Ashton's PoV:

Through bloodshot eyes I watched Carters back disappear as she slammed the door shut behind her.

"Bitch!" I called after her and turned to go find a beer but was suddenly shoved to the floor.

It took me longer than it should have because of my drunken state to realize it was Calum and his fist was flying towards my face.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" He screamed at me as his fist made contact with my cheek. The blow was hard and knocked my head to the side.

"Calum stop! Michael then yanked Calum off me as I held a hand to my face.

He had actually punched me.

"YOU JUST BROKE UP WITH YOUR FIANCÉ DO YOU REALIZE THAT?!" Calum yelled at me again.

"I didn't break up with her, she left." I said, still laying there on the floor.

"YOU MADE HER LEAVE!"

"Calum, calm down." Michael walked him back and I stood up before staggering to the bathroom, throwing up in the sink.

"You're an asshole." Luke said behind me but I didn't respond.

Instead I wiped my mouth and then went to one of the bedrooms before falling down onto the bed.

I wanted to sleep, so I did.

When I woke up my head was pounding.

I barely creaked my eyes open and turned over before I felt the nausea hit and walked to the bathroom so I could throw up again.

After that I needed coffee and and advil and so I walked out to the kitchenette with my eyes squinted.

"Look who's up." Calum's sour tone greeted me as I walked out.

"Shut up." I muttered and found myself the medicine and caffeine.

I saw Luke, Michael, and Calum watch me and I sighed before walking across the hall to my hotel room to apologise to Carter for staying across the hall last night.

I walked in and noticed that the beds were empty.

I furrowed my eyebrows and walked around the room. There wasn't a note saying where everyone was.

In confusion I walked back across the hall to the guys room where they seemed to be waiting for me.

"Wondering where Carter and the kids are?" Luke asked.

"Yes?"

Luke then nodded at Michael who walked behind me and locked the door before putting a hand on my back and pushing me to sit on the sofa.

"So Ashton, do you remember what happened last night?" Luke asked.

"I remember a lot of screaming. We went to a club right?"

"No." Michael said. "You and Carter broke up last night."

"We what?"

"You had a fight and you broke up."

"Wait then where is she?"

"That's not important right now, what's important is that you need to realize what you did last night."

I had a headache but I forced myself to search through my head to find the memories from yesterday.

"There was an article yesterday that claimed Carter had left you and was now dating Harry. So your dumbass self believed that, got angry, then got drunk, and when you came back you and Carter had a massive fight and broke up."

Then in all hit me.

"Yeah, I remember that." I rubbed my eyes, "but I don't remember what I said and I don't understand why you won't tell me where she is."

"She told you that she would never cheat on you, because she wouldn't and you know she wouldn't, but you were drunk and didn't listen, and she said if you thought she would ever cheat on you then maybe you shouldn't even be in a relationship, and you agreed."

"That's not breaking up."

"It is when she says she's done with the relationship and leaves." Calum said.

"She really said that?"

"Yes."

"Oh my God." I whispered.

"You really hurt her, Ashton. You really did."

"I'll talk to her, i'll fix this just tell me where she is."

They all looked at each other.

"When she left she went to Harry's and he called me last night and sent a car over for the kids because Carter wanted them to be with her." Luke said.

I could literally feel my heat break in my chest.

"I've talked to Harry and he insists that Carter is only a friend to him, and I've talked to Carter and she said the same thing."

"Why did she go to him instead of staying here and talking to me?"

"Because you were drunk and ended your relationship! Why would she stay?! You broke her heart Ashton, again!"

"We can fix this! That's what i'm trying to say!" I bit back.

"Maybe you can."

"I'm uh, i'm going to shower and then go talk to her." I stood up.

"We've been talking with Harry, and we've all agreed to keep you guys separated for at least a day, and when Carter is ready to talk to you then she will."

"So she left me and took my kids is basically what you're saying?!" I yelled at them. "And she's with Harry which is supposed to not upset me!"

"She's upset too!" Calum shouted.

"You don't have any right to keep me from her!"

"She doesn't want to see you!"

