Denise knocked on Ashley’s door before stepping inside. Ashley was tucked under the covers in her bed lying in silence. Denise signed as she walked over towards the bed and took a seat at the end.
“Sweetheart, are you awake?” Denise asked shaking her leg lightly.
“Yea.” Ashley mumbled.
“We need to have a heart to heart. I need to hear from you exactly what has been going on lately.” Denise pulled the covers away slightly so she could hear her better.
“Is Alex still here?” she asked timidly.
“He had to go back to LA for a meeting but he’s coming back soon.”
“Can we wait until he gets back?”
“I guess there’s no harm in that, but when he gets back we’re not putting it off.”
“Ok.” She gave her a half smile and pulled her covers back up.
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A few hours later AJ returned to the smell of chicken cutlets and lasagna.
“Mom, have I told you how much I’ve missed your cooking?” He laughed walking into the kitchen. He grinned seeing the cookies set out too. Denise smacked his hand away before he could grab one.
“Those are for after dinner. Now go set the table so we can eat.” She handed him the stack of plates.
“Ashley, come eat dinner.” She called to Ashley who had locked herself away in her room since she returned home.
“She hasn’t come out to talk to you yet?” he asked as he set the plates in their proper spots on the table.
“She said she didn’t want to talk to me alone, that she’d rather wait until you came back.” Denise said as she took the tray of pasta from the oven.
“Ashley, dinner.” Denise called to her again.
“I’m not hungry.” She called back.
“Well then come sit with us because we’re all eating dinner together.”
“I’ll get her.” AJ said walking towards her room. He knocked on the door and peeked his head in. Ashley was lying on her bed staring at the wall. “Come on kiddo…you promised me you’d talk to mom. Come eat dinner with us and then we can all sit and talk.”
Ashley groaned and reluctantly got out of bed walking towards the door. AJ stopped her and pulled her into a hug before she could walk past him.
“You’ll feel better once you talk to her.” He said pulling away from the hug to look at her.
“What happened to your lip?” Ashley asked.
“It’s nothing, I must have bit it…come one that food smells really good and I know you must be starving.” He avoided the question and pushed her out the door and towards the kitchen with his hands on her shoulders.
“Smells good.” Ashley said quietly as she took a seat at the table.
“It’s nice to see you actually joining us.” Tony said sarcastically taking a seat across from her. He wasn’t doing much to hide his disappointment and anger for her. He could hear him talking to Denise earlier about how she had to take more control and discipline her more before she spiraled out of control.
“Let’s just have a nice dinner everyone.” Denise said smiling at Tony as she placed the food down on the table and began serving it. “It’s not everyday that we’re all together.”
“The food is really good.” AJ said taking a bite of his pasta, trying to lighten the mood. “I need to start coming for dinner more often.”
“You’re welcome here whenever you want sweetie, you know that.” Denise took a seat after serving everyone.
“So Alex how was your meeting?” Denise asked trying to keep the conversation going.
“Same as always, boring and uneventful.” AJ lied, hoping his mother wouldn’t be able to tell. Ashley studied his face and could tell he was hiding something. She wondered if it had anything to do with his cut lip but didn’t want to push it at the moment.
“What was it about?” Denise asked.
“Just terms of our break and all that business crap. They want to make sure we’re all on the same page.” He shrugged nonchalantly as he continued to eat his food.
“Well that’s good. I’m glad you boys are finally getting some rest. You’ve been on the run for too many years now, you deserve the break.” Denise smiled.
“Tell me about it.” He sighed. “I just gotta figure out how to keep myself busy.”
“I’m sure you’re figure something out.” Denise smiled and turned her attention to Ashley. “So Ashley, after we finish dinner would you mind helping me with the dishes?”
“I guess.” She shrugged.
“I’ll do them with her.” AJ offered. “You cooked dinner, let us do the cleanup.”
“Thank you sweetheart.” Denise smiled at the two. “Once the dishes are done then we can all sit and talk. Tony and I need to have a discussion with you about something important and since Alex is here too it’s best to do it tonight this way everyone is involved.”
“Can’t we just talk alone?” she asked aggravated.
“I thought you didn’t want to talk alone and that’s why we were waiting for Alex to get back.” Tony chimed in.
“I meant just me my mom and my brother.” Ashley said in a snooty tone.
“No, we’re going to finish this nice dinner as a family and then we will all talk.” Denise said sternly.
Ashley signed and took a few more bites of her food before pushing her plate away. The idea of having to talk to Denise about everything that’s been going on was making her nauseous. The rest of dinner went on fairly quiet as Ashley sat around waiting for everyone to finish their meals.
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“It won’t be as bad as you think.” AJ said to her as they put all the dishes into the sink.
“I’m not worried about mom, I’m worried about Tony. If it was up to him I’d be grounded until I croaked.” Ashley sighed as she began to clear off the plates.
“You have to see it from his side too Ash. Mom may act like a brick wall in front of you, but who do you think she goes to when she doesn’t know how to deal? He’s the only one who knows how much all of this affects her, and I’m not just talking about you either, it was the same when I was having trouble.”
“I guess.”
“You’re a good kid and mom and Tony know that, they just want to help you before you screw your life up like I did.” He sighed as he dried the plates she was washing.
“You didn’t screw up Alex, you got help that’s what matters.” Ashley stopped and looked at him.
“Then how come you still won’t let me live it down?” he finally asked.
“Alex…” Ashley sighed not really knowing what to say. “You really hurt me back then, but I know that you’re sorry and that if you could take it back and change the way things turned out you would. I know I’ve said some pretty harsh things to you and I’m sorry. I don’t hate you, I’m just scared of getting hurt.”
“I’m a different person now Ash, and we’re never going to get past any of this unless you learn that you really can trust me again.” He sighed as he placed the last of the dishes in the cabinet. “Come one…it’s time to talk to everyone.”
Ashley sighed as he walked out of the room. He was right, all he had been trying to do for the past two years is prove to her that she could trust him but she couldn’t accept it. She knew in order for things to really go back to normal with them she was going to have to get over the past and move on, he deserved that much after all he had done for her recently. Taking a deep breath she walked into the living room to begin the conversation she had been dreading all day.
Chapter End Notes:
im hoping to write another chapter tomorrow or Tuesday the latest hope you enjoyed this one I know it's a little short but I didn't want too much going on at once you'll see why in the next chapter :) Feedback is appreciated
