XLVI
• • •

Ashton POV***

My head rested back against the steel bars as I fiddled with the ring on my middle finger, glaring down at the floor. I ignored the blistering pain in my head, forearm, and knuckles as I sat there on the cold floor.

They had arrested George, but quickly realized that he was practically on the brink of death and brought both him and that friend of his both to the hospital. The fact that he was in the hospital would no-doubt increase the severity of the crime, but it wasn't my fault that he couldn't hold his own in a fight.

"You've got the cell to yourself tonight, I guess it's your lucky day," the wise-ass officer said to me from his chair as he was looking through my file. I just continued glaring at nothing in particular.

They had wrapped my forearm haphazardly with gauze, but only so that I stopped bleeding everywhere. My head wound and knuckles were still torn up and bleeding, though.

I heard him react to something as he was flipping through, and I rolled my eyes. It had been a long time since I had been this downright miserable. I had enough emotions flowing through me that I could cry if I wanted, but there was no way in hell that I would ever let myself.

I was caught directly between regretting it and not regretting it.

On one hand, George really fucking deserved it- and much more. If it hadn't been in the center of town I would've gotten away with it all, and not regretted it one bit.

But on the other hand, I'm now back here for the first time in so many years and people were going to spend a lot of money to get me out. After my dad got diagnosed, I became really aggressive. I'd get in fights with whoever, whenever, and to no limit.

After a few times of getting arrested, I finally realized that all the stress I was putting him under was making his condition worse- and that I was basically killing him. I made him a promise to try and stay out of trouble and not ever end back up in here again. But only a few days after visiting his grave, I did the exact opposite of what he wanted for me, and what I had promised him.

But then, as one other realization hit me, I immediately regretted it fully. I regretted it so much that it made my insides ache, because no one would believe Crystal in a court case now. Not where they could claim I was involved somehow.

The thought made me put my head in my hands, my eyes burning slightly as I swore quietly to myself. I gripped my hair before dragging my hands down my face, resuming my earlier position, except this time my self-loathing was more apparent. The officer had been saying things to me, but I hadn't been paying him any attention.

"I see you currently have custody of two minors," he chimed in again.

My gaze whipped up to him at this.

"This is most definitely going to complicate things," he continued with a chuckle, talking about me as if it was fun for him to see all of this happening. As if he wanted to enjoy watching me fall, despite not even knowing me.

"What do you mean?" I dared ask, my voice much lower than usual. He looked over at me from his chair.

"Aggravated assault is a felony with essentially guaranteed loss of custody," my heart stopped beating, "There's a chance they will rule this simple assault and battery, though, in which case there might be able to be some arrangements- if you're not looking at a sentence, that is."

My eyes burned as the world slowed to a stop around me.

"Are they your kids?" He asked, still casual.

"Siblings," I let myself say, and he let out a 'hm'.

"They got any other family?" He questioned.

"No." I answered, lowering my voice even more to keep it from breaking.

"Well, you probably should have thought about that before you decided to go and-"

"Where's the boy they brought in from the car?" I cut him off, impatient and wanting to know if Jake was okay.

"Waiting for whoever you called to get some family to pick him up. But that's none of your concern at the moment," he put my file down and crossed his arms.

"I think the fuck it is," I countered.

"Watch it, boy," he threatened, and I returned my gaze to the floor, essentially burning holes through it.

"It's gonna be a pretty price to bail you out, given the severity of the crime and your past record," he told me, standing up and grabbing my file. "I'll be back, don't go anywhere," he shot me a smug smile, and I glared as he walked off.

I couldn't even let myself think of the possibility of me losing them. I couldn't even begin processing it. I wiped a tear from my face and buried my head in my hands, my ripped-up elbow throbbing against my knee as my body shivered slightly. How did I fuck up so bad?

I had lost a lot of blood, so I was slightly dizzy when I sat back against the bars again, trying to focus on my breathing like I always told Crystal to do when she woke up from her nightmares. Maybe this was all just a really fucked up nightmare.

