Bittersweet Sundown

“Hi, Matt,” Ash greeted him with a hug after he had opened the door for her. “Is Val home?”

“Yeah, come on in,” Matt said, stepping aside to let her pass. “She’s on her period or PMS or what ever, so you have been warned,” Matt laughed, shaking his head slightly. They could hear Val yelling something upstairs.

“You know what PMS stands for? Pass My Shotgun. So be careful Matt, don’t piss her off now,” Ash smiled before heading for the stairs.

“Women,” Matt muttered, still smiling.

“Women are superheros. Who else can bleed for a week without dying?” Ash told him while continuing her way up. Matt just stared after her for a moment, until she disappeared behind a corner.

Ash easily found Val in the bathroom. She had left the door wide open and she was still boiling over something, muttering angrily to no one but herself.

“Are you in a happy mood today,” Ash laughed, leaning against the door frame.

“Oh, Ash! I didn’t hear you coming,” Val came to hug her, dropping the towels she was holding.

“What’s going on?”

“Oh, nothing unusual. Just everything irritates me today. And Matt is a pig,” Val said, squatting back down and continued drying the floor. There was water everywhere.

“Like every other man in this world,” Ash laughed and joined her, helping with the cleaning.

“He just had to give Bella a bath in here. I told him to go outside but no. And of course he couldn’t clean this place after making all this mess,” Val complained.

“I know the feeling. Sean never cleaned and it literally drove me mad,” Ash snorted, feeling happy that she didn’t have to care for his stupid ass anymore.

It took them another ten minutes before everything was squeaky clean and organized again. They both stood in the doorway, satisfied with the result.

“Okay Val, I’ll better get going. I want to stop for a coffee on the way,” Ash hugged her friend’s slim frame.

“Hon, are you sure you don’t want me to drop you off? I wanna drop you off,” Val pouted.

“Yes babe. Your family is here any minute now and I’d like to walk in the sun once more before I go back to that cold end of the country. Besides, I only came by to say goodbye,” Ash told her, walking to the bedroom door. “I’ll be back before you even start missing me.”

After promising that, she walked to the stairs and went down. She heard some voices coming from the living room and stepping in, she saw Brian sitting on the couch, looking miserable. She resisted the urge to ask him what was wrong, they were still not talking to each other.

“Maybe it’s better that way. You two are not happy together. I don’t see why you shouldn’t try to find someone better for you,” Matt said to his friend. They hadn’t noticed Ash yet.

“Because I promised to be with her ‘til death. I don’t wanna break a promise that important. Besides, I have no idea what my parents would say,” Brian answered, not happy at all. He looked desperate.

“Bri, they’re divorced themselves, don’t you think they’d understand?” Matt asked, turning towards Brian.

Ash saw her opportunity and stepped forward. She didn’t want to listen to their private conversation, although she was dying to know, were they really talking about Brian and Michelle?

“Hey, Matt, I’m off now. You’ll take a good care of my little Angel, don’t you?” she hugged him tight.

“Absolutely. Call us when you get there, okay,” he demanded, looking seriously at the girl in front of him.

“I will. I’ll be back in a week or so,” Ash kissed his cheek and then walked out of the room.

“Where is she going?” she heard Brian ask, just before she closed the door behind her. Brian was the last to know and Matt could tell him, she sure as hell wasn’t gonna be the one to end their war of silence.

An hour and a half later, Ash reached the bus station. She hadn’t meant to come this late but at the walk on the beach, she had lost track of time. She hoped that she could still catch some bus to LA. She was just nearing the main entrance when a big black SUV stopped beside her.

“Come on, get in,” Brian commanded harshly. Ash just stared at him, not liking his tone a bit.

“Why?” she demanded, crossing her arms on her chest.

“Look, I just wanna talk to you, okay. It won’t take long,” he sighed, sounding tired. There were dark circles around his eyes. Feeling sorry for him, Ash gave in and tossed her bag to the back seat, then climbed to the seat next to Brian. He started driving right after she closed the door.

“Hey, I need to get on a bus,” Ash protested, seeing Brian driving away from the ​station.

“I wanna come with you,” he stated shortly, not turning his gaze from the street in front of them.

“You wanna do WHAT?” she was shocked. Surely he didn’t meant what she was thinking she heard.

“I wanna come with you to that little trip of yours,” he said slowly, pronouncing every word clearly, still not looking at her.

“Did you hit your head or something? Or are you just playing your cruel games on me again?” Ash demanded, she was not happy with this plan of his.

“No and no. I just need to get away for a few days. And you are a perfect excuse. Besides, do you really wanna go and face your ex all alone? I believe not,” he stated, glancing at the girl at last.