"Give me a phone I want to talk to her."

"No. Give her the space she needs."

"I want to talk to her, and I want to talk to her right now!" I shouted but none of them even moved.

"You know what, screw you guys." I said and then walked back into the bedroom before slamming the door shut.

I was pissed and upset and angry and hurt and heartbroken and confused and right now all I wanted was to see Carter and tell her I was sorry for what I had said.

I hadn't meant it.

But I couldn't just take back my words, all I could do was apologize for even saying them.

My day sucked.

The guys kept me locked in a room and when I could I would steal their phone and try to get in contact with Carter from them.

One time she answered and when I said her name she hung up and apparently told Harry because he called Luke and told them to tell me stop making things worse.

I laid there all day on the bed, getting past my hangover and wishing I hadn't been so stupid and gotten drunk last night.

At around nine at night Luke walked in the bedroom with his phone.

"It's Ari." He said and handed me the phone before sitting down on the bed next to me.

"Hello?" I spoke into the phone.

"Hey. You wanna tell me what happened?"

"Ari, i'll be honest with you, I really don't remember what happened, and right now all I want to do is see Carter."

"Yeah."

"Have you talked to her?"

"Yeah I have."

"And?"

"I mean what do you want me to say? She's heart broken Ashton. How could you ever think she would cheat on you?"

"I don't know! It's Harry!"

"And he's just her friend! He dates other girls Ashton, they're just close! But you're her fiancé and she loves you!"

"I know. I know." I sighed. "And all I want to do is fix this but no one will let me see her."

"She's not ready yet, Ashton. I just got off the phone with her like two minutes ago and she was still crying and falling apart. She thinks it's the end this time."

"I can't let that happen." I whispered.

"But you did, Ashton. Your words have consequences, especially when your drunk, and the things you said to her cut deep. That's not just going to go away."

"I can make this better, I just need to talk to her."

"She'll let you know when she's ready, but i'm warning you now, when she is, you better be ready to fight for her like you've never fought before, because this time it might not be so easy to win her back."

"Yeah." I said.

"I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

"Yeah."

I hung up and Luke took the phone back before leaving me to wallow in the guilt and shame for the rest of the night.

The next morning I was awoken by someone shoving my shoulder roughly and opened my eyes to see Luke standing above me.

"Carter texted." He said and I sat up quickly and took his phone to read the message Carter had sent him.

'I know you're keeping the phone away from Ashton so please pass along this message: I'm not ready to talk yet. I need more time to gather my thoughts. The kids are okay and I will think about having them call tonight.'

I tossed the phone on the bed and dropped my head into my hands.

"How much longer does she need?"

"However much time she wants." Luke replied before leaving.

The day went the same as yesterday.

They wouldn't let me have any access to a phone, and all I was able to do was sit there.

After going to the bathroom and noticing the giant yellowing bruise on my cheek from where Calum had apparently punched me, I went out to see Luke on his phone, writing down things on a notepad.

"Anything else?" He asked. "Okay, well i'll get this together and be over within an hour."

Was he talking to Carter?

When he hung up I stepped up to him.

"Was that Carter?"

"No it's was Harry."

"What did he want?"

"He was calling because Carter and the kids need some things from the hotel."

"Are you going to go see her?"

"Yeah, I am." He said bluntly and then stood up before walking out of the hotel room and going across the hall.

Michael and Calum glared at me as I walked back into the bedroom, annoyed.

But I couldn't stand being there and ended up going in the other room, pacing around until Luke came back in.

"Okay, i'm heading out." He said.

"Just let me go with you." I begged him. "Luke, she's my wife. I have to fix this."

"She'll talk to you when she wants to talk to you. Maybe you should've thought about what would happen before you got drunk and maybe this wouldn't have happened. And you know what else, Carter was right, she does deserve better than you."

My whole body went numb at his words and I saw Michael hand Luke an envelope before Luke left.

I had never felt so completely hopeless in my life.

Luke's PoV:

Mad didn't even describe the way I felt about Ashton. I was angry, furious, pissed, frustrated, and also heartbroken because he knew what he had done and was hurting, but my heart hurt for Carter even more.

