Chapter Fifty-Two

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LII
• • •

Crystal's POV***

        Savannah, Scarlett, and I were all sitting on the couch, watching as Kevin argued with Eli about the correct way to tie a tie. Ashton was in the bathroom probably hyperventilating- and I had already tried a few times to get him to let me in, but I also knew that sometimes he just needed his own little space bubble to get himself together.

It took me a while after we started dating to actually understand that and know that that was okay, but I did now. It was just how he was, and how he always had been. I think that through our relationship he's started to understand himself that that's okay, too.

Layla was in her room getting ready- only the three boys were going now, and the rest of them would go up in a bit. The three of them needed to be there earlier apparently since Eli and Kevin were testifying. Layla originally had wanted to testify, but ultimately didn't trust herself to keep it together enough for it to not backfire on them. And Jake, well, I was currently holding him on my lap, and he had barely uttered a word all day.

"Eli can you help me with my dress zipper real quick?" Layla peaked her head out of the door, and he finished fixing his tie in the mirror before walking over. She quickly pulled him into her room and he let out an unexpected laugh as she shut the door behind him.

"They're cute," Savanah commented, smiling to herself.

"They're weird is what they are," Kevin corrected, plopping down on one of the seats. "I see Layla and think little sister.. I still don't know how the hell he sees her any different."

"Monroe's get all the hoes," Savanah joked with a shrug, and I burst out laughing.

"Please, the child," I covered Jake's ears, but he giggled and reached up to take them off.

"Speaking of said child, we gotta get going," Kevin said and stood up, sighing and making his way to Layla's room. I laughed to myself as I heard her react to Kevin barging in, and him returning a moment later tugging a slightly disheveled Eli behind him. Layla followed shortly after, her hair slightly messed up as she crossed her arms at Kevin.

"He was helping me with my dress," she told him as he let go of Eli, who then wiped a little bit of lip gloss off his lips that had clearly transferred over from her and fixed his tie.

"You're not wearing a dress," Kevin said, and she looked down at her outfit, which was in fact not a dress.

"Well I was trying to put one on, that was the point," she replied stubbornly and sat down on the seat that Kevin had been on before.

"Mhm, sure, we'll go with that. Anyway, we'll be in the car, Crystal can you hurry your boyfriend the hell up?" Kevin said as the two of them made their way to the door.

"I'll try," I replied, and they said goodbye before walking out. Jake went over to sit with Layla after I got up to knock on the bathroom door. "Hey Ash, Eli and Kev just went out to the car," I told him.

"Alright, one sec," he responded, and I frowned at the nerves clearly riddling his voice. When I sat back down on the couch, I looked over at Layla as she started talking.

"I don't get it, he's such a good kisser," she commented, thinking about Eli out loud, and I chuckled.

"Oh, they know," Savanah told her, and both Scarlett and I choked on air, our faces reddening slightly as she cracked up. I did us both the favor of shoving her in response to that little comment.

"Oh my god, right, sorry if I just made that awkward," Layla's hands went to her cheeks as she awkwardly smiled.

"You didn't," Scarlett chuckled, and Layla looked a little relieved.

"Yeah, besides, your brother's better," I commented with a mischievous smirk, and Scarlett hit my leg as Savanah laughed and Layla let out an 'ew'.

"Is this what girls always talk about?" Jake asked with a confused little smile as Ashton finally came out and walked into the room.

"What are you guys talking about?" He asked casually as he passed by.

"Kissing your best friend," Savanah answered for us, even though none of us were going to say anything. We all basically face-palmed, Layla chuckling.

"Ugh," his face scrunched in utter disgust, making me laugh a little, "he is truly ridiculous."

He said bye to Jake and Layla, and then the rest of us, but I got up to follow him out and say another goodbye, since I wasn't going to be seeing him again until after.

"Ash," I said when we were outside the front door, reaching up and cupping his face with both hands to have him look me in the eyes. "You won't lose custody, but even if you do, you still would never lose them." I affirmed, and he nodded, still seeming nervous. There was some distant resolve in his eyes, though, like he understood that what I said was true.