The only time my vision somewhat was able to clear was when I saw a door open and Crystal rushing towards my cell, concern riddling her features. I sat up a little bit, guilt and shame flooding over me.

"Ash," she breathed out, looking over my bloodied appearance. I kept my eyes locked with hers as she sat down and held onto the bars in between us. Her kind blue eyes were the only thing currently keeping me from falling apart. She could probably tell this much as I held her gaze intently.

"Where's George?" She asked, noticing my empty cell.

"Hospital," my voice was low and broken.

"Good," she replied, tears lining her eyes.

"Jake?" Was all I could say without getting at all emotional.

"Layla's on her way to get him, I just checked in on him.. he's a bit shaken up," she told me, and I sighed, breaking her gaze to look down and shake my head at myself.

"I had no self control," I told her. "I fucked up."

"No you didn't, I would have done the same thing to someone who hurt you that bad- well, I'd try to at least.. I don't know if I could put someone in the hospital so quickly. That's pretty impressive," she smiled a little, but I didn't. "Aren't you happy I tied you to a chair now? Eli can easily pay your bail, so you're good. You're fine."

"Crystal," I cut her off, looking back up at her with inevitable tears in my eyes. "I might lose custody of Layla and Jake, and there's no way you would win a court case now," I told her, and her eyes widened, her grin falling. "My bail is going to be expensive as shit because I have a pretty colorful record, and that's not even the worst price I might have to pay," I fought to keep myself from choking up, but my already unstable, disoriented state didn't help.

"Oh," was all she said. I could tell she was looking for something to say, but couldn't find anything.

"When I saw him, I knew immediately that I wanted to put him in the hospital at the very least. I told Jake to go back to the car and didn't even think for a second about the repercussions. I never fucking do," I rubbed my eyes, getting some blood on my fingers from where it was still oozing down from my temple.

She reached through the bars and grabbed my left hand, despite there being some cuts and dried blood. I couldn't look up to meet her eyes, though.

"I won't let any of that happen," she told me, with so much intent that some tiny part of me believed it. The rest of me was logical, though, and knew how impossible that was.

"Don't make promises you can't keep," I said softly, half to her and half to myself.

"I didn't promise," she responded, and I finally let myself close my fingers around her hand, our fingers entwined.

"I'm so sorry," I rasped, still focusing everything on not getting emotional.

"Don't be sorry, Ash. I doubt I would have won any case anyway," she replied sincerely, sad at the truth.

Our attention snapped up as the door opened to the room, the same officer as before waltzing in and holding the door open for Layla to walk through. Jake was glued to her, holding her hand. When she saw me, her jaw dropped.

"Keep outside the bars, miss," the officer glared at Crystal, and she muttered an apology as she took her hand back from mine.

I finally stood up, wincing in pain as Layla came closer to the bars. I rested my hands against the cold metal as she swallowed her shock. I knelt down to Jake's level and looked to him, but he stayed behind Layla, tight to her. Like he was scared of me.

My eyes teared up a bit as he stared at me frightened. He was looking at me like he had no idea who I was.

"You sure love getting yourself beaten up, huh?" Layla tried to joke, but I could tell she was a bit unsettled as Jake continued to hold onto her hand.

"Now that the kid is handled, we can talk about bail," the officer approached us, and Jake hid slightly from him, too. Layla looked down and noticed how scared he seemed, and frowned. She knelt down to hug him as he continued. "Given your record and the severity of the crime, we're looking at a $4,500 bail. And that's generous."

4,500 fucking dollars?! Any blood still in my face drained.

"Well damn," Layla looked concerned, "for being broke you sure are expensive company to keep," she tried again to lighten the mood, failing again.

She must not have realized yet. A $4,500 bail certainly didn't look good for custody. She wouldn't be 18 for a little while, didn't have a stable job, and still lived with me. I doubt she'd be able to gain custody of Jake like I had.

Layla and Crystal started talking to each other about the bail money, but my focus remained on Jake and the fact that he couldn't hold my eye contact like usual. I held out my hand for him to come cloister, but he just tucked himself a little further into Layla, who didn't notice.

