jake went to ask why I stopped walking, but when he saw the lethally calm expression on my face, he seemed a little scared to ask. I told him to go back to the car since we were only about 50 yards from it, and he immediately obliged, running off behind me. My gaze was locked in and unwavering.

George was with one of his friends. They were stopped on the sidewalk looking at a phone and laughing. I didn't even have time to think about what they were looking at as I started walking towards them. He looked up and saw me a few moments before I got to him; the fear in his eyes satisfying but not at all adequate.

"A-Ashton, how's it been-" I cut him off with an aggressive blow to his right cheek, and his bulkier friend immediately stepped in to push me back with a yell.

"You fucking piece of shit!" I growled at him as he recovered from the blow. Every time I thought about what he did to Crystal... my Crystal... it ripped my soul completely apart in a million places. There were no words to describe the overbearing guilt and pain and anger it continuously sparked in me. It had been building and building internally this entire time.

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" George yelled at me, his friend keeping in between us. I narrowed my eyes at him, my gaze somehow turning even deadlier. I could tell this caused a little rise in his fear.