I had also told him that if worst came to worst, my mom could always adopt them, and that it would all be okay, but I was pretty sure it was just the principal of the thing that had him so messed up.

I got on my tip-toes and pressed my lips to his, and he kissed me back, wrapping his arms around me and bringing me into him.

"Hey- you guys are really cute and all but we should probably get there on time if we're gonna pull off the whole 'looking more responsible than we actually are' thing!" Kevin yelled over, sticking his head out the car window. We chuckled and pulled apart.

"You got this. Kick some ass," I smiled up at him, and he smiled back.

"I love you," he said and gave me one last sweet kiss on the lips.

"I love you, too, my little degenerate," I grinned, and he rolled his eyes at me with an equally loving grin.

I watched as Ashton hopped in the driver's seat and pulled out of the driveway, shooting me a last little look as they drove away. I smiled and waved encouragingly, but once they were out of sight I let myself frown as my heart pounded in my chest. The unworried front I had put up about this hearing was only down for a few moments before I walked inside, putting it back up for Layla and Jake's sake.

As the three of them talked amongst themselves, I brought Jake into the kitchen to get him something to eat real quick. As I got some stuff together, I noticed him staring at the picture that Ashton had in the kitchen of their parents.

"I don't really remember them," his little voice spoke, and I stopped what I was doing, my breath pausing as I turned to look at him, "Would that happen with Ash if I lost him, too?" His eyes were big and slightly watery when he looked back up to meet my gaze, and I felt my heart break for him.

"You won't lose him," I said, walking over and sitting down on the chair next to him to put my hand on his shoulder. I knew it was true, too, because like I said to Ashton- even if he lost custody, he would never lose them. Jake didn't look like he believed me, so I stuck out my pinkie. He looked at it confused.

"Do you not know what a pinkie promise is?" I asked, not entirely surprised since it had been only Ashton raising him until recently when Layla came back. He shook his head 'no'. "Okay, so basically I say a promise, and then we link our pinkies together and it makes it a super-promise promise," I explained, and his brows raised a little at the power of a 'super-promise promise'.

He nodded his head, understanding, and then reached up to link his pinkie through mine before I said what the promise was. "Silly goose, you link your pinkie through mine after I say what it is," I chuckled, removing his pinkie from mine. He smiled bashfully. "I promise that you won't lose Ashton, or Layla, or any of the rest of us. We love you to much to ever let you go," I said, and this time I tapped him to let him know to link his pinkie through mine.

He smiled when our pinkies locked, and it made me smile, too. He giggled and we pulled our pinkies away before Layla walked into the kitchen to get some water. Jake trotted off, leaving me with her, and I frowned over to her as she stood with her back facing me, sipping her water and shaking slightly.

"Layla," I spoke gently, getting up and making my way next to her. She faced me and immediately tried to cover up her nerves, but her shaking hands and reddened eyes made this impossible. She must have realized this, since she let her fake small fall.

"I'm trying to keep it together, for the both of them," she told me, "I mean, someone needs the lady-balls in this family," she joked and chuckled before a tear fell. She quickly wiped it off of her cheek and looked back to me.

"Layla, even if he somehow does lose custody, which he won't, then my mom would snatch you guys up, or even any of the rest of us would, too. You're not going back, and Jake isn't going with you," I reassured her, and she looked a little speechless

"When it first happened, I, just," she paused, finding her words, "there was no one else who could take me in, that's why my mom had to send me away... but it's different now, and I guess I keep just going back to all those years ago when there wasn't any other option than to be put in the system. That helpless feeling is sort of burned into me," she explained, and I understood completely. "Thank you for helping ground me," she said sincerely, and I smiled softly, bringing her into a hug.

We all spent a little more time together before they all had to go, and I said goodbye to them as they drove off. I felt so so terrible that I couldn't be there with and for them all, but I knew that there was a pretty good chance that I would have just made it even more difficult with all my goddamn court triggers.

