[A/N: Songs for the chapter:
- The Fray // Run For Your Life
- One Republic // Stop And Stare
- Paramore // When It Rains
- Sia // Chandelier]

Curling, smoky hands were wrapped around my throat and suddenly I was choking, gasping and fighting for air. I was fighting for air but I wasn't getting any. The roles were reversed for once and I was the one in the driver seat with the left side of my lower body crushed into the door. There was no telling where flesh began and metal ended; it was just a continuous stream of agonising pain, like I was being cut with a thousand meat cleavers all at once.

"H-Help!" I screeched, pounding at the window as more thick smoke shot down my airways.

Trapped after the collision with the lorry, I was unable to move whereas my father stood outside the car, unscathed.

"Help me! P-Please!"

I was letting loose blood-curdling shrieks of immense agony, writhing about as my eyes rolled back. How much longer could I take this?

"Daddy!" I slammed my palms into the window as he stared at me with an impassive mask, his face devoid of any emotions.

Steam clouded the window and I swiped it with my hands, sobbing as the flames started to nip at my skin like mini insect bites. My screams became more frantic as the fiery pests inched closer, biting mammoth sized chunks out of my skin. Just as I was about to give up, two fists hammered down on the window. Heavy lidded with delirium, I squinted and was met with sea green eyes.

"Ash! Open the door!"

Feebly, I pressed a hand to the window where Tyler's were planted, wishing I could feel his touch for a last time before I let myself go.

"I love you," I mouthed, closing my eyes.

As if a blink could flip everything around, suddenly the roles were reversed and I was the one screaming at Tyler to opened the car door and let me in.

"Tyler! Open the door!" I battered my fists against the window, pounding with all my might as he threw his head back and roared with agony.

Wide eyed, I watched the flames lick his skin like an ice cream, taking large patches of his tanned skin until they bubbled red to reveal his flesh. He continued to roar at me to help him and I continued to try. But as always, I was never good enough.

My face was soaked with soot and tears and I screeched, letting loose a spine-chilling scream when Tyler's feeble hands stopped smacking against the window. All that I could make out beyond the smoke were his pleading sea-green eyes.

"Help me Ash! Help me!"

Gawking at the pool of glowing lava that spilled along the car's interior furnishing, I tried to yank the door open, only to flinch at the scalding metal handle.

"I'm trying!" I whimpered, pressing a hand to the window where his slack palm met mine, separated by blistering glass that burned my skin.

"Ashley," A deep voice called from behind. "Ashley-bear."

Met with molten gold eyes, I swiped my palms over my eyelids to clear my blurred vision as my father strode towards me. He stopped a metre away and gazed at the set of keys that were discarded to the side, suddenly glinting in the blinding sunlight.

"All you had to do was look," He shook his head with disappointment as I lunged for the keys to unlock the car and free Tyler.

A bubble of hope formed inside my throat as I curled my fingers around the winking metal, only to turn around and glance at the driver's seat. A handprint remained where Tyler's palms had previously been pressed against the glass. Bolting to the door, the bubble in my throat burst as I unlocked the door. Blood poured out of the car like a wave crashing into my legs, rendering me speechless as I clamped a hand over my mouth to avoid retching at the sight of his twisted, festered limbs.

"Ash..." Tyler choked with a final breath.

And then his eyes turned into glass.

**

I jerked awake, bolting upright and clawing at my throat to force air into my lungs. Before I could make sense of anything, strong arms pulled me into a crushing embrace but the sudden movement made my churning stomach lurch. I planted two hands on Tyler's chest and tried to push him away in an attempt to dart to the bathroom but he had never been there to witness the aftermath of a dream this bad. 

Instead he pulled me closer to his bare chest and ran a hand through my hair but besides drenching his skin in salty tears, I let loose last night's dinner, retching violently as I hacked up the sundaes we had shared on our date to a new diner downtown.

"Ashley! What the fu–" He jumped out of the bed and gawked at me, waving his hands as he tried not to throw up himself.