I had a big suitcase in the trunk of the car and as the driver drove me to Harry's house I was a bit anxious to see Carter. Harry said she wasn't doing well.

When I got there I took the suitcase and then knocked on the door and a few minutes later Harry opened the door.

He had Gracie cradled in his arms and she was drinking from a sippy cup, and I couldn't help but feel weird at seeing another man hold Ashton's child.

"Hey." I said and stepped into Harry's mansion.

"Hey. Thanks for bringing their stuff." He said and then walked into the living room and set Gracie down.

She ran back to hug me and I kissed her cheek.

"How's my niece doing?"

"Good." She giggled. "Uncle Lukey, you spend night too?"

"No, i'm just stopping by to visit." I smiled at her and then stood up.

"Where's Ender?" I asked him and his face turned even more sorrowful and he sent Gracie to the living room before having me follow him up a marble staircase and down a hall until we reached a room.

Inside on the giant king sized bed, Carter was covered in the blankets, asleep, while Ender sat on the floor beside the bed, watching her.

My jaw dropped at the sad sight before me and I looked for a moment longer before Harry had us walk back to the stairs.

"All she does is sleep. I'll try to wake her up so she can eat but she'll just take one bite and then get sick. She says it's anxiety but she mentioned that she wants to go to sleep and never wake up. I think she doesn't want to feel anything."

I was in shock.

"And I tried to keep Ender away but finally I just let him go in. He's sat there all day."

"What do we do?" I asked him.

"If she's still like this tomorrow then I think we should have her and Ashton talk."

"You think she's ready?"

"No, but if we let her keep up like this she's going to slowly kill herself. They need to get closure, whether that means getting back together or officially ending things so they can move on from this."

"Yeah, I agree." I sighed. "I'll go try to talk to her."

I walked back to the bedroom and stepped inside, pausing before walking over to the bedside and placing a hand on Enders back.

"Hey bud." I said and he turned to look at me.

"Luke!" A little bit of a smile showed on his face before he hugged me.

"I brought your skateboard and some other things, they're in the suitcase downstairs if you want to check them out."

He looked at Carter and then looked back at me before nodding and leaving the room.

I then moved to Carter.

"Car, hey wake up." I shook her shoulder.

"Stop it Harry I don't want to wake up." She mumbled.

"Carter, its Luke. Wake up."

She turned over and creaked her eyes open to look at me.

"Hey." I said and she yawned before brushing the hair from her face.

"Hi." She replied.

"Id ask how you were feeling but I feel like that would be a dumb question." I said and I saw her smile as she let out a tiny laugh.

"How is he?" She asked.

"Uh, not good." I replied. "He's freaking out and wants to talk to you and see the kids. I think he realises how badly he screwed up."

She nodded.

"So he's ready to talk when you are."

"Not yet." She said. "H-he broke my heart."

I could see the tears in her eyes.

"I know he did, and he knows he did, and i'm not making excuses for him because believe i'm pissed at him, but you know he loves you. He loves you so much to the point where I think he let it get the best of him. I think that's why he got so scared and got drunk was because he loves you and is terrified to lose you, but the irony is he ended up pushing you away."

She had no response.

"If you're not ready then you're not ready, but please try and at least eat something, okay? You've gotta take care of yourself for those kids."

She nodded at this.

"Thank you for coming." She said.

I could tell she was done talking.

"Yeah. This will get better, I promise you."

I patted her arm and then stood up before Harry came to take my place.

"Do you want anything?" He asked her as he hovered over her. "Tea or coffee or chocolate or something."

She smiled up at him.

"Tea."

"Okay, I'll get you that."

I saw him lean in to kiss her forehead and she closed her eyes as he did this. He looked at her with her eyes closed for a few moments before standing up and the two of us left the room.

"Will you let me know tomorrow how she's doing?"

"Yeah. In my head i'm giving her 12 hours to get it together before I have him talk to her."

