Chapter 16 ~ One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

***

"Will that be all for you, sir?" the cashier asked.

The short brunette nodded, collecting his change and the parcel before exiting the store. He carefully set the first of two packages in the backseat of his car, making sure it was secure and wouldn't roll off the seat before closing the door and getting in the drivers seat. He made his way to the second and final location he needed to visit before going home.

He pulled up the email of the online order he'd put in before he left work half an hour ago, and clicked the "I am here" button. He'd learned a long time ago how to speak the least amount as possible, but still be able to do what he needed.

Someone came out from the store, a cardboard box in her hand.

"Mark Irmin?" the girl asked as she walked up to his car and Ashton rolled down his window. He nodded, (he didn't like people knowing his name and often gave a fake name if he could) taking the box from her and setting it on the passenger seat. He handed her a 20. "I'll be back with your change."

She walked inside and he left, he knew she'd understand it was for her once she came back outside and his car was gone. And that way he wouldn't have to talk to her.

He drove home, the radio on low in the background. It was playing some cheesy, overplayed love song that every station had played at least 30 times that day, but he didn't care. He was just excited to get home.

He made it there in record time, the Ghost was a speedy little thing, and he pulled up the driveway and opened the garage with the remote that was clipped to the sun visor. Once his precious baby was parked, he grabbed the two items from his car and headed inside his house.

He set the two packages down on the kitchen table and walked into the living room to find his guest.

"Hi, Ashton!" She smiled, despite the fact that one of her hands was cuffed to one of the bars of the couch. Even though she was a prisoner here, she felt comfortable and cared for when Ashton was around.

Ashton in turn nodded at her and waved before grabbing the key from his pocket and unlocking her. When he was home he had no issues letting her out. Somehow he trusted her not to do anything.

"Thanks, I'm going to run to the bathroom. Did you bring something for dinner?" She asked, she'd thought she saw him carry something in. He nodded and she grinned. "Great, I'll be back in a minute and help you set up."

She turned away and he quickly ran to the kitchen, grabbing two plates, napkins, and the flowers he'd purchased before he went home and brought them to the living room. He moved the coffee table out so they could sit on the couch and eat, and he was debating about setting the flowers in a vase before she got back or if he should be holding them, but while he was weighing the pros and cons, she walked in and the flowers were in his hand.

"Ashton!" she gasped, rushing over and looking at the flowers. "Are those..."

"For you," he said, blushing, not looking at her. He knew this was a stupid idea. He had no idea what possessed him to stop at the floral store this afternoon. He saw it, the idea popped into his head, and he knew it was stupid. But then traffic backed up and he was stuck in front of the entrance into the store, so he impulsively pulled into the parking lot. It took him 12 minutes to actually get out of the car and double the time to figure out which bouquet would be best. But he finally did, and he thought the smile on Sadie's face was worth all the trouble.

"You know, when I was kidnapped, this certainly was not what I was expecting," she took the flowers Ashton passed to her and brought them to her face so she could smell them. The reds, blues, and oranges of the daisies reflected onto her pale skin and he thought she looked beautiful.

Somehow he also thinking of Luke in this moment. Why did he wonder how those colors would look against Luke's complexion? Luke was pale too, would he look the same? He wasn't sure, so he decided to banish the thought and focus on what was happening.

"You got pizza?" Sadie moved passed him and set the flowers down so she could open the box. "Thank you!" she smiled, setting the two plates out and dishing out the food.

Ashton joined her on the couch, wordlessly accepting a plate with a nod.

"Did you have a good day at work today?" Sadie asked, sitting down next to him and turning to face him.

The two had gotten closer over the last weekend. Ever since Ashton woke up with her in his arms and realized she hadn't tried to run away even when she was given the chance, he felt something strange for her. The only other person whom he enjoyed spending time with was Luke, and while he wasn't sure if he actually enjoyed her company, he definitely hated it a lot less than everyone else.

He nodded at her question and started eating his pizza. All while they ate, Sadie talked about the things she did during the day...which wasn't much considering she was cuffed to the couch, but she was able to watch TV and described some of the shows she saw and Ashton listened, nodding when appropriate.

"So, what are we going to--I mean, should we watch TV tonight?" She asked, correcting herself without even realizing she'd done it.

But to Ashton, that small change meant the world. Luke was the only person who actively tried to make things easier for Ashton. The fact that she recognized that he didn't like to talk and posed questions that he could nod to was very significant to him.

"What do you want to do?" he asked instead, feeling something well up in his chest. He couldn't place the emotion, but it made him feel...maybe not quite happy, but content, and that was enough for him.

Sadie looked surprised. She didn't understand this boy. Nothing about him made sense. One minute he was quiet, closed off, and rude and the next he was asking questions about what she wanted.

She'd read all sorts of books about kidnapping, but rarely had they gone like this. She wasn't sure what to do about her situation. She knew she cared for this guy, but she didn't know why. He had kidnapped her, tied her to his couch, and left her alone all day. She should want nothing more than to get away from him, but instead she found herself getting drawn closer to him and desiring to spend time with him the more she learned about him. That confused her.

"Well...do you have any books?" She looked down at her lap, feeling shy for some reason. "I really like to read, well actually I'm a writer, but I know it's probably too much to get me a computer so I can write, so I'll settle with a book. After all, a writer has to read as well, it's a great way to learn things." Sadie babbled on, and after she took a breath Ashton got up, disappearing down the hallway that she assumed led to his room and maybe the rest of his house.

The only places Sadie had been allowed were the living room, bathroom, and she'd been to the kitchen that one night they got drunk together, on the night that she fell asleep next to him and then woke up with her face in his chest, their legs tangled together, and his arms wrapped around her.