When I got back to my house, my mom was making some lunch for Connor and her, and she started making some extra when she saw me walk in and greeted me with a smile. As she was getting it all ready, I went to my room to change into even comfier clothes and Connor joined me, telling me that he would wait outside until I was changed like a proper little gentleman. When I told him I was finished and chuckled, he strolled in with his adorable, bouncy steps.

I was obviously stressed as fuck, so when I fell down onto my bed and Connor crawled on top of me, I smiled softly and hugged him to me, taking it in and feeling his little arms coddle my soul a bit as they remained wrapped around me.

"Cwyssie?" Hs asked, moving to sit upright on my lap as I sat up against my headboard.

"Mhm?"

"Can I sleep with you tonight, I hadz a bad dream last night," he asked, and I pulled him in for another hug.

"Of course little dude," I said into his blonde hair, "any night you want."

When we pulled away from the hug, he went to tickle me in celebration, but I got to him first. The two of us were laughing and he was squealing as I tickled him relentlessly- until my mom came in telling us our lunch was ready. She had been really getting into cooking and food as an outlet- which is one of the most successful strategies that she had yet taken from rehab- and I was really really proud of her for it. (And a tad jealous of Connor for all the good food he was about to grow up having).

I tried my hardest to let the scrumptious food that she prepared be a distraction from the anxiety riddling my senses due to this court hearing. And I tried not to think too much about what was going on at it..

• • •

Ashton's POV ***

I was pretty sure that I had been hearing my rapid heartbeat in my ears the entire time since we arrived. My vision was basically red as I focused everything I had in my power to keep myself calm and collected as I sat there just watching it all happen.

The shit that Eli and Kevin said almost had me in goddamn tears- mostly because we never had heart-to-hearts ever, so I was used to them actually saying stuff like that to me. And although I was eternally grateful to both of them, I would also no doubt bring up the fact to Eli for the rest of his life that I 'inspired him to be strong and care for others'. I probably would have humorously winked at him when he said that if I hadn't been so fucking nervous.

They also asked Jake some questions, which had me biting back my rage- they hadn't said they were going to do that. He looked a little scared, but I was proud of him for answering all their questions. And some of the questions they asked him... fuck. We'd obviously be having a talk later about why they possibly could have thought there was a chance I did that stuff.

I had basically blacked out the entire time, and probably wouldn't have even remembered any of the hearing once it was done. So when it was done, it felt as though it had only been a few seconds- even though it felt like I had just went through a year of straight torture both physically and mentally.

A few tears flooded to my eyes when they announced their decision.

And then after a few long moments, I smiled.

When I met Layla's gaze, she had the same look on her face as she held Jake in her lap, who was beaming as well.

They were mine.

For now, at least, anyway. They couldn't have possibly made my leash tighter, but I couldn't care less. I could keep myself in line for them this time. They were mine, and they'd stay that way. It was all somewhat of a blur as Kevin and Eli hugged me congrats, and Layla practically jumped on me to then squeeze the life out of my lungs- Jake doing the same to my leg.

I was still subtly disoriented when we got to the car, and I continued to try and take in everything that just happened. Layla was already in full celebratory mood, forcing Eli to stop and buy some champagne- which I allowed for no other reason than for the fact that I was still in something like a trance in the back seat.

We stopped by Crystal's house to pick her up, and when I got out of the car to go get her, it all finally sunk in for some reason. She came jogging out the door, asking about the outcome with her eyes, and my answering smile had her immediately beaming in response.

And when I got to her, I don't know if I had ever kissed her harder, my hands flying to the sides of her face.

I was surprised that the car let it go on for the few moments that it did before Kevin started 'hoot'ing out the window. We both broke the kiss with a smile and I flipped Kevin off behind my back as I kept looking into her gorgeous eyes.

"I told you so," she chuckled.

"You never miss an opportunity to say that, do you?" I grinned back.

