Scanning the room, my heart shatters as I spot Ason lying on the floor. His eyes are closed and I rush to his side. His breathing is calm and steady; he is completely passed out. I’m sure he was overwhelmed with exhaustion after his tirade. Placing a soft kiss to his cheek, I realize that the last thing I need to do his wake him right now. He looks so peaceful so I don’t want to ruin this moment. Biting my lip, I look around. Realizing I’m not leaving until he wakes up and we can talk, I decide to make myself useful and clean up his room.
I find a small trashcan in his En-suite bathroom and begin collecting all of the broken items. Glass, shards of wood, and things I have no clue what they go to are thrown away. Tears spring from my eyes with each item that I pick up and discard. For Ason to have this much rage inside of him means he was hurting far more than I ever imagined. All of these years, I thought that I was the one in pain because I felt ignored and neglected by my family. I wallowed in self-pity and doubt and made myself invisible at school. Refusing to allow myself to give in and have fun like a normal teenager. Now, I realize that my problems that once seemed so monumental, are tiny in comparison to what Ason is struggling with. He is faced with more challenges and decisions than I could ever imagine. He’s living in a world that he can’t ever escape from.
I must have been working for an hour when a deep voice startles me out of my own thoughts.
“Scarlette, what are you doing here?” Ason asks.
Spinning, I see Ason sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He looks disoriented and that only triggers more empathy and hurt for him.
“Ason, I needed to come and see you,” I carefully say.
I have no idea what kind of mood he is in, so I am careful with how I approach him. Standing still, I wait for him to get up so I can better see him. Ason finally stands, and begins narrowing his gaze around the room. He moves to the wall and turns on the light. I’ve managed to clean up most of the mess, but now with the light on, I can see there are still pieces of debris that I missed.
His face is tomato red and his clothes are wrinkled and torn. I’ve never seen him look like this before. Damn, he is still sexy as hell.
The urge to go to him and hug him plagues me, but I still can’t move. As though I’m frozen in place, I have to wait and see how he reacts to me being here.
“Scarlette, I never wanted you to see this side of me,” he begins, his voice breaking. “I told you that I wasn’t good enough for you. That the life I live isn’t one I would ever want to put you in. Tonight, I just couldn’t take it anymore. My rage took over and I destroyed everything,” he said, tears now spilling from his eyes.
At the sight of seeing Ason cry, my body seems to unthaw and I close the space between us. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him to me. At first, I feel him try to fight me, but soon he gives in and allows me to hold him like he has done for me so many times before. He feels like he destroyed everything and I know he means both figuratively and literally. I allow him to cry and unleash the pain, worries, and fear he has kept inside for far too long.
“Ason, I don’t care what you did. All I care about is you.” Reaching out, I caress his face and he looks up at me. “I don’t care who your family is. You are enough for me because I love you,” I say, before placing a soft kiss to his lips.
Shaking his head, he looks at me in disbelief. “How can you still say that? After you cleaned up my mess? Saw me cry?” he asks.
My hand is still on his cheek as I smile at him. “Don’t you see? There isn’t anything you could do that would make me turn away from you. I need you and you need me. Together, we fix everything that is wrong in our worlds. Just talk to me. Let me help you,” I plead.
Ason stares at me for what feels like forever. After a few minutes, he hugs me again. “I swear, I don’t know why you love me, but I will spend the rest of my life proving to you that I am the man you think I am,” he declares.
I have no idea how long we stand there holding on to one another, but it doesn’t matter. I think Ason had to break to finally find a way to become whole again. He knows that he has me as his ally and nothing will ever change that.