Wouldn’t Miss A Chance {CH} 17
Previous Chapters: One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen
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“ASHTON,” CLARA SIGHED. He was ignoring her. Ignoring everybody, really, and Clara was getting tired of it. She knew that her boyfriend was upset with his sister and his best friend, she understood that he felt betrayed by them, but she also knew that he needed to talk to them. And talk to her about it. Ashton’s arms were crossed over his chest, his body slouched down on her couch, and his eyes glued to the TV. “I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but-”
“Then don’t say it,” Ashton snapped at her. He knew it was wrong to be taking his anger out on his girlfriend who was an innocent bystander in all of this, who didn’t do anything wrong for him to be snapping at her like that, but he didn’t know how else to act.
“But,” Clara continued, not being phased by Ashton’s harsh tone. “It’s what you need to hear.” Clara was facing him on the couch, her elbow propped up on the back of it, her temple resting on her fist, as she stared at him. He felt her stare and finally, he huffed and looked at her, raising an eyebrow as to tell her to continue talking. “You can’t keep acting like this, Ash. I know you’re pissed and you have every right to be, but nothing is going to get resolved by you ignoring Sophie and Calum. It’s just going to make things worse in the long run.”
“I just hate the fact that they’re together.” Ashton mumbled. “And I’m scared that Calum is going to hurt her. He’s known for that, that’s what he’s best at. He doesn’t do relationships.”
“I know you do,” Clara sighed and took his hand in hers. “But Sophie is twenty-two, Ash, she’s a grown woman who can make her own decisions. I get that you’re her older brother and you want to protect her, but you can’t anymore. You have to let her deal with relationships and everything that comes with them; fighting, arguing, disagreements, the potential of heartbreak, by herself, Ash. You can’t baby her for the rest of her life. Or yours.”
“It’s hard for me not to.”
Clara ignored him, kept talking, kept forcing him to listen to her because she knew that if she didn’t get everything out now, she never would, and Ashton wouldn’t listen to her again. “And you can’t try to keep them apart if they really do have feelings for each other and if what they have is real. If you do, they’ll resent you, and you may lose two very important people in your life, and I know that’s not what you want.”
“You’re right. It’s not what I want,” Ashton shook his head. “It’s just hard for me to accept it, Clara. Like, my baby sister and my best friend going behind my back for who knows how long? And then finding out that they’re actually together and in a relationship? It’s like being stabbed in the back.”
“Sooner or later you’ll have to accept it, because even though they kept it from you, it’s-” Clara took a deep breath before finishing her sentence, knowing full well that it could set Ashton completely over the edge and it could cause a fight between the two, but she was willing to risk that because Ashton needed to hear it. “It’s selfish of you to make them feel guilty for being together..”
Ashton looked away from Clara and swallowed thickly, knowing that she was right; it was selfish of him. He couldn’t keep two people he cared about apart, no matter how much he wanted to or how hard he tried, he knew it wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair to Calum and Sophie. Ashton wasn’t okay with it, he knew he wouldn’t be for a while, but he was going to try. He owed them that much.
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“Stop it!” Sophie giggled loudly as Calum continued to tickle her sides relentlessly. Sophie was on her back, Calum hovering over her as he tickled her. He knew that she hated being tickled, but the laugh that left her mouth because of it made Calum smile widely. He loved her laugh, there was no denying it. He loved making her laugh. “Calum! ‘M gonna pee my pants if you don’t stop!”
“Ew,” Calum laughed and scrunched his nose up. He reluctantly got off of Sophie and fell back on her bed, pulling her with him. Sophie landed on his lap, legs on either side of his body and he wrapped his arms around her waist. “Can we stay like this all day?” Calum mumbled against Sophie’s skin.
“I wish,” Sophie sighed happily. The past few days that Ashton had been at Clara’s ignoring them, it was like Calum and Sophie were in their own world, their own bubble. They walked around the house in their underwear, cooked each other dinner, and had sex almost everywhere they could- minus Ashton’s bedroom, since that would have been way too disrespectful. It was nice, they were content, but they knew it wouldn’t last forever. They wished it would though. “We both have to work tonight.”
Calum had gotten the job at the shop to fix up damaged or broken motorcycles and he was ecstatic about it, as was Sophie since Calum finally had a real job. He still sold a little bit of weed on the side, but it wasn’t his main source of income, and he couldn’t have been happier. Not having to depend on drugs for money was a nice change for Calum.
A sudden knock sounded at the door and Sophie sighed in annoyance before calling out, “Come in!” Thinking it was Michael or Luke, since they usually showed up at the house unannounced, but neither of them were expecting Ashton to be opening Sophie’s bedroom door and staring at them.
“Ashton,” Calum spoke and Sophie turned her head, quickly sliding off of Calum’s lap and onto her bed next to him. She knew her brother wouldn’t want to see them cuddled up and loving on each other. Calum picked his shirt up off the floor and threw it on, not wanting to be shirtless anymore, even though Ashton had seen him shirtless before, it felt different since he was in Sophie’s bed with her.
“Ash, hey,” Sophie spoke nervously.
“Uh, hey guys,” Ashton stood awkwardly in the doorway, looking around Sophie’s room. He wasn’t sure what came over him, maybe it was his talk with Clara, or maybe it was the fact that it had been nearly two weeks and he missed talking to Sophie and Calum everyday, missed being a part of their lives, but he knew he had to try to understand and accept their relationship.