"Nope," she flicked my nose, and I scrunched it in response, turning and bringing her into my side so that she couldn't do that again. She caught what I was doing as we walked to the car, and kept trying to reach up and flick my nose, but I kept pushing her hands back down and laughing at her loveably annoying ass.

There were no more seats in the car, so we thought it would be fine if Crystal laid across Me Kevin and Eli in the back seat.

We clearly weren't thinking straight.

We made it about 10 seconds of the way to my house before Kevin started tickling Crystal, and she immediately started slapping him in response. Eli dodged Crystal's legs as she involuntarily kicked her feet and I yelled at them to stop before Layla got us in a crash- I didn't know who the hell let her be the one driving in the first place. She was dying laughing behind the wheel at the scene currently going on in the back, and then I started telling her to focus on driving while Crystal kept trying to clamber farther onto me in order to save herself from Kevin. She was acting like a goddamn spider monkey for fuck's sake.

It was a miracle that we made it back alive, and when Kevin sprinted into the house, running away from Crystal and her wrath, Scarlett and Savanah looked both confused as hell and not surprised as they watched her chase him into the house while yelling weird, Crystal-like threats and expressions at him.

I ignored Layla mischievously pulling Eli into the kitchen as I pried Crystal off of Kevin, laughing at his tiredly grateful expression as I fell onto the couch with her wrapped within my arms. She quickly disregarded her previous vengeance on Kevin to kiss me, and I broke the kiss for a second to say up to Kevin, "Can you go break up Layla and Eli, please?"

"Fine, but only because I'm casually frightened of the both of you," he replied, heading into the kitchen. I flipped us over, and she giggled before leaning up and bringing my lips down to hers before I even got the chance to do so.

"I'm so fucking happy you're happy," she said, and I bit my lip through my smile, love coursing through my veins. What in the living fuck could I have possibly ever done to deserve her??

I kissed down her neck and felt along her side, gripping her waist and letting myself grin against her soft skin. I knew we would only have a few more moments before all the others would come in the room and we'd have to pull away, so I kissed her with everything I had and then whispered some stuff into her ear that had her both erupting in laughter and blushing in anticipation of later.

"Welp, the parents are at it again," Scarlett joked to Savanah about the two of us when they walked in, and Crystal broke the kiss to look over at them with a chuckle. Told ya..

"Okay but can we talk about how amazing my speech was?!" Kevin came back in the room, slinging an arm over a unsuspecting Scarlett and Savanah.

"It wasn't a speech-" he cut me off.

"It was a goddamn speech if I'd ever heard one," Kevin countered, moving from them two to plop down on a loveseat. "Oh, and by the way, I couldn't get them two to pull apart," he told me, and I immediately went to get up, but Crystal pushed me back down onto the couch to keep me from them.

"Guys good news!" Layla came back into the room, Eli in tow behind her. I dramatically rolled my eyes at his disheveled appearance, "As Eli's sugar baby I have decided to force him into spending some more money on snacks and champagne," she grinned, putting her shoes back on and heading to the door, Eli following despite being confused. He honestly looked as though he just found that out about it himself.

"Hey no fair, I was his sugar baby first you don't get to make that call," I called over to her, and she stuck her tongue out at me.

"Why didn't I go for the rich one?" Crystal asked Scarlett, who shrugged as if to say 'couldn't tell you'. I pinched her waist at the comment, and she shrieked out a giggle as she lay across my lap.

Jake hopped on the couch next to me and Crystal subconsciously fiddled with my fingers as we all talked and laughed. And I don't think words could have possibly described how happy I felt in that beautiful moment.

• • •

Hey guysss :) :)

I'm still in denial that this is close to ending so ya lol haha it's fine I'm fine

QOTD: Who is someone in your life that has inspired/impacted you in one way or another??

>> my brothers :)   excuse the cheesiness of this question, I'm in that mood at the moment.

I love you all more than life itself.

Stay beautiful,
Briella <3

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