“Where do I start with all of this? Who do I ask if this is even real? Do I ask my dad? Do I ask Skylar? Wait does she know about this too? Is that why she treats me the way she does?….” now she was panting and almost to the point of hyperventilating.
I walked over to her and pinch her chin between my finger and thumb to get her to look up at me.
“Malia I need you to breathe for me. Deep breaths. Good. Now tell me five things you can see.”
“Eggs. The refrigerator. Coffee pot. The chair. The dishes,” she told me slowly coming back to me so I continued.
“Good now tell me four things you can touch.”
“You. The counter. My coffee mug. The wall.” Now her breathing was slowing down but I continued anyways to get her breathing regularly.
“Three things you can smell.”
“You. Grayson. Ryder.” This surprised me because I didn't smell any of the cologne we wear. I wonder what she meant by that.
“Almost there now tell me two things you can hear.”
“The washer. The coffee pot dripping.”
“Now one thing you can taste.”
“My toothpaste.” Thank fuck she was calm now.
“How did you do that?” She was looking at me with something I couldn’t really decipher at the moment.
“Take a walk with me outside?” I hesitantly asked. She gave me a nod and I took her hand to lead her through the front door. We sat on the steps and we just breathed in the fresh air for a few minutes.
“When I was around fourteen my parents used to pressure me to be as good as Jason. They wanted me to be successful like him. The only problem with that is the way my dad did it. I used to come home from football practice only to have to practice at home and if I didn’t do it right I would have to start all over again. Sometimes I would even get sick and empty my stomach right there at my feet. Dad didn’t really care if I was in pain or not. Sometimes it honestly felt like he was just trying to hurt me on purpose. There were never any words between us and mom never stuck up for me. When he figured I had enough he would send me to shower and eat then go up to my room. The next day I would do it all over again. Coach taught me how to calm myself down from a panic attack.”
“That must have been really hard for you Ash. There is no way that he could have honestly thought what he was doing would actually help you. I wish I could have been there for you during all of that,” she said. The thing I appreciated most about her response was that she didn’t say she was sorry for me. I felt like people only said that to make the uncomfortable silence that came when someone was done telling their story, go away. Moving right up to her side I threw my arm around her shoulder and we sat there for a little while.
“Ash I think I need to go talk to my dad. He has to know more about this. You think he moved us here on purpose?” she visibly shuddered with that question.
“Malia I don’t think your dad is a bad guy. Has he done bad things? Yeah everyone has. You are going to have to ask him about it. He is gonna be the only one to answer most if not all of your questions.” I answered.
“Thanks Ash. You are turning into a big softy on me aren’t you? Thank you for being here for me and helping me through everything. I think I am going to go home and talk to my dad. See what answers he gives me and go from there,” she sighed.
“You want us to come with you babe? We will if you want we aren’t doing anything today.” I told her.
“No thank you Asher. This is something I am going to have to do alone. You are amazing just the way you are. If your parents can’t see that then they are the ones missing out. I love you Ash,” and ended that statement with a hug and a searing kiss while she was at it.
Going back inside the house Grayson and Ryder looked like they just got caught eavesdropping. “I am gonna go to my dad’s and see if he has any answers for me. Asher said he is the only one that can answer all of them so I might as well go talk to him and get it over with,” she explained to the guys.
“Do you want a ride over there baby?” Grayson asked.
“No, I want to walk. Thanks though big guy.” She went to give us all hugs and kisses before she left. We all watched her leave and I felt like we had all been holding our breath ready for an explosion of emotions since everything last night.
“What the fuck are we going to do about this mess? Malia is hurting and there isn’t a damn thing we could do about it. I say we go interrogate Skylar and see if this was the reason she is bullying Malia so bad but at the same time I don’t want word getting around until Malia gets all of her answers first.” Ryder told us. For once I feel like the level headed one about everything.
“No, we are going to finish cleaning up the little that there is left and we will keep ourselves busy until she comes home.” Calling this our home has made a goofy smile light up my face and now the guys were looking at me like I had three heads.
“What the fuck are you smiling about Benson?” Grayson growled at me.
“I just like the sound of her coming home