It was the best she'd ever slept in her life.

Ashton returned, startling her from her thoughts, holding a couple books in his hands.

He set them on the coffee table and gestured for her to go through them.

There were a couple historical fiction books that take place during WW2, a biography of some musician she'd never heard of, and one fantasy book about dragons.

"They're Luke's, he stays over here sometimes, but you're welcome to read them."

"Wow, thank you!" she gushed, still looking at the books like they were the most important thing in the world. "Also..." Ashton reached behind him and pulled out a spiral bound notebook and a pen. "I figured you could write if you wanted. Don't have an extra computer but..."

"Oh my god, this is great, Ashton! Thank you!" Without thinking about it, she launched herself into his arms and hugged him tight. He was startled, but after a moment he hugged her back.

The rest of the night, they spent talking on the floor of the living room. They sat with their backs pressed to the couch, and ate pizza when they got hungry.

It was about 1am when Ashton checked the clock.

"It's late," he said.

"Yeah," Sadie frowned. She knew he was going to leave her and she'd be alone again. She was used to being alone, it never used to bother her. When she was with people, she often counted down the hours until she could leave and be by herself again.

So why did she not want Ashton to leave her?

"I have work in the morning,"

"Yeah, I have...reading in the morning," she smiled a bit, pointing her thumb at the stack of books that was by her head on the table. A breeze blew in from the open window, causing Sadie to shiver.

"Are you cold?" He asked. She tried to shake her head and protest, but he got up.

"It's fine, really,"

Ashton ignored her and left the room. He came back with a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt.

"Here, realized I haven't given you new clothes. Go change," he pulled her to her feet and shoved the bundle of clothes in her arms, pushing her gently toward the bathroom.

She stumbled a bit because she certainly wasn't prepared for that. She made her way to the bathroom, glad to be able to remove the clothes she'd been wearing for a couple days.

She set the clothes Ashton gave her on the counter, realizing there was more than just the sweatshirt and pants. He'd also given her one of his t-shirts and a pair of boxers to wear. For some reason this made her blush, and she didn't know why. She'd never actually worn someone else's clothes besides her own.

Sadie never had friends growing up, had never been to a sleepover, had never had a boyfriend to steal sweatshirts from. The closest she'd gotten to wearing someone else's things was when one of the jocks in high school spilled their lunch all over her and the nurse gave her a gym uniform to wear so she could go home.

She took off her old clothes and put on Ashton's things. The pants were huge on her, she had to roll the waistband up three times and roll the sleeves on the sweatshirt in order to see her hands, but she felt so much better after getting out of her dirty clothes.

She threw some water on her face and went to the bathroom since she was already in there, then wadded up the old clothes and joined Ashton who stood up when she got there. He held out his hand.

"I'll take these and wash them. My clothes are way too big on you." he said, and she nodded shyly, blushing as she walked over to hand them to him. "We'll have to get something else for you in the meantime."

On her way over, she tripped over the baggy pants, and yelped as she fell onto the floor. Only she never made it that far, because Ashton was there, breaking her fall and twisting around so she landed on him and his back hit the floor with an "Oof".

"S-sorry!" Sadie stuttered, shifting around so she could get up. Why did it feel like he tightened his arms around her, almost like he didn't want to let her go.

"You're clumsy," he commented, eyes searching her face, noting the way her cheeks turned bright red, she struggled to get away, and how she looked anywhere but at him. She finally stilled, realizing she wasn't going to get anywhere, and their eyes locked.

"You're beautiful," she breathed, one of her hands reaching over to his face to push his curls away from his eyes.

Ashton's breath caught in his throat as he brought his hands up to her face.

Her eyes fluttered closed and she leaned closer, her lips parting slightly as Ashton realized what was happening. He gasped, throwing her off of him and standing up quickly.

"Wh-what?" she groaned, sitting up and watching his eyes widen, his chest heave as he tried to breathe. "Ash, hey it's all right, w-we--"

But by then he had left the room.

Sadie wondered what she should do. She'd thought they were getting along really well now, he'd bought her flowers for godsakes. She thought he wanted it as much as she did.

Before she could think anything else, he came back.

"Oh, I thought you were going to leave, ignore me for the rest of the--"

She was shoved into the chair she'd originally been held captive in, and a pair of handcuffs were attached to her wrists and ankles.

"Ashton, what's going on?"

She tried to look in his eyes, see what the problem was, but his face was hard and no emotion showed in his eyes. She couldn't see anything.

"Ash...I'm sorry, I didn't--"

"Shut up," he snarled.

If she didn't know any better, Sadie would have thought he was replaced with the Ashton she'd first met when she arrived. He'd opened up so much in the week she'd been here, but now he was right back to the start.

"Hey, Ashton you don't need to do this, it's fine!" she called to his retreating from. "Ashton, hey. Ash!" she shouted his name for about 10 minutes and had just been about to give up, but then he came back. "I knew you didn't abandon me," she smiled. He walked behind her chair and she was just about to ask what he was doing when he tied a bandana around her mouth, then one around her eyes.

She didn't even bother trying to protest. She knew he didn't care.

Not anymore.

***

Yeeeeeeep. How's everyone feeling about this chapter? What's going on with Ashton?

So this book is getting to it's last couple chapters, but I'm working on a new book to publish when I'm done with this one! I'll have the preview up for the new book in the next couple days. It's gonna be lashton again (I'm in the lashton zone lol) 

Anyway, hope you're having a great day ❤️

~ashtonfortherwin