Lily's POV

*Trigger Warning: Mentions of abuse.

As soon as the guys left, Asher looked in my direction. For some reason, I felt nervous and stood up to go back to my room. I was currently in Asher's room because me and the guys had decided to play some board games there. It was an amazing room with a library, basketball hoop and a bath tub that anyone could mistake for a swimming pool. I quickly walked out of his room and started to head towards my own. I was aware of Asher following me and started to walk faster. By the time I reached my room, I was almost sprinting and I quickly went inside and closed the door.

Unfortunately, Asher was faster and put his foot between the door and the wall. He pushed the door open and I felt my heart pounding loudly in my chest. I didn't know why but I had an uneasy feeling as soon as Ryan, Cole and Jason had left which is why I was trying to avoid Asher.

He came inside my room and I started to take steps backwards. He continued to walk forwards and unfortunately, I felt my back hit against the wall. As he put his hands on either side of my head and leaned in a little bit, I could feel my heart thumping loudly against my chest. What he was doing was reminding me of too many memories. Memories that I didn't want to recall. In a husky voice he whispered,

"Why are you running from me, Lee?"

I looked at his blazing eyes that were overflowing with emotions. One's that I couldn't pin point, no matter how hard I tried. I was drowning in his eyes! Sh*t! He then said,

"I told you that I would find out what was wrong, not so long ago. You might think you've fooled the other's, but trust me, I know for sure that there's a bigger picture. I'm gonna get it out of you sooner or later."

I just stared up at him in shock, a slight warmth on my cheeks from our compromising position and close proximity. He raised his hand and I instantly defended myself with my arms. It was a natural instinct. I awaited the impact but didn't feel anything. As I slowly opened my eyes, I saw Asher looking at me with shock prominent in his eyes. He said,

"Y-you thought I was gonna h-hit you?"

I looked down in shame. I knew that Asher wasn't like that and he was technically my savior. I looked up at him to see his eyes hardening and him rushing out of the room. Oh sh*t! I should have told him that it was a natural instinct and that it had nothing to do with him! I looked at myself in the mirror and told myself to calm down and go apologize. I ran out of the room and went to Asher's rom. I knocked on his door but didn't hear anything. I knocked a few more times but walked away dejectedly when it didn't open. Suddenly, the door burst open and Asher looked at me, amidst a panic attack. My eyes widened and I quickly took him inside.

He was breathing heavily and he was shaking. I had had a few of them before so I instantly knew what to do. I said,

"Asher, name three things that you can feel."

He replied,

"Your hand, my sweat and the wooden floor."

I then said,

"Name three things that you can see."

"Your eyes, the lamp, the desk."

His breathing was turning normal again so I decided to do it one more time.

"Name three things you can hear."

"Your voice, my breathing, the clock."

He started to calm down and I patted his back. I wrapped him into a hug and felt his arms closing around me. I felt so bad that I had been the cause of that panic attack, that I stated crying. He probably hear my sniffles because he said,

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

Through my sniffles, I whispered,

"I'm so sorry!"

He pulled back to see my face and said,

"Don't blame yourself. You just..... reminded me of something."

My curiosity peaked and no matter how much I told myself that it was none of my business, my stupid mouth blurted out,

"Reminded you of what?"

I gasped and covered my mouth before saying,

"Um... I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

He sighed and said,

"No, I think it's time to tell you. It will also help you understand why I want to help you."

I nodded at him and he said,

"Come on, let's go to the balcony and I'll explain ."

We both got up and went straight to the balcony. The stars dusted across the sky like splatters of paint on a canvas. They were bright and in a bigger quantity than usual. I immediately felt myself recognizing the constellations. Five minutes passed by in complete silence until I recalled that we were supposed to talk about one of his problems. I looked his way to see him looking at me with a small smile on his face. I blushed and he seemed to realize what he was doing, since he cleared his throat and went to sit on the couch. I followed him there and sat down beside him. He took a deep breath and said,

"I'm not an only child. I used to have two other siblings. My eldest brother had gone to university and when my older sister got the admission in the same one, she decided to live with my brother. My parents were happy about it and let her go."

His fists were clenching and unclenching and he kept spitting out the word "brother" instead of just saying it. I realized what he was about to say and felt my face  scrunching into a frown. He then said,

"She went to his house. My so called "brother" started to get drunk and soon, the abuse started. She didn't tell anyone and always pretended that she was fine. One day, I got a call from one of her friends who said that a lot of noise was coming from their house. I thought a robbery or something was happening and went straight to their house using the helicopter."

He suddenly started to cry, making my heart break. He gathered up probably the last ounce of his energy and said what I feared most.

"I went inside to see her laying in a pool of her own blood. Dead."

Dramatic, right? Anyways, PLEASE comment, vote and share if you like the book so far. It will honestly mean SO much. Love you! Peace out!

Waffles or pancakes?