So, I wrote this in one go so please mind the errors.
I had to post it today as you all were giving me anxious reactions. :p

Dedicated to @Phylicam for her immense support! :)
Not to keep you waiting, here's the next chapter! :)

12. Running away

I ran as fast as I could. I didn’t know why I was doing so but I just kept on running. I didn’t know from what I was running from but I couldn’t stop myself. I ran anywhere, not knowing where I was going and what I was going to do next, but at that moment, the only thing to do was to run away. Because when you’re in a situation where you have no idea what do to, it seems the best option, to escape from your problems so that at least for that duration, we’ll be away from everything and everyone who could harm us.

My breathing was heavy, my chest was getting tight and the pain was emerging with every step that I took but in that moment, I wasn’t paying attention to anything, my only motive was to run away so that no one could find me, so that no one could remind me about him.

How could he do that again?
Didn’t he promise me to never leave me alone? To never lie to me?
Didn’t he trust me at all after so many days of being together?

Due to being too much involved in my thoughts, I didn’t notice the rock which came on my way and resulted in tripping over it. A thump sound filled the silent surrounding of the place where I was. I managed to get up from the cold ground and dragged myself to toward the bench on the side of the road, surrounded my green plants.

I raised my head and began to stare at the twinkling stars.
Some people enter in your life like wind, you won’t really notice their existence and their importance but slowly, they affect your entire life with their presence. Because that someone is like a shooting star to you, everything you could ever wish for is everything they are.
Ryan was the same person for me a few months ago. I loved him a lot and I guess I still do. But if there isn’t trust in your relationship, it’s ought to break into pieces one day or the other. It’s well said that a relationship can’t be built on a lie. Even if that lie was spoken for your own good.

All the bottled up feelings were ought to come out one day and today was that day. The day when all I wanted was to cry and damn that jerk for lying to me, for pushing me away again. But I controlled myself from crying.
I had toughen up myself to never cry over him and I didn’t do it even after the day he left but today, Ashton’s words brought back the feelings again.

.
No matter how much I wanted Ashton’s words to be a lie, but I knew they weren’t. It was all true.

He parked the car near a park and we went inside to sit on a free bench. It was already dark so no kid was playing there, only silence occupied the whole surrounding.
“So, from where should I start?” Ashton spoke, taking a long breath like he was getting ready to open up a long story in front of me.
“Wherever it began from.”
He looked at me and finally sat down. “Look Jade, I know I am not the person to explain it all to you but I can’t take it anymore. The two of you having a tough time, especially you because you have to go through this when you didn’t even do anything. You’re like my little sister, I would never lie to you and just because Ryan’s my friend doesn’t mean that I’ll misguide you about him, take his side or portray him as the nicer person in this situation. So promise me you will hear me out without any interruptions or sarcastic comments.”

I nodded my head, ready to hear him out.

“Okay so, first thing first, about why he broke up with you.” he spoke, wiping the sweat away from his head. It was a cold evening and he was still sweating because of the tension increasing.
“He didn’t break up, he cheated on me.” I corrected nonchalantly.
He glared at me like earlier and spoke,”You just promised me something.”
“Okay, fine.” I groaned.

He took a deep breath and finally began, “Do you remember Marley?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. Why did he asked me that when we came here for the explanation?
‘Yeah. She was a senior.” I replied.
“Yes, that Marley. Do you remember what kind of a girl she was?” he asked.
“She was very shy and lonely all the time.” I answered, remembering the times when I used to talk to her.

“The girl who you saw with Ryan in that party..” he paused, took a deep breath and then continued,”was her.”
My eyes widened with surprise. How could it happen?
“What? But I thought she was a nice girl?” I screamed, banging my hands on the wood.
“She still is, she was just helping Ryan.” Ashton said softly.
“With what? To cheat on me?” I yelled out. How could she do that? I was the only one who talked to her when she was sitting there alone in that class and she backstabbed me?

“Ryan asked her for her help. They tried to present it to you like they were kissing but they weren’t. It was all an act.”
“Act my foot. Why would someone ‘act’ like that?” I asked, the anger raging in me.
He groaned. Running his fingers through his hair, he began,”I have to start from the beginning or you will keep on asking me these questions. You know, Ryan was quite a laidback kid in his childhood days and I know it as I practically grew up with him. His parents were never on good terms with each other. His father didn’t treat his mother appropriately. And Ryan being the only other male member of his family, took this as a shame that his dad was mistreating his wife. Ryan was pretty close to his mother and he still is. He respects her a lot but watching his father screaming at her and scolding her for no reason got him on his nerves.”