“No way. It’s not gonna work,” Ash shook her head. She only wanted to go and get her things. She didn’t need to make this trip a nightmare. And with Brian, it definitely would become a nightmare, she was sure of it.

“Why not?” he asked, gliding his car into traffic with ease.

“Why not? How about you hate me? Or that I don’t like you?” Ash was getting angrier by just thinking about it. She was so tired of his games.

“I don’t hate you. And I’m sorry that you don’t like me. I guess it is my fault. I apologize for being such an asshole towards you,” Brian said seriously, turning to look at her.

For once, Ash was totally lost. Part of her believed that Brian was really meaning it, other part was sure it was only another lie. She could only blink her eyes, frozen on a spot, not knowing which side to believe.

“Look, just give me a chance, will you. I promise to behave this time,” he almost begged, giving her a sad look.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Ash muttered, turning her gaze away from him. She could see that they were already heading towards the highway to LA. They didn’t talk after that, until Brian turned to airport parking lot.

“Why are we here?” Ash demanded, feeling her stomach turn.

“To get on a plane?” Brian stated questioningly, looking at her slightly confused.

“Oh no! I am not getting my butt up there,” she refused firmly, shaking her head hard.

“What? You wanna drive all the way up to Dakota?” he asked unbelievably, staring at her as she was still shaking her head.

“Yes. And you don’t have to come with me if that’s too much for you. I am NOT flying,” she stayed to her words.

“And why aren’t you flying? Scared?” Brian asked, trying to hide his smirk.

“No. I get terribly nauseous on a plane. I’d rather drive all the way on a bus than spend four hours spilling my guts all over the planes toilet,” she felt sick already, just thinking about it. It’s only nerves, she tried to tell herself. It didn’t help.

“It can’t be that bad,” he found it hard to believe.

“Oh yes it can.”

“I have an idea. Let’s go and see if any flights go to that direction today and if we manage to get some tickets then I’ll get you to sleep before the plane even gets off the ground,” Brian offered, obviously proud over his idea.

​“So I could die by choking to my own vomit? No thank you,” Ash didn’t find that a good idea. Although there was a small part of her that wondered, would it really be possible to get over her sickness that way?

“You probably get sick because you’re too nervous, right? So when you’re sleeping, you can’t get nervous and you don’t get sick. I’ll keep an eye on you, you’ll be fine,” he didn’t give in.

Without waiting for Ash’s agreement, he stepped out of the car and took his bag from the back and then walked around to the other side of the car. He took Ash’s bag also and then held out his hand to still reluctant girl, who refused to get out of the car.

“Come on Ash, just trust me once. I’ll take care of you,” he promised, reaching out for her hand. She let him grab her hand and Brian pulled her out of the car.

“What about your car? Are you just leaving it here?” she asked, not wanting to go inside. She was afraid that Brian’s plan wasn’t gonna work.

“Zack will pick it up later,” he said, still holding on to her hand, forcing her to walk by his side.

“He knows you’re coming with me?” she asked surprised. After their last fight, everyone were trying to keep them apart. She was wondering, why didn’t Zack warn her?

“Yeah, I only told him and asked to keep it a secret. I know how protective everyone are towards you. I’m not blind. It’s actually kind of funny how they sneak you out of the house every time I come by unnoticed,” Brian laughed, giving her a strange look. They all had thought that Brian wouldn’t notice that and now Ash realized how stupid that all was.

“I’m sorry, it was my idea. I wanted to stay out of your sight,” she apologized quietly, turning her gaze down.

They were in the airport now and she wanted to be anywhere else but here. Brian got tickets to a last flight to Minneapolis, closest town to Jamestown you could fly from here. He guided Ash through a security check, which took almost half an hour. Most of the time he held her hand, keeping her from running away.

“What do you want?” Brian asked her, after they got through security, inspecting the content of a nearby vending machine.

“Cherry Coke,” Ash answered quietly, feeling sick again. Without letting go of her, he bought a bottle of Cherry Coke and two bottles of water. After that, Brian took her to some kind of food stand, they had over an hour ‘til departure.

“You want something?” he asked, looking at the menu. Ash shook her head, she didn’t want to have anything in her stomach, in case she would get really sick. Brian didn’t find anything appealing either and so they walked towards their departure gate. Just before they were able to board the plane, Brian gave a small white pill to Ash, and a Coke bottle.

“It’s a sleeping pill. I promised to make you sleep before we’re off the ground,” he explained to her, seeing doubt in her eyes. She took it, looking at it from both sides. She had never taken a sleeping pill before. Deciding to give it a try, she sighed and then swallowed it with the help of Coke.

“So that you know, I’m trusting you with my life here and if something happens to me, I swear I come back to haunt you and sure as hell I’m not gonna be as friendly as Jimmy ​is,” Ash warned him, standing up and walking towards the gate. Brian followed her, smiling.