I bolted out of my room, dashing into the bathroom in record time before holding up the toilet seat and relieving my churning guts, sobbing hysterically when two hands held my hair back and rubbed my back soothingly.

"Shh, shh," He cooed, massaging my shoulders as I leaned into the toilet and breathed deeply, waiting for more violent retches to rock through me until I was done.

Silence lapsed between us when he helped me to my feet and led me to the sink. Glancing at his chest, I held my breath and waited for the queasiness to ease.

"Clean y-yourself up," I ordered him and he nodded, unable to hide the green tinge that coloured his face for much longer.

"You don't mind if I take a shower, do you?"

I shook my head, waving at him to make himself at home before I choked up. Alarmed, his head snapped in my direction.

"I'm so s-sorry. I didn't mean to throw up over you and–"

Tyler cut me off but striding over to me and clasping my cheeks, squashing them until I was making a fish face.

"Ashley. I don't care about that," He said fiercely, studying my face as I tried to wipe away my broken expression. "I care about you and right now you're not okay so stop apologising."

Feebly, I nodded and pushed his hands away from my face, knowing full well that there was no way I going to let him kiss me in this state. Turning my back to him, I gargled with water and refused to meet his gaze in the mirror even though he was still staring at me with a distressed scowl. I kept my focus on my trembling hands, holding them under lukewarm water because I was too ashamed to hold Tyler's gaze for more than a second. He wiped his chest clean using paper towels and clipped his nose with a thumb and forefinger, trying to ignore the smell of vomit because he had the tendency to throw up seconds after seeing somebody else throw up.

"You're not mad are you?" I asked in a quiet voice, looking at him through the mirror.

"Of course not," He flashed me a tight-lipped smile, sea green eyes wavering with disbelief and something else I couldn't quite pinpoint.

Shaking my head, I turned my back to him and quickly brushed my teeth to get rid of the bitter aftertaste in my mouth. I kept my focus on my reflection, splashing my face with cold water to chase away the dark circles that ringed my eyes like a week-old, grey bruise

This was bad, really bad. I never should have let him stay the night but Mom was on a business trip and I didn't want to stay the night in an empty house. Just two weeks ago he woke up beside me after a nightmare for the first time ever but it was nowhere near as bad as this one.

God dammit!

He wasn't supposed to see my like this: a broken mess who was one step from sobbing hysterically. When Tyler stripped off his boxers shorts and jumped into the shower, I forced myself to look away, embarrassed beyond belief that he was getting naked right behind me. Racing out of the bathroom, I returned to my bedroom and pulled back the curtains, letting light flood the carpet as I began to change my bed sheets. They were stained with puke and the entire time I wept.

I wept for my father, for my best friend, and surprisingly, I found myself weeping for Tyler. I sank to the floor when his glassy green eyes flickered behind my lids, lifeless and still. What kind of sick, twisted dream did I just have? Usually I was the one to die but this time, I watched Tyler die and it was the most horrifying thing I had ever experienced.

My muscles ached by the time my room was spotless, devoid of any giveaway that I had thrown up as I sprayed Febreeze everywhere. Trudging down the stairs, I was too exhausted to fry up a big breakfast like I promise Tyler last night. It was his first time staying the night and I ruined it. I ruined everything. So I made myself cereal and flopped down, seating myself at the dinner table with a glass of water, aspirin and my cereal bowl.

Tyler joined me ten minutes later, sparing me a small smile that didn't meet his eyes. He shuffled around the kitchen with a towel wrapped around his waist. My eyes devoured his tanned skin, toned muscles and the pocket-watch tattoo on his v-line, desperate to be touched and traced. He made no attempts to converse with me as he made himself cereal and two mugs of Rosemary's infamous hot chocolate. I thought about confronting him and blurting out that throwing up never happened and that this was a one off.

But it wasn't, and that would mean lying to him after I promised to be one hundred per cent honest with him at all times. My eyes found his when he glanced over his shoulder but Tyler looked away first. Something was amiss here. His shoulders were locked in position and his back muscles rippled, taut and tense with whatever it was that was also making his jaw tick.

