Hopelessly Falling [book 2]

Chapter Forty-Seven

XLVII
• • •

Layla's POV ***

        "Do you want ice cream?" I asked over to Jake, who was staring out the passenger's seat window blankly.

"Not really.." he answered, and I frowned. He never didn't want ice cream- my brothers had that much in common.

"Okay," I replied, and drove us to the nearest fast food place. Once I grabbed his chicken nuggets in the drive-through and handed them to him, I started back to Eli's. I sent Eli a text once I parked in the same spot on the side of his street and looked over at Jake again. He had barely touched his food.

"We don't talk a lot, do we?" I shut off the car with a sigh. "About things that actually matter, I mean. I know your favorite ice cream flavors, and favorite movies, but not what makes you sad, or how you deal with everything," I continued, not talking to him like the 7-year-old he was. He didn't meet my eyes.

"Don't shut down, Jake," I said softly, and he finally looked up at me, tears in his eyes. "Ashton does that. Whenever he feels sad or upset he shuts down and it hurts him. It hurts other people sometimes, too. Don't do that. Talk to me," I tried not to get choked up at all, making sure to seem as emotionally comfortable as possible for him.

Ashton loves him so much. And they had grown up together essentially by themselves, but Ashton was never one to look up to when it came to vulnerability. I just hoped I hadn't gotten back too late to rewire his little brain.

"I know he hurts people sometimes.. but this was the first time I saw," he said, his voice small. "He was scary," he looked back down, his lip quivering a little bit.

"He's still Ash," I told him, "he's the same Ashton he's always been, he was just mad and the guy he hurt was really bad." Jake nodded, but I could tell that he was doing it more so to just agree and accept- not to express his actual understanding of it. He had gotten so used to agreeing and accepting things over the years, even if he didn't actually agree or accept them.

"Tell me more," I chimed back in, not wanting him to hide his vulnerability again. There was a little pause.

"He hurt Eli, too. Even though it was just Eli. And it's not his fault that mom is gone, but he hurt her with words," he continued, seeming to shrink with each word. He clearly hadn't said this to anybody, ever.

"I know, sweetie. But he's sorry for both, and nobody's perfect," I told him, and he looked back up to me.

"You're perfect, though," he furrowed his brows in confusion. I laughed and sent him a loving glance.

"I am far from perfect, Jake. Far from it. And that's the thing- not a single person is ever perfect, but it's not often that you find someone who has a genuinely good heart. And that's Ashton. He covers it with mean words or harsh actions sometimes, but only because that's what he's always thought he has to do in order to protect himself, and protect the people he loves. And it's not good, but he's working in it." I paused before continuing.

"Some people have mean hearts and perfect appearances. And Ashton doesn't has a perfect appearance, but he has a good heart," I finished, and the look in Jake's eyes told me that this this time he actually took in my words and understood them a bit more.

"Thank you," Jake said.

"For what, little dude?" I asked with a smile.