CHAPTER XXV

BROOKE'S P.O.V

We were sitting in a living room. Caleb came with a bag of popcorns and plopped down beside Nate. Nate looked like he wanted to kill someone or more specifically himself. He wasn't even in a mood to talk to anyone. He wasn't ready to leave Allie alone. After lots of pleading, he agreed and came downstairs with us.

"So are you guys......" Caleb trailed off looking at me and Asher.

I nodded and a small smile broke on Caleb's face.

"I always knew you would end up together." He chuckled.

Ash smiled down at me, pulling me closer. I snuggled up in his chest. Suddenly a door of bedroom opened and we all saw Allie coming out of the room rubbing her eyes with her fist.

Her eyes widened when she saw us all and then her eyes stayed on Nate who was looking at her with so much hurt.

She took a step back but being a clumsy girl she was, she tripped over her feet and fell on her butt. In flash of seconds, Nate was by her side pulling her closer to his chest. First she didn't react but when she saw Nate's crestfallen face she hugged him back.

"I'm so sorry." He mumbled in her hair.

"Let's go out." Ash whispered, taking my hand walking out the door. Caleb followed too.

"They will be okay?" I asked.

Asher chuckled and nodded.

"Of course they will be. I don't understand how they can even fight. I mean they fought. Can you believe it?"

"Exactly!" Caleb added, "When she told me that they had fight, I was like 'are you sure it was Nathan?'"

We laughed at that.

"They will be okay in no time." He said. We talked about school.

After some time, main door opened. Nathan and Allie came out. Allie was snuggled up in Nate's chest and it looked like they would never let go each other. A small smile graced my lips. They were so cute.

"We are going home." Nate spoke.

"Okay then let's go." Ash took my hand and we walked to his car.

"Bye Caleb." Allie spoke softly. Caleb shook his head waving us off, a small smile on his face.

"We are going home. Allie is going with me." Nate announced.
"Sometimes I love the fact that you have a sister and she is dating my brother. It has so many perks." Ash laughed.

"Shut up."

"Yeah! First night when we confessed our feelings and we are spending it together. We can have so much fun." He wiggled his eyebrows, "There will be so many firsts, on our first night."

"Shut up and drive." I smacked his hand blushing dark red.

On the way to Bolton's mansion, I informed Max and surprisingly he agreed. I think it was because he became good friends with Troy and Janet. That dinner did something good for all of us.

In twenty minutes we were in their home. Allie and Nate made their way straight to Nathan's room. Ash nudged me smiling evilly,

"There was so much sexual tension between those two."

I smacked his hand shaking my head, "You are delusional."

"I'm not."

"And I'm hungry." I deadpanned.

"OH! Are you?" he pulled me closer by my waist wiggling his eyebrows.

"Shut up, you pervert." I pushed him away.

"Awww! You hurt me, babe."

"Where are your parents anyway?"

"They had a date planned." He snickered like it was something stupid.

"That's so cute." I awed.

"Sometimes they behave like they are still in high school, I swear." He pulled out a bowl from fridge.

"Well, technically Janet is still in high school." I chuckled and he joined.

"True!"

"Let's go to sleep." I yawned.

"Aren't you hungry?"

"Nah! I'm tired, I need a good peaceful sleep so I will take your bed and you take the couch." I declared and went to his room.

All I could hear was a groan from him. I fell on his bed. His bed was so soft and felt like clouds. There were footsteps coming towards the bed and then a side of bed dipped. An arm snaked around my waist pulling me closer to his warm chest.

"I told you to take that couch." I mumbled.

"Okay!" he ignored my comment completely putting his face in the crook of my neck. I sighed and let the sleep took over.

Morning was never pleasant. I woke up to find Ash poking me in my hand and then face.

"What?" I yelled at him.

"You're gonna faint now. I wanna show you something." He pulled me away from bed. I fake cried trying to pull away but he didn't listen and got out his room.

He put his finger on his lips telling me to shut up and slowly opened the door of Nate's room.

"What..." I was confused but I gasped loudly when I saw the scene in front of me.

The clothes were thrown around the room, the pillows found their place on the floor. My eyes went to the bed to find Nate and Allie sleeping peacefully wrapped in each other's arms. It didn't take a rocket science to tell anyone about the event happened there. Though now they were covered in sheets, it made me want to vomit.

I turned around to meet Asher's waggling eyes as he looked amused.

"They.... They..." I couldn't even form the word.

"See? I tried to tell you last night." He shrugged.

"Ok! That's too much." I gagged.

"Ha ha. That bastard is so damn lucky."