"Alright. I'll pass that along to Calum and Michael." I said and he nodded."Oh, and you might want to chill on the kissing her forehead thing unless you want Ashton to totally freak out."

At that he turned away from me and began to walk down the stairs. I followed him and when we reached the living room Gracie was watching television.

"Okay Gray, tell Uncle Lukey bye." I said to her and she slid off the sofa and ran over to hug me.

"Bye Uncle Lukey."

"Bye Gracie. I'll see you soon okay?"

"Mhmm." She kissed my cheek before running back to her show.

I found Ender eating a snack in the kitchen.

"Behave alright? I'll see you soon." I hugged his shoulders.

"Are you going to see my Dad?" He asked me and I looked at Harry who was watching.

"Yeah, I am." I said.

"Can you tell him I miss him?"

"Yeah, i'll tell him."

"And can you tell him I'm sorry if I made him mad and that's why we left?"

"Ender." I shook my head. "This isn't your fault, okay? I promise you. Everything will go back to normal soon."

He nodded sadly.

Harry walked me to the door and I told him goodbye and gave him the envelope that contained a letter we had written to him before heading to the car.

When I got back to the hotel Calum and Michael were waiting for me in the living room.

"Is he around?" I asked.

"No, he's sleeping I think." Michael said. "So how was she?"

"Um, not good. She won't eat and all she does is sleep. She told Harry she doesn't want to wake up. She's really depressed."

"They need to talk." Calum sighed.

"Harry said he's giving her 12 more hours and if she's not better then he can go see her."

"Wow this is a mess." Michael shook his head.

"And Ender thinks it's his fault and he just sits there next to the bed while Carter is sleeping. I've never seen anything so sad."

Our heads snapped up at the sound of a footstep and we looked to see Ashton walking back into the bedroom.

He had heard us.

Ashton's PoV:

Twelve hours is how long I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the clock.

That's how long Harry was giving Carter before having us talk.

At twelve hours there was nothing.

No one came in to say anything to me, there was no phone call, it was silence.

At thirteen hours I was getting worried (even more so than before) and at fourteen hours there was finally a knock on the door.

I looked back to see Luke, Michael, and Calum standing there.

"Take a shower and get dressed." Luke said and I got up to do as they said.

When I was ready they walked me out to a car where we all got in.

"Is she not doing better?" I asked them and they looked at each other before looking away.

When we pulled up to Harry's house we got out of the car and Michael and Calum went inside first and Luke and I waited a few minutes before he got a text and looked at his phone.

"Ashton before we go in there," He said and then sighed, "we didn't mean to make you mad by keeping you two separated but that's what we had to do. We know how much you love her, and remember she loves you too, but what you did really hurt her. But we all want you to work this out."

I nodded.

"I understand."

"Okay, then lets go."

We walked inside and the moment we did Harry was standing there.

"She's upstairs." He said and began to walk that way.

I followed him, passing by the living room where Ender and Gracie were sitting.

"Dad." Ender gasped when he saw me and I gave him a smile before Harry led me up the stairs.

We reached a door and he stopped walking.

"She just fell back asleep around thirty minutes ago so she shouldn't be that hard to wake up." He said and I nodded before walking in.

There she was.

Carter was asleep under the covers, her body angled oddly, something she did in her sleep when she was anxious.

I walked up and sat down on the bed before slowly reaching out to touch her. She looked exhausted.

Carefully I slid my arms under her and pulled her body over to mine, laying her down on my chest.

I rubbed my hand up and down her back, incredibly happy to feel her body again. I moved my hand to her face so I could stroke the skin of her face and after a few minutes she sighed.

"Harry can I get some tea?" She whispered, her eyes still closed.

She thought I was Harry?

"Well, i'm not Harry, but I can get you some tea if you want it." I said.

Her body tensed before she gasped and pushed herself away from me, scrambling across the bed and onto the floor.

"Carter-"

"No! No!" She shouted back at me with wild eyes before literally running from the room.

Of course I ran after her and she ran into a bathroom before slamming the door shut and locking it.

"Carter! Car come on, we have to talk about this." I knocked on the door.