"What's wrong?" I asked when slid into the seat in front of me.

"You're asking the wrong person that question."

Blinking with surprise, I cocked my head to the left and studied his face as he held my gaze, sea green eyes contaminated with a determination I'd never seen before.

"Drink." He pushed a mug towards me and I furrowed my brows together at the edge that sharpened his tone.

With a heavy sigh, I picked up the mug and downed the hot chocolate, relishing the scalding liquid as it burned my throat, The weight of his eyes scrutinising my every move made me nervous but I just lost myself in the silence that settled around us, thick and suffocating like Tyler's haunting gaze. We ate in a choking silence for the next five minutes - well I ate and Tyler just carried on staring. Eventually he finally spoke.

"So are we going to talk about what happened or not?"

I looked up from my bowl, meeting his questioning gaze before focusing on the floating alphabets that bobbed up and down in milk.

"You're starting to sound like my mom."

Tyler ignored my humourless joke.

"Ash, come on. I'm being serious here."

I dropped my spoon and sat up straight, locking my eyes onto his impatient ones.

"And so am I. You sound like my mom and in case you missed the obvious, that's how all the arguments I have with her start so can we drop the subject?"

He took a long sip of his hot chocolate, peering at me over the mug as if he was trying to figure me out.

"And stop with the staring," I added but Tyler didn't even flinch at my harsh tone.

"You threw up Ash." He stated as if that summed up everything.

"And?" I shrugged my shoulders, wondering why he was making a big deal of something that happened so often lately that it was becoming a normality.

"What do you mean 'and'? Who the hell throws up after a bad dream?"

I didn't like his tone. I didn't like it at all. It wasn't spiteful or mean, it was demanding and laced with heartwarming concern. But still, I didn't like it at all. There was an invasive air surrounding it, like I should have felt obligated to tell him every single truth that I had hid from him.

"It's not that big of a deal Tyler," I replied nonchalantly, though my fingers itched as I felt a small tremor force them to vibrate. Quickly, I hid my hands beneath the table, wringing them together before fiddling with the fraying skin around my nails. I lifted a hand up and gnawed on a fingernail.

"Actually Ashley, it is."

"No, it really isn't," I sighed, annoyed that he said my name as if I was a child that needed to be scolded for lying.

I wasn't lying. It really wasn't a big deal. All I needed was a hot shower to ebb away the remaining fragments of my nightmare and I was going to be good as new. A stretching silence filled the room as he chewed on the inside of his cheeks. He drummed his fingers on the table and his gaze flickered along my features, watching them distort with exasperation as he continued to study my face.

"What?" I snapped.

"Why did you tell me you were coping with these dreams?" His tone sounded accusatory and I blinked with surprise. "I thought we agreed not to keep things from each other after you told me about your father."

"I am coping. This is me coping. And stop acting like this is breaking news to you. We've been through this many times now," I drawled, sarcasm seeping into my voice and coating each word like a layer of slick oil. "I mean, if you really want, I'll give you a news update every morning I wake up screaming. How does that sound babe?"

"Stop being like that."

I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned forward.

"Like what?" I challenged him.

His eyes flashed at my snarkiness.

"Stop being a bitch Ashley, it doesn't suit you," Tyler said in a low growl that made my skin prickle.

He was getting mad with me. I knew I should have just sighed and apologised but instead I slammed my cup down and arched an eyebrow.

"Stop acting like my mom then!"

He frowned and ran a hand through his damp hair.

"I'm not! I'm trying to help you here. You're acting like I'm the bad guy here."

"Well you're not exactly helping if that's your intention."

Tyler let out a deep breath, clenching his fists.

"Why are you being difficult Ashley?" He exhaled in a sharp breath, knuckles white from his ironclad grip on the mug.

He looked like he was trying to hold his tongue back but I wanted to hear what he had to say.

"I'm not being difficult Tyler so just spit it out," I rolled my eyes when he frowned deeply as if he was having an internal argument in his head. "Go on, you're obviously dying to tell me something."