"Will... will he leave her now?" I whispered to myself but he heard it anyway.

"Why would you think that?" he put his hand under my chin making me look at his face.

"That's what you do, right? Once you get what you want, you leave." I muttered.

"Brooke, trust me, Nate would never break her heart. She is everything to him and he loves her."

"Does he?"

"Yeah! He told me that before. He would never leave her, trust Me." he wrapped his hands around me comforting me.

"Okay."

"Take a bath. I will meet you downstairs for breakfast. I think mom is making something special." He smiled giddily and pushed me into his room.

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

We were having breakfast when Allie and Nate entered the room. His hand was wrapped securely around her waist. She didn't meet my gaze or anyone's. It wasn't like I was going to lecture her or something like that but she looked scared of my reaction. When she took a seat beside me Ash grinned at them,

"Morning."

"Morning." Nate grumbled. Allie finally looked up and met my gaze but in return I sent her a small smile. I knew I should support her in her every decision. She looked shocked but then recovered.

"Aren't you a lucky bastard?" Ash nudged Nate who scowled at him.

"Asher, language!" Janet scolded him but Ash ignored her still grinning at them.

"Will you stop, it's creepy." Nate mumbled.

"Okay!" Ash laughed loudly before resuming his eating.

After some time, we came home to get our bags. It was a silent ride. Allie didn't say anything as she looked deep in her thoughts. Max wasn't home as he left early for his work but Ryan gave us a ride to school. Allie didn't say anything except for short answers.

We waved bye to Ryan and started walking towards school. But before we could enter, Allie took my hand and stopped us.

"What happened, Allie?"

"I love him, Brooke." Her voice was a mere whisper as she was afraid of my reaction.

I went closer to her, keeping my hands on her shoulder, "I know and I'm not angry, I promise. Just be careful, okay?"

She nodded and hugged me tightly.

"I was scared yesterday when he yelled at me. I didn't know what to think. I knew he didn't mean anything that he said but still it hurt." She whispered again.

"What did he say?"

"He was just angry when he saw me talking with that guy."

"Who was that guy?"

"He... He was... he wanted to know an address." She stuttered looking away. She was hiding something but I didn't press the matter.

"Don't worry. He apologized right?"

"Yeah! He did. He looked hurt."

"Yeah he was so scared and hurt when he called me. He loves you too, Al." I smiled.

"I know. Even though he hasn't said anything, I know he does."

"It will be alright." I comforted her.

Lectures were boring as usual. Nothing exciting happened except for people's curiosity about my and Ash's relationship. I saw Lacey giving me dirty looks. She even tried to talk to Asher but he didn't give response. Well, I was happy. Nathan and Allie were as usual sitting together and chatting animatedly.

In the evening, Asher took me out on date. Well, it was the same place near cliff, his parents' secret place. He even brought picnic basket containing lots of food. It was crazy. Romantic Asher was amazing, I swear. We talked about nearly everything, our pasts, past relationships, home, future. It was all refreshing. It showed me the new side of Asher who wasn't cocky but a sweet guy with so many ideas about his life. Overall, the date was awesome.

When I returned home, it was already late. I entered our room to find Allie asleep. Changing into pajama and a shirt, I was about to go to bed but saw Allie's phone was ringing. It was on silent so she didn't even know. I answered it. It was Nate.

"Allie...."

But I cut him off,
"She is sleeping. You can call her tomorrow."

He groaned loudly, "But I wanted to talk to her. I can't sleep right now."

"I can't do anything but didn't you see her in the evening?" I raised my eyebrow in curiosity.

"No. She said she had long hours in library and I had practice so I didn't." I could imagine him pouting.

"It's okay. You can come tomorrow morning."

"Yeah! Fine! Good night." he sounded disappointed.

"Good night." I hung up and was about to keep her phone away but then saw her face.

Gently, I pushed her hair away from her face and let out a gasp. There was a faint handprint on her cheek. It was visible on her pale skin. I was shocked but didn't know what to do. What was that? My breath hitched in my throat when I saw prints of fingers on her neck as well. Somebody tried to choke her. I covered my mouth with my palm. What was happening to her? She always looked worried and scared whenever she wasn't with Nate.

I pulled away from her and took her phone, trying to search for something suspicious but there was nothing. I sat on my bed not knowing what to do. She was hiding something but wasn't keen on talking about it. A shiver went down my spine when I thought about our past. It had something to do with our past. I was sure of it.

I kept the phone aside and put a small kiss on her head. She squirmed under my touch but didn't wake up. Shakily, I walked back to my bed and tried to sleep. But it was difficult. It was almost impossible.