"I'm gonna take Jake back to the house and Eli will get money for the bail, then we'll come back here," Layla told me, having just made that plan with Crystal apparently. I finally stopped staring at Jake and wiped the saddened expression off my face as I stood back up.

The officer walked Layla and Jake back out, and then it was just me and Crystal. She came right in front of me, holding yet again onto the bars between us.

"I love you." She told me, and I gave her a sad smile. "Would you like me to make a cheesy comment or try to lighten the mood?" She asked, clearly trying to cover the fact that she was shaken up herself.

"The second one," I leaned my forehead against the bars, looking down at her as she continued.

"Um, well on the bright side you look really hot beat up," she tried to crack a smile, and I tried to laugh. But it was a bit too hard to.

"What's the cheesy option?" I asked. She reached through the bars again to hold both of my hands.

"That I love you... that's it. I was just gonna say it a few times in a row," she answered, and I cracked a small smile at that one.

Trying to fit it in before the officer came back, she leaned up and our lips connected. We couldn't move our heads too much, but the kiss was still warm and golden. We both knew how much this kiss meant to us, and that made it feel even more like a remedy.

• • •

Layla's POV***

When I pulled over along the side of Eli's street, I looked over to him a bit worried.

"It'll be fine," he assured me, but I didn't quite believe him.

"Are you sure I shouldn't do it?" I asked, but he shook his head.

"I'm just gonna sneak in through my window, I used to do it all the time in high school, it's fine," he replied, "be right back."

When he got out of the car and started jogging over to the side of the house, it was quiet for a few moments. But then Jake spoke, the quietist I'd ever heard him do so.

"I shouldn't have asked to go to that stupid movie," his voice was small and fragile. It made my heart sink as I looked over at him. He had silent tears streaking down his face.

"Jakey," I started, not quite knowing what to say, but wishing with everything in my being that I could make him feel better. "None of this is your fault. Not even in the slightest."

It was quiet for another few moments.

"Why do people hurt people so much?" He looked up at me, another tear falling down his small cheeks.

Not being able to help myself, I reached back and lifted Jake over to me- him assisting me by crawling over the center console. Once he was on my lap, I hugged him to me. Tight. He shook a bit as he looped his arms around my neck and brought his face into my shoulder.

"I don't know," I said into his hair. "The guy Ashton hurt deserved it, though. He hurt a lot of other people," I added.

"I didn't like it," he told me, pulling away to wipe his eyes. "He didn't look like Ash." I frowned at him and brought him in for a hug again.

"We'll all be back home and safe in no time. It'll be okay," I told him, trying to convince myself more than him.

My phone started ringing, and I picked it up quickly when I saw the name was 'Eli ;)'.

"Hey," I nervously answered.

"I can't find any of my fucking money," he whispered, clearly distraught.

"What??"

"It's not where I left it," he explained frantically. I could hear the muffled sounds of him looking through stuff.

"Well, um, maybe me and Crystal can pay it together-"

"You can't afford that. I have it covered, just get Jake some food to eat or something then come back- I might take a little bit."

"Be fucking careful, Eli. Don't go getting yourself hurt right now," I told him intently, apologizing to Jake after for swearing.

"I won't. Let me know when you're on your way back here," he responded, and I sighed.

"Fine. I love you, you dumbass," I said and helped Jake into the backseat.

"I love you, too," he replied, and we hung up. I glanced up at the huge house as I drove away, sending out a silent prayer that his dad wasn't home.

• • •

Hey guys :)

QOTD: What's your favorite day of the week??

>>> I think Saturdays probably, although Sunday mornings are nice, too. Saturdays just feels so free, you know?

YOU GUYS okay so... I've been thinking a lot over the past few weeks about whether there should be a third book for this series or not. There are definitely directions I could go in with a third book and there's room in the characters' lives, but the last thing I would ever want to do is draw out this series too long. Please let me know what you think, because I want to make the right choice with it :) the right choice isn't always the one you want to pick, you know? That's why I'm having trouble deciding. Thank you all for being so goddamn amazing❤️

Stay beautiful,
Briella <3