His haunting eyes darkened with exasperation, irritation and a dash of anger. I guess it was expected since there was nothing he disliked more than my sarcasm, especially when it was directed right at him.

"I think you should see Dr Jillian about the dreams again," He said in a quiet voice, stirring his cereal absentmindedly although his tight grip made the spoon clang against the interior of the bowl. "You were talking in your sleep all night and then towards the end you just started screaming and clutching your neck like someone was trying to strangle you. That's not normal Ashley."

The suggestion would have seemed reasonable if he didn't know just how much I was against therapy. But Tyler did know; he knew everything there was to know about me so I just gaped at him before biting my lip from screaming at him. In fact, I didn't know if I want to scream or cry in his arms. I just needed a release. Maybe I shouldn't have let him shower before me. Mom barely ever confronted me after a bad dream until she was certain I had showered. That way, I was calm and in a right state of mind to converse with at the breakfast table.

"I don't care whether you think it's normal or not. I'm not seeing Dr Jilli–"

"Ashley, this is getting ridiculous."

"No, do you want to know what's ridiculous? These past two weeks, ever since I let you into this part of my life, you have been breathing down my neck and telling me to see Dr Jillian about my dreams after I told you what therapy did to me last time!"

"Because you need professional help if your nightmares are that disturbing!" He dropped the spoon and his eyes flashed. "Dr Jillian can hel–"

"Tyler, can you just drop this! I am not seeing Dr Jillian and that is final!"

My chilling tone should have ended the conversation right there and then, but Tyler shook his head with disbelief, letting damp blond hair fall into his eyes. Hastily, he raked a hand through his hair and blew out a sharp breath.

"But she can help you figure this shit out!"

I bit my tongue with disbelief.

"Weren't you listening to a single word when I told you what happened the last time I let her 'help' me? I explained it all to you these past two weeks. I explained it to you last night as well. And I'm going to explain it to you now. It wasn't just screaming or throwing up or talking in my sleep that my mom had to put up with. Talking to Dr Jillian about my dreams made it seem real and I couldn't get out of bed for a week because I was terrified that I would die the way I did every night! She helped me for a short period of time before they started again, worse than ever before!"

Tyler's eyes flashed and I stopped yelling at him, breathing heavily as we stared at each other.

"I know that Ash, but what other choice do you have?"

His words made me reel back as he burst any bubble of hope I had of these dreams magically disappearing. Scraping my chair back, I dumped my cereal bowl into the sink, downed an aspirin tablet and a glass water before I glared at Tyler.

He flinched beneath my gaze and my features instantly softened.

"I'm not going down this road with you. I'm sorry but this is none of your business so please just stay out of it. I'm going to shower so if you need anything else, just help yourself." I announced in a curt tone, storming out of the kitchen before I broke down in front of him.

He couldn't find out how close I was to my breaking point; but I was. I really, really was close to losing my shit. I mean, nightmare troubles? I could deal with. But boyfriend troubles? I wasn't too sure.

**

Not even the radio could drown out the horrific silence that filled the car when we drove to school. Tyler made no attempts to get through my bitchy exterior and I didn't have the energy or balls to apologise. By the time we got to school, I was brooding and Tyler was scowling. There was a thick cloud of tension surrounding us and we were both too stubborn to apologise, kiss and make up.

"You'll have to hitch a ride from Blake or Mona later."

Arching an eyebrow, I turned my head to the side.

"And why is that?" I barked.

He clenched his jaw at my tone but didn't comment on it.

"I have to take care of something important," He paused before gnawing on his bottom lip. "Don't worry, it's just some soccer related crap."

A silence fell as I waited for him to elaborate but he made no such move. Instead he got out of the car and drummed his foot on the ground as he waited for me to get out so he could lock the car.

"Fine, whatever," I huffed, tightening my grip on my backpack strap.

With a curt nod, we stared at each other and I noticed that Tyler wasn't looking me in the eye. He was staring at the space between my eyes and that made me frown deeply.

"I'll see you later in class," Tyler murmured against my lips when I gave him a haste kiss.