All I could hear was her crying and seconds later Harry appeared and moved me aside before knocking on the door.

"Car, open up." He said and seconds later the door opened and he walked in before closing it and locking it again.

"I can't do this." She cried.

"I know you're scared, and I know you're still upset, but you have to do this okay? There's no other way around it." Harry said.

"The things he said-"

"I know they hurt you, but he loves you Carter. You know that."

"If he loved me he wouldn't have said those things." She continued to cry.

As I stood outside the door I felt worse than I ever had in my life. I had hurt her so badly. I would never be able to forgive myself.

"You have to stop thinking like that. You know he loves you, and you love him. He made a mistake and he knows that and he's here to apologize. Just listen to him and try to fix this. Can you do that?"

I didn't hear her respond but then Harry spoke.

"Good. Now let's wipe off those tears and take a deep breath."

"Thank you." Carter then spoke. "I don't know what i'd do without you."

Harry then laughed and a few seconds later the door opened and Carter slowly stepped out, her eyes landing on me.

She walked back towards the bedroom and Harry nodded at me to follow her so I did.

When we got there I closed the door and then watched as she went to sit in the arm chair in the corner.

She folded her feet up in the seat and I carefully went to sit in front of her on the floor, not taking my eyes off her for a second.

Her skin looked pale and her eyes were hollow.

"What happened to your face?" She asked me, her eyes moving to the shadow on my cheek.

"Calum punched me." I said and her lips twitched in a small smile before she looked away from me and stared off to the side.

"Carter I-" I began my apology that I had planned out in my head but she stopped me.

"I don't understand how you could've said what you said to me. Drunk or not. What kind of man says that to his fiancé?" She shook her head.

"I never meant to hurt you." I said.

"That sounds familiar." She continued to stare off to side. "I believe you said that once before after you lied to me about the band."

"I'm so sorry. Carter I need you to listen to me. I know you're not cheating, okay? I know that. I got angry and jealous and I made a mistake. A very stupid stupid mistake, and then I said those things to you and I don't know why I did but i'm so sorry for saying them. I didn't mean anything I said."

"I thought people were more honest when they're drunk?"

"No, they're more stupid, and they end up messing up everything good they had."

She moved to rest her head on her knees, hiding her face from me but I could see her shoulders shaking.

"You promised you'd never hurt me again." She spoke and immediately by the sound of her voice I could tell she was crying. "And I believed you."

"I never wanted to hurt you. You know that. If I could take what happened back in an instant I would, i'd do anything, because I never wanted nor expected this to happen. Carter I love you, I love you so much, and I'm so sorry."

"I'm so sick of you saying you love me, but always feeling so unloved. You broke my heart."

I didn't know how to respond. I had really screwed up.

"I'm just, i'm just so tired of getting my heart broken. It's been broken so many times and I can't keep doing this, it's killing me."

"I never want to break your heart."

"Then why do you keep doing this to me?!" She raised her voice then looked up and looking at her distraught expression brought tears to my eyes.

"I don't..."

"Ashton I can't get my heart broken by you anymore. I just can't."

"I won't. I'll never hurt you again Carter. I need you to understand that. I made a huge mistake but I won't screw up anymore. I promise you. Just give me a chance to prove that to you."

"I've already given you a second chance Ashton. So do you see why I wouldn't think a third chance would work?"

She was making so many valid points and part of me was wondering why she hadn't just broken up with me yet, but then I knew it was because of the same reason I was here apologising: Love.

"You have every right to feel the way you do, but I just need you to believe me. I know that's asking a lot from you after what I did but I can't lose you. I can't. I love you so much, and I can't believe I did what I did, and I wish I could take it all back, but I can't, and all I can do now is try and make it better, and make you understand how sorry I am."

I watched as she wiped at her eyes and as she did I heard a noise behind me and looked to see a paper being slid under the door.

I looked back at her to see she had noticed it too and then went to go get it, coming back to sit down in front of her.

I looked down and began to read out loud the hand written note.