“W-What’s up?” Sophie was nervous and Calum could tell. He carefully, without Ashton seeing, slid his hand up the back of her shirt and traced random patterns on her skin, hoping to calm her down. It worked, only a little bit, and Sophie was glad that Calum was in the room with her.
“I was thinking and talking to Clara and, well,” Ashton took a deep breath. “I don’t like the fact that you’re together and I fucking hate the fact that you hid it from me for so long, but you’re both way too important for me to lose, so I’m going to try to be okay with this.”
Both Sophie and Calum’s eyes widened, not believing the words coming out of Ashton’s mouth, and sure as hell not expecting them to come so soon. “Wait,” Sophie’s lips turned up. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, seriously,” Ashton ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t like it, I really don’t, and it’s going to take me a while to accept the fact that you’re serious about each other, but I’m going to try. You guys deserve to be happy and if it’s with each other, who am I to stand in the way of that?”
Sophie squealed, abruptly shooting up from her bed, and stumbling over to Ashton to wrap her arms around his neck in a hug. He stumbled back at the sudden impact, but quickly found his balance and wrapped his arms around Sophie’s middle. “Thank you, Ash.” Sophie mumbled in his ear and squeezed him tighter.
Sophie released Ashton and turned to Calum, smiling widely. “Just keep the PDA to a minimum, alright? I don’t want to see my best friend and my sister making out all of the time.”
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Sophie couldn’t stop smiling her whole entire shift and neither could Calum. Their coworkers asked what had them so happy, but all they did was shrug and continue to smile. Neither of them had ever been happier; they loved each other, were so happy together, and Ashton was finally trying to be okay with it. What else could they ask for?
Even with the drunk men that shamelessly flirted with Sophie and tried to grope her, she still smiled, not even they could deteriorate her good mood. As the night ended, Sophie got more and more excited to go home and spend time with her boyfriend and her brother. The three of them planned to watch movies together and catch each other up on life, since Ashton had been ignoring them for so long, and Sophie couldn’t wait.
“Got any plans after this?” Sophie asked Oliver as she dried the glasses he handed to her after cleaning them off. Everyone was gone, minus the two of them, and all the doors were locked but one since Sophie knew Calum was coming in to pick her up since her car was in the shop and he didn’t want her to walk home at such a late time by herself.
“Nope, nothin’ really,” Oliver shrugged. “You?”
“Just hanging out with Calum and Ashton.”
“Are you and Calum like, together together now?” Oliver asked and Sophie nodded her head happily. Sophie had discussed in minor detail about her and Calum’s relationship with Georgia and Oliver, so he knew a little bit about it. “And your brother is okay with it?”
“Not completely, but he’ll come around.”
Oliver nodded his head and the pair continued to wash dishes in a comfortable silence with only the music lowly in the background. Sophie reached over, her feet slipping on the spilled beer that was yet to be mopped up, and was close to falling, but Oliver grabbed her waist and steadied her before she could. Their bodies were close, way too close for her liking, and before she could thank him and step away, his lips were on hers and Sophie’s eyes were widening in surprise.
“What the fuck is this?” Calum’s voice sounded as the bar door slammed shut behind him. Sophie came to her senses and quickly shoved Oliver way from her, sending him stumbling to the other end of the bar. Calum was fuming, his skin red from anger and his fists clenched together, his keys that were in his right hand nearly stabbing his palm. Sophie was too stunned to find any words and Calum was quick to open the door and leave.
“Calum, wait!” Sophie ran after him, but he was already on his bike and revving the engine before speeding away from Sophie and Suzy-Cue’s. Sophie ran a nervous and frustrated hand through her hair and cursed. “Fucking fuck.” She stomped back inside, ready to rip Oliver a new one. “What the fuck, Oliver?”
“What?” He didn’t look phased.
“I just told you that Calum and I are together and then you kiss me? What the hell is that?”
“I like you, okay? And I thought that if I kissed you that maybe you would realize you liked me, too.” Oliver spoke simply and Sophie narrowed her eyes at him. “You can do better than him, Sophie. I know you can.”
“And what’s better than Calum? You?” Sophie’s voice never wavered and Oliver shrugged. “Well, I don’t like you, and I sure as shit never will after what you just did.”
Sophie gathered her stuff and made her way towards the door. She ignored Oliver’s protests, leaving him to clean up and close the bar by himself. She angrily stomped down the sidewalk, wiping the frustrated tears off of her cheeks, and pulled her phone out to call Calum, but was stopped by a familiar voice.
“Seems like Calum doesn’t care for you much if he’s just leavin’ you here like this.” Robby spoke and walked closer to her. He tucked a stray piece of hair out of her face and she took a step back, but he took another step forward.
“What do you want, Robby?”
“Hood owes me some money, Sophie. And he’s ignorin’ my calls.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
Robby let out a devious laugh and leaned down to whisper in Sophie’s ear. “Well, you, you’re collateral damage, baby.” Goosebumps rose on Sophie’s skin and they weren’t because of the cold air around her and they sure as hell weren’t the good kind that Calum gave her, no, these goosebumps were anything but good. They were out of pure fear of the man in front of her.
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(if i forgot you please let me know!)