Nodding, I watched him get swallowed by the crowd as he disappeared into the school, noting his stiff posture and deep frown. Was he still mad at me because of the conversation we had at breakfast? Of course he was; I completely disregarded everything he had to say but why was he trying to kick an argument out of a pile of dust?

There was no way I was going through with therapy ever again. Period.

After school, I pestered Mona into dropping me off even though she had to rush to town to have dinner with her dad since he was back. He had returned for a few days after the turmoil he caused for the Hastings family last summer. It was the first time she was seeing her dad since she refused to talk to him for cheating on her mom. I felt awful for wasting her time but Blake was at soccer practice and I was too exhausted to walk home. I was too exhausted to think, eat or study. I should have cut class after I passed out and snored my way through French this morning but I didn't want to worry Tyler by skipping Home Ec. so I stayed the entire day.

He didn't say much to me in class anyway so I knew there was something on his mind besides my bitch-fit this morning. He rushed off the minute the final bell rang, silencing all my questions with a lingering kiss that made my toes curl until Ms Smith threatened to give him detention if he didn't take his hands off me. With a half-hearted smirk that didn't reach his eyes, he winked and strode off, leaving me rooted to the ground with throbbing lips and a pounding heart.

Mona chattered endlessly in the car although my quietness didn't go unnoticed. By the time she pulled up into my driveway, her thin eyebrows were knitted together.

"Spill."

I snapped out of my thoughts and blinked.

"Huh? Oh, we're already here?" I paused as she gave me a deadpan look but carried on rambling, hoping that she would let me go without an interrogation but from the way her scowl soured, I didn't think that would be likely. "Thanks for the ride and I hope things with your dad work out and if he's still a douche then hit him where the sun doesn't shine–"

She held up a hand to silence me.

"Spill."

"Spill what? I already told you that Tyler had to some soccer stuff to take care of."

"No he doesn't," She rolled her eyes as if I was lying straight through my teeth. "I'm not stupid and neither am I blind."

My confusion only increased until she waved a hand at the two other cars that were parked outside my house. There was a silver Mini Cooper that belonged to my mom so I was pleased she was back home but the red Camaro made my eyes pop out like golf balls.

"That's not possible...he said...but...I don't understand," I struggled to come up with words to ease the sudden apprehension that settled inside me.

Mona's brown eyes flickered with realisation as they regarded me.

"Maybe he wanted to surprise you?" She paused at my expression before laughing lightly. "Come on Ash, don't look at me like that. Tyler would never lie to you...well not deliberately. That guy worships the ground you walk on. Come on, just last week he rented out the entire movie theatre for your date. I mean, who the heck does that?"

I scoffed and let myself out of her car, waving goodbye and wishing her good luck before I jogged to the porch and quietly let myself into the house. Hushed whispers flew back and forth, arising from the kitchen between my mother and Tyler. What the hell were they doing together?

"Again? What do you mean again?"

My mom sighed heavily and I heard her drag out a chair, "She didn't tell you did she?"

"Tell me what? I got her to tell me everything these past two weeks like you asked and she did...or at least, I think it she did."

The sharpness that sliced through Tyler's voice made goosebumps rain all over my arms. Silently, I eased off my shoes so that my footsteps wouldn't make too much noise and then tiptoed to the kitchen, taking great care not to give myself away by stumbling over the grocery bags that Mom had ditched on the floor.

"Vomiting after her recurring nightmares isn't a one off dear," She paused and cleared her throat. "It's been going on for years but it only used to happen once every few months. Lately I've noticed that it's been happening more often. She claims she's doing fine but we both know Ashley needs to get checked out. I've spoken to Dr Jillian several times and she's agreed that this is more than an anomaly. She thinks Ashley may have PTSD."

Tyler let out a slow breath. "Post traumatic stress disorder?"

"Apparently so," Mom's voice wavered, thick with emotion. "I've always suspected it but Ashley never talks to me about the accident so nobody really knows exactly what goes on in her mind or what she saw that day. I mean, we know what happened but she saw everything and it was traumatising enough for me to see my husband in the morgue, blackened by the engine explosion. He was just charred, black bones. Imagine how horrific it was for a ten year old to witness something so disturbing."