"Dear Mom and Dad," I read and Carter put her hands over her mouth, "You always tell me and Gracie when we are sad that you love us. We don't know why you are both sad, but we want you to know we love you too, and if you want us to we will listen."

When I said that Carter and I both let out a small laugh.

I continued.

"Please be happy again. Love Ender and...I think Gracie tried to sign her name." I passed the card to Carter and she looked at it before wiping away her tears.

"This was sweet." She said and then set it down.

"Car, I know I messed up, and I hurt you so badly I will never forgive myself, but I need you to know I love you."

She stared at me for a moment before standing up and walking to the nightstand and opening the drawer, taking out a blue metal box.

She came back over to sit in the chair and then opened it before pulling out some folded sheets of paper.

"You wrote me this letter for our six month anniversary, do you remember?"

"Yeah."

"Do you remember what it says?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"I read this letter, whenever I feel sad or if i'm alone, or if you're gone at work and I just want you to be there with me. I have it memorised, down to the very last word. This letter means so much to me and to our relationship." She took a deep breath and then handed it to me. "When I read this I remember why you love me, and now I want you to read it and remember why you wrote it for me."

I nodded before unfolding it and smoothing out the paper.

As I began to read I remembered when I wrote this. We had been in Japan and she was sick and had been sleeping in my lap. I had then called the hotel and surprised her with champagne, roses, chocolate covered strawberries and the letter. At the time I thought it had been sweet, but I never knew the letter meant this much to her...until I got to the end.

'To conclude this letter I want to make you a few promises.

I promise that I will give you a life time of love and protection. I promise I will be the man you want me to be, and be a good father and husband. And I promise to love you, because I couldn't possibly do anything else.

I promise you Carter, that even when life seems horrible and you don't think we can make it, I promise you that we will. You're my forever.

I love you Carter.

Forever and Always,

Ashton'

Slowly I set the letter down and then looked back up at her.

"When I think about my future, I can't see anyone else but you in it. I'll admit that i've tried before, but I can't. You're my first love, and I want you to be my last, I want you to be my husband and I want you to be my forever, but my heart can't take the pain anymore. Be all of those things you said you would be, what you promised me you would be. Be that man. Be the Ashton I can't live without. Be the Ashton that loves me and is willing do everything to show me that you love me. That's what I need from you."

"I promise you Carter, I promise you I won't hurt you again. I mean it."

"This is your last chance Ashton. I'm not kidding."

"I know you're not." I said and she cracked a smile at this.

I reached out for her hands and she let me take them before I brought her left one to my lips and kissed her engagement ring.

"Will you marry me?" I whispered. "After everything i've done, and after all i've caused I know I would have doubts too. But I love you, and I love our children, and I love our life together even when it sucks. We've made it through one major fight, moving, a custody battle, the media, and now we have this, but we're so strong and I know that if we can make it through all of that then we can make it through this and whatever else happens. I know we can, and I know because our love for each other is what gets us through it. So keeping in mind everything that's happened in these last few days, but also everything that we've accomplished so far, will you still be my wife?"

Carter slowly slid out of the chair and onto the floor, her legs coming around my waist as she moved her right hand up to my cheek.

I leaned in close so that my forehead would touch hers and I could feel her breathing and hear her heart pounding in her chest.

"Yes." She whispered, the same way she had when I proposed to her, and like then, I wasted no time in pressing my lips to hers.

The kiss soon became needy and passionate and I could taste her salty tears mixing into the kiss.

"I love you so much, Carter. And I'll never stop." I got out between kisses.

Her arms were around my neck, her fingers twisting in my hair as she kissed me back and then she broke away to breathe.

"I'll never stop loving you too."

--

And they're back!

Well kinda.

They've still got some things to work through, but I definitely think this was a major wake up call for both of them.

This is Ashton's last chance, do you think he'll live up to it?

And do you think Carter and Harry's friendship will still be a problem for him or will he be able to get over it?

More to come!

Comment and vote if you'd like! I'd love to hear your thoughts! And also to those of you who have added HH to your reading lists I just want to say thank you so so so so so much!!!

Much love xx-m