Ashton took a pause and looked at me.”I came to know about this by the change in his behaviour. He used to get angry very quickly and always used to complain about how ruthless his dad is. But he was young at that time so he really couldn’t do anything and it was easy to distract his mind away from his family. And it got distracted when he began to come to the park and play with me and Richie. It was like he didn’t give a fuck about anything, just too lost in playing football. He met you along the way and was quite overwhelmed with all the new changes in his life.”

A small smile creeped on his face while he spoke his last statement but then into a frown when he began again.
“Then the whole incident with Richie happened and you stopped coming to the park because of your health issues. He became lonely again and because of that, he had no option but to sit home and listen to his parents fighting.”

“But they seem so perfect together. Like they could never fight with each other.” I spoke.
“It’s all just an act. Mr Matthews is a true actor; he could do anything for his reputation. Haven’t you seen how rude he usually is to Ryan? Haven’t Ryan explained any of it to you?”

I shook my head as a no when he sighed and spoke, “That dumbass. He keeps all his problems to himself.”

“Many things lead to others and their relationship began to grow weaker, Ryan and his father’s. He hates his father to death.”
“But that still don’t explain why he cheated on me? I asked softly. I was angry at Ryan for not telling me anything that was happening in his life, to never share his true feelings with me.

“Because he wanted you to get away from him so that he won’t hurt you by any manner. You know how he is Jade, always pushing away the people he love whenever he is going through many problems. And that is why he pushed you away.”

And that was enough for me to get up. He did it again to me? I know he went through a lot but he couldn’t just push me away every time he faced a problem, especially when I opened up my heart to him, when he promised that he won’t do it again.
But he did it again, he broke his promise. At that moment, I didn’t care if Ryan cheated on me or not, all that mattered was that he didn’t even trust me enough to stick to his side. It was a promise from my side that whatever happens to him or around him,  I’ll never leave him alone to face the problems but he didn’t trust me.

And that’s when I ran away.

“Jade?” a familiar voice called out from the dark.
I raised my head to look at that person and found Dillan.
“Do you know how worried I was about you?” he spoke, sitting next to me.
I didn’t say anything for a while, all I did was sat there quietly.
“Ashton called me and said that you ran away aimlessly in an unfamiliar town. You know how unsafe it is to roam around at this time of the day?” he kept on speaking about how worried he was and about my safety but it was like my ears were blocked.

And then, he enveloped me into a hug, making me to lose all my control over myself and that was when I burst into tears.

“Shh, don’t cry Jade.” he said softly, running his fingers through my hair to calm me down.
“I don’t want to do it again Dillan. I don’t want to think about him again.” I cried in his chest.
“You don’t have to do anything Jade. Let’s go home now.” he spoke and lifted me up.
_
_

Dillan’s point of view

After getting Jade to bed, I sat next to her while she was silently staring at the ceiling in front of her. She had massive pain in her chest because she had another asthma attack because of the excessive running. She sisn’t even speak a single word except ‘I don’t want to remember him again.’

I didn’t know what happened with her and Ashton but I knew she was severely affected by it. I had known the girl since a long time now and I knew she was very weak when it comes to her feelings. No matter how tough she showed everyone she was, she was that little fragile girl from inside.

A soft knock interrupted my thoughts. I looked at Jade who was now sleeping peacefully; I walked toward the door and went outside to find Ashton standing there.

“What happened, Ashton? Why was she crying?” I asked impatiently.
“I just told her the truth, nothing else.” he spoke.
“I don’t know what you told her but I don’t want her to get hurt again by him.” I announced.
“Come one Dillan, you know Ryan’s not a bad guy.” Ashton said.
“After what I’ve seen him doing to Jae, I won’t take him as a good person.” I hissed and went straight to my room.

She had enough. That jerk had broken her heart too many times and made her go through hell. I wouldn’t let it happen again.
No matter what happen, that bastard won’t even touch Jade.

*********

A lot more in the next chapter!

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