Tyler seemed to have a hard time processing my mom's words but in comparison to the way my jaw dropped, he couldn't have it as bad as I did.

PTSD? Were they out of there mind? I wasn't a war veteran with a psychological problem! My dreams were just a bit too vivid and real and they made me feel queasy in the morning. That was the only reason why I threw up after the really bad dreams. It's the same as watching a horror movie and being put off by the gruesome scenes.

Mom asked Tyler for an update on my other nightmares and he recited every detail I had told him the past two weeks. Betrayal sunk to my stomach like a slab of stone, weighing my entire body down until I had to clutch the walls to hold myself up. Tyler continued to talk about getting me to agree to therapy, conjuring up different ways to plant the seed without actually forcing me but Mom seemed to disagree that their passive approach was never going to work because I was too stubborn. They argued for another ten minutes until Tyler sighed with defeat.

But I'd heard enough.

My chest was impossibly tight around my heart and suddenly I felt claustrophobic inside my own body. All the blood inside my veins felt like water as I gripped the coat hanger to my left and let out a shaky breath.

"This morning I did what you asked me to do," Tyler said after a few moments of silence. "I told her that she should go back to Dr Jillian and figure out why the dreams are coming back worse than ever before but she nearly flipped out. She suspected that–"

"Suspect what?" I barked, stepping out of hiding and into the kitchen. "That you've been going behind my back and conspiring with my mother?"

Wide eyed, they both jumped out of their skin with shock. Mom slapped a hand on her chest as she struggled to catch her breath but Tyler recovered much faster.

"Ash..."

I held up a hand and whirled around to face my mom.

"What the hell were you thinking bringing Tyler into all of this? I told you that I was handling everything!"

Pale blue eyes flashed with fury at my insolence but I was far gone into my vortex of rage. Betrayal and blinded anger clouded my rational thoughts and all I could think about was that Tyler, the only person I trusted to talk to about my dreams, had reported everything my mom.

I poured my heart out to him last night, as we lay in the dark talking about my father's death and my nightmares. And he told her everything.

"Watch your tone Ashley Rose Martin! I didn't raise you single-handedly for the past eight years to have you speak to me like that!"

How could he do this to me? He knew how hard it was for me to place my trust in him but I took that chance. I took that chance because I love him more than my fear of being betrayed but now I wasn't so sure. Not with the way Mom was glaring at me as she stood up to extinguish my burning fury. Our eyes met and a whimper left my lips. I wanted to slump to ground and cry but somehow I managed to hold myself together. Somehow, but barely.

"How could you do this to me?" I snapped although my voice shook making Tyler wince.

"I did this for you," His voice was quiet.

"No you didn't!" I screamed and he flinched.

"Ashley!" Mom interjected in a curt tone, angered by my outburst.

Whirling around, I gritted my teeth and shot her a venomous glare. She was taken aback for a moment but I flared my nostrils and clenched my hands into fists.

"Tyler," Mom kept her eyes glued to mine. "I think you should leave dear."

Alarmed by her suggestion, he shook his head and tried to reach out for my arm but I jerked away from his touch. Hurt flickered across his eyes and my chest swelled up like a balloon when his arm dropped to his side.

"Don't touch me," I growled as he pleaded me with large eyes, begging me to hear out his explanation but I couldn't bear to look at him anymore. "Don't you dare touch me!"

Mom ushered him out of the house despite his protests and when the door slammed shut, she spun around arched an eyebrow.

"You have got a lot of explaining to do young lady! I can't believe you've been lying to me for months about your dreams. Why did you tell me that you were doing fine?"

"Because I knew you were going to act like this!"

She strode past me into the kitchen and began to take out pots and pans in preparation for dinner. The metal tools skidded across the counter where she tossed them and I knew she was trying to busy herself to steam off her anger.

"We're doing this to help you Ashley. Why do you keep treating us as if we're doing something that's going to hurt you? We just want to make things easier for you and pushing us away only to makes it harder for you."

"Because you know that therapy k-kills me!" I screamed, scalding tears streaming down my face. "So you're wrong because you guys are hurting me!

Mom spun around, finally losing her cool as she snapped like a rubber band. When she began to yell at me, I clamped a hand over my ears and edged backwards until my back hit the wall.

"You're hurting yourself! And you know what, I don't care if I have to drag you or sedate you to take you to therapy! This has gone on too far! Tomorrow we are going to see Dr Jillian and we are going to sort out this mess once and for all!"

Tremors shot up my arms and I had to press them to my side to hide the uncontrollable shudder that rushed through me.

"You c-can't force me to go back there!"

Mom crossed her arms over her chest.

"You've left me no choice dear, what else am I supposed to do? Watch you go through these horrifying dreams until you crack?"

I shook my head, rubbing my face to smooth out my quivering lip and the deep crease between my brow. It felt like all my internal organs were being squashed together and my breaths came out in short wheezes.

She wouldn't do this to me. She couldn't do this to me.

"I've already booked and paid for the session. You can take the day off school–"

"N-No Mom," I whimpered and she glanced at me, startled to find me sobbing. "Please Mom, I can't go through with it. Please Mommy, you can't! You just can't!"

Breaking off, I staggered out of the kitchen doorway when she approached me with opens arms, her features taut with determination but soft enough for me to yearn her embrace. Then I remembered how she brought Tyler into this mess and my face hardened.

She did this. She wedged a gap between Tyler and I. She made him break the trust I valued.

"Ashley dear–"

"No! Get away from me!" I wrenched her hand off my shoulder and darted towards the front door.

"Ashley! Where are you going? Ashley, come back!"

I bolted out of the front door, stumbling over the porch as I darted passed the red car that was still parked in the driveway. Mom screamed at Tyler to run after me and I turned around seconds after he bolted upright at the sudden commotion. Tears streamed down my cheeks and the stone lodged in my throat made it hard to breathe but I pummelled strength through my legs, willing them to work faster.

Tyler jumped out of his car the instant he spotted me but it was too late, I had already turned around the street corner. I zigzagged through numerous streets, taking random shortcuts in an attempt to lose him but his pounding footsteps persisted, nearing closer until I could hear his shallow breaths alongside my broken whimpers.

"D-Don't touch me!" I screamed when he caught up to me, shrugging off the hand he used to slow me down.

As I powered more energy through my thighs, he put in more effort to keep up with me but needless to say, there was a reason why he was the best soccer striker in our town. He was fast; incredibly fast.

Two hands gripped my waist and my sudden halt caused him to slam into my back. Winded by the force of his crushing body, I stumbled forward and my arms flailed in the air as I tried to prevent my inevitable fall. We both slammed into the concrete sidewalk, though Tyler used all his strength to spin us around so that he ended up taking the full impact of our fall. A sharp breath shot out of his mouth when his shoulder made contact with the ground and I shrieked when I face-planted his chest.

"Shit!" He wheezed when I scrambled to my feet the minute the arms around my waist slackened. Disorientated and dazed, Tyler blinked with surprise and sat up. "Ash? Where are you going? Don't run away from me...Ashley!"

I shot a look over my shoulder as my muscles cried with agony, pleading me to stop the way my boyfriend did. He wanted to talk things through and I wanted to escape.

So I kept running.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[A/N: Did you like this chapter? Hahaha I just feel like things are going in a downwards spiral for Tashley.

Umm, I have a few university open days to attend tomorrow and Friday so I'll be home really late but don't worry, you'll still get your daily updates. I promise.

Chapter 57: I'm Sorry Tyler, You Know I Just Can't'

Please vote and comment. As much as I love updating everyday, I spend hours writing theses chapters and it takes at least two more hours to edit/proofread them so show me so luuurrrvveeee.

I need good movies to watch, comment three of your all time favourite movies so I can watch them. I'll start:
1) 10 Things I Hate About You
2) Inception
3) LOL

See you tomorrow lovelies,
- Kaddy]